"The ability of a country to follow sustainable development paths is determined to a large extent by the capacity of its people and its institutions..."
This statement is taken from Chapter 37 of Agenda 21, the blueprint for a sustainable future produced by the Earth Summit in 1992. It might seem blindingly obvious, even tautological. But more than a decade on, the international community continues to grapple with the theory and practice of capacity-building in sustainable development, and how it can best assist countries to do it.
Tropical Forest Update

Issue 13 No 4
The future of forestry
Photo: Rukmantara
Contents
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RIL becomes real in Brazil
Photo: D. Dykstra
An innovative ITTO-funded training project has taught loggers, foresters and forestry trainers the how and why of reduced impact logging
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Repairing the road to SFM
Photo: Rukmantara
Sustainable forest management remains an important goal in Indonesia, but capacity-building and institution-strengthening must be complemented by a more coherent policy environment at the different levels of government
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When foresters have a higher calling
An ITTO project is assisting a forestry school to provide an education program to foresters wishing to strengthen their skills in sustainable forest management planning and practice
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Paths to partnerships in central Africa
Photo: C. Ndikumagenge
A review of experiences in forest management partnerships in the Congo Basin should lead to the strengthening of collaborative work there
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Training local auditors
ITTO begins a process for developing capacity in tropical countries for auditing the implementation of the ITTO criteria & indicators
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Out on a limb
Not enough attention is being paid to building forest management capacity within Africa’s civil society
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Council outcomes
Photo: L. Mead, Earth Negotiations
BulletinCouncil delivers a further US$7.6 million for field action in tropical forests
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Countries debate the merits of a new agreement
PrepCom II has prepared the ground for some intriguing negotiations in 2004 to create a successor agreement to the ITTA, 1994
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Moving mahogany
The CITES Appendix II listing of mahogany comes into force
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Fellowship report
Bolivian woods could find a niche in the German parquet market

Full edition
The ITTO Tropical Forest Update is published quarterly in English, French and Spanish.
The French and Spanish editions are usually posted about one month after the English.
Latest editions




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Content does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of ITTO. ITTO holds the copyright to all photos unless otherwise stated. Articles may be reprinted without charge providing the Tropical Forest Update and author are credited and the editor notified (tfu@itto.int).