Policy for the forestry sector in the Commonwealth of Dominica

Background

The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry of the Commonwealth of Dominica, with the support of the European Union (EU) Special Framework Assistance (SFA) 2006 provided the funding for technical assistance towards the drafting of a new Forest Policy for the Commonwealth of Dominica.

Objectives

CANARI provided technical assistance to support the drafting of a National Forest Policy for the Commonwealth of Dominica that will set the overall guidance for the management of the country’s natural resources. The overall objective of the policy will be the conservation, protection, management and utilisation of the nation’s forest resources, while ensuring that the productive capacity of the forests for both goods and services is maintained or enhanced.

The policy process will draw on and build on the previous policy statement and other relevant elements of the existing legal and legislative framework for the management of forest in the Commonwealth of Dominica. The policy process will aim at engaging stakeholders in developing a consensus on the vision, objectives, principles, strategies and institutional arrangements that should guide the use, management and conservation of forests in the Commonwealth of Dominica.

The primary focus of this process will be:

to summarise and harmonise existing policy objectives and instruments;
to identify possible policy gaps or conflicts;
to resolve outstanding policy issues and define new policy objectives and instruments wherever they are required.

The project activities will be developed in a three-phase process:

Review of existing policy statement and review of key literature
Facilitation of participatory visioning and planning for forest conservation, protection, management and use in Dominica
Drafting of Policy Statement and other key documents

Outputs

The draft National Forest Policy for the Commonwealth of Dominica is currently before Cabinet, pending approval.