Projects to promote the
trade of certified timber in
Guatemala, create a market
for environmental services
in China’s tropical forests,
and assist local communities
to rehabilitate degraded
forest land in Java,
Indonesia, were among those
funded by the International
Tropical Timber Council.
The Council is the governing
body of the International
Tropical Timber Organization
(ITTO). It meets twice a
year to discuss a
wide-ranging agenda aimed at
promoting the sustainable
use of tropical forest
resources and the trade of
sustainably produced
tropical timber.
The Council financed a total
of 13 projects and 3
pre-projects at this session,
including one that will
promote the development of
small-to-medium-sized
enterprises in Gabon,
another that will produce a
state-of-the-art publication
on African timber species,
and another that will assist
Myanmar to conserve its teak
genetic resources.
A project funded in the
Republic of Congo will
continue work to improve
forest management, conserve
biodiversity and enhance
local livelihoods in the
buffer zone of the
Noubale-Ndoki National Park.
Funds were also pledged to a
Congolese project that, when
fully funded, will use
multi-spectral aerial
digital photography to
improve forest monitoring.
In total, some US$1.35
million was pledged to
assist the Republic’s forest
sector.
ITTO also decided to provide
additional support to the
Congo Basin Forest
Partnership, committing
US$150,000 for activities
that will assist the
implementation of the
Sub-regional Convergence
Plan and the COMIFAC 2015
Objective.
Elsewhere, the Council
financed a final phase of
the project to develop the
Lanjak-Entimau Wildlife
Sanctuary as a totally
protected area, and a
project to build a framework
and strategy for sustainable
forest management in
Trinidad and Tobago.
The Council also funded
projects to facilitate
access by developing
countries to the Kyoto
Protocol’s Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM). One project
will convene an
international workshop on
the subject in Ghana, and
another project will build
capacity to develop and
implement afforestation and
reforestation activities
under the CDM.
The major donors at this
session were the governments
of Japan, Switzerland, the
Common Fund for Commodities
and the United States, while
the governments of the
Netherlands, Norway, France,
Finland and the Republic of
Korea also pledged funds. In
addition, funds were
mobilized from the
Organization’s unearmarked
resources.
