A social and gender analysis of FLEGT: Analyzing opportunities and risks for wood processing and furniture small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Lao PDR
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Illegal logging and deforestation has become a pervasive issue globally contributing to environmental degradation and climate change in recent decades. Various policy measures have been enacted to mitigate unethical and extractive practices that have jeopardized forest ecosystems and the communities dependent on them, such as the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) program. Increasingly, there has been a growing body of research on the implications of FLEGT-related policies on the timber supply chain in VPA negotiating countries. While FLEGT is touted to improve forest governance and provide economic benefits, the commercialization and market formalization of FLEGT processes render dangerous possibilities for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). While recent efforts have assessed how FLEGT can ameliorate timber product output and reduce illegal forest activity, most of this analysis is disaggregated by the size and scale of timber producing operations, and has not considered the social and gendered implications of these policies on various actors along the timber production supply chain. Through a case study of Xayaboury, Lao PDR, our research examined how the VPA process will impact SMEs, and consequently the diverse demographic populations within them. Through focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews with government officials, private sector, civil societies, and SME labourers and owners from the local to the national level, we examined how FLEGT policies has social and gender ramifications in Lao wood processing and furniture SMEs. This research found that small-scale sawmills, women labourers, and local-level women's groups and civil societies are particulalry met with vulnerability due to FLEGT, with few to none safeguarding policies protecting their rights. We argue that policy revisions within the FLEGT and Forestry policies should be amended to protect marginalized communities' rights amidst timber legality and policy changes.
Keywords: Gender, Deforestation and forest degradation, Social protection, Sustainable forest management, Illegal trade
ID: 3623113