Applying the ITTO-IUCN guidelines for the conservation of biodiversity in tropical production forests

Abstract

[Extract] ITTO has an important role in negotiating 'normative' guidelines that establish best practice in different domains of forestry. In 1993, a set of Guidelines for the Conservation of Biodiversity in Tropical Production Forests was published. These were informally reviewed by ITTO and its partner the International Union for Conservation of Nature – IUCN – in 2004 and it was decided that although the Guidelines were technically correct they did not address a lot of the policy issues that were fundamental to achieving better conservation outcomes – in addition they were not being widely applied. ITTO and IUCN therefore decided to embark upon a more inclusive process of developing a new set of Guidelines. Workshops were convened with representatives of major international organizations concerned with forest conservation, international conservation ngos, research scientists working on forest biodiversity and forest managers from the private sector.