Hoping to end unsustainable logging in native forests here, Ecuador is putting the finishing touches on a groundbreaking effort to outsource—and thereby improve—key regulatory functions in its forestry sector. The government in May plans to solicit bids from private companies interested in performing forest administration and supervision duties for at least a 10-year period. The bidding will mark the third and final step in the forestry outsourcing effort. Last year, the Environment Ministry outsourced two functions—forest stewardship (regencia forestal), the inspections to ensure cutting takes place in the correct locations and manner; and green surveillance (vigilancia verde), the monitoring of timber moving from forests to processing and sales locations. Officials say the result will be a decentralized “forestry-control” system in... [Log in to read more]