Forest Partnership for Action and Commitment Today What's New?

Keep an eye on this spot to find out about how ForestPACT is being developed around the world:

• Testing ForestPACT in Thailand
• ForestPACT at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Jordan
• ForestPACT goes to Russia

Testing ForestPACT in Thailand

ForestPACT is being tested in Thailand to gain experience with how to identify key stakeholders and facilitate pledge development and implementation. Facilitated by IUCN, the Thailand Supporters Group was established in 2001, and has met twice. It should be noted that whether ForestPACT is successful as a global initiative or not, the approach of ForestPACT is already contributing to the strengthening of coordination and collaboration between forest stakeholders in Thailand.

Before ForestPACT, the six founding partners had not often met to discuss joint action on forests: Thailand Royal Forest Department (government), Seub Nakasathein Foundation, Thailand Environmental Institute, Regional Community Forest Training Centre (RECOFTC), Population and Communities Development Association, World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) - Thailand Programme, and Wildlife Fund Thailand. Now, there is a stronger sense of partnership - and even cameraderie - among the Thai partners.

The TSG has decided to start with field-based pledges which offer a high chance of success (and yet are innovative), to ensure that the process of dialogue remains open and positive. Also, the Thailand Supporters Group has shown ownership over the process - including redefining the ForestPACT objectives within a Thai context and translating key phrases into their own language. In 2002, there were a series of Forest PACT Thailand meetings with participants and stakeholders to develop a pledge for forest conservation in the Huay Hin Dam area. 2003 will be critical in moving towards implementation.

The pledge will be SMART. In addition, it will need to include milestones for monitoring and evaluation, an indication of financial commitment to implement them, and the partners would have to indicate that the action was new and additional to its current endeavours.

This Thailand pledge will contribute key lessons for the development of ForestPACT and allow the global supporters to adjust and expand the global level partnership with a new set of pledges from other partners outside the pilot country (possibilities: Ghana, Canada, Russia, South Africa).

Contact: Piyathip Eawpanich and Guido Broekhoven

ForestPACT at the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Jordan

At the IUCN World Conservation Congress in Amman, Jordan, ForestPACT was the focus of a number of informal meetings with IUCN government and NGO members, who expressed interest in taking active part in the development of ForestPACT.

The members present recognized that ForestPACT has the potential to become a key mechanism for promoting joint stakeholder action. A range of ideas for joint action pledges were discussed and the NGO members from Thailand and Ghana noted that ForestPACT can also help mobilize acknowledgment and support for existing initiatives concerning conservation and sustainable management of forests.

ForestPACT was also the subject of a presentation by Peter Gondo (SAFIRE- Southern Alliance for Indigenous Resources) as part of the Interactive Session on Forests. The draft papers from that session are available from IUCN's Forest Conservation Programme web site (http://www.iucn.org/themes/fcp) in the section about the Amman Congress.

• Read Peter Gondo's paper on ForestPACT: a Southern Perspective.

ForestPACT goes to Russia

ForestPACT was on the agenda of an informal meeting held during the recent "Fifth Boreal Forest of the World Conference: Living with Taiga - Boreal Forests in the 21st Century", 17-22 September, in Russia.

The ForestPACT meeting was well attended by people from a number of Russian and international NGOs, the Swedish and Canadian Governments and representatives from several large private companies.

The audience was inquisitive, and made suggestions on how to promote and move ForestPACT forward. Overall, those present were supportive of the ForestPACT initiative and some were interested in joining the partnership. Details are available in the report on the meeting, linked below.

• Take a look at the report from the meeting.

Please contact us for more information and to get involved in this initiative: ForestPACT Interim Secretariat c/o IUCN Forest Conservation Programme and WWF Forests for Life Programme, Rue Mauverney 28, CH1196, Gland, Switzerland / Tel. ++41 22 999 0263 / Fax ++41 22 999 0025 / Email forestpact@forestpact.org