Policy Series

Encouraging greater domestic use of legal and sustainable tropical wood Policy Brief

ITTO promotes sustainable wood use in tropical countries. This policy brief is based on a review of three Japanese-funded projects in southeast Asia promoting sustainable utilization of tropical timber in domestic markets. Tropical countries are consuming an increasing proportion of their wood production domestically, making the promotion of policies to encourage sustainability a priority. This policy brief contains a range of findings from these projects and recommendations for countries and organizations like ITTO to ensure that domestic consumption of tropical timber is legal and sustainable.

The full unedited report on which this policy brief is based (Sustainable Wood Use in Selected Countries of Southeast Asia Region–PP-A/53-323H) is posted below. The full report is available in English only.

ITTO criteria and indicators for the sustainable management of African tropical forests

ITTO pioneered the development and use of criteria and indicators (C&I) to monitor, assess and report on tropical forests in the early 1990s, and the most recent version of the globally applicable ITTO C&I was published in 2016. African member countries, who benefited from an ITTO-funded regional C&I capacity-building programme conducted between 2000 and 2010, requested support to develop a set of C&I for Africa, focusing on lessons learned under that programme and the specific needs and characteristics of African forests. This publication is the result.

Lessons for working well together in African forests Policy Brief

This policy brief summarizes the lessons learnt from ten ITTO projects in West and Central Africa and proposes areas for future collaboration between ITTO and the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD).

Improving outcomes for biodiversity and people Policy Brief

This report summarizes the outcomes of a technical review of the ITTO–CBD Collaborative Initiative for Tropical Forest Biodiversity conducted in 2020 and offers recommendations for building on its achievements.

Guidelines for forest landscape restoration in the tropics Policy Brief

This is the policy brief for the guidelines on forest landscape restoration (FLR) in the tropics which are based on vast recent experiences in implementing FLR in the field and the invaluable inputs of forest landscape specialists and institutions from around the globe.

Guidelines for forest landscape restoration in the tropics

These guidelines on forest landscape restoration (FLR) in the tropics are based on vast recent experiences in implementing FLR in the field and the invaluable inputs of forest landscape specialists and institutions from around the globe. The guidelines, which include 18 case studies from the three tropical regions, are designed to provide a basis for policy decisions and a technical guide that can be used or adapted to the needs and capacities of users. They constitute an international reference document for the development and improvement of national and subnational guidelines on FLR in the tropics.

ITTO Environmental and Social Management Guidelines

The ITTO Environmental and Social Management Guidelines, formalizes the Organization’s commitment by providing a user-friendly and implementable system for integrating safeguards and risk management into the ITTO project-cycle process. The publication builds on and consolidates guidance contained in various existing ITTO guidelines and manuals and draws on best practices in other global bodies in mitigating and preventing harm to people and the environment.

ITTO policy guidelines on gender equality and empowering women

ITTO is committed to gender mainstreaming and enhancing gender equality outcomes across its policy and project work. ITTO’s policy guidelines on gender equality and empowering women (GEEW) institutionalize this commitment. The Policy Guidelines serve as a framework for gender integration and mainstreaming in ITTO policies, plans, programmes, projects, activities and internal functioning and are intended to enhance the impact and effectiveness of the Organization’s operations in all areas and at all levels.

Criteria and indicators for the sustainable management of tropical forests

This publication is an update to ITTO's Criteria for the Measurement of Sustainable Tropical Forest Management which was produced to assist in monitoring and assessing the condition of natural tropical forests in the Organization’s producer member countries and in identifying improvements needed in forest practices.

Voluntary guidelines for the sustainable management of natural tropical forests

This publication is an update of ITTO’s first policy guidance document on the management of natural tropical forests published in 1990. The new voluntary guidelines are supported with increased knowledge and the emergence of a wide range of new challenges and opportunities for tropical forest management. It is designed to serve as guidance for addressing the policy, legal, governance, institutional, ecological, social and economic issues that need to be taken into account in the planning, implementation and evaluation of SFM in natural tropical forests to ensure the sustainable provision of forest goods and environmental services.

Rewarding the service providers

The aim of the policy brief is to increase awareness among policymakers and the general public about the vital role of tropical forests in providing environmental services and the increasing need for beneficiaries to compensate forest owners or managers for those services. It sets out the rationale for, and the constraints faced by, PES schemes, and key recommendations for scaling them up.

ITTO/IUCN guidelines for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in tropical timber production forests

This publication, a complete revision and updating of ITTO's original Biodiversity Guidelines published in 1993, sets out the specific actions that policymakers, forest managers and other stakeholders should take to improve biodiversity conservation in tropical production forests.

Revised ITTO criteria and indicators for the sustainable management of tropical forests including reporting format

ITTO's criteria and indicators for the sustainable management of natural tropical forest are tools for monitoring, assessment and reporting on forest management in tropical member countries. This 2005 document includes a simplified set of indicators and a shortened format for reporting.

ATO/ITTO principles, criteria and indicators for the sustainable management of African natural tropical forests

A joint publication of ITTO and the African Timber Organization (ATO), this document is designed to guide the African member countries of ATO and ITTO in the sustainable management of their natural tropical forests.

ITTO guidelines for the restoration, management and rehabilitation of degraded and secondary tropical forests

This publication, developed by a team of experts from ITTO and organizations such as CIFOR, FAO, IUCN, WWF International and national agencies, is part of a substantial effort by ITTO and its partners to deal with degraded forest and forest land.

ITTO mangrove workplan 2002-2006

This document will guide the mangrove-related work of ITTO and its member countries until 2006.

Criteria and indicators for sustainable management of natural tropical forests

The purpose of ITTO's criteria and indicators is to provide member countries with an improved tool for assessing changes and trends in forest conditions and management systems at the national and forest management unit levels.

ITTO guidelines on fire management in tropical forests

These guidelines provide a basis on which policy-makers and managers at various levels can develop programs and projects to address specific national, socioeconomic and natural problems related to fire in natural and planted tropical forests.

Criteria for the measurement of sustainable tropical forest management (PS3)