Practical guide on law reforms in the forest sector

The document outlines a comprehensive approach to forest sector law reform, emphasizing the necessity of a clear forest policy, inclusive stakeholder participation, and a structured, iterative process. It provides technical guidance on drafting clear, coherent laws that comply with legal hierarchies and avoid contradictions with other sectoral legislation. Through case studies from Ghana, the Republic of Congo, Liberia, and Côte d’Ivoire, the guide demonstrates how civil society engagement and targeted advocacy can lead to improved forest governance, including the recognition of community land rights and the implementation of sustainable management principles.

• A qualitative legal reform process must be preceded by a clear national strategic forest policy, as the law serves as the instrument for implementing that determined strategy.
• Effective legal reform requires a preliminary analysis of the existing legal framework to identify 'legal loopholes' and inconsistencies between forestry legislation and other sectors such as mining, agriculture, and land rights.
• Meaningful stakeholder participation must go beyond simple consultation to include active engagement and dialogue, ensuring that laws are equitable, consensual, and practically feasible in their local context.
• To ensure accessibility and meaningful participation, draft legal texts should avoid overly technical language and be supported by graphics, visuals, and explanatory documents.
• Laws should be designed following a strict legal hierarchy, ensuring that regulations and laws comply with the Constitution and ratified international treaties to avoid being invalidated.
• In Ghana, civil society advocacy led to the Timber Resources Management and Legality Licensing Regulation 2017 (LI 2254), which addressed an opaque permit allocation process and aligned the regime with the EU-FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA).
• In the Republic of Congo, structured advocacy by civil society with parliamentarians contributed to the recognition of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) and the granting of management rights for 'community forests' in the Forest Code.
• Liberia's Land Rights Act of 2018 expanded on previous forestry laws by granting ownership of customary land to communities and explicitly ensuring equal rights for women in the management and use of that land.
• In Côte d’Ivoire, the use of a multi-stakeholder legal working group (LWG) provided a critical interface between the Ministry of Forests and other actors, facilitating the development of the 2019 Forest Code.

APA

Faure, N., Venisnik, T., & Ichou, B. (2020). Practical guide on law reforms in the forest sector. ClientEarth. https://www.clientearth.org/media/dluf4w3j/practical-guide-on-law-reforms-in-the-forest-sector-ce-en.pdf

Chicago

Faure, Nathalie, Tanja Venisnik, and Benjamin Ichou. Practical guide on law reforms in the forest sector. ClientEarth, 2020. https://www.clientearth.org/media/dluf4w3j/practical-guide-on-law-reforms-in-the-forest-sector-ce-en.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Faure |first1=Nathalie |last2=Venisnik |first2=Tanja |last3=Ichou |first3=Benjamin |title=Practical guide on law reforms in the forest sector |publisher=ClientEarth |date=June 2020 |url=https://www.clientearth.org/media/dluf4w3j/practical-guide-on-law-reforms-in-the-forest-sector-ce-en.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{faure2020practical, author = {Faure, Nathalie and Venisnik, Tanja and Ichou, Benjamin}, title = {{Practical guide on law reforms in the forest sector}}, institution = {ClientEarth}, year = {2020}, month = jun, url = {https://www.clientearth.org/media/dluf4w3j/practical-guide-on-law-reforms-in-the-forest-sector-ce-en.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }