Report No: ACS6576 Social Accountability Review: Forestry Sector in Moldova November 11, 2013 ECSSO EUROPE AND CENTRAL ASIA Standard Disclaimer: This volume is a product of the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/ The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Copyright Statement: The material in this publication is copyrighted. Copying and/or transmitting portions or all of this work without permission may be a violation of applicable law. 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(as of September 10, 2013) Currency Unit = Moldovan Leu (MDL) US$1=12.7 MDL BIZTAR Business Regulatory and Tax Administration Reform Project BIZTAR CDD Community Driven Development CPAs Central Public Authorities CSOs Civil Society Organizations CPS Country Partnership Strategy EMM Ecologic Movement of Moldova ENPI FLEG Regional Program “Improving Forest Law Enforcement and Governance in the European Neighbourhood Policy East Countries and Russia FIRSM Forest Institutional Reform Strategy FMP Forest Management Plans GoM Government of Moldova GRM Grievance Redress Mechanisms ha Hectares ICAS Forest Research and Management Institute IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature LAs Local Administrations LCs Local Councils LPAs Local Public Authorities MCFDP Moldova Community Forestry Development Program MoE Ministry of Environment MSCP Moldova Soil Conservation Project NPAC National Program Advisory Committees NCP National Council for Participation OGP Open Government Partnership POI Point of Interest mapper SCP Soil Conservation Project SEI State Ecologic Inspectorate SESAF Strategic Environment and Social Assessment Impact UNDP United Nations Development Program USAID US Agency for International Development WB World Bank WWF World Wide Fund This report was prepared by a World Bank team comprising Nicolas Perrin (co-task team leader), Klavdiya Maksymenko (co-task team leader), Ecaterina Canter (ECSSO consultant), and Aurel Lozan (local consultant), with the support from Jennifer Shkabatur (ECSSO). The report benefited from comments offered by Abdoulaye Seck, Tamara Sulukhia, Arcadie Capcelia, Elisabeth Huybens, Sanjay Agrawal and peer reviewers Andrew Mitchel, Sarah Keener and Saki Kumagai. Executive Summary ................................................................................................................... 1 Introduction And Objectives ...................................................................................................... 3 I. Forestry Sector Overview ................................................................................................... 5 (1) Background and Context .............................................................................................5 (2) GoM Commitment to Forestry Sector Development ..................................................6 (3) Sector Structure ...........................................................................................................8 (4) Existing Social Accountability Mechanisms ............................................................12 (5) Key stakeholder capacity on SA ...............................................................................18 (6) Role of ICT in forestry governance and Moldova’s context .....................................19 (7) Gender aspects...........................................................................................................20 II. Development Projects in the forestry sector ....................................................................... 21 (1) ENPI-FLEG ...............................................................................................................21 (2) Planned World Bank Supported Operations .............................................................22 III. Recommendations ............................................................................................................. 23 (1) Information Provision and Transparency ................................................................... 22 (2) Citizen feedback mechanisms, including GRM ......................................................... 26 (3) Citizen Participation ................................................................................................... 28 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 32 Annex 1. Stakeholder analysis .................................................................................................... i 1. The forestry sector in Moldova faces significant governance and sustainability challenges. The insufficient level of forest coverage in Moldova has a serious impact on environment and overall economic growth in the country. The situation is exacerbated by the reportedly intense pressure on forest resources exerted by the human factor. Illegal logging and grazing are considered as significant factors that contribute to forest loss. There is a lack of public demand for sustainable forest management. 2. Social accountability (SA) has been recognized as an effective mechanism to improve government service delivery and enhance developmental impact . SA mechanisms entail a broad range of approaches that enable citizens to access governmental information, lodge grievances and receive redress, oversee the provision of governmental services, and take an active part in management and decision-making processes. If successful, these activities help achieve several objectives: educate citizens about governmental processes and inform them about the plans and activities of service providers; provide governmental authorities with real-time information about the performance of service providers; and enhance the responsiveness of service providers to citizen needs, thus improving citizen satisfaction with governmental services. 3. This report aims to review SA mechanisms that are currently available in the forestry sector in Moldova and identify opportunities for improvement. It seeks to identify entry points for the Moldovan forestry sector authorities, and the World Bank to enhance SA in the forestry sector. The report also refers to the WB-implemented ENPI-FLEG project and suggests how it could contribute to better accountability in the forestry sector through its operations. The findings of this report rely on a desk review and on interviews conducted as part of a mission in April 2013 in Moldova. 4. Government has committed to address the issue of forest sustainability through forest extension measures and efforts to improve forests owned by the Local Public Authorities (LPAs). Between 2002 and 2008, the main forestry agency Moldsilva, planted about 60 thousand ha of forests and other types of forest vegetation to combat desertification and stop land erosion. The Government of Moldova (GoM) has also set up a partnership among relevant agencies to combat illegal activities in the forestry sector during 2011-2015. 5. However, the performance of forestry authorities is often unsatisfactory. Forests are mainly owned by the state or local public authorities (LPAs), and Moldsilva is the line agency for forestry and hunting. State owned forests are managed in an organized and structured manner, and Moldsilva is the main forestry service provider. However, citizens are largely unsatisfied with its performance. LPAs that own forests are fully responsible for their administration and protection. The lack of resources and capacity among LPAs has a negative impact on LPA forestry management. 6. The GoM has made commitments to enhance transparency and citizen participation in decision making processes, yet implementation is still a challenge. The GoM has adopted a policy of proactive disclosure of information through its Open Data Initiative and established mechanisms for citizen engagement in decision making processes. The establishment of the National Council for Participation, for instance, allows CSOs to systematically participate in public administration. Notwithstanding these efforts, low stakeholders capacity, lack of resources, and low levels of citizen demand for accountability, hinder progress. 1 7. Information provision, citizen feedback mechanisms, and citizen participation in the forestry sector present challenges. Given the favorable legislative framework, forestry institutions do provide some information on their websites. However information on their performance, budget, and spending is largely missing. On the local level, the scarce resources of local governments, coupled with a lack of demand for accountability, also hinder information provision on forestry related decisions. The situation with citizen feedback mechanisms is similarly unsatisfactory. Usually, public authorities register and respond to citizen complaints and requests in due time. However, there is no publicly available information about the types of complaints and the quality of the authorities’ responses. While forestry authorities have recently introduced hotlines to enable citizens to report on illegal activities, these channels have only been rarely used so far. Lastly, while citizens’ right to directly participate in public administration is supported by legal provisions, public participation in forestry related issues is rather weak and the commitment of local authorities to engage citizens is limited. 8. Based on these findings, the report provides recommendations to enhance SA in the forestry sector.  In order to strengthen information provision and transparency, the following initiatives could be undertaken by the GoM: 1) launch public awareness campaigns to improve citizen knowledge about sector issues and opportunities; 2) strengthen the transparency of LCs and citizen participation in their activities through capacity building activities; 3) facilitate the engagement of a CSO as an intermediary between Moldsilva, State Ecological Inspectorate, and citizens, as well as engage think tanks and universities to work on policy related matters in the forestry sector; 4) publish information on sector performance; 5) support awareness raising activities about the SEI hotline to help curb illegal logging and transactions; and 6) release open data on dedicated online platforms.  In order to amplify citizen feedback, the forestry authorities could: 1) conduct a citizen feedback survey on the performance of forestry authorities and LAs that own community forests; 2) reinforce available GRMs at the local level via traditional and ICT-enabled tools; 3) strengthen the hotline administered by the SEI, supporting the analysis and publication of complaints received on the hotline.  In order to support citizen participation in the forestry sector, the following could be undertaken in the forestry sector: 1) promote participatory decision making mechanisms in forest administration to increase local ownership; 2) support third party monitoring in the forestry sector. 2 INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES 9. Sector context. Lack of adequate forest cover (only 13 percent of the territory) represents a significant environmental and economic challenge for the Republic of Moldova. The resulting degradation and erosion of agricultural land adversely affect rural communities. Forests are providing economic and environmental benefits to rural communities: fuel wood, non-wood products, ravine stabilization and other benefits. There is high demand on forest resources by households for heating, as well as disincentives for local governments (who control 20 percent of the resource) to enforce existing regulations, and inefficiencies in national government. The situation is compounded by high level of illegal lodging with participation of forestry authorities. In the past 10 years the Government of Moldova has made efforts to increase forest coverage to 15 percent with an aim to increase economic and environmental benefits to rural communities in general and reduce land degradation in particular. In order to sustain GoM’s afforestation efforts it is critical to ensure public demand for sustainable forest resources management by Moldsilva and by Local Public Administrations owning communal forests. 10. Social accountability (SA) has been recognized as a mechanism that has potential to improve government service delivery and enhance developmental impact . Social accountability refers to the capacity of citizens to hold the government and service providers accountable for their actions, decisions, and performance, and make them responsive to the needs and demands of citizens. It also encompasses actions on the part of government, civil society, media, and other social actors that promote and facilitate these efforts. SA mechanisms entail a broad range of approaches that go beyond voting, and enable citizens to access governmental information, lodge grievances and receive redress, oversee the provision of governmental services, and take an active part in management and decision-making processes. If successful, these activities help achieve several objectives: educate citizens about governmental processes and inform them about the plans and activities of service providers; provide governmental authorities with real-time information about the performance of service providers; and enhance the responsiveness of service providers to citizen needs, thus improving citizen satisfaction with governmental services. 11. Transparency, accountability and participation are the SA pillars. Transparency refers to the availability and accessibility of information to the general public, and clarity about government rules, regulations, decisions, and performance. This is the foundation upon which the other two pillars, accountability and participation, are built. Governmental provision of information can be reactive (on request) or proactive (proactive disclosure on information). The recent ICT based Open Government Data (OGD), as an approach of proactive disclosure of information, consists of releasing “open data,” rather than structured information and documents. The term “open data” refers to non-proprietary and machine- readable data that anyone is free to use, reuse, manipulate, and disseminate without legal or technical restrictions. While citizens often possess information about the performance of public service providers, “for accountability to work, they need opportunities to transform information into action” (Ringold et al., 2012, p. 69). Citizen feedback tools and mechanisms are meant to present such opportunities, offering channels for citizens to demand their rights, complain, and provide feedback to policy-makers and public service providers; obtain redress or lead to service improvements; and thus hold service providers to account for their performance. Citizen feedback includes complaints, suggestions, monitoring, and satisfaction (WBI, 2011). Participation refers to efforts to engage people in governmental processes beyond information and feedback. Initiatives that engage citizens in governmental processes 3 solicit citizen input as part of legislative and policy setting activities, and may include citizen engagement in monitoring governmental activities. 