Legal frameworks and enforcement
Unclear legal frameworks governing land allocation, land use and forest conversion — and a lack of implementation of and compliance with these frameworks — are key underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation in tropical countries. These factors contribute to illegal land allocation and forest conversion, including for the expansion of commercial agriculture.
Addressing these issues requires understanding of gaps and weaknesses of legal frameworks governing land allocation, land use and forest conversion. Independent monitoring of the implementation of relevant legal frameworks by non-state actors is fundamental to spurring governance reforms. Providing legal compliance incentives for forest and agriculture sector actors also supports deforestation-free commodity production and related trade, and promotes better land-use governance.
The work of the EU REDD Facility provides lessons and experiences in clarifying legal frameworks and incentives for compliance at subnational and national levels.
Actions |
Legal frameworks’ contribution to forest-related climate change targets in Indonesia | |
Combining independent monitoring of forest governance and REDD+ | |
Creating incentives for logging companies to engage in REDD+ in the Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
Strengthening the participation of civil society in REDD+ in the Republic of the Congo | |
Linking REDD+ and FLEGT at the provincial level in the Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
Making information on FLEGT and REDD+ more accessible in the Republic of the Congo | |
Fostering South-south cooperation with Brazil in the Democratic Republic of the Congo | |
Exploring synergies between the FLEGT VPA legality definition and REDD+ safeguards in Vietnam | |
More information
- EU REDD Facility: Strategic orientations 2018-2022
- Making FLEGT and REDD+ work together: Insights and activities 2013-2017
- EU REDD Facility: About our tools
- Deforestation-free commodity trade — Scaling-up implementation with jurisdictions
- Achieving zero-deforestation commitments — Lessons from FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements