El Plan de Acción Nacional de Lucha contra la Desertificación y la Sequía en Colombia es un instrumento de alcance nacional cuyo objetivo general es adelantar acciones contra la degradación de tierras, desertificación y mitigación de los efectos de la sequía, así como para el manejo sostenible de los ecosistemas de las zonas secas, a partir de la aplicación de medidas prácticas que permitan prevenir, detener y revertir dichos procesos degradativos y contribuir al desarrollo sostenible de las zonas afectadas.

This Action Plan is a national Plan with a cross-sectoral approach, addressing issues falling under its mandate in an integrated way. The timeframe is 10 years between 2006 and 2015.

The programmme is a result of issues and concerns expresses by Malawians on food security, water and sanitation renewable energy, forest product and services, environment and indigenous knowledge.

In The National Forest Plan of 1977, the poor and mountainous kingdom of Nepal recognized the need for the people’s participation in managing its forests. In an article for RECOFTC, Dr Keshav Kanel of Nepal’s Department of Forest, records the changes in society, governance and economy wrought by this gradual – but not uncontroversial – move to community forestry.

In search of excellence deviates from the path that most authors have taken. Instead of dwelling on the failures and the negative, it celebrates the “good” and the many positive management efforts in the Asia–Pacific region. It highlights the many people who are striving for excellence in forest management and seeks to encourage others to emulate these positive efforts. Collectively, the story of forestry that emerges may be more about endeavour and ingenuity than greed, indifference and incompetence.