Program Summary
This activity is supporting Dominica to manage its forestry sector in an integrated and sustainable manner.
Challenge
A Country Forest Note, funded by PROGREEN, was developed for Dominica and identified the key development challenges facing Dominica’s forest sector regulatory framework, including fragmentation, insufficient coordination, lack of databased decision support, and weak implementation effectiveness. The conventionally measured direct economic contribution of the forest sector in Dominica is insignificant, but almost all economic activities are highly dependent on the services provided by forest ecosystems. Presently, Dominica lacks a timber industry, and wood processing and wood-based manufacturing, as well as the production of non-timber forest products are absent. Nevertheless, forests are essential for sectors like tourism, agriculture, and water management. In addition, forest resources are a key source of the island’s high biodiversity and are culturally important for the Kalinago (a unique population of pre-Columbian indigenous people). In total, an estimated 20 percent of jobs in Dominica are indirectly linked to forests, which cover 60 percent of the country.
Laws regulating the forest sector are dated and incomplete and the institutional framework is complicated and fragmented involving different ministries with various responsibilities. Cross-cutting responsibilities require an improved coordination mechanism, better support systems, and improved data collection and management. Although there are several major policies serving adjacent sectors that reference forest resources, these are not coordinated and there is no official long-term strategic document that focuses specifically on the forest sector. The project aims to address these challenges through this ASA support.
Approach
PROGREEN activities will support Dominica in addressing the key gaps and opportunities identified in the Country Forest Note, including modernizing its forest sector and creating a long-term vision, coordinated across sectors, for forest management and entrepreneurship. This project is directly relevant to PROGREEN’s objective of strengthening forest management through cross-sectoral solutions.