•  uxbridge, canada
• Tuesday, September 27, 2011
• Inter Press Service

Government policies are seldom lauded, yet Rwanda's forest policy has resulted in a 37-percent increase in forest cover on a continent better known for deforestation and desertification.

Rwanda's National Forest Policy has also resulted in reduced erosion, improved local water supplies and livelihoods, while helping ensure peace in a country still recovering from the 1994 genocide. Now Rwanda can also be known as the winner of the prestigious Future Policy Award for 2011.

'Rwanda has sought not only to make its forests a national priority, but has also used them as a platform to revolutionise its stances on women's rights and creating a healthy environment,' said Wangari Maathai, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and founder of the Green Belt Movement.

She issued a statement for the award ceremony in New York City last week just days before her death from cancer in Nairobi Monday at the age of 71. 'Rwanda has been a very divided country since the 1994 genocide but this policy is helping to bring peace and value to the people,' said Alexandra Wandel, director of the World Future Council, which administers the Future Policy Awards.

The World Future Council is an international policy research organisation based in Hamburg, Germany that provides decision-makers with effective policy solutions. 'Our aim is to inspire other countries to adapt these successful policies to their individual needs.' said Wandel told IPS.

This year's award celebrates the UN Year of the Forest and highlights the critical importance of forests around the world - and especially for the 1.6 billion people who directly depend on them, she said.

Some 20 forest-related policies were submitted this year. Rwanda's National Forest Policy was awarded the gold while The Gambia's Community Forest Policy and the U.S. Lacey Act and 2008 amendment received the Silver Awards. An international panel of experts selected the winners based on policies that were the most effective in the conservation and sustainable development of forests for the benefit of current and future generations.

The evaluation criteria for the best forest policies are wide-ranging, including delivering essential benefits to local people now and in the long term, said Jan McAlpine, director of the UN Forum on Forests Secretariat and one of the judges.

'The panel (of experts) receives a detailed analysis of the effectiveness of the policies that has been 'peer-reviewed' by NGOs, and others,' McAlpine told IPS. 'It's rare that a country gets complimented for doing something good.'

The biggest threats to forests are oil palm, cattle and agriculture such as soy production, she said. Forest policies in most countries need to be changed usually because they are focussed on timber production or on conservation and don't consider forests as key part of the ecological, social and economic landscape, she said.

There is 'huge interest in looking at good policies that are replicable', she said. 'It is very impressive what the World Future Council is doing.' This year, Rwanda's forest policy was the hands' down winner. 'It's quite stunning what they've accomplished,' said McAlpine.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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