Forest financing in SIDS: Feedback from Background Papers Benjamin Singer United Nations Forum on Forests

2 Objectives Immediate objective: to improve the understanding of SFM and related financing policies and mechanisms for SFM in LFCCs and SIDS  present financing flows  demand for financing  problems, challenges and opportunities in mobilizing financing  enabling environment for enhanced forest financing  recommendations Ultimate objective: to facilitate additional financing for forests in LFCCs & SIDS, and to reverse the decline in official development assistance for SFM

3 Study covered 49 LFCCs and 38 SIDS; total 87 countries Including 7 case study countries of which 4 were LFCCs - a reasonably representative set: Jordan Kyrgyzstan Mali Uruguay Cape Verde Fiji Trinidad and Tobago Scope

Methodology 4 Data mining: available documents, reports and statistics survey for 87 countries In-depth country case studies (7) using broad cross-sectoral consultations Analyzing and summarizing collected information Products: 11 papers – 4 macro level papers – 7 case study papers

Challenges Survey response rate was very low  Serious capacity constraints  Forests simply not a priority issue in political agenda in many of the countries Earlier reports in study countries not available Specific data on SIDS not available (e.g. agriculture and forest linkages, livestock and forest linkages) Cross-sectoral coordination and even information exchange a serious problem in many countries Collecting relevant cross-sectoral information at country level requires patience and dedication

6 Forestry ODA in SIDS

SIDS share of total forestry ODA

Forestry ODA contributions by donor in SIDS

Percentage forestry ODA by country in SIDS

Allocation of forestry ODA for SIDS by theme

SIDS face several challenges... Small surface area = competition for land Hotspots of endemicity and biodiversity Economic and ecological vulnerability Forests not considered a major source of income Heavy reliance on ODA

... But also have opportunities Need to reach out to other sectors Full range of forest products and services needs to be recognized Integrated approach to finance planning Greater focus more on education and training

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