InterCooperation: Forests, landscapes and governance

This publication brings together the views and experiences of practitioners working in forestry and governance in a large number of countries around the world.

It synthesizes the results of discussions in two workshops conceived by the Swiss working group “Trees and Forests in Development Cooperation” , and supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) . One workshop was held in Punakha, Bhutan, and was organised by Helvetas; the other took place in Interlaken, Switzerland, and was organised by Intercooperation.

The workshops called overwhelmingly for the good governance of forest resources  Simply said (but far more difficult to implement), political, social and economic decisions over resource management should be based on laws and procedures that are equitable, transparent, and broadly accepted by society. Society here encompasses different levels – from the very local level (that of individual village or forest), to the landscape level, to the national and also the international level.