Within the last year, the resources and markets aspect of the Forest Programme has been involved in the following three main areas through the Livelihoods and Landscapes Initiative:
- Enterprise Development – Business development and marketing support for small-scale, forest-based enterprises.
The field of enterprise development (ED), which can be understood as all those activities relating to the establishment and advancement of small and medium enterprises, has been a major focus of international activity over the past decade. The drivers of this activity, both in international development and business circles has been credited to both the diversification of business needs as well as a growing imperative to created a link between business and livelihoods in many parts of the world. As a result, many resources have been developed to serve a broad range of ED needs.
An initial output is a database of ED resources that brings together information relevant to enterprise development activities, particularly in the context of IUCN’s Livelihoods and Landscapes Strategy (LLS). To download the database, click here.
- Best practice standards and guidelines – relevant to forest goods and services.
This work is designed to draw attention on best practice standards and guidelines that have been developed to shape the behaviour of operations that impact on forest landscapes and their-related goods and services. A specific emphasis has been placed on standards and guidelines relevant to private sector operations.
An initial output of this work stream is a best practice ‘toolkit’ of best practice standards and guidelines which reviews almost one hundred standards, guidelines, protocols, conventions, principles, criteria, action plans, and initiatives.
- A Gateway to PES – Developing payments for ecosystem services The main objective of this work is to provide an introduction and sense of direction (i.e. a “Gateway”) into the complicated world of payments for ecosystem services (PES). It is by no means intended to serve as a comprehensive overview of this vast field. It provides one entry point for engaging in PES.
At this stage, the Gateway to PES takes the form of an annotated resource guide for LLS practitioners. However, it was created to serve as the basis for the development of an internet-based resource guide. Thus, the Gateway to PES will evolve from its current form into a more interactive and user-friendly website. Still a working document, comments and suggestions on improving the Gateway are warmly welcomed. To download the guide, click here.
