PLANNING FOR THE FORESTRY SECTOR OF SRI LANKA

Abstract

Forest sector planning depends on a general framework to help define and implementforest conservation and sustainable management. The framework must strive to balanceenvironmental and economic objectives, promote social and cultural functions of forests,and define the level of participation of the public and private sector. At all levels ofplanning related to forests, the guiding question should be; forests for whom and for what?Hence planning must be designed to promote a wide and open dialogue on this question.

The focus on planning at present is based on sustainable forest management for multiplebenefits. This shift marks a significant change from production and managementtechniques designed to ensure a sustained commodity flow over time, to one that ensuresto socio-economic, environmental and ecological benefit flows, while maintaining thepotential to respond to evolving demands.

Forestry sector planning is the process of seeking, through time and space, the besttranslation of national policy statements into goals and means in order to implement theobjectives of the policy. In line with this concept the National Forestry Policy of 1995(NFP) was formulated as a basis for planning for the forestry sector of this country.

In developing countries, most pressures on forests originate outside forestry. Nationalfiscal, monetary, trade, pricing and investment policies directly and indirectly affect thedemand for land and forests. At the same time, policies and programmes in forestry areexpected to support higher national goals. Identifying mechanisms to plan within multisectoraland macroeconomic perspectives is a large part of the planning challenge facingforestry. Planning has to be conceived as a participatory activity in which "ownership" ofthe process and result is widely shared by all stakeholders.

The development of the Forestry Sector Master Plan (FSMP) was based on the NFP, andhence they are complementary. The FSMP is a long term development framework, whichwhen implemented will ensure that our forests and other biodiversity resources, will beconserved, and that forests can provide environmental services and forestry products tomeet the needs of the people sustainably. Based on the programme componentsrecommended in the FSMP, a Five-Year Implementation Programme (FYIP) was preparedas a preparatory programme for the full-scale implementation of the NFP and the FSMP.

The FYIP stresses the importance of conservation, and provides a new direction to theforestry sector of this country; a major role for the people and the non-state sector inforestry development activities and efficient management of forest resources.

Keeping in line with the participatory concept, the approach followed in the planningprocess was a collaborative exercise where all stakeholders were able to take part. For theFYIP the stakeholders were able to directly contribute to developing the programmecomponents. The success of the FYIP can only be judged once implemented. The successof planning can be judged by the extent to which plans are accepted by society, and thecompeting interest in it, and the degree to which planning actually guides decision makingand resource allocation.