Forests and trees, mushrooms, bamboos, lichens, insects: empowering biodiversity in our landscapes
Forests and trees, mushrooms, bamboos, lichens, insects: empowering biodiversity in our landscapes
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The FTA Kunming Science Conference 2021 will take place on 22–24 June 2021. Registrations are now OPEN!
Forests, trees and agroforestry exemplify the contributions of biodiversity and agrobiodiversity to sustainable and resilient landscapes, to green and circular economy and to sustainable agriculture and food systems for healthy diets.
On 22–24 June 2021, the CGIAR research program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) will organize an international conference to discuss the role of forests, trees and agroforestry to enhance diverse and sustainable landscapes for the implementation of the SDGs. Hosted in cooperation with the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Research Institute for Resource Insects, Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF), the FTA Kunming International Conference 2021 will showcase solutions that can be mobilized to promote healthy diets, agricultural biodiversity, resilient landscapes, and a circular green economy.
Featuring a diverse line-up of renowned speakers including (full agenda forthcoming!), it will bring together scientists, practitioners, NGOs, policymakers and more, covering a wide range of themes including agroecology, tree diversity, landscape restoration, and circular agriculture.
The FTA Kunming Science Conference 2021 will adopt a hybrid format gathering world participants online, joining up with a set of speakers and audience live from the Kunming Institute of Botany.
The conference will devote sessions to 6 themes:
Trees for agroecology and circular agriculture
Tree diversity: realizing economic and ecological value from tree genetic resources to bridge production gaps and promote resilience
Trees in the framework of the CBD
Mountain ecosystems and food security
Assessing benefits of landscape restoration
Trees for a circular green economy
The event ties in with a range of FTA’s operational priorities: agroecology, biodiversity conservation, forest and landscape restoration, biomaterials and circular economy, and enhanced nutrition and food security. The event is part of the road towards the 15th Conference of the Parties of the UN convention on Biological Diversity (CBD 15) also to be organized in Kunming, 11-24 October 2021. It will also be relevant to solutions for the UN Food Systems Summit and the Climate Change UNFCCC COP 26 in Glasgow.
By Ming Chun Tang. This article was produced by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). FTA is the world’s largest research for development program to enhance the role of forests, trees and agroforestry in sustainable development and food security and to address climate change. CIFOR leads FTA in partnership with ICRAF, The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, CATIE, CIRAD, INBAR and TBI. FTA’s work is supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund.
The Earth’s ecological resilience is inextricably linked to the well-being of its people. Thus, social inclusion must be at the heart of the ecological restoration agenda, not on the periphery or as an add-on. For researchers, policymakers, and non-governmental organizations, this means striving for balance between the biophysical and social sciences, breaking down siloes between fields of science, and pursuing interdisciplinary research.
The COVID-19 pandemic energized the One Health approach, which focuses on interconnections between human health, animal health, and ecosystem health to prevent zoonotic disease outbreaks. Efforts to address the climate crisis need a similar interdisciplinary focus, or else projects to restore ecosystems will end up deepening existing power imbalances in the communities and societies that depend on them.
But how do we go about centering equity and inclusion in ecological restoration? The 11 papers in the special issue shed light on this question, with perspectives from academics and practitioners, NGOs, and government actors working across disciplines. The overarching guidance is to focus research and attention on three pillars: Power relations, historical awareness, and scale integration.
Power relations
Power relations between various actors—research institutions and communities, governments and local communities, community members and households—mediate struggles over natural resources and control over labor. They also determine what is counted as legitimate knowledge, which has enormous implications for ecological restoration processes. Scientists and policymakers often dismiss or ignore locally-produced environmental knowledge, which leads to failures and inefficiencies in restoration projects. The promotion of a singular, universal knowledge base about nature closes the door to potential solutions and approaches that come out of a plurality of local or indigenous knowledges about ecosystems.
In addition, access to and control over land is extremely gendered, and power imbalances in this sphere dictate how land can be used for restoration purposes. When land gains economic value as it is transformed from “wasted” to “regenerated,” women (and other marginalized groups) lacking secure tenure can be evicted or dispossessed as that land is claimed by those with more power.