12. Based on the main pillars of SA, the report will focus on SA mechanisms: a) provision of information; b) creation of channels for citizen feedback (including grievance redress); and c) creation of opportunities for citizen participation in decision-making processes, including monitoring activities. These interventions rely on three stakeholders: citizens, who directly interact with authorities to obtain information, provide feedback on governmental services, monitor service providers’ performance, and participate in government decision-making; governmental authorities that provide citizens with information, solicit feedback, and engage citizens in monitoring and other participatory initiatives; and intermediaries (e.g., civil society groups, universities, think tanks), who can offer support and facilitate the relationship between citizens and governmental authorities. 13. This report aims to review SA mechanisms in the forestry sector in Moldova and identify opportunities for improvements. The report aims to assess the existing SA mechanisms in the forestry sector and identify entry points and potential approaches to enhance the sector SA. As the World Bank is currently engaged in the implementation of the EU-funded ENPI-FLEG Program in Moldova, which aims to improve forestry sector governance, the report also makes suggestions for strengthening the SA mechanisms of promoted by this project. The target audiences of this report are forestry sector authorities; intermediaries, such as CSOs, think tanks, media, and universities; and the World Bank. The findings of this report rely on a desk review of legislative framework, global best practices and analytical materials on the forestry sector, and interviews conducted, during the mission to Moldova in April 2013, with Moldovan national and local government representatives, civil society groups, and other relevant actors. 14. The structure of the report is as follows. Section I of the report provides an overview of forestry sector governance, existing SA mechanisms and challenges in the sector and an analysis of SA capacity among stakeholders. Section II offers an overview of the ENPI-FLEG project in Moldova as an illustration of the forestry sector issues and an effort to address some of them. This section also refers to possible entry points for future engagement in Moldova and highlights the importance of addressing the social accountability issues at the project level. Section III of the report provides recommendations to relevant stakeholders on enhancing SA in the forestry sector of Moldova. 4 1. Background and Context 15. The Forestry sector development in the Republic of Moldova faces significant issues with social, economic and environmental implications for the country. According to official data, only about 13 percent of Moldovan territory is covered by forests, compared to nearly 36 percent in EU countries. The limited forest resources have direct linkages to soil erosion, landslides, desertification, biodiversity deterioration, and degraded microclimate and water resources. According to official statistics, the total area of eroded soils in Moldova is about 900 thousand ha or 43 percent of all areas meant for agricultural purpose. As Moldova is a rural country with two thirds of the population living in rural areas, these trends considerably reduce the economic opportunities of the rural population. Given that Moldova heavily relies on agriculture and 80 percent of the country’s biodiversity is associated with forest ecosystems, the persistent loss in forest resources is likely to have a serious impact on environmental conditions and overall economic growth. 16. Illegal logging is a significant factor in the degradation of forest resources. According to a survey conducted under the ENPI FLEG program in Moldova, citizens believe that forest quality has decreased in the last 20 years while excessive forest logging has continued. Based on the survey, both forestry personnel and local population are involved in fraudulent and non-transparent schemes associated with wood harvesting, hunting/game, and forest lease. Forest keepers are believed to be among the most important entry points for illegal logging. Unfortunately, citizens have limited opportunities to monitor forest operations since it is difficult to identify unauthorized logging activities without proper expert investigation. Further, forests are often located in remote areas, where it is more difficult to detect fraudulent activities. Moreover, subsistence needs force the local population to resort to unsustainable use of natural resources and often to purchase wood at lower prices without transaction registration. 17. An analysis of domestic wood consumption exposed the scale of illegal transactions. The wood is mostly harvested to meet local population’s demands. A study conducted by ENPI-FLEG revealed that large amounts of wood seem to be harvested through illegal or semi-legal methods. The same study showed that the actual level of wood consumption in 2010/2011 exceeded at least twice the authorized volume of annual felling approved by the Ministry of Environment (MoE), which is around 0,5 million m3 (for more details see www.enpi-fleg.org or www.moldsilva.gov.md). This may suggest that the de facto wood harvesting is around 90 percent of the total growing stock volume increment, which is almost double of authorized logging. According to local experts, this finding illustrates the scale of illegal activities driven by the population’s need for wood for heating, cooking, and construction purposes. As it can be noticed, sustainable forest management presents a considerable challenge and local population is a significant player in forestry processes. Given the challenges related to citizen monitoring of forest operations, it is clear that the vertical accountability mechanisms, such as forestry inspection and law-enforcement should be among government priority tasks. 18. The main issues that could be addressed through strengthening SA aspects are related to: (i) more sustainable forest management, and (ii) local communities’ involvement in forest degradation in order to meet their subsistence needs. The sustainable forest management challenge can be addressed through (a) enhanced information provision and 5 transparency on sector performance, which could create incentives to improve, and (b) strengthened citizen feedback, such as surveys on complaint handling mechanisms’ effectiveness, feedback on the performance of local authorities as to forestlands management. Citizen feedback has the potential to facilitate “naming and shaming”, identify systemic issues to better allocate resources, and improve performance. The challenge related to public involvement in the forest degradation process could be addressed through public engagement in local forest management, such as awareness activities with regard to the benefits of sustainable forest management and engagement in community projects that increase incentives to sustainably manage and protect forests. 2. GoM Commitment to Forestry Sector Development 19. The GoM has committed to address the issue of forest sustainability and soil degradation through forest extension measures. The GoM committed to undertake forest extension activities on 139 thousand ha of degraded agricultural lands. Between 2002 and 2008, Moldsilva planted about 60 thousand ha of forests and other types of forest vegetation to combat desertification and stop land erosion. 20. World Bank has supported Moldsilva’s forest extension measures . In 2002, Moldsilva launched a project in cooperation with the World Bank (Prototype Carbon Fund and Bio Carbon Fund) accompanied by grants from the Japanese Government. The World Bank-supported Moldova Soil Conservation Project (MSCP) undertook soil restoration and conservation activities through forest plantation of about 20 thousand ha of degraded land which belonged to LPAs and forest enterprises. The subsequent World Bank-supported Moldova Community Forestry Development Project (MCFDP) undertook forest plantation of about 8,4 thousand ha of degraded land belonging to LPAs. The vast majority of the land allocated for afforestation was non privatized land the local councils were unable to restore to productive use. Within two projects, about 30 thousand ha of afforested land on about 3,000 land plots scattered throughout the country have been accounted by the Bio Carbon Fund as contribution to carbon sequestration activities. For each plot, geographic coordinates (GPS) have been recorded and photographic evidence is collected and archived on a regular basis. Moldsilva has been receiving carbon financing that partially covered the cost of afforestation activities. Both projects were supported by Japanese PHRD Grants for forestry and pasture management projects in the communities which participated in the MSCP and MCFDP. The grants focused on improving LPA forestry through financing of the development of Forest Management Plans, forest pruning and thinning and other costs associated with the maintenance of community forests as well as improvement of the productivity and management of the pasture lands. The activities were based on participatory approaches and fully involved communities in implementing priority forest and pasture management. 21. LPAs face challenges to ensure forest sustainability and accountability . Majority of the afforested land was given by LPAs to Moldsilva for up to 10 years for the execution of forestation works on their behalf. Following contract expiry, the afforested land plots are being returned and forest management activities have to be continued by local administrations. The afforested land for which carbon financing is being received by Moldsilva (about 50 percent) will continue to be monitored and guarded by Moldsilva at least until 2017. The rest of community forests will not receive such support. Currently, the most pertinent challenge is to protect the young plantations owned by LPAs, which face considerable challenges to ensure forest sustainability and accountability. 6 22. The GoM plans to further address forest sustainability through forest extension efforts and combating illegal activities. Its newly adopted National Plan for Extension of Forestry Vegetation Land for 2013-2018 provides for close involvement of local communities in the implementation of the program through (i) allocating their degrading land for forest extension activities, and (ii) participating in the process of maintenance and protection of new planted areas, such as curbing illegal logging, illegal grazing, and other environment or forestry related violations. The GoM has also set up a multilateral partnership to combat illegal activities in the forestry sector. The National Action Plan to combat illegal logging and other forest related violations for the period of 2009-2011 is going to be extended for the period of 2013-2016. Also, an agreement on “Building Capacities and Commitment for Preventing and Combating Illegal Activities Affecting Forest and Hunting Resources for 2011-2015” was signed among the Ministry of Interior, SEI, Moldsilva, and the Society of Hunters and Fishermen of Moldova. The agreement prescribes to conduct public awareness-raising activities about illegal activities and identify mechanisms for an efficient cooperation to eradicate illegalities. 23. Further, a special commission was set by the Parliament to investigate the management of forest resources. In 2012, the Parliament of Moldova established a Special “Commission to monitor management of forest resources, protection areas along rivers and aquatic basins, and of parks”. Following claims and petitions from citizens, the Commission met with relevant stakeholders to investigate the situation. A report on the Commission’s activity and findings will be soon made publicly available. 24. Enhancing SA in the forestry sector could complement the GoM efforts to address forestry sector development. The World Bank’s framework on forest governance refers to five main pillars in the process of forest administration. The cluster of Transparency, Accountability, and Public Participation represents the First Pillar of Forest Governance. The framework emphasizes the importance of mechanisms that provide more information, ensure accountability, and foster participation in forestry processes.1 Given this global framework, SA mechanisms are of a high importance to forestry sector development. 25. GoM has committed to increase transparency and accountability. GoM’s overall commitment to enhance openness and public participation in decision making processes provides opportunities to enhance SA in the forestry sector. In 2012, the GoM joined the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a group of over 50 governments who champion the principles of transparency, accountability, and public participation in governmental processes. An Action Plan setting the commitments to increase government openness and strengthen public participation (OGAP) was adopted in consultation with civil society. The OGAP Implementation Report 20122 stated that the level of achievement of the activities planned for 2012 was average of about 55percent. The Bank-funded Governance and E-Transformation project currently implemented by the GoM is aiming to promote the use of a modern service delivery platform to improve access 1 The other pillars refer to (i) stability of forest institutions and conflict management, (ii) quality of forestry administration, (iii) coherence of forest legislation and rule of law, and (iv) economic efficiency, equity, and incentives. 