Academic Program
July 10–14, 2023
Session 1
July 10, 2023
The Political Economy of Illegal Logging
Presented by:
Dr. Cat Kelly
[slides]
Dr. Martin Ewi
Objectives
- Examine recent continental and regional trends in illegal logging in Africa, including the criminal actors involved in it, state and societal vulnerabilities to it, and factors shaping their resilience to it
- Learn the political economy approach to analyzing and responding to transnational organized crime: identifying the range of actors involved in illegal logging, understanding those different actors’ incentives, and using that knowledge to find contextually effective ways to reshape those incentives
Session 2
July 10, 2023
Security Sector Roles in Countering Illegal Logging
Presented by:
Col. Michel Koua
[slides]
BG Dieudonné David Kitenge Amisi
Objectives
- Take stock of the ways that the security sector has been involved in countering illegal logging in different African contexts and their records of effectiveness
- Compare and contrast the mandates that different types of security sector officials have to prevent and deter illegal logging
- Assess where there are any gaps between security sector actors’ roles on paper and in practice in addressing illegal logging in their countries and regions
Session 3
July 11, 2023
Security Sector Coordination with Ecoguards
Presented by:
Objectives
- Explore different examples of how park rangers and ecoguards are working to counter illegal logging in their countries and regions
- Analyze the successes and challenges that security sector officials and ecoguards have had in coordinating their responses to prevent and counter illegal logging
- Identify measures that security sector officials and ecoguards can pursue ensure that their joint work (on community-based prevention and on deterrence) is effective at providing citizen security while responding to illegal logging
Session 4
July 12, 2023
Security and Justice Coordination to Arrest, Investigate, and Prosecute
Presented by:
Objectives
- Understand existing strategies, policies, institutions, and programs in place to coordinate the work of law enforcement and judicial actors in the criminal justice chain who have complementary roles in deterring illegal logging through the process of arrest, investigation, and prosecution
- Analyze the successes and challenges that security sector and justice sector officials have had in working together to mount effective responses to illegal logging operations during the arrest, investigation, and prosecution stages of deterrence
- Identify measures that security sector and justice sector officials can officials can pursue to ensure that their interdependent work in the criminal justice chain is effective at providing citizen security while responding to illegal logging
Session 5
July 13, 2023
Enhancing External Coordination: Regional, Continental, and International Levels
Presented by:
Mr. Edward Phiri
Mr. Denis Mahongol
[slides]
Objectives
- Take stock of the international conventions (CITES, Palermo, Lusaka Agreement), AU-level strategies and plans (2015 on Flora and Fauna Crime, APSA), and regional plans in place to counter and prevent illegal logging
- Analyze the different ways that African states can engage with partners on and off of the continent to address illegal logging and manage the vast Asian and Western demand for rare hardwoods in ways that protect citizen security and preserve legal logging livelihoods
- Identify measures that security sector officials can take with their counterparts across national borders to more effectively coordinate on information-sharing, joint patrols, shared strategic planning, and other ways to help counter illegal logging
Session 6
July 13, 2023
Engaging Border and Forest Communities in Coordinated Response
Presented by:
Mr. Brice Severin Pongui
Dr. Makanatsa Makonese
Objectives
- Consider the security, development, and governance factors that shape how illegal logging affects the lives of citizens living in forest and border communities
- Analyze the current types of work that community leaders and local civil society are doing with state security, justice, and forestry officials to prevent and counter illegal logging, as well as areas in which there are natural tensions in the approaches that state actors and civil society to addressing illegal logging
- Explore ways that the work of security, justice, and forestry actors can be enhanced by further coordination with communities and civil society to build resilience to organized crime and illegal logging in particular