NFP Facility logo

NFP Facility Partnership

Ecuador Ecuador

The NFP Facility and the Government of Ecuador signed a Partnership Agreement in August, 2003. The main focus of the Agreement was to promote participatory processes for decision making in the formulation and coordination of forestry policy contributing to sustainable development. The Agreement also promoted further integration of the forestry sector into other productive sectors such as agriculture and energy, with a view of contributing to poverty alleviation.

In the first year, the support was centered on the evaluation of the National Strategy for Forestry Development; the organization of a multisectorial mechanism for forestry dialog; the participatory formulation of the National Agroforestry Proposal (for the corresponding Strategy); and the pilot process for formulation and organization of the implementation of a local plan for forestry restoration by Andean indigenous communities. During the second round of Letters of Agreement (LOAs), Facility support was focusing on a pilot activity related to decentralization of forest administration and management at municipal level, and to the direct participation of communities on local forest management and control of illegal logging. The third series of LoAs aimed at proposing the basis of the national forest assessment (NFA), the dissemination of the forestry legal framework, the dissemination of the new National Policy for Andean Ecosystems, the proposal for the establishment of incentives for the sustainable forest management by small producers in the Amazon forest, based on field experiences, and the creation of an integrated forestry documentation center of MAE, DNF, MAGAP, INIAP and the Ecuadorian Agroforestry Network, on the management of the natural resources. Only 50% of this project was accomplished.

A total of 10 projects were initiated by six NGOs and two public institutions, one of them of the local level, for the implementation of the first Partnership Agreement. Eight out of the 10 projects were completely executed, but two initiated in 2007 by the DNF for proposing the basis of the national forest assessment and for disseminating the forestry legal framework, and by the Red Agroforestal Ecuatoriana (RAFE) for the creation of an integrated forestry documentation center, have not been completed even at the end of 2011. Serious administrative problems with several agreements and activities administrated by the local FAO office before 2011, have hindered the opportune closure of the LoAs corresponding to the mentioned projects. Nevertheless, the final technical reports of both LoAs were formulated, although the one of the RAFE reflects only the accomplishing of a half of the commitment with FAO and the expenditure of only the 30% of the Facility stipulated funding, due to the unexpected closure of this organization.

 

In November 2008, MAE sent a second Concept Note to the Facility, resulting in the approval by the NFP Facility Steering Committee, in February 2009, of a Second Partnership Agreement. This new Agreement was signed by the NFP Facility and by DNF on April 6 and May 6, respectively.

The Second Agreement was launched during a workshop held in Quito on May 7 and 8, inaugurated by the Minister of Environment. In this event, an updating of the Concept Note was carried out, a logic framework was formulated for guiding the activities to be executed for implementing the Agreement and the working plan for the first year of implementation was designed. The general objective of the activities was defined as "The contribution of the forestry sector to the country development is clearly identified, the key stakeholders actively participate into the NFP process and there is consistency between this process and the strategies for poverty reduction."

Immediately after the launching workshop, a new Facility National Steering Committee (the NMSC) was created. In July 2009 this committee made a call for proposals and selected three project proposals, but only one of them was adjusted by the authors according to the recommendations of the coach and of the National Focal Point. The draft of the corresponding LoA was approved by the Facility manager and signed by FAOR on January 2010. The project, aimed at the creation of the satellite account of goods and services generated by the forests, within the national account system, was implemented successfully until August of the same year by Corporación de Manejo Forestal Sustentable (COMAFORS). 

No more projects were proposed for the Facility support, in spite of the promotion made and of the decision taken by authorities above the DNF to do so. A last attempt to formulate a new project was made in the first semester of 2011, but no concrete actions were carried out by the national focal point to this regard. This way, the second partnership agreement had a poor accomplishment of around 12.5% of the funding offered by the Facility.

 

Points of Contact

01 Nov 2008

Assessment of the nfp

In order to assess the progress and status of the nfp process, the Facility and FAO have designed a matrix to provide a clearer picture of how the country nfp processing are evolving, which elements are well developed and which elements remain weak and in need of further attention. The matrix has been tested in the countries to ensure the relevance of its indicators.

The matrix contains indicators for each phase of the nfp process: analysis, policy formulation, implementation and monitoring and evaluation. The indicators are clustered according to the primary nfp principles: country ownership, inter- and intra-sectoral linkages, partnerships and participation.

The matrix below was completed by stakeholders, in a participatory way, during a national workshop.

Each indicator was rated as follows:

the indicator has not been developed
the indicator is absent from the country nfp process
the indicator exists but is incipient
the indicator is progressing well within the country nfp process
the indicator is completed to the country’s full satisfaction - can serve as a model for others to follow

Implemented Activities