2 Implementation of OGAP was made the responsibility of the central government, including the State Chancellery and the e-Government Center. The report was produced in June 2013 by Association for Participatory Democracy and Centre for Independent Journalism with the support of Soros Foundation. 7 to public services, and increase transparency in the public sector. These commitments create opportunities for improving social accountability in the forestry sector as they set a guiding framework for each governmental agency to enhance its openness and citizen engagement. 3. Sector Structure 26. Forests are mainly owned by the state or local public authorities (LPAs). Moldova’s forestry sector mostly consists of state-owned forests, which cover nearly 80 percent of the forestland; and LPA forests, which cover about 20 percent of the forestland. State owned forests are administered by the state agency Moldsilva, which is responsible for forestry and hunting policymaking and management. LPA forests are managed by village or municipal level LPAs that own the forestland. There are also a few private forests established mainly over the last decade. Figure 1: Map of forest vegetation of the Republic of Moldova (contains information about the types of forest vegetation and their location throughout Moldova) 27. Forestry legislation applies equally to all Moldovan forests, irrespective of their ownership. According to the Forest Code (1996), all forestlands have to be managed in 8 accordance with Forest Management Plans (FMPs), which are the guiding documents for forest management for a period of 10 years. FMPs are developed by the Forest Research and Management Institute (ICAS), which is an entity within Moldsilva, and their implementation is mandatory. The Forest Code also mandates to conduct forest guarding activities, which are regarded as primary measures for sustainable forest management. These activities are intended to prevent damages inflicted on forest ecosystem, such as unauthorized grazing, illegal lodging, and disasters. Other legal documents that form the legislative framework of the forestry sector in Moldova include the Law on State Protected Areas (1998), the Law on Afforestation of Degraded Lands (2000), the Decision on improvement of forestry management and protection of vegetation (1996), the Decision approving the regulations for harvesting authorization in the national forest fund and outside of it (2004), and other Moldsilva’s special orders and technical norms. 28. The Ministry of Environment (MoE) (www.mediu.gov.md) is the state authority responsible for policymaking on environment protection and control. It is responsible for the sustainable use of natural resources, waste management, biodiversity conservation, and state control of environmental activities. Its activities include inspections on law compliance, cross-sector cooperation, and drafting reports on state of environment, including forestry related issues. The State Ecologic Inspectorate (SEI) is a subdivision of the MoE. It has the mandate to ensure sustainable environmental and forest management in both state and LPA owned forests. The SEI relies on a network of district branches at the local level that monitor law compliance; issue authorizations for the use of forest resources, including requests for forest activities submitted by LCs; undertake environmental expertise to prevent ecological disasters; take actions to combat illegal activities; and, report on illegal activities to relevant agencies and the judiciary. 29. Moldsilva (www.moldsilva.gov.md) is the line agency for forestry and hunting. It is responsible for forest management, wildlife protection and biodiversity conservation in state-owned forests. Moldsilva consists of 25 regional entities, including 16 forest enterprises, 4 forest hunting enterprises, 4 state natural reserves, and the Forest Research and Management Institute (ICAS). The work of these entities is organized through 82 local forestry districts. ICAS is responsible for forest management planning, forest research and innovation, and is the main player within Moldsilva which interacts with LPs that own LPA forests. A main office situated in capital city of Chisinau coordinates the work of the organization and its entities. 30. State owned forests are managed in an organized and structured manner, and Moldsilva is the main forestry service provider. Moldsilva is in charge of the 336.6 thousand ha of state forests. It has capacity, resources, and an established infrastructure for forest management through FMPs that are required by law. Forest guarding is a regular activity performed by Moldsilva, aiming to prevent forest destruction, fires, unauthorized grazing and is conducted by 1,500 specialists, such as forestry engineers and forest inspectors. According to official data, almost 80 percent of felled trees/wood is provided to meet local population’s needs (energy supply, construction, household needs). According to internal procedures, Moldsilva is supposed to estimate the necessary yearly volume for wood harvesting while the MoE approves quotas respectively. Moldsilva is the main service provider of forest goods and services. Citizens submit their requests for wood supply to Moldsilva’s local forestry units. 31. However, citizens are largely unsatisfied with the process of purchasing wood from Moldsilva. According to a survey conducted by ENPI-FLEG I, 80.6 percent of 9 respondents stated that they encountered difficulties in purchasing wood from Moldsilva. Out of those who reported that they did face challenges in the process of purchasing wood, 62.2 percent mentioned that the price was very high. Respondents also mentioned difficulties related to requests from forestry personnel for personal rewards (7.2 percent), wood transportation issues (10.9 percent) and the need to engage in wood harvesting to be able to obtain wood (7.2 percent). The survey also revealed that quite often wood purchasing transactions are illegal – 37.3 percent of respondents admitted that they had to pay the local forestry personnel for their wood without any documentation or registration procedure. Figure 2. Structure of Forestry Sector in the Republic of Moldova Provide support to LPAs Environment policy, sustainable use of (informally), established LPA’s FORESTRY SECTOR natural resources, ensures control of forests (through forest extension) activities and environmental/forest law from own resources, responsible compliance through SEI for state owned forestry Local Public Moldsilva Ministry of Authorities Agency Environment State Chancellery coordinates State 24 Local activities and ICAS Ecologic monitors Entities Inspectorate legality of LPAs decisions Inspect law compliance Give harvest authorizations Submit cases in court Local Branches 32. LPAs that own forests are responsible for their administration and protection. There are around 800 villages that own 96.6 thousand ha of forestland throughout the country. LPAs are part of the Moldovan system of public administration which consists of Central Public Authorities (CPAs), which govern at the national level, and LPAs, which are responsible for local entities. LPAs enjoy decision-making autonomy at the local level. The system of LPAs consists of two levels: first level LPAs - village or town/city authorities, and second level LPAs – authorities at the level of districts, or so-called raions (there are overall 10 32 raions)3. Each LPA consists of (i) Local Council (LC) - a legislative body elected by local residents, and (ii) Local Administration (LA) – an executive body of the LPA. The mayor, which is the head of the LA, is elected by local residents and is accountable to both citizens and the LC. Although LPAs enjoy autonomy in relationship to CPAs, the State Chancellery within CPAs regularly monitors the legality of their activities. In relation to the forestry sector, LPAs manage their forest resources, including providing forestry related services. 33. Lack of resources and capacity on behalf of LPAs has a negative impact on LPA forestry management. LPAs are responsible for the management of 96.6 thousand ha of LPA forests, which are owned by about 700 villages/towns. With a few exceptions of inherited natural forests, LPA forests are mainly vegetation plantations as a result of forest extension activities. These are mainly parcels of land, forest belts located on agricultural land or along rivers, and tree and shrub plantations. Most often LPAs have neither resources nor capacity for forest management and do not meet the legal requirements for forest management. Most village administrations have neither forestry staff nor FMPs, which are required by the Forest Code. Only about 5 thousand ha of LPA forestry have strategic planning documents in place. Consequently, forest protection is not properly ensured and, therefore, the rate of illegalities is much higher compared to forests under Moldsilva’s management. According to a study on illegal logging released by ENPI FLEG in cooperation with ICAS during 2010-2011, the volume of illegally logged wood calculated per 1 thousand ha of forestlands was 21 times higher in forestlands managed by local communities compared to Moldsilva’s forests. 34. LPA forests receive support from state forestry personnel at the local level. Despite the lack of a legal framework of cooperation, Moldsilva’s local entities and ICAS at times provide technical assistance to LPAs that own forests (e.g. involving LPAs in forest extension activities, elaborating FMPs). LPAs often cooperate on forest management with Moldsilva, whose forests are often in the immediate vicinity. However, sustainable and systematic collaboration between national, local, and law enforcement authorities is still to be established. 35. LCs are in charge of decision making on LPA forest management. LCs make direct decisions on the timing and volume of logging or felling activities, wood prices, setting prices for community members, benefits for socially vulnerable community members, use of revenue from wood sales, and budgets for forest maintenance and management. These decisions are subject to authorization by SEI’s local branches. LAs are responsible for the implementation of these decisions and they report to LCs on their execution. Community members can put forward wood provision requests to LCs which make their decisions on each request. 3 The Republic of Moldova includes two autonomous territorial units, (i) the autonomous territorial unit Gagauz Yeri, and (ii) the autonomous territorial unit with special legal status Transnistria. The latter is a breakaway region, which self-proclaimed as the Pridnestrovian Moldovian Republic. It is officially titled the “autonomous territorial unit with special legal status Transnistria” by both Moldovan authorities and the international community. 11 Figure 3. Local Public Authorities structure: LC is a legislative body, LA is an executive body Accountable Local Council Local Public Authority Local Administratiion 4. Existing Social Accountability Mechanisms Several SA mechanisms are currently available in the forestry sector in Moldova. (a) Information Provision and Transparency 36. Several legislative acts form the framework for information provision. The Law on Petitions stipulates that citizens have the right to request governmental entities to release specific types of information. According to the law, citizens can submit requests through several channels and receive official answers within 15 days or within one month if requests need special examination. The Law on Access to Information (2000) also provides the right to seek, receive, and disseminate information. The Law on Transparency in the Decision Making Process (2008) enshrines citizen rights to information about decision making processes. It requires state institutions to inform the public about any draft decisions or laws; consult people on decisions through various instruments, such as surveys, public hearings, expert working groups, and consultations with civil society; examine recommendations put forward by citizens; and to inform the public about the final decisions made. 37. The Moldovan Open Data Initiative aims to promote proactive disclosure of information. In 2011, the GoM launched the Open Data platform (www.date.gov.md) which aims to provide governmental information proactively, rather than based on individual requests. According to the Open Data Directive, all government agencies, including Moldsilva, are requested to release datasets on the country’s open data portal. It implies that the provision of raw data about agencies’ activities and performance in a machine readable format would allow public scrutiny and analysis of trends and agencies’ performance. A separate platform, www.boost.md, allows public institutions to publish their budgets and financial expenditure data. The Center for Electronic Government has led the process of opening government data in cooperation with the public institutions. 38. Information provision at the local level is regulated by similar national laws and by the Law on LPAs. The Laws on Petitions, Access to Information, and Transparency in 12 Decision Making Process are applicable at the local level. Additional provisions related to information provision are included in the Law on LPAs. The law is based on principles of decision-making autonomy for local entities, decentralization of public services, and consultation with local community. The law requires LPAs to ensure citizen access to information about local budgets, spending data, sessions of LCs, and draft decisions by LAs and LCs. Pursuant to the law, LPAs are required to promote a “policy of communication and dialog with citizens In addition, LAs are obliged to inform citizens about local activities through annual Community Assemblies, led by LAs. The effectiveness of these activities considerably varies, however. Each LPA decides on its allocation of financial and human resources dedicated to activities on information provision. Most often, village level LAs are short staffed and have limited or no human and financial resources dedicated to information provision. 