Historical awareness
Many restoration efforts begin with mapping lands potentially suitable for projects like tree plantings, but often the history of how such lands are used, contested, or governed by local people goes unexamined. Categorizing land as “marginalized”, “wasted” or “barren” based only on biophysical markers can hide the ways that people use it, especially if they do not have formal land titles. Assuming that lands without lush vegetation are “degraded” from some romanticized past can lead to narratives of local people as “forest destroyers,” pitting environmentalists against the very communities that could be their most effective partners. These narratives assume that local people destroy ecosystems when in fact, in some cases, their practices sustain or enhance them.
The absence of historical awareness can also play a role in the commodification of nature. Preserved or restored lands are sometimes turned into recreational sites that charge entry fees—privileging the values of tourists over the values of local people who use that land for agriculture, fishing, pasture, or forest livelihoods. Ahistorical understandings of landscapes can lead to ecological restoration efforts that exclude local populations, or even criminalize their livelihoods.
Scale integration
Scale integration means considering how policies and practices at all scales affect the realities of natural resource users, their environmental management decisions, and their livelihoods. Environmental agendas such as the International Principles and Standards for the Practice of Ecological Restoration created by the Society for Ecological Restoration often focus on large-scale actions at the regional or watershed level scales. However, top-down policies and interventions at large scales can prevent democratic engagement in natural resource governance and can be non-inclusive.
The larger the scale of policies and programs, the more actors will be involved and affected. This means there will be trade-offs among many different goals and priorities (e.g., those between the creation of protected areas with entry fees and efforts to support the livelihoods of local people depending on such land as a commons). Understanding these tradeoffs at all scales—individual, household, community, country, region, etc.—is key to avoiding the exploitation and further marginalization of vulnerable populations, especially rural women.
Measuring the success of ecological restoration projects using principally biophysical standards will lead to an incomplete understanding of these trade-offs, and a deepening of inequalities. For example, we should be skeptical of measuring success in reforestation efforts by the number of fast-growing commercial tree species being seeded into landscapes with a complex history of political and economic dispossession of local communities. That might be restoration—but by whom and for whom?
For more perspectives on how to center inclusion, equity and justice in ecological restoration agendas, please read the special issue of Ecological Restoration and view a session on restoration in the June Global Landscapes Forum. In addition, please stay tuned for a publication on the 10 People-Centered Rules for Socially Sustainable Restoration from the authors of this special issue.
Jessica Wallach is an IFPRI Communications Intern and a Master’s student in International Agricultural Development at the University of California, Davis.
Natural rubber is a key global commodity, above 85% produced by small-holder farmers. As recalled by Datuk Dr Abdul Aziz S.A. Kadir, Secretary General of the IRRDB, “Natural rubber sustains 13 million small holders and 40 million people including their families”. It has a great potential to contribute to sustainable development, both poverty alleviation and rural development, and to the bio-economy. However, as emphasized by Jerome Sainte Beuve, Rubber Value Chain Correspondent, CIRAD “climate change is already impacting rubber production”. As stated by Dr Vincent Gitz, Director of FTA, “Natural rubber has a key role to play for both adaptation and mitigation of climate change”. There is an urgent need to understand how global natural rubber production can be safeguarded and sustainably increased on a lasting basis under climate change, while contributing to climate mitigation goals.
Salvatore Pinizzotto, Secretary General of the IRSG emphasized that “Climate action needs to be grounded on science, on a common understanding of issues and means to address them”.
This is why the International Rubber Study Group (IRSG), with the International Rubber Research and Development Board (IRRDB), the CGIAR research program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) led by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), and the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development (CIRAD), organized an open digital workshop on natural rubber systems and climate change on 23-25th June 2020.
The workshop reviewed recent research results on impacts of climate change on natural rubber production, potential means of adaptation and contribution to mitigation of climate change, to identify knowledge and research gaps as well as recommendations for action.
The workshop considered:
the impact of climate change on natural rubber systems and potential changes in the geography of production (session 1)
the role of natural rubber systems for climate mitigation and adaptation (session 2)
the integration of natural rubber systems in the broad perspective of climate change and sustainability policies (session 3) and in the international discussions on climate change (session 4)
and reflected on a way forward for the sector (session 5).
