To meet the wood product, energy and food demands of a rapidly-growing global population, and meet climate adaptation and mitigation goals, forests must be managed sustainably to provide multiple benefits for economic development and ecosystem services. As such, the World Bank’s Forests Strategy supports countries in their efforts to harness the potential of forests to reduce poverty, better integrate forests into their economies, and protect and strengthen the environmental role forests play—locally and globally.

Over the last five years (Fiscal Years 12-16), the World Bank committed $1.1 billion to forests from IDA/IBRD and Trust Funds, and $1 billion were invested by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the Bank’s private lending arm, in forest product companies.

In April 2016 the WBG launched its Forest Action Plan for Fiscal Years 2016-2020 that focuses on two priority areas: investments in the sustainable forest management; and “forest-smart” interventions in which the World Bank Group will take a holistic look at forest landscapes, so that its work in sectors like agriculture, transport and energy does not erode forest capital but instead generates positive forest outcomes. WBG is increasingly supporting its country clients to implement such an integrated approach, recognizing that it is the most efficient thing to do given the complex inter-linkages among the different components of natural capital and, most importantly, it is essential for the communities that live in a reality in which all is connected: that is, in the landscape.

The Plan is underpinned by three cross-cutting themes that are key for progress on forests: climate change and resilience, rights and participation, and institutions and governance. Maintaining and restoring healthy forests is key to mitigating climate change and building resilient landscapes. Good forest governance and strong institutions are core conditions for sustainably managed forests. Clear ownership, access, and management rights over forests are also vital to build forest-dependent communities’ assets, create jobs and manage forest resources more sustainably. Continuing dialogue and exchange with civil society, private sector and other groups is central to the implementation of the Plan.

Increasingly, the World Bank Group strives to combine various sources of financing to enhance impacts on the ground. It includes resources from innovative forest-related funds such as the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, the Forest Investment Program, the BioCarbon Fund Initiative for Sustainable Forest Landscapes, and the Global Environment Facility, in a coherent programmatic approach that support, among other things, efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and to conserve, sustainably manage and enhance forest carbon stocks (an approach known as REDD+). In Mexico for example, the Forest and Climate Change project taps about $460 million from multiple sources of forest finance to advance sustainable forest management and climate action through community forestry. Private sector commitment and action around deforestation free commodity supply chains will be critical to conserve forest resources and reduce risks for businesses who rely on commodity supplies. In Ghana, for example, the Bank is working with the IFC in the cocoa sector to promote private sector practices that reduce deforestation and degradation in the high forest zone. Other public-private compacts on reducing deforestation from supply chains are underway in Zambia around cotton production, in Ethiopia around coffee production, and in Liberia around rubber production.

Last Updated: Apr 18,2017

In Mexico, where some 80% of forests are owned by indigenous and other communities, the World Bank has been supporting the Government with a series of projects that have increased sustainable forest management, forest-related jobs and the net value of forest goods and services. Since 2012 this support has been extended to all 32 states in Mexico, supporting an additional 1,000 communities and bringing 2 million hectares of forests under sustainable management.

By late 2012, similar support in Lao PDR resulted in over 400,000 people benefiting from improved management of 1.3 million hectares of forests.

In Vietnam, more than 43,000 households have received access to micro finance and technical support to establish over 76,500 hectares of forest plantations under a World Bank-supported project from 2005-2015.

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a component of the Pro-Route project was dedicated to participatory land use planning and sustainable livelihood development to reduce the rehabilitated road’s negative impacts on natural forests. Activities included participatory mapping of existing forest use, support for income-generating activities, and agricultural intensification. Also in the DRC, tools and standards for extractive industries are being developed to reduce GHG emissions from deforestation and forest degradation during exploration, exploitation, and rehabilitation activities.

In Mozambique, where around 140,000 hectares of forest are lost each year, a $47-million project is investing in the livelihoods of thousands of small and medium landholders, improving the sustainability of activities that can impact forests - including the production of timber, charcoal and agricultural crops – while simultaneously reducing deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions. The forestry sector already accounts for nearly three percent of Mozambique’s GDP (2011 estimate) and directly employs 22,000 people, but there is significant potential for increasing these benefits.

In the Republic of Congo, a recently finalized roadmap for balancing mining development and forest conservation is supporting land use planning for forest-smart development outcomes.

In Senegal, the Sustainable Participatory Energy Management Project (PROGEDE by its French acronym) helped combat Senegal’s rapidly growing demand for household fuels and the associated degradation of forests and the rural environment. The Sustainable Woodfuels Supply Management Component of the project directly benefited some 250,000 people, and established a sustainable incremental income from wood and non-wood products of about $12.5 million per year, equivalent to $40,000 on average per participating village. Of that total, more than $3.7 million (30 percent) resulted from women-led economic activities.

In Tunisia, a forest and rangeland ecosystem project guided by a national silvo-pastoral strategy is improving forest management practices.

In Liberia, the World Bank, through the Program on Forests, helped roll out a "chain of custody" system that tracks timber from forests to the point of export through barcodes and data forms. That system combated illegal logging and assisted in securing more than $27 million in net tax revenue for the state in 2008–2012.and now a Letter of Intent has been signed between the Government of Liberia and Norway and a new Forest Landscape Program has been approved ($ 37 M) that might generate possible carbon payments.  

In Belarus, the World Bank provided support for the formulation of policies and strategic planning underpinning the development of the country’s afforestation capacity, yielding an increase in forested areas from 35 percent of the country’s territory in 1994 to over 39 percent in 2013. The Bank also supported activities against illegal logging and associated forest-product sales.

In Kazakhstan, the Forest Protection and Reforestation Project rehabilitated more than 46,000 hectares of forest degraded by extensive forest fires, installed a new state-of-the-art fire detection system, and established new community-based forest management approaches.

In Brazil, local communities designed a project that is implementing agroforestry initiatives based on native and adapted fruits, establishing processing units for agriculture and non-timber forest products, and assisting in the production and commercialization of handicrafts in the Cerrado region.

In Moldova, where the majority of poor communities depend on agriculture for their livelihoods, the Moldova Agriculture Competitiveness Project is increasing the use of sustainable land management practices like forestry shelter belts, which can limit soil erosion and sequester carbon, while contributing to greater returns for farmers.

Last Updated: Apr 18,2017

The World Bank works with a wide range of stakeholders and partners at the country, regional, and global levels. The World Bank places special emphasis on partnerships that can deliver operational support to client countries through coordinated efforts. 

Platforms established under the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility and Forest Investment Program (and its associated Dedicated Grant Mechanism for Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities) have deepened the World Bank's engagement with a variety of stakeholders involved in the forest sector. The Program on Forests (PROFOR), a multi-donor partnership hosted by the World Bank, generates forest-related knowledge that helps inform World Bank forest sector investments. 

The World Bank is now a partner of the Global Landscape Forum; the Global Restoration Council; the Global Partnership for Forest and Landscape Restoration; the AFR100; the LAC 20x20 and the Tropical Forest Alliance.

Through the European Neighborhood and Partnership Instrument East Countries Forest Law Enforcement and Governance II Program (ENRI FLEG II), the World Bank supports Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Russia and Ukraine in their efforts to improve forest law enforcement and governance. 

Through its private sector arm, the International Finance Corporation, the Bank Group also encourages responsible corporate investments across the forest products supply chain and works to create a more level playing field for legitimate forest-sector enterprises that adopt sustainable forest management practices.

Last Updated: Apr 18,2017