Mainstreaming integrative forest management

For the successful application of the approach, sustainable and integrative forest management needs not only to be piloted and practiced on the ground but also integrated into national strategies, development plans, and long-term forest management planning and monitoring. Consequently, it is equally important to work with forest tenants on the local level as to mainstream the approach on the national level.

The Join Forest Management approach has been anchored in the Forest Code of Tajikistan in 2011. This builds the legal basis of the implementation and accelerates the further dissemination to other parts of the country. Since 2016, a more integrative forest management is practiced for which an inter-sectoral dialogue has been established. This inter-sectoral dialogue facilitates to address environmental, economic and social challenges beyond the mandate of the forest agency. Forest monitoring and management planning are being strengthened through support to the forest inspection unit. Only if a forest management planning system and a forest monitoring structure are in place, an approach such as the integrative forest approach can be out scaled throughout the country and mismanagement, corruption, and wide-scale violations of regulations (e.g. grazing on forest plots) prevented. 

The JFM approach follows a multilevel approach, targeting national, regional and local level which has proven to be necessary and consequently successful.

A theoretically sound solution can only be as good in practice as its underlying management planning and monitoring system as well as its political support.