39. Ensuring transparent decision making at the local level is part of Moldova’s OGP Action Plan. A specific objective of the Action Plan is “publication, within a reasonable timeframe, of decisions and laws adopted by LPAs.” These decisions and laws can be published on the platform “ActeLocale” (www.actelocale.md). This platform is part of the government’s e-transformation agenda and was designed within USAID BIZTAR project in 2011. It gives an opportunity to each LPA in the country to manage its webpage and place information about its activities and decisions. Currently, 114 LPAs publish their decisions on the platform. Overall, LAs and regional LCs have published more than 6 thousand decisions at the local level. Sîngerei, Hîrtopul Mare, Brînzenii Noi, Mihăileni, Albineț ul Vechi, Ratuș , Nucăreni, Zgărdeș ti, Nemureni, and Telenesti LCs are among the most active LPAs to make use of this platform. 40. Several development programs have been designed to enhance LPAs’ capacities, including on information provision and accountability approaches . The National Decentralization Strategy for 2011-2015 sets out objectives for decentralization process’ implementation, including capacity building for local administrations, improving management and quality of public services. The Joint Integrated Local Development Program, implemented in cooperation with international development partners, such as UNDP and Soros Foundation, aims to advance the process of decentralization and capacity building for local autonomy based on accountability and transparency approaches. 41. Moldsilva’s website is one of the most important sources of information. Moldsilva provides information to the public mainly through its website, www.moldsilva.gov.md. It contains news and general information related to the sector, including information on events, activities, and contact information of its local branches. According to the website’s statistics, more than 216 thousand users have visited the site in 2013. The website also provides space for public consultations on policy documents. In 2012, with the support from ENPI FLEG, Moldsilva established a Division of Information and Communication which aims to increase information provision on forestry issues to mass media. 42. Law enforcement agencies disseminate information about inspection results in forestry sector. The SEI, which is the main law enforcement agency in the forestry sector, regularly publishes statistical information on its inspection activities, including illegal activities or non-compliance. It runs a website (http://inseco.gov.md/despre-inspectorat/) where it places environmental information, including forestry related issues. It also publishes a separate yearly publication “Environmental Protection in Moldova” which contains a report with statistics related to violations and contraventions by local village 13 administrations and local forestry entities of Moldsilva. The report also provides statistics on penalties imposed, cases put forward for investigation by relevant agencies. The SEI has also broadcasted a documentary in the national media, aiming to raise public awareness about the degrading situation in the forestry sector and the need for public participation in protecting and managing forest resources. 43. The transparency of Moldsilva’s activities and performance continues to be a challenge. Despite recent improvements in Moldsilva’s communication with external players, the transparency and information provision remain challenging. Moldsilva’s website does not contain important information such as budgets and spending data, analysis and reports on complaints, information on entities’ performance, and results of inspections and monitoring. Also, according to a report on decision-making transparency produced by the Association for Participative Democracy (ADEPT) in 2010, the level of Moldsilva’s transparency in its decision making process is a significant issue. Currently, the agency’s website does contain options for public consultations on policy drafts, but citizens’ comments and suggestions are not visible on the website and it is unclear to what extent Moldsilva follows up on these suggestions. In 2010, Moldsilva started to sell standing wood to public and private companies through bidding. Although forest auction was supposed to prevent corruption and make the governmental forest/timber market more open to the public, its transparency still presents a challenge. There is a lack of available information on the volume of harvested wood and the ability of forest sites to regenerate after logging activities. 44. Delays in releasing information, including Open Data, prevent meaningful public scrutiny. Despite mandatory requirements, Moldsilva and its local entities have not yet opened any datasets on www.date.gov.md. LPAs that manage forests also experience delays in publishing data, including budgets and spending. The information on forest inspection results published by SEI is of utmost importance, but it does not have a significant impact because it is not broadly disseminated or publicly debated in the media. 45. Information provision by local forestry entities is a major concern. The forestry sector operates by definition at the local level and this implies considerable interaction with local communities. Given such a structure, information and communication with local communities should be a priority. However, there is no sufficient and systematic outreach to ensure that citizens are informed about forestry activities and that dialogue is established with neighboring communities. According to forestry experts, many local forestry employees face challenges to establish a dialogue with local communities as they lack both incentives to do so and skills in communication or in socially related areas. 46. Information provision by village administrations is insufficient. Challenges related to LPAs’ scarce financial and human resources as well as their limited SA capacity and awareness influence the degree of information provision at the local level. Very often information about budgets and spending is not provided to local residents. Communities are often poorly informed about forestry issues in general, and the economic and ecological benefits of good management practices in the forestry sector in particular. Provision of information about LCs’ activities is also limited. 47. Digital divide also presents a challenge and LPAs typically do not make an extensive use of ICT in their work. The use of internet or email communication is not widespread in the activities of local administrations, including LAs that own community forests. In rural areas, the Internet is not amongst the most important channels of communication. Citizens mostly rely on more traditional ways of communication. Statistics 14 indicate that there have been positive developments in the use of online platforms by LPAs. (Please see more details in the section on www.actelocale.md platform). Mass media reported on village mayors who used online and social media platforms to place video information about LAs decisions. However, such practices are rather exceptional at the village level. Further, elderly people in rural areas have preferences towards more conventional methods of receiving information. At the same time, the use of mobile phones is widespread and common in Moldova, including in rural areas, as the national mobile penetration is 119.7 percent. (b) Citizen Feedback (including Grievance Redress Mechanisms (GRM) 48. The Law on Petitions contains a GRM for citizen requests and complaints. Complaints and requests from citizens can be submitted in a written form, via the phone, and/or via email. Governmental officials ought to respond to complaints within 15 days or one month. More response time can be allowed if more investigation is needed. Generally, complaints may refer to inappropriate service delivery or discontent with public institutions’ response to individual requests. Complaints or requests related to the forestry sector can be submitted to LPAs, to Moldsilva’s local entities or main office, and to the SEI’s local branches or main office. 49. Complaints and requests related to community forests are received and processed by LPAs. Usually, the local mayor first examines the complaints/requests and then responds. Complaints and requests are put forward for discussion and resolution to the LCs when necessary. Wood requests in community-owned forestlands are discussed and approved by the LCs. Since LPAs are autonomous bodies, the resolution process remains at the local level. But according to the law, citizens have the right to address their requests to any public organization, including to the President or Prime Minister. Complaints and requests related to state owned forestry are submitted to local entities or main office of Moldsilva and SEI. Moldsilva has recently started to respond to citizen feedback sent to the organization’s email, but it is too early to assess the effectiveness of these efforts. 50. Forestry and law enforcement agencies manage hotlines to report illegalities. Both Moldsilva and SEI manage hotlines at their main offices, serving primarily for citizen reports about illegal logging. The hotlines’ phone numbers are placed on the agencies’ websites. Moldsilva’s hotline was launched in November 2012, but it started to register phone calls only in May 2013 (the log registers dates/time of calls received, category of message/content, actions undertaken by responsible persons). During May 2013, Moldsilva has received only two phone calls from the public. 51. Lack of information on the GRM effectiveness significantly diminishes its role as a SA tool. The provisions of the Law on Petitions with regard to official timely responses to citizen’s complaints and requests are implemented in a responsible and strict manner. Usually citizens know about these mechanisms, and government institutions do register and respond to these requests/complaints in due time. However, there is no analysis of complaints and requests. Also, there is currently no public information about the quality of governmental responses on citizen requests and complaints, and the level of citizen satisfaction with the responses and with the process is unclear. Similarly, there is no publicly available information that would reveal the type of complaints and the departments, local branches or local communities that receive most complaints. These factors diminish the potential of existing GRMs as a SA tool. Opportunities to assess the GRM’s performance in order to put 15 public pressure on governmental authorities to improve their performance, or identify systemic weaknesses are therefore limited. 52. Hotlines managed by forestry authorities have a limited impact. According to forestry authorities, their hotlines are not being used very often by the public. This situation could be explained by the lack of public awareness about these mechanisms. The telephone numbers of the hotlines administered by Moldsilva and SEI are placed on the agencies’ websites, but there is a lack of sufficient information that would explain their objectives, issues to report, procedures, follow up actions, and expected outcomes. Importantly, there is no publicly available information on the effectiveness of these hotlines and lack of citizen feedback on the performance of these mechanisms. Further, there is no active use of other channels to convey this information about the hotlines. Given the priority attributed by the sector to citizen engagement in reporting illegalities, more citizen outreach would be needed to raise public awareness about existing tools. Another reason for the low levels of hotline use could be the lack of trust that actions would be undertaken as a result of telephone calls. In the case of Moldsilva, for example, citizens might feel that calling its hotline could be of no use, since the report goes to the same organization that is allegedly suspected of being involved in committing illegal activities. Under such circumstances, it seems more logical to raise people’s awareness about the SEI’s hotlines as law enforcement and control institution. (c) Citizen Participation 53. Citizens have a legal right to directly participate in public administration. First, the right to participate is enshrined in the country’s constitution (1994). At the local level, the Law on LPAs stipulates that local authorities have to consult the local population on issues of utmost importance through local referenda. On other issues of public interest, local authorities ought to use various mechanisms to hold public consultations, such as public hearings, surveys, consultations with civil society representatives, and public meetings. 54. LCs offer important participatory mechanisms at the local level. The Law on LPAs gives significant importance to public participation in the decision-making process of LCs. Citizens and civil society organizations (CSOs) have the right to participate in each stage of the decision making process of LCs. According to the law, LCs’ meetings are open to the public and citizens have the right to actively participate in their sessions. LCs have to consult regarding their draft decisions with local residents, who have the right to express their opinions before final decisions are made, propose recommendations for discussion, and put forward initiatives to be discussed and adopted. LPAs are required by law to undertake necessary measures to ensure conditions for effective public participation process are being met. 55. LCs are also essential mechanisms for participation in forestry management. LCs are the main decision makers regarding the use and management of community forest resources. Although they have to receive final permission from the SEI for wood harvesting, LCs make direct decisions on the timing and volume of logging or felling activities, wood prices, setting prices for community members, benefits for socially vulnerable community members, use of revenue from wood sales, and budgets for forest maintenance and management. According to the law, people ought to be informed about LCs sessions and decisions. Certain positive examples, such as LC’s experience in Boghenii Noi community, prove that LCs can serve as a community focal point for public participation in forestry management. Due to a long standing tradition of common forest management, Boghenii Noi 16 community members participate in LCs sessions and express their voice on forestry issues on a sustainable basis (for more details on the Boghenii Noi example, see the recommendations section). 