Provides an assessment of the international forest regime, in reponse to calls from many quarters, including the UN Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF) and the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development, as well as several NGOs. The focus is mainly on action taken by countries at the global level, in the framework of legally binding instruments and institutions. It builds on previous analyses of the international forest regime by looking beyond the legal mandates to begin exploring the actual performance of the components against their mandates. With the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) Proposals for Action as the point for departure, the effectiveness and impact of individual legal instruments and global instutions are analyzed, as is the potential for synergy between them.

This work provides an important, broad and legal critique and assessment of transnational trends, structures and innovations currently in use for managing forests.

This book investigates the potential need for an international convention on forests and establishes a multifunctional concept of forests as a cornerstone for international forest regulation. Accordingly, it examines a variety of international instruments pertaining directly or indirectly to forests and explores their entangled, fragmented nature. While contending that the lack of consistency in international law impedes the development of a stand-alone international forest convention, at the same time it argues that the lessons learned from fragmentation as well as from the history of forest discourse on the international level open up new options for the regulation of forests in international law, based on (new) concepts of coordination and cooperation.

Market globalization and the globalization of environmental concerns have spurred demand for greater international accountability for forest stewardship. In response, a range of multi-lateral governmental and non-governmental initiatives have emerged to redefine the rules of global trade, and demand verification of the legality and/or sustainability of forest products originating from within and outside national boundaries. At the same time there is a lack of transparency and shared understanding about the environmental forest policies that already exist within the world's leading forest producing and consuming countries. The result is that many stakeholders have developed perceptions about a country's regulatory environment that are not consistent with what is actually taking place. This book provides a uniquely detailed and systematic comparison of environmental forest policies and enforcement in twenty countries worldwide, covering developed, transition and developing economies. The goal is to enhance global policy learning and promote well-informed and precisely tuned policy solutions.

This books explores how an analysis of past forest governance patterns from the global through to the local level, can help us to build institutions which more effectively deal with forests within the climate change regime. The book assesses the options under REDD to reduce emissions from deforestation in developing countries in the context of other forest policies. Based on an assessment of existing multi-level institutional forestry arrangements, the book questions how policy frameworks can be better designed in order to effectively and equitably govern the challenges of deforestation and land degradation under the global climate change regime.

In The Protection of Indigenous Peoples and Reduction of Forest Carbon Emissions, Handa Abidin identifies three main approaches that can be used by indigenous peoples to protect their rights in the context of REDD-plus. Further, he discusses how the available protection for indigenous peoples in the context of REDD-plus is currently insufficient to quickly address cases where the rights of indigenous peoples have been violated through REDD-plus activities. Abidin recommends the establishment of a committee and a panel on REDD-plus that could convey greater benefits to the context of REDD-plus and indigenous peoples, as well as to wider contexts such as climate change, human rights, and international law.

Despite covering almost a third of the globe, forests do not enjoy the protection of a singular global legal convention. Instead, International Forest Law is a complex ecosystem in its own right. This book sets out to examine this complexity by analyzing forest-related Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs) and how the decisions of the various corresponding Conferences of the Parties (COPs) may promote regime interaction in this field of law. Through an in-depth analysis of more than 60 decisions and resolutions of such COPs, Yilly Pacheco discusses how secondary law-making activity in forest-related MEAs may be strengthened and used to fill the gaps in International Forest Law.

Die Tagung „Biodiversität und Gesellschaft“ diskutierte Themen der Biodiversitätsforschung aus gesellschafts- und geisteswissenschaftlicher Perspektive. Die Einbeziehung dieser Perspektiven in die bisher vor allem naturwissenschaftlich geprägte Forschung ist für die Definitionen von Schutzzielen und Bewertungsmaßstäben sowie für die Entwicklung von Instrumenten für den Schutz und die Nutzung der Biodiversität notwendig. Da insbesondere die Instrumente stets innerhalb komplexer sozialer, ökonomischer und rechtlicher Zusammenhänge eingesetzt werden, müssen diese als gesellschaftliche Rahmenbedingungen berücksichtigt werden. Dazu leistet dieser Tagungsband einen Beitrag, indem er Erkenntnisse verschiedener Disziplinen aufzeigt, die eine fundierte und nachhaltige Auseinandersetzung mit dem Verhältnis des Menschen zur und den Auswirkungen menschlichen Verhaltens auf die Biodiversität eröffnen. The conference “Biodiversity and Society” discussed topics of biodiversity research from the perspective of social sciences and humanities. The inclusion of these perspectives in the until now scientifically orientated biodiversity research is necessary for the definition of conservation goals and value standards, as well as for the development of instruments for the preservation and use of biodiversity. Since the instruments in particular are applied in complex social, economic and legal contexts, these societal conditions should be considered. This proceedings volume presents findings of multiple disciplines and thereby contributes to an integral and fruitful analysis of the human relation to and influence on biodiversity.