enforcement policies and procedures. 2. State Parties shall develop effective regional means to support the enforcement, development and harmonisation of national forest-related laws. ARTICLE 12: COMMUNITY-BASED FOREST MANAGEMENT State Parties shall: a. adopt national policies and mechanisms to enable local people and communities to benefit collectively from the use of forest resources and to ensure their effective participation in forest management activities, including affirmative steps to seek and encourage such participation; b. develop regional guidelines and share information and expertise related to community-based forest management; and c. encourage local people and communities to grow and conserve trees and to integrate them into existing farming systems. ARTICLE 13: PARTICIPATION OF WOMEN IN FOREST MANAGEMENT a. State Parties shall adopt national policies and mechanisms to enable the effective participation of women in sustainable forest management, including affirmative steps to seek and encourage such participation. b. State Parties shall develop regional guidelines and share information and expertise related to the participation of women in sustainable forest management. ARTICLE 14: TRANSBOUNDARY FORESTS State Parties shall, where appropriate, establish programmes and enter into agreements to promote the co-operative and integrated management of transboundary forests and protected areas. ARTICLE 15: PROTECTION OF FORESTS 1. State Parties shall take all necessary legislative, administrative and enforcement measures to address natural and human-induced threats to forests, particularly those that may have transboundary impacts. 2. State Parties shall adopt, strengthen and implement national, and where appropriate, regional measures, which: a. control human activities that threaten forests, including land and natural resource-use practices that conflict with the principles of sustainable forest management; b. implement strategies for conservation of forests; c. prevent and suppress uncontrolled fires, and facilitate transboundary assistance in emergency situations; d. identify and control plant pests, diseases and their vectors and to develop early warning systems for these threats to forests; and e. regulate and control the accidental or illegal introduction of alien species and plant pests and diseases into the Region and to control, and where appropriate eradicate, invasive alien species other than exotic trees deliberately planted in managed plantations. ARTICLE 16: TRADITIONAL FOREST-RELATED KNOWLEDGE 1. State Parties shall recognise, respect and protect the rights of individuals and