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02 September 2020 Liberia
With around 4.3 million hectares of lowland tropical forest, Liberia is the most forested country in West Africa. Liberia’s forestry sector contributes significantly to the national economy. Moreover, about one-third of the population lives in forested areas, many of whom depend on forests for their livelihoods. The government has developed a legal framework, which recognises customary rights of local communities to access and manage forests. Crucial in this has been the Community Rights Law of 2009.
09 July 2020 General
In recent years, the call for the legal recognition of community rights to forests has been growing stronger. It is put forward as the key to combatting deforestation, climate change and poverty. The formalization of community forest rights has a better chance of achieving those objectives, when the rights are adapted to local needs, and accompanied with support for livelihood development.
30 June 2020 the Netherlands
In 2019, a broad coalition of European NGOs campaigned for legally binding measures by the EU to curb deforestation linked to the production, consumption and import of agro-commodities (so-called “imported deforestation”). As a result, in January 2020 the European Parliament adopted a motion calling for robust regulatory measures.
30 June 2020 General
Together with partner organizations, TBI achieved a number of successes in the cocoa sector last year. In Ghana, civil society organizations have been taking part in the Cocoa & Forests Initiative (CFI). Major chocolate companies called on the EU to regulate the European market for cocoa and cocoa products. And TBI participated in talks about deforestation as a result of cocoa production, as part of the Dutch Initiative on Sustainable Cocoa.
30 June 2020 General
Of a total of around 570 million farms in the world, more than 80% are smaller than two hectares. Hundreds of millions of these smallholders depend on agriculture and forestry for their livelihoods, and produce more than half of the world’s food. They have the potential to play a key role in achieving inclusive and climate-smart development. Currently, however, many of these smallholders live below the poverty line and are highly vulnerable to climate change. They are a sleeping giant, whose potential can be unleashed by helping them to improve their production and economic viability. But for this they need funding to invest in sustainable production practices, organization, access to information and markets, and the development of small and medium enterprises.
30 June 2020 Philippines
Participatory multi-stakeholder dialogues in the Philippines lead to inclusive and well-informed decision-making on land conversion and water provisioning.