Natural rubber is a strategic raw material essential for human being mobility, welfare and safety. Furthermore, it is a resource of economic prosperity for many countries and communities worldwide. IRSG, together with CIFOR/FTA, CIRAD and IRRDB believes that there is no time to wait for the rubber sector and industry to initiate actions, together. This workshop, by reviewing existing knowledge, identifying gaps and bringing relevant information to the climate change community and to decision makers can play a major role in raising the visibility of natural rubber and its responses to climate change challenges.
Rubber tree plantation in Indonesia. Photo by Ryan Woo/CIFOR
The first session (divided in 3 sub-sessions) reviewed the state of knowledge about climate change impacts on natural rubber production systems, now and in the future. Rubber production is already impacted by increased variability, droughts, changes in rain patterns, extreme events. Little is known on potential effects of higher average temperatures on the physiology of rubber trees and thus on latex flows. Of particular concern are also increased risks of fungal attacks. The impacts of climate change are different in the different natural rubber producing regions, with potential effects on geographical distribution. There are a lot of useful results from the research conducted these last 10-15 years with important findings for adaptation through management and breeding for traditional as well as marginal areas.
Session 2 (divided in 2 sub-sessions) considered how can rubber contribute to climate change mitigation and the role of rubber systems for adaptation. Two types of complementary strategies are available for adaptation of rubber cultivation to climate change: improved Hevea genetic resources, and climate-resilient agronomic practices. Regarding breeding, the use of modern technologies and new genomic selection methods, such as genomic marker assisted selection, can fast forward the development of climate-resilient, high yielding clones, with an optimized use of the germplasm (looking especially to other Hevea species). International cooperation is key, for multinational clone exchanges and for testing. Going forward, this also raises many R&D avenues on improved land management through optimized agricultural practices including agroforestry, integrating carbon offsets into the rubber plantation economy, as well as new downstream applications of natural rubber as a green substitute to synthetic rubber.
Session 3 considered the Opportunities for better integrating natural rubber in broad Climate Change and Sustainability Policies, including Economic and Social Dimensions. Natural rubber, as a renewable material, and because of its contribution to the livelihoods of millions of small holders has a considerable potential to contribute to sustainable development in its three dimensions, economic, social and environmental. It offers a good opportunity to be part of future economic development trends towards a circular, forest-products based bioeconomy. It is a natural product with many positive characteristics which make it an essential part of plastic substitution and future uses in industry, textiles/footwear, and construction. Mechanims in place in other tree-commodity sectors, reviewed at the workshop, can provide starting points to develop similar initiatives for the rubber sector to strengthen sustainable production and consumption.
Session 4, titled “Rubber and Climate Change in the International Fora” explored the possible pathways to raise the importance of the rubber sector at international level in relation to Climate Change. A strong partnership among stakeholders in the natural rubber value chain can bring discussion on integration of rubber in mitigation policies, measures, and adaptation policies in the wider climate dialogues.
In session 5, the final panel, building upon the findings of the previous sessions, discussed a way forward for the sector to fully tackle climate-change related challenges. Natural rubber has a key role to play for both adaptation and mitigation of climate change. It is an important land user, a producer of renewable materials (rubber and wood), a major economic activity in many countries, supporting the livelihoods of millions of small holders. However, this role is not properly accounted for. The participating organizations are calling to build upon the workshop to construct a follow-up agenda on natural rubber systems and climate change. They are now bringing the related issues to the awareness of a greater range of stakeholders, including climate policy makers. Part of this goes by bringing rubber as a discussion topic to the UNFCCC.
This article was produced by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). FTA is the world’s largest research for development program to enhance the role of forests, trees and agroforestry in sustainable development and food security and to address climate change. CIFOR leads FTA in partnership with ICRAF, The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, CATIE, CIRAD, INBAR and TBI. FTA’s work is supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund.
New FTA Brief: Contribution of forests and trees to food security and nutrition
New FTA Brief: Contribution of forests and trees to food security and nutrition
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FTA just released a Policy Brief titled Contribution of forests and trees to food security and nutrition, which illustrates extensively the many ways through which forests and trees play a key, yet largely unrecognized, role in sustaining food production and food security and nutrition (FSN).
