Forest Concession Policies and Revenue Systems : Country Experience and Policy Changes for Sustainable Tropical Forestry

Forest concessions have been an important element of forestry, and forest management in many countries, including many developing countries. More often than not, the concessions experience of these countries has not been successful, and, improving their performance is not likely to be popular. Therefore, if sustainable management if tropical forests is to be achieved, and deforestation brought under control, it may be necessary to strengthen the on-the-ground performance of existing forest concessions, and to control the allocation of new concessions. The forest concessions discussed in this study involve both forest utilization contracts, and forest management services contracts. Part one of the study examines the forest concessions experience on public lands, with a focus on natural forests in developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Experiences provide the basis for proposals to strengthen the allocation of forest concessions, and improve their forest, and environmental management. Economic, and procedural incentives for improved forest management performance are introduced, as are proposals to strengthen monitoring, supervision, and compliance with contract terms. Part two evaluates forest revenue systems, and presents proposals for revised forest fees, designed to reflect the values of both the timber, and the concessions. Additional concessions suggest ways to ease the collection of fees, and to structure forest fees to provide economic incentives for concession management, and performance.