Conflict between companies that profit from forests and local people who depend on them could be tackled by industry-led approaches but too few companies use them, says a report released today by The Forests Dialogue.

The report, written for TFD, an international group of forest experts from business, environmental, academic and human rights groups, by the International Institute for Environment and Development, urges companies to take the lead in resolving existing conflicts and preventing new ones from arising.

Conflict in the forest sector is common and can range from wars of words to serious acts of violence. It most often follows disputes over rights to land and resources but can also arise over conservation priorities, pollution, and access to benefits from the sector.

"Most companies in the forest sector have no formal systems to address conflict, despite there being clear ethical and business cases for doing so,” says Emma Wilson, a senior researcher at IIED and author of the report, Company-Led Approaches to Conflict Resolution in the Forest Sector.

“Forest certification schemes often require companies to have systems for local stakeholders to raise grievances, but very few companies are certified and those that are tend to have systems that are ad hoc or in their early pilot stages.”

The report calls for more industry-wide sharing of experience and knowledge, and the development of broadly applicable means of resolving conflicts.

"Sustainable companies invest for the long term, so they have a broader perspective than the average company on who their major stakeholders are and a deeper interest in understanding and accommodating local expectations and concerns,” says TFD co-leader James Griffiths, who heads the sustainable forestry programme at the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD).