Quebec Declaration on:
Strengthening Global Partnerships to Advance Sustainable Development of Non-Wood Forest Products

World Forestry Congress, Side Event, 20 September 2003

The full-day side event was organized by the International Union of Forestry Research Organization (IUFRO, Group 5.11 Non Wood Forest Products), the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N. (FAO Non- Wood Forest Products Programme) and was attended by approximately 50 people from around the world. The objectives of the meeting were to identify and prioritize emerging issues for the development of the NWFP sector; and to draw the attention of the WFC and forest resources decision makers on key policy and research recommendations for the years ahead.

Background documents were prepared based on the outcome of a pre-Congress global e-consultation process along the themes: Commercialization: A reality check; Linking NWFP Management with Livelihood Development; and Institutional and Policy Dimensions. The 3 background papers and participant contributions were presented and discussed in plenary that was followed by group discussions along the WFC themes: Forests for the Planet; and Forests for People.

Rationale

• NWFP’s are of growing importance in both the North and the South. There is increasing evidence of this importance in the North.
• NWFPs are harvested from wild to intensively managed systems.
• NWFP uses, users and production approaches change over time, and are significant at all levels of society, from local to global.
• There are important opportunities to manage forests for multiple purposes and products that will increase forest values.

Issue 1: There is a profound lack of information necessary to realize the full benefits of NWFPs for individual, community and national well-being; decision-makers, forest managers and resource users alike lack information about economic, ecological and social characteristics of NWFPs and their uses.

Recommendation 1a: The participants of the side event on NWFPs of the WFC recommend that government efforts be strengthened to conduct research and generate, compile and disseminate information and statistics to key stakeholders on NWFP resources and their socioeconomic and ecological values.

Recommendation 1b: The participants recommend that governments and development agencies support education and public awareness programs for NWFP conservation and sustainable use.

Issue 2: Lack of protected rights to access and benefit from NWFP resources can adversely affect their conservation and sustainable use and discourage investment in the resource.

Recommendation 2a: The participants recommend that governments, with assistance from concerned agencies and organizations, develop and implement policies and legislation to provide secure access and benefits to the people whose livelihoods are dependent on or supplemented by non-wood forest products.

Recommendation 2b: The participants recommend that governments, with assistance from concerned agencies and organizations, ensure that stakeholders, particularly collectors, growers and traders are provided incentives to sustainably manage NWFP resources.

Issue 3: Individuals, communities and institutions generally lack the technical, financial, political and social capacity to influence policies and generate information necessary to manage and monitor NWFP resources effectively.

Recommendation 3a: The participants recommend that governments, with assistance from concerned agencies and organizations, support programs and projects to build individual, institutional, and community-based capacity to manage NWFPs through multi-stakeholder participation.

Recommendation 3b: The participants recommend that governments and research agencies give priority to research and the development and dissemination of management practices to be integrated into multi-purpose forest and agroforest resource management.
 

These statements and recommendations are supported by documents and summaries of the side event produced by contributors and participants of the side event and e-consultation and will be found at:

http://www.sfp.forprod.vt.edu

*The Quebec Declaration is also available in PDF format.