56. National authorities build the capacity of LPAs to implement participatory approaches. The Academy of Public Administration has started to incorporate modules for Communication and Participatory Approaches at the local level in its trainings on Integrated Strategic Planning at the Local and Regional level. A special Guidebook for LAs refers to the OECD principles on different levels of citizen engagement, such as (i) information provision, (ii) public consultations, (iii) participation in decision making, such as voting on final options, and (iv) monitoring and evaluation of LA’s activities. The Guidebook serves as a reference on benefits for local participation and practical tools to apply, such as working groups, surveys, questionnaires, suggestion boxes, public hearings, focus groups, and leaflets. 57. There is a favorable legislative framework for civil society participation in public affairs. In 2005, the Parliament adopted the Concept of Cooperation between Parliament and Civil Society in legislative consultative processes. In 2012, the Parliament approved the 2012-2015 Strategy for CSO development and an Action Plan to ensure its implementation. In addition, the National Council for Participation (NCP) (www.particip.gov.md) is an instrument ensuring civil society inputs in the GoM decision making process. The NCP conducts its activities through working groups. Forestry sector issues are sometimes discussed within the Working Group on the Environment. 58. The Ecological Movement of Moldova (EMM) (www.mem.md) is the largest CSO, experienced in tackle SA issues related to forestry sector. The EMM is very active in awareness raising and promoting transparency and accountability in the forestry sector via its 15 branches throughout the country. As a member of the NCP, the EMM is involved in monitoring the development of the legal framework regarding forests and nature conservation/management. EMM is also the founder of the newspaper “Natura”, which has a large audience of about 50 thousand subscribers. It is experienced in engaging citizens at the local level in activities related to awareness raising on river ecosystems. The organization has recently cooperated with Moldsilva on awareness raising activities related to forestry development and sustainability. 59. Other CSOs are also involved in forestry related activities. These include the Ecological Society Biotica, which is engaged in biodiversity conservation issues and is a member of the International Union of Conservation of Nature; the Public Association “Silva- Mileniu III,” which is involved in policy advocacy on sustainable forest use; and the Public Association EcoSpectru, which was involved in forest management planning work in forestry areas owned by 13 LPAs. 60. Public participation in forestry related issues is rather weak . Citizen participation in decision making remains weak, with little leverage to influence local decision making. National forestry policy emphasizes the role of authorities and cooperation among them, but little is mentioned about concrete measures for citizen engagement and participation. The demand side of citizen participation is also rather low as people are not very proactive to come up with initiatives to tackle forestry sector issues. FMPs developed by Moldsilva’s ICAS apply to Moldsilva’s forestlands and do not necessarily require citizen involvement, but the FMPs of LPA-owned forestlands do require their involvement as community forestry in Moldova is based on a collective approach. At the same time, the lack of participation incentives for local population is a serious impediment in the sustainable forest management. 17 Making local communities more interested and more responsible about their own resources would be an important step forward. 61. The LCs’ accountability and commitment to engage citizens are limited. Although the LCs usually exercise their role of local legislators and decision makers, their accountability towards their constituency represents a challenge. There is no regular outreach to inform people about LCs’ regular sessions, issues to resolve, decisions made, etc. People are not always aware of their right to participate in LCs’ sessions and rarely exercise it. This is particularly worrisome, as LCs are the main decision makers at the local level. 62. The lack of civil society monitoring in the forestry sector is a considerable SA constraint. Although citizens do report illegalities in the forestry sector from time to time, there are not much organized community efforts to protect and guard local forests. According to the SEI, many LPA forests are at risk of disappearance in several years unless serious measures are undertaken to reverse the process. 5. Key stakeholder capacity on SA 63. The forestry institutions’ awareness and capacity on SA are rather limited. As previously mentioned, the GoM has undertaken efforts to increase openness of public agencies and foster citizen participation. However, understanding of SA by the forestry institutions and their capacity to use relevant tools in the forestry sector is still to be improved. This is particularly relevant to Moldsilva’s local entities, where there is a need for more information provision on forestry activities, engagement, and dialogue with local communities on forestry development. Local forestry entities’ employees often lack skills related to communication and ICT. 64. The capacity of civil society to hold government accountable is insufficient. Although sometimes sensitive regarding the use of local forest resources, citizens are typically not interested in providing regular feedback on forestry issues and their capacity to hold authorities accountable is limited. This situation is a reflection of local social norms and traditions. Citizens are not used to get involved in governance processes or challenge government authorities. At the same time, their lack of willingness to engage is related to a low trust in government, and an assumption that their opinions will not be taken into consideration or that their actions will not have real influence on the situation. Certain CSOs in Moldova do have capacity and have been active in promoting transparency and accountability of governmental authorities. There are numerous examples of significant issues that were raised by CSOs and generated debates in the public domain. At the same time, CSOs’ efforts are not always effective because government agencies may easily ignore their claims or actions, or find formal excuses for their own actions. Academic institutions have not been involved in exerting SA in the forestry sector. 65. The media has been increasingly active in promoting SA but considerable challenges remain. There are several TV news channels in Moldova that provide a platform for public debate on various issues. However, media effectiveness is challenged by several factors. First, media coverage often focuses on sensationalism, personalities, and processes rather than a more in-depth analysis of trends and government performance. The media has 18 not yet taken full advantage of open data platforms to strengthen evidence-based reporting. Second, there is certain degree of discrepancy in terms of capacity between national and local media. Third, media reporting is often ignored by the government. Lastly, the credibility of the media is affected by their perceived “political ownership.” In that respect, people think that media sometimes is used as a “channel to fight political opponents”. 66. Stakeholders’ impact on SA also depends on their willingness and power to influence. Governmental authorities by definition have power and interest to allow more openness and accountability. However, they are not necessarily interested in exposing themselves to public scrutiny. Similarly, Moldsilva may be to a certain extent interested in SA and possesses the power to improve sector’s SA mechanisms. But it also is not interested in excessive public scrutiny and criticism. CSOs have intrinsic willingness to exert SA. However, in order to do so, they would have to increase their sector competency and detach from the traditional “opposition” approach to a more “systematic and sustainable engagement” approach. The media also has interest in SA, but it would need to “sacrifice” its usual practices of superficial reporting and rather engage in investigative and in-depth reporting. Lastly, while individual citizens may gain the most out of viable SA mechanisms, they would need to change their attitude of “passive observers” and engage more actively in administrative processes. At the same time, since citizens are reportedly involved in illegal forest activities for meeting basic subsistence needs, more transparency and monitoring might mean fewer opportunities to “benefit” from lack of clear rules and procedures at the sector level. A full stakeholder analysis is available in Annex 1. 6. Role of ICT in forestry governance and Moldova’s context 67. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have been applied to improve SA and forest governance. ICT tools have been employed in forest governance around the world in a variety of ways in different contexts. For example, web-based social networks and open data have the potential to increase transparency and public participation (provided there are conditions for social mobilization), web or mobile applications visualize data and facilitate understanding and engagement. Mobile phones have been used to report illegal logging activities. POI Mapper applications4 have been employed to map and update data on boundaries, logging, as well as monitor illegal activities. Crowdsourcing web-based platforms allow public participation in reporting potential illegal activities in the forestry sector, and provide decision-makers with valuable information.5 68. However, the potential of ICT in forest governance of Moldova has certain limits. Currently, the use of ICT in forest governance is at its inception. The existing information system does not meet national legal requirements on the provision of operative information on the status, use, and sustainability of forests.6 Two applications have been developed as management tools and interfaces to provide information on forests within the SCP and CFDP projects, which can be filtered and visualized according to different criteria, such as sector codes, geographical coordinates, and digital photos. However, it is not used by 4 Point of Interest mapper application allows office based and mobile users to collect, share, and visualize geographically tagged data in real-time. 5 Castren, Tuukka and Madhavi Pillai, 2011, Forest Governance 2.0: A primer on ICTs and governance. 6 Report on ICT development in the forestry sector Moldsilva Agency, 2013, World Bank funded project. 19 the public for SA purposes. Nowadays, the use of ICT to enhance SA is largely limited to publishing forestry related information on Moldsilva’s website. 69. Insufficient computer equipment and ICT skills of local forest enterprises present challenges. According to a survey conducted as part of the World Bank’s project “ICT for Forest Law Enforcement and Governance” with the participation of Moldsilva, the distribution of computer equipment throughout the country is not even. In some local entities, each staff member has access to a computer, while in other regions five staff members use the same computer to carry out their work activities. According to the survey, only 39.5 percent of employees have some computer and internet use skills. Only 25.6 percent of respondents possess sufficient skills to use the internet-based applications. The survey also concluded that the forestry staff within local entities has the lowest level of computer skills –only 22 percent of forestry employees and about 30 percent of senior management possess computer skills. 70. There is an urban-rural digital divide in terms of internet use. Moldova has one of the best wired Internet connectivity in the world, as well as one of the cheapest in terms of price per megabyte. The overall infrastructure is well developed, allowing a large number of users to experience good quality services throughout the country. However, despite high speed availability and cheap prices, internet penetration level is quite low compared to many EU or CIS countries. The national internet penetration rate is 38 percent, and internet usage in villages is significantly lower compared to cities. 71. The situation regarding the use of mobile phones is considerably better. The national subscription rate is 119.7 percent (about 4.3 million users) and mobile communication is widely spread in Moldovan villages. Such widespread mobile connectivity and use present favorable conditions for using mobile technologies to enhance the SA mechanisms. 7. Gender aspects 72. Moldova performs well in some areas of gender equality, but gender gaps primarily lie in access to economic opportunities. Gender equality is enshrined in the Constitution and in the 2006 Law on Equal Opportunities for Women and Men. The National Strategy on Gender Equality 2008-2015 establishes policy objectives on gender equality and priority actions. Moldova has ratified a broad range of international conventions that mandate gender equality, including the MDGs and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. However, the most significant gender gaps lie in access to economic opportunity. Only 37 percent of working-age women have jobs, and gender segregation permeates the labor market. Women in Moldova earn on average 73 percent of men’s salaries, and only 8 percent of firms have any female ownership.7 73. Women’s access to forestry resources or participation in forestry management at the community level could be improved. Although there is no official data on this subject, local stakeholders traditionally consider that there are no obvious gender differences with regard to forest management. Formally, both women and men benefit from forest resources in their communities and can participate in decision making on forestry resource management. In reality, however, women’s influence over local decision making is limited. Women 7 Moldova Country Program Strategy (CPS) FY 14-17. 