Law No. 25/X/2023 establishing the General Policy Framework for Forestry sector.

This Law approves the General Policy Framework for Forestry sector, covering the rules relating to planning, ordering and forest management, the attributions of the State and other public and private entities in the sector, determining the incidences of the forestry policy, protection and conservation of the forest heritage, the valuation of forestry resources and the regime applicable to related offences. This Law applies, to forest spaces, to the exercise of forestry activity and to land subject to the forestry regime or susceptible to be wooded or forested in Cape Verde, provided that they are not intended for agricultural activities and even for trees of public interest. The national forestry policy aims at the conservation, protection, resilience and sustainable development of forests, their adaptation to climate change, their productive enhancement, improvement of associated natural systems, definition of strategies, plans and associated management programmes, meeting the needs of communities within a framework of land use planning, poverty reduction and the promotion of gender equality, as well as the strengthening of institutions in the sector. In the implementation and definition of the forest policy, gender equality and equity must be guaranteed in decision-making at all levels of forest resource management, the respective access to information, training, technical assistance and investments and fair procedures must be observed, in terms of gender, in the concession or transfer of exploitation of State land.
The forestry policy, pursues the following objectives: a) Ensure the sustainable development of forest spaces and all activities in the forestry sector, promoting certified products and management methods; b) Make all citizens responsible for the conservation and protection of forest spaces, as a renewable natural resource, fundamental to the preservation of biodiversity; c) Ensure the use and management of forest spaces in accordance with development policies and priorities, harmonized with internationally accepted guidelines and articulated with sectoral policies in the agricultural, environmental, territorial and industrial areas; d) Guarantee the sustainable management of forest spaces and associated resources such as water resources, soil, air, fauna and flora, promoting the harmonization of the multiple functions they perform and safeguarding their landscape, recreational, scientific and cultural aspects, within an integrated territorial and socio-economic development framework; e) Promote agroforestry, as a land use system that provides a balance between commercial interests and the sustainability of production, contributes to the recovery of degraded areas, the conservation of biodiversity; f) Improve the performance of forestry and agroforestry, optimizing the use of their productive potential, as well as, through the mitigation of emissions, the regularization of the hydrological system and the landscape enhancement; g) Promoting the professional management of the national forest heritage, namely through the ordering of forest holdings and the promotion of the creation of management units; h) Ensure the contribution to soil conservation, air quality, combating desertification and mitigation of climate change; i) Guarantee the protection of forest species of special ecological importance; j) Ensure the protection of the forest against biotic and abiotic agents, in particular against forest fires, pests and diseases and invasive species; and k) Promote scientific research and technological development applied to forestry.