Better data, better decisions: Towards impactful forest monitoring.

Abstract

Decisions based on data and analysis are often deemed to produce a better outcome and providing decision-makers with information is seen as an important development strategy. The adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals reinforces the importance of science policy linkages. In the forestry sector, efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) have created opportunities for forest monitoring capacity development over the past decade, which can support forest management and domestic policy-making in addition to international reporting. This paper explores country examples, and considers how forest monitoring can inform problem-solving, especially on public policy. Where and when does forest monitoring inform problem-solving? While it may seem natural that information on forests could (and should) contribute to decision-making, a set of case studies demonstrates that this does happen in practice. To examine the factors that determine whether or not forest monitoring results inform problem-solving efforts, a set of positive cases was selected for in-depth analysis. These illustrate problem-solving in both a public policy and a corporate setting, and cover a diverse range of geographical contexts. For example, Viet Nam underwent a forest transition in the early 1990s, as a result of policy efforts to accelerate the agricultural transition and to expand a self-sufficient forest industry. After data had shown serious forest decline, the government took on ambitious forest-area targets and launched a new monitoring campaign to track progress. Vast tree plantings were undertaken. Also, the government enacted several partial logging and export bans and used the results of a national forest inventory to tightly control logging. Another example is Cameroon where important steps were taken to reform the forest concessions regime in the 1990s and 2000s. A fiscal crisis and the need to enhance government revenues triggered efforts to lay the basis for orderly forest management and to clamp down on corruption. Upgraded forest management planning required concession level inventories. Independent forest monitoring became a basis for management oversight. Forest policy progress could be transparently evaluated based on independent forest monitoring results.