Contribution of forests and trees to FSN, an FTA Brief [PDF]This paper synthesises knowledge about the contributions of forests and trees to the four dimensions of FSN: availability, accessibility, utilization and stability. Its purpose is to facilitate the use of such knowledge to inform policy and decision making in forestry and FSN related areas, as well as actions meant to build back better in a post-pandemic world.
It’s timely publication coincides with the 16th session of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF16) and will be also of relevance to the dialogues of the UN Food Systems Summit, for which FTA has submitted 11-game-changing solutions. Authors hope that this Brief will help shape the discussions and that future policies aiming at achieving SDG2 will better consider the numerous fundamental contributions of forests and trees to FSN. Maximizing these contributions requires policy coherence and integrated landscape approaches. Agricultural policies need to better integrate the specificities of tree crops and the multiple benefits provided by the integration of trees in farming systems.
The document was developed by CIFOR-ICRAF, UBC, The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, Penn State and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Austria. Forests, trees and agroforestry provide:
food (such as nuts, oils, vegetables – leaves, flowers, roots –, fruits, bushmeat, fish, herbs, saps, mushrooms, tubers and insects), and feed for livestock,
bioenergy,
income and employment, and
non-provisioning ecosystem services (indispensable for agriculture and food production, now and in the future).
These contributions are then assessed in relation to the 4 dimensions of FSN (availability, accessibility, utilization and stability) with a detailed analysis of the complex inter-relationships between these dimensions and contributions. The paper embraces the wide diversity of forests and systems with trees, including agricultural tree crops and agroforestry systems.
Schematic representation of the multiple contributions of forests and trees to the four dimensions of FSN from local to global scales
Finally, the brief analyzes how the contributions of forests and trees to FSN and their variations by regions, social groups, households and even within households can help to further enrich (through FSN dimensions) the concept of “dependence on forests and trees” with local to national and global dependences.
It highlights the importance of having indicators measuring the contributions of forests and trees to FSN integrated in the assessment of polices and welcomes the progress made in that regard in the Global Core Set of indicators initiated by the CPF, thanks to the leadership of the UNFF and FAO.
The paper ends with a set of very clear recommendations, inviting policy makers to address all the relevant criteria to improve FSN and reach SDG2, with a focus on nutrition as well as on gender, indigenous peoples and vulnerable groups. Policies based only on producing more food risk to develop undesired and detrimental effects on food security and nutrition, social equity and environmental sustainability.
This article was produced by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). FTA is the world’s largest research for development program to enhance the role of forests, trees and agroforestry in sustainable development and food security and to address climate change. CIFOR leads FTA in partnership with ICRAF, The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, CATIE, CIRAD, INBAR and TBI. FTA’s work is supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund.
The increased consumption and production of a range of raw material and commodities, so-called “Forest-risk commodities” such as palm oil, soy, cocoa, coffee, rubber, timber and beef, contributes significantly to global tropical deforestation and forest degradation.
As both global and domestic demand grows for such commodities, they constitute one of the biggest threats to forests, leading to tree and vegetation removal – often due to burning – biodiversity loss and the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Often their cultivation through large industrial-scale estates can also pose threats to the livelihoods of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.
How to secure the sustainable production and consumption of such commodities, without impinging on forests, is therefore a key challenge for public and private actors. But acting on commodities and value chains to reduce deforestation is complex because of several factors.
First, value chains can be very long or complex, making the link between production and consumption very distant. Second, the way production chains, logistics and markets are organized make products difficult to trace, making attribution and accountability difficult. Third, how these value chains operate within landscapes is often not controlled either at the value chain or the landscape level. How public and private actors can effectively work together in landscapes and along value chains is key to solving these problems.
Expansion of trade in forest-risk commodities led to increased pressure from civil society organizations, consumers, international banks and shareholders of consumer goods companies to develop and implement a diverse array of instruments and tools to promote sustainable or deforestation-free sourcing, and as a way to reduce their exposure to reputational, financial and regulatory risks. Multi-stakeholder platforms and commodity roundtables also emerged, in response to criticisms of government failures.
The multiplication of sustainability initiatives has also been driven by the growing complexity and diversity of conditions under which agri-food and timber supply chains operate. Private sector actors increasingly define and monitor their own sustainability performance by using certification standards or by developing their own procedures and criteria.
