Latest Report: Progress on NYDF Goal 10
2018 Progress Assessment on the New York Declaration on Forests
The NYDF Assessment Partners annually track progress toward meeting the goals of the NYDF. Our 2018 brief assessments of Goals 1-10 find that we are not on track to meet the goal to halve natural forest loss globally by 2020. Our focus report on Goal 10 finds slow progress in strengthening forest governance and empowerment.
Clear and well-designed legal and policy frameworks, strong institutions, and legitimate decisions are essential to end deforestation and use forests sustainably. In many countries forest governance is weak and has negative impacts on poor people, minorities, and women.
Strengthening institutions and enforcing laws remains slow and limited. Enforcement is particularly challenging in developing countries, many of which have relatively strong legal frameworks (sometimes stronger than those of developed countries), but often struggle to fully implement their laws, regulations, and commitments. Common impediments include a lack of coordination, limited resources, and insufficient capacities.
Much tropical deforestation is illegal. In two thirds of major timber-producing countries and all of the countries that are the largest tropical producers of palm oil, soy, and beef, there is a significant risk of one or – in most cases – multiple forest-related laws being broken in commodity production.
An increasing number of countries are adopting laws that give citizens the right to access information, including forest-related information. However, few countries release data proactively, and systems that make information available to the broader public remain the exception. In many countries, information may not be available in formats or languages that are widely accessible and governments are allowed broad latitude to refuse access.
Most countries provide for consultations and have laws guaranteeing the right to access judicial and administrative remedies in relation to forest-related policies and projects. However, consultation and laws tend to be, costly, slow or overly technical and not linked to concrete decision-making.
While several major consumer countries, including emerging economies, have adopted regulations on timber legality that place obligations on timber importers, the majority of measures in other commodities remain voluntary or limited in scope. Promising developments include EU restrictions on biofuel and a French due diligence law.
For example, local organizations are installing financial vigilance mechanisms and focusing on women’s entrepreneurial training in ways that could be replicated by others. Forest linked development finance is getting through to some of these innovations but there is a long way to go before they become the norm.
The share of forest area across 41 countries to which indigenous people and local communities have legally recognized rights has increased from close to 11 percent in 2002 to more than 15 percent in 2017. This represents important progress but leaves much to be done. Failure to legally recognize communities’ rights to these lands leaves forests and the carbon they contain at risk and threatens the people whose livelihoods, religions, and cultures depend on the forests.
The number of murders of land defenders has increased every year since 2014, and communities increasingly face criminalization for protecting their rights. Weak recognition of tenure rights, failure to respect the principle of free, prior and informed consent, and growing demand for land has led to increased violence.