This is the final in a series of three preliminary background reports prepared for the UNDP Programme on Forests (PROFOR), dealing with one of the three core components of the PROFOR approach (see Forest Management to Support Sustainable Livelihoods: A Strategic Framework for the UNDP Programme on Forests in this series for reference). This paper discusses PROFOR’s third component–developing innovative financing for sustainable forest management (SFM). The development objective of the UNDP Programme on Forests is to promote sustainable forest management (see Sustainable Forest Management: An Evolving Goal in this series for reference) and related public and private partnerships, at the country level, in order to safeguard the contribution of forests to sustainable livelihoods and to sustainable development in participating countries. The specific objective of the financing component of PROFOR is to define and strengthen new potential for financing mechanisms in the participating countries, in order to (i) support the implementation of national forest programmes (nfps) and forest partnership agreements (fpas), and (ii) promote public-private partnerships to finance sustainable forest management operations.