More recently, a discernible shift from supply-chain-based or sectoral approaches toward landscape or jurisdictional approaches has been seen as a way to meet sustainability goals. However, the growing complexity of policy regimes results in ambiguities and can lead to trade-offs between gains and losses. The findings of the FTA review suggest that many aspects of complex policy regimes are not yet well understood by policymakers, scientists or the public.
Amongst the supply-chain based and sector-based approaches, Voluntary Sustainability Standards (VSS), are market-driven mechanisms introduced to ensure that social economic and environmental sustainability issues are addressed in the production, processing and trade of agricultural and forestry commodities.
“Although VSS have been widely adopted, they have come under greater scrutiny in recent years and are often associated with high transaction costs (usually transferred to the end-consumers), the need to meet increasingly complex sustainability and legality standards, the exclusion of smallholders, the frequent lack of any premium for certified products and weaknesses in compliance,” said Andrew Wardell, a principal scientist with CIFOR.
The scientific evidence on the economic, environmental and social outcomes of tropical forest certification is encouraging although regional differences do occur. Take, for example, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which since the early 1990s ensures that the chain of custody for production, transformation and sales of timber complies to specific voluntary, third-party audited standards, including covering sustainable forest management and avoiding deforestation.
“There is no doubt that the FSC has achieved a great deal of progress, but it’s not an unqualified success,” said Marie-Gabrielle Piketty, a researcher with CIRAD and a joint author on a review of FSC in Brazil. “Like most sustainability standards, it faces the classic dilemma of balancing stringency needed to ensure the sustainability of FSC-certified forest management, while becoming more inclusive.”
As a result, new public and private commitments have emerged to reduce deforestation and include initiatives based on either sectoral approaches with a focus on supply-side interventions, or mixed supply-chain and territorial approaches at the jurisdictional level. Government-led regulations can guide the private sector to ensure greater third-party accountability and reduce reputational risk.
Similarly, environmental non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are increasingly engaged as intermediaries to help companies address social and environmental risks in the supply chain, and to support sub-national governments in meeting their sustainability commitments.
“We need greater transparency to ensure that companies aren’t just paying lip service to environmental sustainability initiatives, but that they can substantiate claims that deforestation has been reduced,” Wardell said.
Jurisdictional approaches, which align governments, businesses, non-governmental organizations, social organizations and local stakeholders in specific areas around common interests in land-use governance, are now often considered to have the most potential. They can ensure and provide incentives for sustainability compliance across a whole geographic area, a key issue which value-chains or sector-based approaches fail to address, or often only partially address given the existence of spatial leakage (when some areas in a landscape are not compliant) or sectoral leakage (when some value chains in a landscape are not covered by a sustainability scheme). Some of these initiatives have been developed around the notion of enhancing regulatory frameworks and enforcement, while others constitute partnerships for improving the uptake of good practices for a specific commodity within wider land-use planning and service provisions schemes. Others involve de-risking schemes for financial actors when they invest in forest-risk landscapes or constitute wider partnerships to advance sustainability at the jurisdictional level.
“Some corporate actors are actively developing place-based solutions not only as a risk management strategy to delink their supply chains from deforestation, but also to benefit from longer term investments in the sustainability of the landscapes or jurisdictions on which their sourcing depends,” said Pablo Pacheco, global forests lead scientist at WWF.
“We shouldn’t focus only on the negative consequences associated with the expansion of forest-risk commodities, but also contribute to the development of a more positive agenda, which supports livelihoods and local people’s rights, protects nature and restores forests in addition to slowing deforestation,” he added.
“Trying to bring together disparate people to achieve common goals isn’t easy because supply chains and jurisdictional governments have different priorities,” Wardell said.
“Several teams – and some through FTA – have started to better highlight some possible impact pathways and shortcomings of jurisdictional approaches, but empirical knowledge remains incomplete,” Piketty said. “Lessons from existing case studies need to be systematized.”
“There’s a clear need to better understand how interactions between state regulations and non-state sustainability initiatives can combine supply chain management and jurisdictional approaches to stimulate wider uptake of improved practices by smallholders,” Wardell said.
