Has your country incorporated relevant parts of the work programme into your national biodiversity strategies and action plans and national forest programmes?
Yes, please describe constraints/obstacles encountered in the process
Yes, please describe lessons learned
Yes, please describe targets for priority actions in the programme of work
Further comments on the incorporation of relevant parts of the work programme into your NBSAP and forest programmes
The country forest strategies in the UK and the various action programmes related to forest biological diversity were drawn up prior to the CBD’s work programme on forest biological diversity being adopted. The Work Programme will be taken into account in the course of their review and revision.
Cayman is fortunate in possessing significant stands of intact old growth Caribbean dry forest, and mangrove wetland. The majority of forest land remains in private ownership and subject to threat of clearance / fragmentation. The National Trust for the Cayman Islands NTCI has established programmes of land purchase dedicated to securing protected areas in the Central Mangrove Wetland CMW and Mastic Trail (Cayman’s largest contiguous area of dry forest). The Mastic forest is also Cayman’s most biodiverse terrestrial habitat, and together with the CMW and Barkers area, has been identified as priority sites for incorporation into a National System of Protected Areas. Unprotected portions of these areas are currently at risk from proposed plans for a roads corridor in Grand Cayman. Priority sites for protection have also been identified on the Sister Islands. The (draft) National Conservation Law provides a framework for these designations, and additionally enables conservation management practice to be applied to threatened species and habitats. Fragmentation of dry forest in Cayman Brac has arisen since the recent expansion of the roads network, enabling ingress of residential development and invasive species into previously intact forest habitat.
Please indicate what recently applied tools (policy, planning, management, assessment and measurement) and measures, if any, your country is using to implement and assess the programme of work. Please indicate what tools and measures would assist the implementation.
Following adoption of the work programme an assessment of relevant activity was carried out, which was used to produce the UK’s voluntary report on implementation of the expanded programme of work.
The booklet produced by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Australia and the Program on Forests (PROFOR) ‘Implementing the Proposals for Action of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests and the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests’, which also provides references to the CBD’S forest biodiversity work programme as well as relevant COP decisions, provides a useful tool to assess implementation.
Please indicate to what extent and how your country has involved indigenous and local communities, and respected their rights and interests, in implementing the programme of work.
Within the UK the public and local communities are being encouraged to become more involved in all levels of forest decision making, from policy to practical site work. This is an objective of all the country strategies and will be a key element of their revision.
Please indicate what efforts your country has made towards capacity building in human and capital resources for the implementation of the programme of work.
Within each Country Forestry Strategy, priorities have been identified for action on forest biological diversity and there is collaboration across a wide range of Departments and Agencies to deliver these.
Please indicate how your country has collaborated and cooperated (e.g., south-south, north-south, south-north, north-north) with other governments, regional or international organizations in implementing the programme of work. Please also indicate what are the constraints and/or needs identified.
The UK is collaborating on a number of projects related to forest biological diversity with partners in Europe, including using links created through the European Union (EU)3 and the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE)4. Collaboration also occurs through implementation of the European Union Habitats and Species Directive5 and co-operation on protected forest sites through the EU Cost programme ‘Protected forest areas in Europe – analysis and harmonisation’.
The UK is working with a broad range of partners to address the issue of Forest Law Enforcement and Governance and we are also working with developing countries on the priorities they have identified linked to forest biological diversity. An important area of EU collaboration is on the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan, which sets out ways that the EU can tackle the problem of illegal logging and associated trade. It includes the negotiation of voluntary partnership agreements, setting up of a legality licensing scheme in partner countries, provision of development assistance, and legislative action in the EU. Progress has been made on developing the required legislation in the EU and initial discussions on a possible voluntary system have taken place with several producer countries, including Malaysia and Ghana.
