Promoting Forest Peoples Interests in International Forest Policy Making

About this grant

This grant will support the work of the Stichting Forest Peoples Programme to ensure that the rights and interests of forest peoples are given priority in the policies and programs of the World Bank Group, the Inter-American Development Bank and related private-sector activities.The project maintains a "bottom up" approach to advocacy by assisting forest peoples themselves to engage in policy debates and ensuring that the lessons learned from the program’s field projects are effectively used in the advocacy process.Recent program accomplishments included producing numerous briefings and technical reports to better inform forest-dependent communities on issues; raising awareness of the persistent gap between rhetoric and reality in World Bank policies and practices; working to promote greater accountability of the private sector and more effective regulation of investments and business ventures affecting forest-dependent communities; increasing the private sector’s awareness about the concerns of indigenous peoples with respect to extractive industries, forest law enforcement, certification programs and problems with industrial plantations; and helping develop JP Morgan-Chase Bank’s social policy, which committed the bank to respect indigenous peoples’ rights.