Emerging Partnerships - Local forest governance in Pando, Bolivia

The department of Pando, Bolivia, is located in southwest Amazonia in the north of the country, away from central governmental influence. The economy has always been dependent on its forests. Forest governance is defined as the process in which the government takes into account the opinions and ideas of the private sector and civil society in regulating the sustainable use and protection of forests for the benefit of present and future generations, including the social, economic and ecological well-being of the region. Decentralization and democratization are important steps in achieving ‘good governance’. The governance trend has led to all kinds of inter-institutional collaborations, of which partnerships are seen to be the most important. The different actors in the forest governance process form different types of partnerships, with varying degrees of success. Bolivia is experiencing great political and economic change. In the 1990s, several new laws were introduced that influence the forest governance process. The different actors form five different types of partnerships: Public-community partnerships, public-private partnerships, public-community partnerships, NGO-community partnerships and multi-sector partnerships. The strenghts, weaknesses, oppurtunities and threats of these partnerships are analyzed, and reccomendations made to the stakeholders in Pando, in order for partnerships to contribute in a meaningful way to a forest governance process that is sustainable in the ecological, economical and social sense