Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How does the Bank ensure social and environmental concerns are taken into account?

A: The Quality Assurance and Compliance Unit (QACU) ensures that the Bank's social and environmental safeguard policies are implemented consistently across the Bank. It has the power to prevent projects from being approved if they fail to meet the safeguard test. For more information, see www.worldbank.org/safeguards. Additionally, an independent external advisory group (EAG) on Forests Strategy implementation meets regularly to review the effectiveness of the forest program and implementation of the forest strategy and advises the president of the World Bank on forest-related matters.

Q: How does the Bank work with the private sector arm of the World Bank Group?

A: Since adopting the revised forest sector strategy, the Bank is taking a more integrated approach toward investments in the forests sector and developing closer collaboration between the Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The IFC’s involvement in the forest sector is growing from investments of $45 million in FY2001 to possibly as much as $300 million in FY05. While the IFC is in the process of updating its safeguard policies, it operates according to the Bank’s forest policy.

Q: How is the Bank combating illegal logging and forest sector corruption?

A: The market value of global annual losses from illegal cutting of forests is estimated to be US$10 billion. The Bank is actively involved in facilitating regional Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG) initiatives in partnership with various donor agencies and governments. Through these regional initiatives, the Bank is helping to curb illegal logging and thereby reduce the degradation of forests, loss of government revenue from uncollected fees taxes, and support the development of a more level playing field for legitimate forest operators.

The Bank is engaged in both Asia and Africa to implement actions agreed to at the Asia Ministerial FLEG in Bali, Indonesia, in September 2001, and the Africa FLEG Ministerial Conference in Yaoundé, Cameroon, in October 2003. The Bank is also facilitating the Europe and North Asia FLEG process that will culminate in a Ministerial meeting hosted by the Russian Federation in Fall 2005. Initial scoping activities for a potential FLEG initiative in Latin America and the Caribbean are also underway. 

Q: What is the Bank’s position on forest certification?

A: Forest certification is an important tool for implementing the new forests strategy, and is in fact a requirement in any project involving industrial forests. The Bank’s operational policy on forests sets out minimum requirements that must be met by certification schemes used.  Through the World Bank/WWF Alliance, the Bank has promoted the use of certification and with the Alliance is developing a tool to – the Questionnaire for Assessing the Comprehensiveness of Certification Schemes/Systems (QACC) - to assess different certification schemes.

Q: Does the Bank finance forest plantations?

A: OP 4.36 allows for the Bank to assist client countries in the establishment and sustainable management of environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial, and economically viable forest plantations to help meet growing demands for forest goods and services. However, the Bank does not finance plantations that involve any conversion or degradation of critical natural habitats, including adjacent or downstream critical natural habitats. At present, the only Bank operation that includes establishment of plantations is in the Forestry Development in Poor Areas Project in China. The objective of the project is to develop forest resources in poor areas of central and western China on a sustainable and participatory basis to support poverty reduction, forestry development, and improved environmental management. The project components include the establishment of timber plantations and economic forest crops, including bamboo, fruit, nut and medicinal trees.

Several other bank operations focus on planting forests for rehabilitation of degraded areas. Such rehabilitation helps to contribute to rural livelihoods and the provision of forest environmental services. Innovative approaches to financing forest rehabilitation and management is a priority area for the Bank, focusing on payments for environmental services such as climate mitigation, watershed services and biodiversity conservation. The Bank is also looking at how community managed forests and small-holder timber lots can contribute to livelihoods for rural poor while providing materials for commercial use in a sustainable manner.

Q: Is the Bank involved in commercial logging?

A: The Bank only considers financing commercial harvesting operations when it has determined, on the basis of the applicable environmental assessment or other relevant information, that the areas affected by the harvesting are not critical forests or related critical natural habitats. Certification is required in such circumstances and the forests operational policy (OP4.36) sets minimum requirements that must be met by the certification system applied.

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