Improving governance to protect forests: Empowering people and communities, strengthening laws and institutions

The 2018 NYDF Assessment executive summary states that forest governance improvements are too slow to measurably reduce deforestation. While some progress has been made in transparency and law enforcement, critical failures remain regarding the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities, increasing violence against forest defenders, and rampant corruption.

• Progress in forest governance, including increased transparency, improved law enforcement, and expanded demand-side measures against illegal logging in several countries, is currently too slow to measurably reduce deforestation.
• Significant governance challenges persist that enable deforestation and hinder conservation, specifically the failure to provide indigenous peoples and local communities with decision-making power and rights over forests, alongside rising violence against land and forest defenders.
• Corruption is widespread in and around forests, and a large portion of deforestation occurs illegally.

APA

Forest Declaration Assessment (2018). Improving governance to protect forests: Empowering people and communities, strengthening laws and institutions. https://forestdeclaration.org/resources/improving-governance-to-protect-forests-2018-nydf-executive-summary/

Chicago

Forest Declaration Assessment. Improving governance to protect forests: Empowering people and communities, strengthening laws and institutions. 2018. https://forestdeclaration.org/resources/improving-governance-to-protect-forests-2018-nydf-executive-summary/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Forest Declaration Assessment |title=Improving governance to protect forests: Empowering people and communities, strengthening laws and institutions |date=2018 |url=https://forestdeclaration.org/resources/improving-governance-to-protect-forests-2018-nydf-executive-summary/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{forestdeclarationassessment2018improving, author = {{Forest Declaration Assessment}}, title = {{Improving governance to protect forests: Empowering people and communities, strengthening laws and institutions}}, institution = {Forest Declaration Assessment}, year = {2018}, url = {https://forestdeclaration.org/resources/improving-governance-to-protect-forests-2018-nydf-executive-summary/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }