Global Forest Coalition (GFC)

The Global Forest Coalition (GFC) is an alliance of NGOs and Indigenous Peoples Organizations (IPOs) that aims to facilitate the informed participation of Southern NGOs and IPOs in global forest policy meetings and to promote the coherent implementation of the results of these meetings. GFC was founded by 20 forest NGOs with bases both in the North and South.

The mission of GFC is to reduce poverty amongst and avoid impoverishment of Indigenous Peoples and other forest dependent people by advocating the rights of these people as a basis for forest policy and addressing the direct and underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation. The Coalition publishes a quarterly newsletter on global forest policy, and supports the participation of Southern NGOs and IPOs in the most important forest-related meetings. It also publishes independent monitoring reports on the implementation of the commitments that come forth from those meetings. The objectives of GFC are:

• To facilitate the informed participation of NGOs and IPOs in global policy fora related to forests.
• To promote and monitor the implementation of the commitments made at these global policy fora related to forests.

SwedBio supports GFC and the implementation of the project "Life as Commerce Phase 2, - Building the capacity of Local Communities and Social Movements to Analyze and Address the Impact of Market-based Conservation Schemes on Women, Indigenous Peoples, and the Poor". The project period is from January 2006 - December 2008.

Activities will be undertaken in five countries (Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, India, and Paraguay) with the objectives of the project being:

• To further analyze the social and environmental impacts of market-based conservation schemes, taking into account the specific impacts on women and other monetary poor sectors of society.
• To raise the awareness of local communities, Indigenous Peoples, social movements, women's groups and relevant policy-makers on the potential social and environmental impacts of market-based conservation schemes.
• To build and strengthen the capacity of local communities, Indigenous Peoples, social movements and women's groups to address the impacts of market-based conservation schemes.