This National Forestry Policy is a 10-year framework aiming to promote the conservation, sustainable management, and restoration of forests to increase forest cover and ensure the continued provision of ecosystem services. Its implementation is expected to strengthen forestry research, improve forest management planning, promote beekeeping development, regulate plantations, and enhance the delivery of forestry extension services. The Policy also seeks to expand community forest management, strengthen local stewardship, and increase the area of forests managed under approved management plans. In addition, private sector participation will be instrumental in improving forest resource management and promoting value addition to forest products. These efforts are expected to create employment opportunities, enhance livelihoods, particularly in rural communities, and increase the forestry sector's contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Furthermore, establishing and strengthening forest monitoring and information management systems will support evidence-based forest planning and decision-making. The Policy will also enhance the role of forests in climate change mitigation and adaptation, contributing to broader environmental sustainability and resilience. The Policy outlines the following objectives and related measures (i) Sustainable Forest Resources and Ecosystem Management, aimed at increasing forest cover through sustainable forest management, improved multisectoral coordination and monitoring, efficient charcoal technologies, and forest restoration through assisted natural regeneration; (ii) Participatory Forest Management, aimed at increasing stakeholder participation through collaborative management, enhanced incentives, climate-smart agriculture, agroforestry and beekeeping; (iii) Forest Enterprise Development, aimed at increasing the production, processing and value addition of wood and non-wood forest products through capacity development, modern technologies, certification, ecotourism, private-sector investment, market linkages and beekeeping; (iv) Plantation Establishment and Management, focusing on promoting investment and private-sector participation, expanding local and regional supply plantations, supporting out-grower schemes and establishing fast-growing indigenous tree plantations. The exact wording of this objective is not captured in the extracted PDF text; (v) Forestry Research and Development, aimed at strengthening research capacity through institutional partnerships, intellectual property protection, phytosanitary standards, seed certification, conservation of forest genetic resources and decentralised research centres; (vi) Forest Management Planning and Extension Services, aimed at ensuring the sustainable supply of forest goods and services through improved planning capacity, extension services, ICT, GIS, technological innovation and multisectoral collaboration; and (vii) Forestry Capacity Development, aimed at strengthening institutional capacity through forestry training, partnerships, improved infrastructure, integration of forestry into education curricula and planning at all administrative levels. The Policy also addresses cross-cutting issues by promoting gender equality and the inclusion of persons with disabilities and other marginalised groups in forest management and forest-product value chains. Finally, Domestication of International Environmental Agreements seeks to integrate relevant international commitments into national policies and legislation through programmes addressing land degradation, deforestation, biodiversity and climate change; implementation of regional and international protocols on forests and natural resources; and awareness-raising on agreements to which Zambia is a Party.
زامبيا · 2025-01-01