Recent developments

Asia-Pacific Forestry Week

Currently, the Sectoral Activities Programme (SECTOR) is discussing with the World Bank and other actors the possibility of joint activities to combat illegal logging in Asia. This will gain momentum during the Asia-Pacific Forestry Week 2008, when SECTOR will take part in meetings specifically related to the topic, and discuss follow-up actions. For more information, see here.

Sustainable development and green jobs

The recent Green Jobs Initiative is of particular relevance to the forestry sector, where environmental degradation and decent work deficits go hand-in-hand, therefore there is a rationale for addressing both sets of issues in tandem. While Green Jobs is still at a phase of planning and studies, SECTOR is carrying out its own analyses on the forestry sector.

Certification

The most recent ILO tripartite international meeting on forestry was held in January 2005. The purpose of the meeting was to consider and review a draft and adopt guidelines for labour inspection in forestry. These guidelines raise some of the main issues and general principles of labour standards and their inspection in the forestry sector. They are aimed at three main users: (a) labour inspectors/certifiers; (b) forest managers; and (c) organizations responsible for training both forest management staff and inspectors. The meeting has led to the implementation of national workshops on the same theme.

SECTOR's knowledge and expertise

ILO's Sectoral Activities Branch (SECTOR) has acquired substantial expertise in forest worker and supervisor training through studies and field projects in a number of countries, such as Fiji, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and elsewhere. For more information, see SECTOR Note: "SECTOR's knowledge and expertise" (pdf, 74k).