The EU FLEGT Facility supports the partner countries of the European Commission and EU Member States in implementing the EU FLEGT Action Plan of 2003, which sets out a range of measures to tackle illegal logging in the world’s forests. The Facility was established in 2006 and mainly conducts activities in Africa, Asia and Central and South America. The Facility is hosted and managed by the European Forest Institute and is based in Barcelona, Spain. The EU FLEGT Facility is funded by the EU and the governments of Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK.
Activities
The EU FLEGT Facility supports the efforts under the EU FLEGT Action Plan to combat illegal logging and promote trade in legal timber. Through improved knowledge and innovative approaches for sustainable forest management, the Facility seeks to encourage the transition to a more socially and environmentally sustainable forest sector supported by sound policies and institutions.
The Facility works with timber producing and exporting countries to develop appropriate systems to ensure the legal trade and export of timber products, aiming at addressing forest governance failures. The Facility provides this support through technical assistance and support in the preparation, negotiation and implementation of Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs). Facilitation of dialogue between the EU and timber exporting countries, forest governance analysis and other forms of cooperation are also undertaken. The EU FLEGT Facility works closely with the EU REDD Facility.