20 manage only 166 mayoralties (out of 898) and the share of women in local planning authorities only amounts to 18.5 percent (2011). While 34 percent of households in Moldova are female-headed, men are typically considered by rural communities to be the ones authorized to make decisions on land use. Due to security reasons, communities often consider it inappropriate for women to be involved in forest guarding. Women also may be disadvantaged in cases when participation in logging is put up as a condition for obtaining wood. Men’s life expectancy is about ten years less than that of women in Moldova so women are more likely to lead single headed rural households that may have difficulties in meeting their subsistence needs in wood. 1. ENPI-FLEG program 74. The ENPI FLEG project is illustrative of the SA entry points in Forestry. Moldova is part of the EU-funded ENPI FLEG Regional Program on “Improving Forest Law Enforcement and Governance in the European Neighborhood Policy East European Countries and Russia”. The program supports governments, civil society, and the private sector in developing sound and sustainable forest management practices (www.enpi-fleg.org). It aims to address governance and forestry sustainability management. The World Bank is one of the project’s implementers at the national level, which focuses on institutional improvements in forestry sector.8 Within the framework of the first phase implemented during 2009-2012, the project sponsored analytical studies designed to outline the development issues in the sector, undertook capacity building activities, supported local communities with designing Forest Management Plans, and conducted a forestry related information and awareness raising campaign. 75. A participatory process to develop the Forest Institutional Reform Strategy (FIRSM) was implemented. In 2012, the World Bank launched the process of developing a concept of the Forest Institutional Reform Strategy of Moldova (FIRSM). The Bank’s role was to provide technical support and guidance to the Strategy drafting process. Two workshops were organized in order to present and discuss the proposed concept with broader audience, including the Parliament, Government agencies, CSOs, academia, local administrations, and other experts. 76. ENPI-FLEG (phase II) will build on previous achievements and focus on local forest governance. The second phase of the project will be implemented during 2013-2016. It will support the participating countries to strengthen forest governance through improving implementation of relevant international processes, enhancing their forest policy, legislation and institutional arrangements, and testing sustainable forest management models at the local level on a pilot basis. The project’s development objectives are directed at regional, national, and local levels. The project’s priorities in Moldova will focus on local needs and it will aim to 1) strengthen capacity for community forests, 2) improve governance at the local level, including cooperation between state forest units and public and private sector, 3) promote 8 International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and World Wild Life Fund (WWF) are co-implementers of this Program. 21 multiple forest benefits from a diversified management, and 4) strengthen educational capacity for forestry schools. 77. A communications strategy will be developed and Moldsilva’s website will be further improved. Outreach activities will include awareness raising on forest governance and capacity building to implement sector policies. The main target audience will consist of national authorities, private sector, civil society, and local communities. The strategy will rely on multiple channels of communication, including social media and online networks that will be employed to reach out to diverse target audiences. In addition to the general www.enpi- fleg.org website, the ENPI FLEG team decided to improve the quality of information and transparency of forest activities through Moldsilva’s website. The underlying idea is to strengthen the agency’s capacity for web communication, and showcase good practices that could be gradually incorporated by the agency. 78. A Strategic Environmental and Social Assessment Framework (SESAF) will be applied. Such an assessment will ensure the integration of environmental and social aspects into decisions that relate to forestry policies, laws, and programs. It is expected that it will bring an element of objectivity to the evaluation of different policy options and will encourage more open and transparent decision making through engaging all stakeholders. 79. In addition, the project aims to strengthen local ownership by incorporating mechanisms to involve local stakeholders. The project activities are based on Moldova’s demand and capacity. The National Program Advisory Committees (NPAC) representing various stakeholders has been established to identify Moldova’s priorities for ENPI FLEG activities. This consultative process can positively contribute to the buy-in of government and local stakeholders. Surveys are also planned to be conducted to assess citizen perceptions toward forestry issues. 2. Planned World Bank Supported Operations 80. An investment operation in Moldova’s forestry sector is planned as part of the CPS. In the framework of the new Country Partnership Strategy 2014-2017 the GoM and the World Bank’s agreed to launch an investment operation in Moldova to address various forestry sector governance issues. In FY 2014, a Moldova Forestry Policy Note will be drafted by the Bank to prepare the ground for this operation. The preparation of the Policy Note will take into consideration the underlying technical and social factors of the forestry sector. The current SA review would serve as a relevant source of information and guidance for both the Policy Note and the future operation. The World Bank could contribute to the SA in the forestry sector by improving information provision and transparency of LPAs activities and Moldsilva, enhancing GRMs and feedback channels, and fostering public participation. 22 III. RECOMMENDATIONS 81. The following recommendations refer to interventions that aim to enhance the performance of the forestry sector through improved SA. They focus on improving information provision, strengthening citizen feedback, integrating feedback mechanisms, and enhancing public participation in forestry management. These recommendations are directed to the following stakeholders: forestry authorities, such as Moldsilva, SEI, LPAs; and intermediaries, such as CSOs, think tanks, media, and universities as well as development partners such as World Bank. Each recommendation is accompanied by a brief feasibility assessment. A full stakeholder analysis and a list of recommendations for each of the stakeholders are available in Annex 1. 1. Information Provision and Transparency 82. It could be important for forestry authorities to publish information on sector performance. As part of this, the following information could be released: 1) local branches’ performance results (such as work effectiveness, budget execution, other forestry related performance indicators), 2) information concerning inspections with details on locations, departments, illegal activities, 3) analysis of information derived from citizen complaints, including trends and patterns in types of complaints, reports, location; and 4) results of public surveys concerning the GRM effectiveness. To facilitate understanding and public scrutiny, visuals, such as graphs and charts, could be used to allow comparison among branches, institutions, communities, and results during different time periods. Such information should be published by Moldsilva on its website. Feasibility assessment: Responsible Stakeholder: Moldsilva. Priority: High. The publication of information about sector performance could serve as an incentive for forestry authorities to improve. Difficulty: Easy/Medium. The release of information requires political commitment, but as most of this information is already available, the implementation of this recommendation should not pose considerable difficulties. Sustainability: Medium. There is a need to invest continuous efforts in ensuring that up-to- date information is released in a timely manner and quality criteria are met. 83. Awareness raising activities about the SEI hotline could contribute to efforts aimed at curbing illegal logging/transactions. More efforts could be made to ensure people are aware of the SEI as the most relevant organization responsible for forestry law enforcement and combating illegal activities. A campaign could be launched by the SEI in collaboration with CSOs and media to target the public. The campaign could advertise the hotline and encourage people to use it to report illegal activities, corruption, and complaints. Various means of communication, including ICT, could be employed to reach out to the public. Partnerships with local media could be established to facilitate the reach out activities. Feasibility assessment: 23 Responsible stakeholder: SEI, CSOs, and media. Priority: High. Awareness raising about the SEI hotline could increase citizen engagement in reporting illegal activities and, therefore, should be a top priority for forestry sector SA. Difficulty: Easy/Medium. The suggested awareness raising activities should not pose considerable implementation difficulties and do not require a large budget. Sustainability: Medium. Regular information regarding the hotline should be provided to ensure the sustainability of this activity. 84. Moldsilva and SEI could take advantage of the available open data platforms. According to the Moldovan Open Data Directive, all governmental agencies are required to disclose their information on www.date.gov.md. Another platform (http://moldova.wb- boost.org) allows the publication of agencies’ budget and spending. So far only the Central Government is posting its budget data. Moldsilva has not yet published any data on its forest resource use or activities. However, releasing open data on forestry agencies’ activities, and in particular on their budgets, spending, and performance, could enable public scrutiny and a meaningful engagement of civil society. In the long run, Moldsilva itself would benefit from opening its data since this would allow improvements in forest management and contribute to the sector’s development objectives. Opening SEI’s data on the platform could also be beneficial. Feasibility assessment: Responsible Stakeholder: Moldsilva, SEI Priority: Medium. Open data is an important step to ensure sector transparency. Difficulty: Hard. Moldsilva and SEI would need to invest efforts, time, and resources to meet the technical requirements of open data and overcome political resistance. Sustainability: Medium. In order for open data to have impact, there is a need to invest dedicated efforts to ensure data is updated and data quality criteria are met. 85. Public awareness about forestry sector issues and opportunities for citizen engagement could be improved. The local advocacy CSOs could be supported by ENPI- FLEG in undertaking awareness campaigns that focus on the following aspects: 1) benefits accrued from local forest resources and the role of local residents in their sustainable management, 2) existing mechanisms that allow to participate and influence the process such as GRMs, hotlines, participation in LC’s activities, etc., 3) forestry authorities’ activities, and 4) the need for public engagement in identifying and reporting illegalities. The campaigns could use various communication channels that are accessible and popular with the public, such as TV, radio, mobile phones (SMS or voice mails), to reach large audiences. Low cost effective open source applications can help deliver messages to citizens and receive their feedback based on diverse criteria, such as geographic area, age, gender or social status. Given its objectives, ENPI FLEG could be the initiator of such a campaign. Indicators to evaluate such activities could include: the number of individuals exposed to the campaign’s messages, type and amount of messages delivered as part of the campaign, and for the longer 24 term—enhanced use of mechanisms advertised by the campaign, and an increase in public reporting of illegalities. Feasibility assessment: Responsible stakeholder: ENPI FLEG in collaboration with a CSO which would implement the campaign Priority: High. Information provision and awareness raising are very important at this stage. Awareness raising on forestry issues and sustainable forest management are prerequisite for the creation of favorable conditions for other SA mechanisms. Difficulty: Easy/medium. The ease of implementation of information campaigns varies depending on the tools used by the campaign. It could be possible to partner with several CSOs in Moldova that have experience in leading such information campaigns. Sustainability: Medium. Additional efforts will be required to sustain the impact of information campaigns. 