Forest Governance, Markets and Climate Programme

FGMC will provide a new round of grants for projects that support governance and market reforms that reduce the illegal use of forest resources and benefit poor people.

Fund is currently not open for applications.

Overview

The fund will implement a restricted grant scheme for projects that tackle international trade in illegally-harvest forest products, establish effective forest governance and market reforms in producer countries that promote legal trade, and benefit poor people.

The FGMC grants are intended to support global activities related to policy and legal reforms that eliminate illegal logging, promote legal trade and ensure rights and benefits for poor people, local communities and indigenous people.

Grants are awarded by FCDO and managed by the FGMC Programme Management Support Team (PMST).

What the fund will achieve

FGMC aims to bring about governance and market reforms that reduce the illegal use of forest resources and benefit poor people who depend on forests for their livelihoods. As part of global efforts to improve forest management and tackle deforestation the FGMC supports the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan, in particular by tackling illegal logging in timber-producing developing countries and the trade in illegally-produced timber products. It also seeks to apply lessons from the timber trade to trade in other commodities that impact forests and people who depend on forests for their livelihoods.

The focus of the third and final phase (2018 to 2021) of the FGMC programme will be on results – on securing the gains already or almost achieved and on the institutionalisation and embedding of sustainable processes and practices. Attention should be paid to the recommendations set out in the 2017 Annual Review.

The FGMC restricted grant scheme is designed to fund international civil society organisations and trade associations to enable them to support their national and international implementing partners to engage policy and reform processes. Funding is restricted to non-profits who are engaged, directly or through implementing partners, in formal multi-stakeholder processes to address illegal logging and deforestation.

Countries

FGMC has supported governance related activities in over 20 timber producing and processing countries, with a particular focus on countries where the UK is the lead EU Member State supporting the FLEGT process.

Given the focus of this final phase on closure, institutionalising processes and sustaining gains, the programme will retain the geographical focus established in earlier phases within regional clusters – South East / East Asia and the Mekong region (Indonesia, Myanmar and China), West Africa (Ghana, Liberia), Congo Basin (Republic of Congo (ROC), Cameroon) and Guyana.

The reference to geographic clusters recognises the need to address regional market issues in operationalising systems to check for legal compliance and to avoid illegal products flowing across borders.

Background information on the fund

Over the 10 year period 2011 to 2021, the FGMC programme had a total budget of £250 million funded from UK International Climate Finance (ICF). For the period from April 2018 to March 2021, the programme had a budget of £87 million, which will be allocated primarily through accountable grants, service contracts and Memoranda of Understanding.

FGMC has supported governance related activities on policy and legal reforms that eliminate illegal logging, promote legal trade and ensure rights and benefits for poor people, local communities and indigenous people.

The accountable grant portfolio enables FGMC to directly engage with a wider range of stakeholders and to enrich and extend multi-stakeholder processes, through bringing in existing networks of international and national partners. Inclusion of disparate voices in the deliberative processes ensures greater legitimacy to legal and policy reform.

The FGMC grants issued in previous rounds included activities that:

  • enhanced advocacy and voice
  • built capacity for CSO, trade federations and governments
  • provided research and evidence for policy development, legal reform and forest rights
  • supported enforcement, improved justice, transparency, monitoring and whistle-blowing
  • maintained a global ‘community of practice’ around illegal logging and associated governance issues

The focus of the final phase of the programme will be on securing and institutionalising the gains that have already been achieved or are close to being achieved.

Contacts

FCDO appointed a Programme Management Support Team (PMST) to provide programme management support to the delivery of FGMC. For further information on the FGMC Final Grants Round or on the PMST, please contact the PMST at FGMC-Applications@Kpmg.com.

Project documents

Published 19 June 2015
Last updated 1 November 2017 + show all updates
  1. Final Grants Round announced

  2. Frequently asked questions and question and answer presentation documents added

  3. Concept Note Guidance and Concept Note form added

  4. First published.