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This collection features five peer-reviewed literature reviews on sustainable forest management. The first chapter discusses the varying definitions of sustainable forest management (SFM) in tropical landscapes, as well as the trade-offs associated with SFM. The chapter also reviews the spatial scales of assessing SFM and explores expanding the scope of SFM from individual strands to forested landscapes. The second chapter provides a comprehensive review of the current research undertaken in sustainable forestry. It considers the concept and evolution of sustainable forestry and the challenges which arise as a result of implementing SFM practices. The third chapter reviews the role and impact of forest certification schemes in the achievement of SFM. The chapter summarises the wealth of research available on the development of forest certification and how individual elements can be optimised to further improve the model. The fourth chapter discusses the recent history and implementation challenges of SFM across the Congo Basin, including logging concessions, land zones and the processes and institutions required to implement effective SFM policies. The final chapter analyses the potential trade-offs between ecosystem services and biodiversity in the southern Patagonian forests. The chapter explores the implementation of SFM as a strategy to mitigate these trade-offs at a landscape level. What is an Instant Insight? An Instant Insight gives you immediate access to key research on a topic, allowing you to get right to the heart of a subject in an instant and empowering you to contribute to sustainable agriculture.

Besides the business enterprises in Bandundu province that use small-scale logging permits (PCAs) illegally, there is a national artisanal sector composed of individual chainsaw millers who supply the domestic market and certain neighbouring countries. This sector is still essentially informal. Our year-long monitoring of markets and transiting points for chainsaw timber brought out the substantial development of this activity over the last 15 years. At present more than a million cubic meters of chainsaw timber are produced in DRC every year, of which 85% is to meet the national demand. The production in Roundwood Equivalents of chainsaw timber – estimated at 3.4 million cubic metres per annum – is 13 times higher than the total formal production of wood products in DRC. The domestic markets of Kinshasa and eastern DRC generate sales of over 100 millions US dollars per year and yield profits estimated at 25 million dollars. The local populations benefit most from chainsaw milling and receive close to 50 million US dollars per year. As for job creation, the rural and urban artisanal timber production sectors combined offered at least 25 000 direct jobs in the country.

Gabon officially entered into VPA negotiations in September 2010. The initial engagement resulted in agreement on a road map and the production of a legality matrix. However, the latter has not yet been validated and negotiations were resumed only recently. It is difficult to predict the final coverage of the VPA, but available information seems to indicate that it will also cover the domestic market. The domestic timber market has undergone a drastic transformation in recent years. Pro-Formal results indicate that the domestic consumption of artisanal sawn wood decreased by almost half in 2008–2012, and that more timber than in the past is now supplied by industrial scraps, as industrial production for the national market increased during the same period. These trends are largely explained by the financial crisis, a log export ban effective as of 2010 that forced industrial companies to process timber locally, and increased control and enforcement efforts.

Depuis l’an 2000 et la mise en œuvre de la politique d’expansion internationale de la Chine, l’intérêt des entreprises chinoises d’État et privées pour les ressources et les possibilités d’investissement dans le bassin du Congo a considérablement augmenté, générant de nouveaux débouchés mais aussi de potentiels coûts sociaux et environnementaux. Ce rapport synthétise les principaux résultats des études de cadrage préliminaire réalisées par le CIFOR et ses partenaires au Cameroun, en République démocratique du Congo et au Gabon. Il se concentre sur les possibles liens entre le commerce et les investissements chinois dans les secteurs forestier, minier et agricole et les effets sur les forêts et sur les communautés de la région qui en sont tributaires. Toutes les études ont été réalisées dans le cadre du projet du CIFOR intitulé « Le commerce et les investissements chinois en Afrique : évaluation et gestion des compromis entre économies nationales, moyens de subsistance locale et écosystèmes forestiers », initié en 2010. Les études de cadrage ont produit des résultats intéressants, notamment une meilleure compréhension des principales tendances liées au commerce des ressources naturelles entre les pays cibles et la Chine, ainsi qu’aux grands secteurs économiques ciblés par les investisseurs chinois (forêts, mines, agriculture). Les études se sont également intéressées au rôle des agences nationales chargées d’encourager les investissements et de veiller à ce que les entreprises respectent les exigences environnementales et sociales. Elles ont permis de mieux comprendre les processus informels relatifs aux investissements et à l’acquisition de terres et d’autres ressources.

L’Accord sur l’application des réglementations forestières, la gouvernance et les échanges commerciaux (FLEGT) a été lancé en 2003 par l’Union européenne (UE) afin de lutter au niveau mondial contre l’exploitation forestière illégale. En particulier, le FLEGT vise à réduire le commerce du bois récolté illégalement entre l’UE et les pays partenaires producteurs de bois