86. Transparency of municipal and village Local Councils (LCs) could be strengthened through capacity building activities. LCs are among the few available venues for public participation at the local level. However, in practice they are often neither transparent in their activities nor active in engaging people in their work. There is often a significant disconnection between LCs and local constituencies, as they only communicate with citizens around the time of local electoral campaigns. LCs and LAs could strengthen their commitment and fulfill their responsibility to inform people about the date and time of the LCs’ sessions, encourage citizen attendance, inform about issues on the agenda and decisions that were made. This is particularly important given LCs’ major role as decision makers on all issues related to forest management. Given the lack of culture of citizen participation in the country, activities that aim to enhance LCs’ transparency could be the first step in the process of raising civic participation at the local level. Participatory workshops or other activities could be organized to bring all community players together to discuss ways to cooperate and ensure improved information provision. Feasibility assessment: Responsible stakeholder: the LCs facilitated by the CPAs. Priority: High. LCs could serve as an entry point for local participation in the forestry sector as they are the main decision-making body on forestry management. Difficulty: Easy/medium. Organizing awareness raising and capacity building for LCs and community members should not be overly difficult and costly. Sustainability: Medium. Additional efforts will be required to sustain the impact of initiatives aimed to raise the transparency of LCs. 87. The ENPI-FLEG could facilitate the engagement of a CSO as an intermediary between Moldsilva, State Ecological Inspectorate, and citizens. Moldsilva, the SEI, LAs, and other governmental authorities already release large amounts of information as part of 25 existing transparency policies. However, this information often does not reach citizens and is not understood by them. CSOs could serve as intermediaries to facilitate meaningful provision of information to citizens and ensure that forestry information reaches its targeted audiences, including in the rural areas. It could analyze, interpret and disseminate information through press conferences, media events, community meetings. It could also compile and disseminate simple educational materials. Such a CSO could establish partnerships with local media to engage them in reporting about findings in specific regions, villages, or forestry entities. The outreach to the media could be made in parallel with the awareness campaigns described above. Feasibility assessment: Responsible Stakeholders: Local CSOs, think tanks, and academia with the support from the ENPI-FLEG. Priority: Medium/High. Disseminating easily understandable information about performance, inspections, complaints’ analysis and satisfaction surveys is important to ensure sector transparency and enable public scrutiny. The engagement of an intermediary that would take care of these activities would therefore be helpful. The production of high quality research could also contribute to the performance of the forestry sector Difficulty: Medium. Interpreting and disseminating information requires continuous commitment and resources. Sustainability: Medium/Low. The designated entities would need stable funding to carry out such activities. 2. Citizen feedback mechanisms, including GRM 88. Moldsilva could sponsor a citizen feedback survey on the performance of forestry authorities and LAs that own community forests. Surveys that assess citizen satisfaction with forestry authorities and LAs' performance and inquire about citizens’ suggestions on service delivery could help reveal systemic problems and identify possibilities for improvements. Such a survey could be conducted in all forestry entities, or only in those where forest management causes particular problems. Various tools could be used to conduct the survey. One possibility is to ask targeted questions once people interact with forestry authorities. Another option is an SMS-based feedback that could be enabled by one of the available open-source platforms. These cost-effective platforms allow targeting specific audience by geographic location, social status, or age. Sample random surveys could also be applied to allow a more systemic approach. Citizen feedback could also be included in the evaluation of forest branches and personnel performance. Feasibility assessment: Responsible stakeholder: Moldsilva Priority: High. Satisfaction surveys can prove as an inexpensive and effective means to assess the performance of forestry sector, as well as identify strengths and weaknesses. Difficulty: Easy. Satisfaction surveys are inexpensive and can rely on existing good practices. It should also be relatively easy to place this type of information on a website. 26 Sustainability: Medium. The commitment of forest agencies will be necessary in order to sustain the practice of satisfaction surveys and publish it on a website in a timely manner. 89. LPAs could strengthen available GRMs at the local level. An initiative could be launched to include selected communities (possibly those where a large amount of illegal forestry activities occur) to strengthen their feedback mechanisms by introducing basic monitoring and evaluation functions. Each citizen compliant/request could be registered and considered in accordance with the legal timeframe. An analysis of feedback and complaints resolution could be conducted on a bi-monthly basis and reported to the LC for discussion. The results of the feedback analysis, including information about complaint resolution, could be made available to the community members. Prior to such initiative, a rapid assessment of existing feedback mechanisms could be conducted to evaluate their performance. At the same time, capacity building activities could be planned to raise awareness of local authorities on the value of GRM. 90. A more advanced public monitoring platform could allow reporting illegalities and complaints directly on a crowdsourcing web-platform. Such a platform could enable citizens to lodge reports and complaints directly on the website, by sending an email, or via the phone. The responsible agency could place reports that were received offline or by phone on the site. Commitment should be made to respond to those reports and ensure that they are acted upon. Responses to the reports would appear on the website, and other users would be allowed to post comments and suggestions. Since internet is not the primary channel of communication in Moldova, the platform could be designed to report using SMS options which are widely used in Moldova, including in rural areas. Please see below examples of platforms to report forestry issues. Box 1. Examples of platforms to report forestry issues. Platforms to report and tackle illegal activity in forestry sector in Bulgaria The Blue Link Information Network in Bulgaria was initiated in 2008 to consolidate information on illegal logging. The information was simultaneously posted on the website to show authorities where illegal activities were concentrated. The project relies on a broad network of citizens and CSOs. It links a web-based platform for information alerts about illegal logging with the protection and control departments of the state forestry administration. Crowdsourcing web-platforms for forestry protection in Albania The platform was created under a broad multi-stakeholder project “Fighting Corruption in the forestry sector through public awareness and collaborative partnerships”. A website was created as part of the project (www.prerjetepaligishme.net), allowing people to report illegalities. Feasibility assessment: Responsible stakeholder: LPAs (possibly as part of an initiative supported by donor funding) Priority: High/Medium. Difficulty: Medium. Improved GRM at the local level requires commitment, mindset change, and resources. 27 Sustainability: Medium. Demand for SA should be strengthened to ensure the sustainability of such activities. 91. The hotline administered by the SEI could be strengthened. Existing complaint handling mechanisms at the local level are sometimes ineffective, as citizens are often expected to lodge complaints or report illegalities to the same local authorities that are allegedly involved in those fraudulent activities. As the SEI is the main law enforcement agency responsible for ensuring legality in the forestry sector, enhancing the effectiveness of the SEI’s hotline in a way that it would receive complaints on illegalities related to Moldsilva and LPA forests would resolve some of these matters. 92. Complaints received through the hotline could be analyzed and made public. Such an analysis could be conducted on a bi-monthly or monthly basis with an annual summary report. The analysis could contain predetermined indicators, such as main issues reported and forestry entities/LPAs concerned. It would track the authorities’ progress on handling complaints and activities undertaken in response to various complaints. The results of the reports could be made available on a designated website to enable comparison between local forest authorities. Placing the information on the website supported by visual techniques can be effective in creating a “spotlight effect” and ensuing incentives for improvement. The website could contain a feedback feature that allows commenting on this information. The audience of such a platform would consist of forestry authorities, the SEI, the CSOs, and citizens. Feasibility Assessment: Responsible Stakeholder: The SEI in collaboration with Moldsilva. This could be designed as a project component in the future Forestry operation supported by the Bank. Priority: Medium. Strengthening citizen feedback mechanisms, such as hotlines to receive reports on suspected illegal activities, is recognized as an important task. Difficulty: Medium/Hard. Commitment to adequately administer feedback mechanisms and development of ICT-enabled tools require time, effort and resources. Sustainability: Medium. Commitment of all actors to get engaged in the crowdsourcing platform is needed. 3. Citizen Participation 93. Citizen participation in resource management could strengthen local ownership and incentives. Information provision and GRM/feedback mechanisms proposed above may provide good grounds to increase citizen understanding and voice. At the same time, cooperation among stakeholders and deeper engagement in collective action are needed to bring about change at the local level. Several activities are therefore recommended to increase collaborative efforts and citizen participation. 94. The forestry authorities could promote cooperation with local and regional stakeholders to fight illegal logging. A framework for cooperation could be established in a selected region to bring together forestry-related stakeholders, such as Moldsilva’s local entities, LPAs, SEI’s local branches, relevant CSOs, under an Agreement of Cooperation. As part of this agreement, the participating stakeholders would share information on illegal activities, cooperate with the judiciary to bring illegal cases to court, and develop community monitoring practices. A Network of Information Exchange could be set up and developed to 28 facilitate information sharing and monitoring efforts. Since the lack of forestry monitoring impedes the effectiveness of the sector’s governance, several community based monitoring groups could be established that would serve as a liaison between communities and forestry and law enforcement agencies. This approach could be relevant within the framework of ENPI FLEG’s project, which aims to develop cooperation between Moldsilva and LPAs that own community forests. It could also fit well as part of the Partnership of Cooperation against illegal activities, which was established by GoM. The GoM might consider piloting such cooperation in a specific region to better target resources. An eloquent example of a stakeholder engagement at the regional level in Albania indicates that collaborative approaches may bring results in forestry sector. Such an initiative would have to be preceded by disclosure of relevant information and data. Box 2. Civil Society monitoring and community involvement in forestry in Albania The project “Fighting Corruption in forestry sector through public awareness and collaborative partnerships” was implemented in the Korka region in Albania during a 21 month period and completed in May 2011. The project was based on three pillars: 1) establishing collaborative partnerships to improve mechanisms to address illegalities, 2) increasing transparency to enhance public participation and community action, and 3) improving data collection to increase information to support actions against illegal activities. The project supported improved mechanisms to fight illegalities in the sector through establishing collaborative partnerships between local communities, CSO, the national authorities, and local government. It also established and built the capacity of community “watchdogs” in six communities within the existent Forest and Pasture User Associations. A Unit within the Korka Federation of Forest User Associations was also created to facilitate monitoring and information sharing between the “watchdog communities” and the Forest User Associations9. Based on the assessment of Albania’s government officials, the project resulted in “fewer cases of illegal cutting, reduced opportunity for corruptive actions and improvement in locally coordinated forestry governance”. Feasibility Assessment: Responsible Stakeholder: Moldsilva, SEI, LPAs Priority: High/Medium. Multi-stakeholder partnerships could only be implemented after some awareness-raising and information provision activities are conducted to prepare the ground for engagement. Difficulty: Hard. Multi-stakeholder engagement requires time, efforts and depends on their commitment to address the situation. Also, creating LPA forestry monitoring groups requires resources and capacity. Sustainability: Medium. Sustainability will depend on strong commitment to achieve results within the Agreement of Cooperation established by the GoM and on clear responsibilities set for each player. 95. Participatory decision making mechanisms in forest administration could be supported to increase local ownership. ENPI FLEG assigns priority to the development of pilots of sustainable models for community forests based on participatory forest management. 