The aim of the pact was to ensure that timber harvested, transported, marketed and used came exclusively from legal sources. Its managers in 2009 were the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the regional autonomous body of Risaralda -CARDER-, WWF Colombia and FEDEMADERAS, with the support throughout this period of the European Union in Colombia. In this context, the Director of Forests and Ecosystem Services of the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, Adriana Santa, said that Phase 2.0 of the pact will also advance plans and instruments that promote forest sustainability and strengthen inter-institutional articulation that will consolidate community governance in the country. With the aim of promoting the legality of timber in Colombia, phase 2.0 of the Pact includes the development of technical and financial training measures for the various actors related to the supply and promotion of the use of legal timber, as well as the establishment and implementation of a monitoring system. The signing of the PIML renewal and the start of Phase 2.0 were recently completed in a formal act. In this way, it should now align with the existing 18 ministerial agreements for legal timber and continue to contribute to reducing deforestation in Colombia. For Sandra Valenzuela, director of WWF Colombia, the new version of this initiative contributes to the country`s goals, including reducing deforestation, adaptation, legality, the climate agenda, economic reactivation and strengthening community participation in the regions. In addition to the companies behind the pact, the AsocarsASOCARS Association of Regional Autonomous Societies and Sustainable Development, the Ministries of Agriculture, Defense, Housing and Trade, Camacol, the SENASENA National Learning Service, the District University and various environmental agencies, accompanied by representatives of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGIGGGI Global Green Growth Institute), attended the signing. European Union, Embassy of Norway and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).
“Two of Colombia`s commitments by 2030 are to reduce deforestation to zero and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51%. The pact is a sum of public, private and civil society wills. We are committed to ensuring that the wood extracted, transported, marketed and used comes exclusively from legal sources. All this is part of the instruments we are creating, such as the Climate Protection Act, to take decisive action against deforestation, among other things. In this, we have and will be very clear: Colombia`s natural resources are respected! and, with the help of communities, we will continue to protect them,” said Carlos Eduardo Correa, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development. “The pact is consolidated in a strategy to strengthen legality and combat the illegal timber trade in Colombia. From the Ministry of Environment, we are working decisively to promote legal timber through the diversified use of forests, where the pact will create tools for monitoring, control and monitoring, as well as strategies in areas that strengthen social incentives for communities to maintain forest sustainability,” explained Santa. The bodies that manage the PIML are the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development, the CarderCARDER Regional Autonomous Corporation of Risaralda, the National Federation of Wood Manufacturers (Fedemaderas) and WWFWWF World Wild Found Colombia with the support of the European Union in Colombia and FAOFAO Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations EU-FLEGT Forest Law Enforcement Programme, Governance and Trade, which promotes forest law enforcement, policy development and trade, as well as the reduction or elimination of illegal logging. This publication summarizes and presents the main achievements and experiences of the first 10 years of the Intersectoral Compact for Legal Timber in Colombia (PIMLC). Over the past decade, this initiative has brought together various public, private and civil society institutions to create alliances against logging and illegal timber trade in Colombia. Currently, some of the most important achievements in forest management in the country are: Bogotá D.C., December 9, 2021 -MADS-. The Intersectoral Compact for Legal Timber (PIML) enters a new phase by 2030 in light of the country`s environmental commitments and becomes one of the alternatives to fight deforestation in Colombia and boost forestry based on forest goods and services.
This publication was produced within the framework of FAO`s European Union (EU) Programme on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FAO-EU Programme). The programme is a demand-driven global initiative that provides technical assistance and resources for activities promoting the objectives of the EU FLEGT Action Plan and funds projects designed by governments, civil society organisations and the private sector in Latin America, Africa and Asia to help improve responsible forest management.