Responsible Enterprise, International Cooperation and Tropical Forest Management. Are we on the right track?

Responsible Enterprise, International Cooperation and Tropical Forest Management. Are we on the right track?

the Netherlands - 08 January, 2013

The development policy of the Netherlands considers the active engagement of the private sector a key priority in achieving sustainable development and poverty alleviation. Companies are also increasingly aware of the need and opportunities to develop and implement Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies and strategies in their daily business. In the Netherlands, many companies and business sectors directly or indirectly have an impact on tropical forests, their management and conservation, including through forest concessions, agricultural and timber production and trade chains, financing and investment.

The seminar “Responsible Enterprise, International Cooperation and Tropical Forest Management. Are we on the right track?”- that took place on September 13, 2012 and was attended by 120 participants - analysed the experiences, dilemmas and perspectives of the Dutch private sector in shaping their international Corporate Social Responsibility policies. It had a particular focus on the impact of the private sector on tropical forests and their role in the Netherlands development cooperation.

Among the participants there was a common understanding that in Europe sustainably produced timber and other commodities should become the standard and that the Netherlands could take a frontrunner position. A number of take-home messages were formulated for Governments, NGOs, and the private sector, emphasizing that by working together they would generate more impact.

In the seminar report the plenary presentations, the main findings of the panel and working group discussions and the key messages of the seminar has been synthesized.

For further background information, including the PowerPoint presentations, see the VTB-website: http://www.tropischebossen.nl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=552&catid=97&Itemid=146

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This seminar was the sixth in a series of annual events on Sustainable forest management in the tropics. Are we on the right track? The seminar takes stock of the latest knowledge, insights and activities on a specific tropical forest theme that are topical both in current Dutch policies, as well as society against the question: are we on the right track”?” It is jointly organized by Wageningen University (Forestry Groups), Tropenbos International, Dutch Association of Tropical Forests (VTB), Prince Bernhard Chair of Utrecht University, Nyenrode Business University, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.