This post is also available in: Spanish
The Community Forestry Pre-Congress, an initiative by the Mesoamerican Alliance of People and Forests, will take place on September 24th and 25th in San Pedro Sula, Honduras.
BIC and more than twenty other organizations from eight different countries will participate in the Community Forestry Pre-Congress: “Community Forestry as the Basis of Governance and the Starting Point for FLEGT and REDD,” which makes up the first part of the 8th Annual Central American Forest Congress (September 25-28 in San Pedro Sula, Honduras). The pre-congress aims to set in motion a “critical mass” of knowledge from community leaders, project technicians, and civil servants around a regional agenda that strengthens community forestry’s contribution to poverty reduction and climate balance. Discussion will center on how to better support the community efforts that sustain and protect forests and involve forest communities, indigenous communities, civil society organizations, and governments.
Events for the two-day pre-congress will include:
- Keynote lectures by representatives from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the Rights and Resource Institute (RRI).
- Thematic panels about community forestry and (1) public policies and legislation versus rights and safeguards for sustainability (2) future challenges (3) governments’ and PERFOR’s national forest program agendas.
- Group work and presentations about forest policies and safeguards, community participation in REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) and FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade), and community forestry in finance and business development.
To participate in the pre-congress, you can register online with the Mesoamerican Alliance of People and Forests (in Spanish): http://precongresoforestal.alianzamesoamericana.org/