Welcome

Introduction to this learning platform

The EU-funded project: “Developing alternatives for illegal chainsaw lumbering through multi-stakeholder dialogue in Ghana and Guyana” aims to establish multi-stakeholder dialogue in both Ghana and Guyana as a mechanism to reduce the level of conflict and illegality related to chainsaw milling by local communities.It is anticipated that establishing these platforms in both Guyana and Ghana (on different levels) are expected to contribute to the 3 objectives of the above project:

a) to reduce poverty and promote viable livelihoods in forest-dependent communities;
b) to reduce the occurrence of illegal logging; and
c) to promote the conservation and sustainable management of tropical forests in
developing countries.

This web-based learning platform is established after a training of facilitators to guide the above process. The training took place from 19th - 30th of May 2008 in Kumasi in Ghana and was attended by project staff from Ghana (13) and Guyana (3). Both the training and consequent coaching through this website will offer the affected stakeholders in both countries the opportunity to adjust perception of the nature of the identified problems and create shared views of solutions. The facilitated dialogue will be based on the participatory analysis of information that will help identify and accept the issues surrounding chainsaw lumbering and reduce the controversies. A broadly supported agenda of actions is aimed for to address the conditions that promote illegal chainsaw lumbering and to transform current chainsaw lumbering strategies into more acceptable and sustainable forms in order to reduce illegal logging and improve local livelihoods. It is believed that using a “landscape approach” will assist in aligning livelihood improvement objectives with natural resources management, or “wise use of the forest” objectives.

The success of an effective multi-stakeholder dialogue and learning will depend on the extent to which the stakeholders believe in the role of such a mechanism to produce results, and the willingness of each group to accept outcomes of the process, even if they represent a change away from fixed ideas and established positions. Results will therefore depend to an important extent on the skilled design and facilitation of the process. The training in Kumasi was a start to improve the skills of the project facilitators; this website aims to reinforce learning and sharing of experiences for the successful conclusion of the multi-stakeholder dialogue (MSD).

How to use this website?

You can navigate through the content of this site by using the menu (pages, and sub-pages) in the left-hand corner. The site is built up around 5 major blocks:

1. Concepts and principles of multistakeholder processes, zooming in on the conceptual design, planning and facilitation of the MSD in both Ghana and Guyana;
2. The context of the MSD is the environmental governance arena. The current thinking on "good governance" and decentralisation in NRM are reviewed with special reference to the EU FLEGT initiative and the current EU/Ghana Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) negotiations;
3. Introduction to "thinking in landscapes";
4. Skills required to perform effectively as facilitator;
5. Space for guided discussion and sharing of experiences in facilitating an MSD in both Ghana and Guyana.

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