Remembering Herman Savenije

This publication explores some of the barriers that hinder external finance from making greater contributions to the sustainability of landscapes in the global south. It provides insights into the potential of blended finance, green bonds and crowdfunding structures to contribute to bridging that gap. The document is meant for investors that are new to land-based investments in the global south and are particularly interested in achieving social and environmental impacts. It is also written for development organizations with little experience in leveraging private finance for local development and conservation and for future practitioners in this field. The authors identified several gaps in knowledge and experiences, and it is hoped that through this document the readers will be motivated to fill in those gaps in the near future, contributing to scaling up finance for sustainable and inclusive landscapes.

More than three quarters of the world’s food is produced by smallholder farmers, who are also guardians of the landscapes they live in, and live off. And they could produce much more, if only they could attract additional investment… A new working paper “Improving the positive impacts of investments on smallholder livelihoods and the landscapes they live in“ shows how, and as succinctly as possible. Aimed primarily at investors, in just 15 pages it highlights how to work profitably and equitably with smallholders, and how to promote better land governance and livelihoods.

This working paper is the result of a two-year exploration of alternative tenure arrangements and inclusive business models, focusing on improving smallholder livelihoods and tenure security, undertaken by Tropenbos International, FMO – the Dutch Development Bank, Hivos International, and KIT – the Royal Tropical Institute. It is still a ‘work in progress, however, and this ‘version 1.0’ is also being discussed with members of the Land Governance Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue, where the Dutch government, the private sector, NGOs and civil society work together to find solutions that promote inclusive land governance. 

Several hundred companies, governments, and civil society and non-governmental organizations have committed to zero deforestation initiatives. However, all may not have fully realized the enormousness and complexity of the challenge in committing to zero deforestation, and it appears that some did not know exactly what they stepped into. What is clear though, is that this endeavour is very much at the initial stage of development, and early work and experimentation is showing the way to putting in place what is needed.

This silver anniversary edition of ETFRN News brings together 40 contributions from 100 experts and practitioners. They share their experiences, and suggest ways to improve the effectiveness of zero deforestation commitments through public-private collaboration and other models.

ETFRN News 58 presents different views across a range of commodity value chains, including how companies and smallholders are working together to build deforestation free supply chains. It reviews publicly announced commitments and on-the-ground impacts, and how implementation challenges are overcome. It looks at how socio-economic and environmental impacts and trade-offs are addressed, links between private commitments and government policy and regulations, and how transnational and civil-society initiatives help or hinder them.

This latest edition of ETFRN News contains more than 200 pages of stories from local producer organizations, associations and federations, and from those that speak for them at national and international levels. Reporting on issues of inclusiveness, this is also reflected in the authorship, with most of the 80 contributing (co)authors from the Global South, representing NGOs, UN organizations, government bodies and private companies as well as producer organizations, a third of them women. The result is a compilation of experiences that adds significantly to a growing body of knowledge. Forest and farm producer organizations speak of their achievements and successes – and challenges, some overcome, some not. They share how they have organized themselves, what support they have received, and whether this was for better or for worse. Some benefits were expected, others unexpected. Problems remain, and some were made worse, even with well-meaning intentions of ‘outsiders’.

The Forest and Farm Facility of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Government of the Netherlands provided financial support.

Over the past decade key studies, like the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and more recently the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) have focused global attention on the enormous value of forests. The studies not only underscore the importance of forests for a green economy, but also highlight the need to conserve and manage these vital ecosystems for all humanity.

Interest in the issue of international forest finance is growing. This is reflected in the increasing number of international and intergovernmental fora in which this issue is being discussed, and by the broadening of the debate beyond the forest arena. Some optimism for the future is further boosted by several new international public initiatives and mechanisms that are already underway or emerging to enhance forest financing, together creating a diverse forest financing landscape. In the international policy dialogues on forests the importance of the role and effectiveness of international public funding is highlighted.

Keeping track of this diverse and growing spectrum of initiatives and mechanisms poses a challenge for policy makers and experts dealing with such questions as: ‘to what extent do these initiatives and mechanisms contribute to the demand and gaps in forest finance?’, and ‘how harmonized and complementary are these instruments, and what are the current synergies between them?’

This Info brief synthesizes the main findings of a scoping study with the aim to provide an overview and understanding of the current international forest financing landscape and options and pathways to improve synergies and coherence between the different initiatives. The study was commissioned by the Ministry of Economic Affairs of the Netherlands and implemented by Tropenbos International.

Whereas policy makers increasingly are demanding improved coordination and coherence between international forest financing mechanisms the study notes however a general attitude of “coordination OK, being coordinated no way”. This is a major obstacle in designing an effective approach to improve international coordination and coherence.

Rather than establishing formal coordination mechanisms, which would entail further bureaucracy, the study suggests that the response should instead be found in smarter and more strategic use of already existing e-networking and knowledge platforms.

Six key steps could be considered:

1. The release of a periodic assessment of “The State of the World’s Forest Financing”.
2. All forest financing mechanisms should conduct a periodic “coordination SWOT”.
3. Develop a “your way to forest financing” facility.
4. Strengthen national forest financing strategies and country coordination platforms.
5. Capitalize on existing platforms for knowledge exchange and discussion
6. Enhance “e-networking” to use the power of electronic networks to connect people.