9 Forest User Associations have been established in Albania to manage forests at the local level 29 It could therefore support initiatives on participatory decision making in the forestry sector. For example, citizens could be engaged in the elaboration of FMPs, where they would be invited to comment on forest monitoring activities, mechanisms for collective forest guarding, and collective investments. This approach would also be relevant to the upcoming government-initiated activities on forest extension, which aim to allocate community land for forest extension. Citizens could be engaged in discussions on the best ways to effectively use their land. It is important to ensure that women are not disadvantaged in the process of decision making due to their limited opportunities to contribute with labor or invest into local forestry activities. LCs could be used in such endeavors as citizen engagement focal points and intermediaries at the local level. Box 3. Community participation in forest use and management in Boghenii Noi, Moldova Boghenii Noi is an example of community participation in the use and management of forest resources. It is a community which comprises five villages that own and sustainably use forest and pasture resources. Almost 90 percent of the community members are actively engaged in the so called “collective guarding” of their forestland. The LC is the main decision maker regarding the forest use and people participate in its discussions. Socially vulnerable population groups benefit from community wood resources free of charge. People participate in various community works, such as forest regeneration. As a result, the community achieved significant results in terms of forest management, such as guarding, regeneration, etc. This community reached this level of success and participation because of (i) community economic dependence on forest resources (from wood sale, subsistence needs), (ii) people’s understanding of the value of participatory approaches, and (iii) the longstanding inherited tradition of LPA forestry management. Feasibility assessment: Responsible Stakeholders: Moldsilva with the support of ENPI FLEG and/or in the framework of the future forestry operation. Priority: Medium. Community participation could help address the sustainable use of forest resources and rural development. Difficulty: Medium/Hard. Genuine participatory approaches take time and effort to implement. Sustainability: Medium. Continuous efforts and resources would be required to sustain participatory projects. 96. Third party monitoring in the forestry sector could be promoted. There is currently a lack of in-depth professional monitoring of forestry governance, and local CSOs could be important in filling this gap. They could monitor issues related to forest felling and harvesting authorizations, budgeting and spending in forestry. In particular, third-party monitoring could focus on the SEI, in order to enhance the accountability of law enforcement bodies. CSO representatives with adequate expertise could be included in SEI inspection teams on a systematic basis. Given its priority to strengthen participatory mechanisms in forestry sector, ENPI FLEG could initiate collaboration with CSOs on third party monitoring. 30 Feasibility assessment: Responsible Stakeholders: The CSOs and SEI. Priority: Medium. Third party monitoring by independent CSOs could reveal important, and otherwise unavailable, information about the performance of the forestry sector, expose potential weaknesses, and help identify solutions. Difficulty: Medium/Hard. The implementation of third party monitoring requires considerable time and efforts. Sustainability: Medium. Continuous efforts and resources would be required to sustain participatory projects. MATRIX OF RECOMMENDATIONS Recommendation Responsible Priority Difficulty Sustainability stakeholder Information on sector performance and Moldsilva High Easy / Medium effectiveness could increase transparency medium and provide incentives to improve Awareness raising about SEI hotline could SEI, CSOs High Easy / Medium be improved medium Open data could be published on existing Moldsilva, Medium Hard Medium platforms SEI Public awareness about forestry sector and ENPI- High Easy/ Medium opportunities for citizen engagement could FLEG, Medium be improved CSOs Transparency of municipal and village Local LCs/ CPAs High Easy / Medium Councils could be strengthened Medium Engagement of civil society and the CSOs, Medium/ Medium Medium/Low academia to analyze and disseminate Academia, High information on sector performance, and Supported produce quality research by ENPI- FLEG Citizen feedback surveys on forestry sector Moldsilva High Easy Medium performance could be conducted Feedback mechanisms, including GRM, at LPAs High/ Medium Medium the local level could be strengthened Medium Cooperation with local and regional Moldsilva, High/ Hard Medium stakeholders could be established SEI, LPAs Medium Strengthening the SEI hotline SEI Medium Medium/ Medium Hard Participation in LPA forestry could be Moldsilva, High Medium/ Medium improved through people’s participation in LPAs, ENPI Hard FMP elaboration, decision making on forest FLEG extension activities and profitable community land use Third party monitoring could be supported CSOs, SEI Medium Medium/ Medium Hard 31 97. The forestry sector in Moldova faces significant governance and sustainability challenges. The inadequate level of forest coverage in Moldova has considerable social, economic and environment implications. The situation is aggravated by the intense pressure on forest resources exerted by the human factor and environmental changes. LPAs though having the authority to manage communal forests de facto rely on Moldsilva’s local branches for that. Population considers Moldsilva as the main perpetrator of illegal activities and thus does not trust its ability to curb illegalities. 98. This report aimed to identify mechanisms and potential entry points for SA interventions in the forestry sector. The objective of this report is to inform the decision making regarding potential interventions to enhance SA in the forestry sector. The report also looked at the WB implemented ENPI FLEG project as an illustration of existent issues and entry points for SA interventions in the forestry sector in Moldova. 99. While several SA tools are available in the forestry sector, their effectiveness could be improved. Significant challenges remain in the area of forestry sector transparency, including sector performance, budget and spending data. Information provision about the forestry sector and the level of communication with local communities are major issues. GRMs are available, but their effectiveness is diminished by the lack of awareness on the defined norms against which citizens could hold governments accountable. Absence of adequate analysis and information on the type of complaints and requests, the quality of the responses provided, and the lack of information regarding citizen satisfaction with the process and responses reduces incentives for feedback provision. Mechanisms for public participation in forestry decision making are supported by law, but are rather weak in practice. LCs though expected to be the platforms for citizens’ participation in forestry management do not provide enough room for citizen’s participation. Local communities lack incentives for participation due to low awareness on the benefits that can be brought to them by proper forest management 100. This report outlined several recommendations on how to strengthen SA mechanisms in the forestry sector. These recommendations are addressed to Moldovan stakeholders, such as forestry sector authorities and civil society representatives, and to the World Bank. 101. The following suggestions are applicable to forestry authorities. The key SA entry points in the long term are: (a) more open data on the sector performance and general information across various stakeholders, (b) feedback mechanisms in place and monitored for performance, (c) platforms for participation and collaboration between stakeholders created. This will create necessary capacity and incentives for feedback provision and participation. In order to achieve that forestry authorities could: 1) publish information on sector performance; 2) release open data on dedicated online platforms; 3) support awareness raising activities about the SEI hotline to help curb illegal logging and transactions; 4) sponsor a citizen feedback survey on the performance of local branches of Moldsilva and LAs that own community forests; 5) strengthen available GRMs at the local level via traditional and ICT- enabled tools; and 6) promote cooperation with local and regional stakeholders to fight illegal logging. 102. To support better governance and citizen engagement in the forestry sector, the WB in the context of the upcoming operation to support forestry sector reform, can focus on supporting (a) information provision and transparency; (b) citizen feedback 32 mechanisms, including GRM; and (c) citizen participation in monitoring forest management. This could translate into a series of initiatives such as: 1) public awareness campaigns to improve citizen knowledge about sector issues and opportunities; 2) strengthening the transparency of LCs and citizen participation in their activities through capacity building activities; 3) facilitating the engagement of CSOs as intermediaries between Moldsilva, State Ecological Inspectorate, and citizens; 4) engaging think tanks and universities to work on policy related matters in the forestry sector. GRM could be strengthened by 1) reinforcing systematically the hotline administered by the SEI; 2) supporting the analysis and publication of complaints received on the hotline. Finally, bottom up initiatives could be encouraged to 1) support participatory decision making mechanisms in forest administration to increase local ownership; 2) encourage third party monitoring in the forestry sector. 103. To promote greater public awareness and enhance citizen engagement in the forestry sector, the CSOs could (a) analyze and disseminate information on sector performance, and produce quality research; (b) engage as third parties in monitoring sector performance. 104. In sum, this report emphasizes that enhanced information provision; transparent feedback mechanisms (including GRMs); and improved public participation in forestry management could create incentives and pressure to improve forest governance. Recent developments in the forestry sector present opportunities to facilitate this process and create momentum for cooperation and mutual trust among stakeholders. 33 BIBLIOGRAPHY: Community Forests and Local Development, ENPI-FLEG, 2011 FLEG in Moldova: Sustainability analysis of collectively managed forests, ENPI-FLEG and IUCN, 2012 Forestry sector problems from the perspective of local population based on psycho- sociological analysis, analytical report on the results of survey in the Republic of Moldova, 2011 Ringold, Dina, Alaka Holla, Margaret Koziol, Santhosh Srinivasan (2012). “Citizens and Service Delivery: Assessing the Use of Social Accountability Approaches in the Human Development Sectors.” Washington DC: World Bank. 34 Stakeholder Current role Advantages SA interests Limitations Recommended in the sector actions to enhance SA in the forestry sector Ministry of Environment - consults CPAs, LPAs on - raise awareness of No systematic - instruct SEI to Environment policy maker environmental matters their stakeholders and cooperation with widely disseminate (MoE) and control - 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support awareness raising campaigns, engage CSOs on monitoring and information dissemination LPAs Responsible Have autonomous status in - to be seen as -have limited -strengthen their for community relation to CPAs based on authorities that are capacities for forest contact with forests principles of open to constituency, management community, administration decentralization of power, take into -no incentives for -engage local people but are regularly monitored consideration sustainable in LPA forestry by CPAs (State people’s voice and management, management Chancellery) on law involve them in - concerns on -provide information compliance decision making. behalf of local on LC sessions, mayors to create activities and engage tensions with their people to participate in constituency if they the LC’ sessions prosecute forest -make publicly related violations available information by local population on local budget and -low capacity, spending understanding and -support resources for implementation of implementing SA CDD projects mechanisms -insufficient resources for forest management, including forest staff ii CSOs Advocate for -have potential to influence Some CSOs are Lack of financial -engage in forestry forest policy processes given its approach involved in forestry resources for monitoring and reforms to work as an entity making a issues advocacy and sustainable consistent and dedicated have interest to engagement -engage in effort to forestry issues participate in projects analyzing and -issues raised by CSOs are to improve forest disseminating increasingly debated in the governance information about public domain or addressed forestry sector by the government. -have expertise on environmental issues, including forestry -some CSO have regional representation, such as EMM, and therefore have good knowledge of the local context -media are -limited influence on Media -disseminate -have means to rapidly “watchdog” SA -report on forestry information disseminate information institutions and have sector -have experience and certain intrinsic interest for - limited interest in -report on illegal -report on degree of success in SA forestry issues activities forest sector government agenda setting -media are also -disseminate interested in SA information and because it can help create stories out of generate interesting data stories Have intrinsic Don’t have direct Think tanks NA Have expertize to conduct interest to provide influence on policy conduct research research and provide policy expertise to making and and provide policy recommendations government and other monitoring of recommendations stakeholders forestry operations in forestry Citizens Main Can exert significant Citizens have direct -no awareness and -engage more beneficiaries influence if mobilized and interest to enforce capacity for SA actively in forest of forest engaged in collective actions greater SA because it mechanisms management - resources would have a positive -low level of engage in forestry impact on the engagement in monitoring effectiveness of government -regularly government work and processes because of participate in LC’ management of social norms and sessions public resources traditions Universities Prepare Have knowledge on forestry Have interest to be Don’t have influence initiate courses on specialists in and experience for capacity seen as institutions on decision making community forestry forestry building which promote good management practices iii