Strategic Environmental Assessments in the Forest Sector

In 2005, the World Bank launched a pilot program for applying strategic environmental assessments (SEAs) at the policy level. The World Bank tested an approach known "as institution-centered SEAs" for incorporating key environmental and social considerations into policy formulation. Institution-centered SEAs are applied at the policy level and emphasize the political, institutional and governance context underlying decision-making processes.

An SEA on the Kenya Forest Act of 2005 was one of the pilots associated with the program. Since then, SEAs and SEA principles have been used in other countries to inform policy, program and plan formulation and implementation.

This page compiles World Bank-supported SEAs in the forests sector. It also offers guidance on specific components of institution-centered SEAs.

• Guidance notes on SEAs in the forest sector (pdf files):
  Background / Prioritizing considerations / Stakeholder engagement / Stakeholder analysis / Using analysis 
• Kenya SEA (pdf)
• Liberia SEA (pdf)
• Vietnam SEA -- in Vietnamese (pdf) / Vietnam SEA -- in English (pdf)

Also of interest:

• World Bank toollkit for broader SEAs (not specific to forest sector)
• Good Practice Guidance on SEA for Development Cooperation (pdf, from OECD)