News | 07.05.2021
An ITTO report authored by Alain Karsenty published on April 23 examines the various incentives for developing sustainable forests management (SFM) in eight countries, including the Republic of Congo and Ivory Coast.
In this report entitled "Fiscal and Non-Fiscal Incentives for Sustainable Forest Management," written as part of ITTO activities, Alain Karsenty analyzes incentive mechanisms for sustainable forest management, both fiscal and non-fiscal. He provides an overview of the measures already in place or potential measures to be adopted in tropical countries.
The report makes 22 recommendations for governments and forest management stakeholders. It recommends for example that governments link fiscal incentives to third-party certification, and suggests considering bonus-malus mechanisms to encourage certification by lowering taxes on certified products. Gabon has already adopted this type of measure in 2020: a zoning system has been implemented, identifying concessions with forest certification, those with legality certificates, and those that are not certified. Each zone has a different tax rate, from the most advantageous for certified sustainable management zones to the least advantageous for non-certified zones.
In addition, the report also considers non-tax incentive mechanisms. For example, it recommends recognition of forest property rights for communities, households and families to develop the small-scale private forestry sector. This would encourage farmers to keep and take care of trees and create opportunities for small-scale business.
The report highlights the important role of governments, which could do much more to encourage sustainable management of tropical forests.
The report is available here, as well as the annexes.
You can read this news on ITTO website to learn more about this report.
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