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VERIFOR: Institutional Options for Verifying Legality in the Forest Sector

'VERIFOR' is a project of the Forest Policy and Environment Programme. The project is being implemented in association with three international partners: CIFOR Central Africa office (Africa), RECOFTC (Asia), and CATIE (C/S America). It has a value of €2.4 million over four years (2005-9), funded by European Union Tropical Forest Budget Line, and the Governments of the Netherlands and Germany.

VERIFOR is concerned with the policy, institutional and legal challenges around the issue of illegal logging. It seeks to help tropical producer countries verify that their timber has been legally harvested. In line with the EC's FLEGT Action Plan, the focus is on the provision of equitable solutions that do not have adverse effects on the poor, and which support the principles of good governance and hence relates to the accountability work of Rights in Action. It addresses the institutional dimensions, and the ways in which national ownership can be built up in a manner compatible with international credibility and legitimacy (rather than, say, technical aids such as methods of log tracking). A central preoccupation is the policy arena and policy challenges. Thus, it goes beyond the issue of criminality and will make a contribution to poverty reduction through national-led processes.

Staff

Cecilia Luttrell, Adrian Wells, Neil Bird, Kate Schreckenberg

Supported by

Partners

  1. Trade liberalisation and forest verification: Learning from the US-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement

    Briefing/policy papers

  2. Legal Timber: Verification and Governance in the Forest Sector

    Book/book chapter

  3. Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): current situation with verification and forest control activities

    Research reports

  4. Republic of Congo: current situation with verification and forest control activities

    Research reports

  5. Gabon: current situation with verification and forest control activities

    Research reports

  6. Verification in the Forest Sector in Cameroon

    Research reports

  7. The experience of election observers: lessons for the process of timber verification

    Research reports

  8. Ombudsmen, People’s Defenders and Mediators: Independence and administrative justice in state transformation

    Research reports

  9. Recent international trade patterns in timber products for the Verifor case study countries

    Working papers

  10. New technologies in support of improved forest governance: factors influencing success

    Briefing/policy papers

  11. Convergence between Certification and Verification in the drive to Legality Assurance: Assessing the Pros and Cons

    Briefing/policy papers

  12. Ownership in Relation to the Design of Verification Systems

    Briefing/policy papers

  13. Independent monitoring of the FLEGT Timber Legality Assurance System: Thinking Outside the Box

    Briefing/policy papers

  14. Verification of legality in the forest sector

    Other

  15. Developmental Impacts of Verification Systems in the Forest Sector

    Briefing/policy papers

  16. Strategies for Independent Monitoring

    Working papers

  17. The Experience of Independent Forest Monitoring in Cambodia

    Research reports

  18. The legal basis for verification systems – standard setting for legal compliance

    Briefing/policy papers