“As well, determining how to evaluate impact is a key challenge, due to the many variables that come into play, thus research and science will continue to have an important role to play,” he added.
This article was produced by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). FTA is the world’s largest research for development program to enhance the role of forests, trees and agroforestry in sustainable development and food security and to address climate change. CIFOR leads FTA in partnership with ICRAF, the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, CATIE, CIRAD, INBAR and TBI.FTA’s work is supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund.
The fully digital conference, titled Forest, trees and agroforestry science for transformational change, ran from 14 to 25 September 2020 and drew more than 520 participants from 69 countries around the world. It featured close to 200 interventions from scientists involved in the FTA program spread over 10 days and 26 different sessions. It included keynote speeches, controversial panel debates on “hot topics”, and technical presentations and posters.
The conference put an emphasis on collaborative research between FTA and the broader community, as 60% of the presentations were between FTA’s seven managing partners (CIFOR, ICRAF, The Alliance of Bioversity and CIAT, CATIE, CIRAD, INBAR and TBI) as well as the many national partners. The 179 abstracts accepted for the event are now made available in a book on the new web-portal, with more coming next, such as selected videos.
The conference was organized around six key technical themes that are pathways for transformational change:
Inclusive value chains, finance and investments
Towards resilient and diverse landscapes and food systems
Transforming livelihoods through agroecological approaches with trees
Nature-based solutions to address the climate crisis
Inclusive governance for sustainable landscapes
Designing, implementing and evaluating research for development impact
Three plenary sessions allowed for overall framing, linking-up across themes, stock-taking of discussions. The conference featured two sessions addressing “Hot & Controversial” issues, be it in science, in development, or in the media:
Competing understandings of the restoration problem and solutions
Systemic approaches in a ‘silver bullets’ world.
Restoration has emerged in the last decade as a key global political objective and debates on the topic are intense. The “Hot & Controversial” session used a variety of techniques, including role-playing, quick polls and devil’s advocacy, to highlight and debate some of the most disputed points, allowing to discuss strengths and shortcomings of the argumentations behind, and to debunk myths.
An innovative “Green” Dragons’ Den event was organized for the second “Hot & Controversial” session, to trial five innovations coming from the program. These were defended by their authors in quick elevator pitches, trying to convince the Green philanthropist dragons to invest a “virtual” sum of three million USD. The audience was also called to a virtual crowdfunding exercise. The session was a “live learning” event, for scientists to get better at telling convincing stories on often very complex issues and tools, to best sell their results, as well as understand needs, objectives, and ways of thinking of investors.
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It was the second time FTA organized a global virtual conference, after the first one held in March 2017 on “cool insights for a hot world”, that gathered 200 participants over two days.
For the 2020 conference, technical developments, including live (“synchronous”) online collaborative tools such as Mural, virtual poster rooms, live polling, role-playing sessions, and the experience of FTA’s events team, allowed for a lively and smoothness event, marking probably a new era for large scale scientific conferencing.
Participation from within the program was double the size of what it would have been if held in-person, and several high-level stakeholders could join for engagement sessions, for which otherwise they may not have been able to travel for a full week. Also, with 3 hours of “air time” per day, it left participants still with time for their other activities, while allowing participation from scientists in time zones situated 15 hours apart, from Vancouver to Hobart.
As a follow-up, the FTA is now organizing a series of “Science to Action” webinars, which are open to all, and which will focus on the way forward for actors on the ground. The first webinar was held on 26 November 2020 on the topic: Innovations to overcome barriers to access to finance for smallholders, SMEs, and women, and was developed in coordination with FTA partner Tropenbos International. You can replay the whole event here.
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Looking forward to engaging even more in 2021, as we wrap up a full decade of research since 2011.
By Sandra Cordon.
This article was produced by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). FTA is the world’s largest research for development program to enhance the role of forests, trees and agroforestry in sustainable development and food security and to address climate change. CIFOR leads FTA in partnership with ICRAF, the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, CATIE, CIRAD, INBAR and TBI.FTA’s work is supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund.
International Day of Women & Girls in Science 2021 - Beyond the Borders: Equality in Science for Society
International Day of Women & Girls in Science 2021 – Beyond the Borders: Equality in Science for Society
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Pamela Tabi working on the field. Arnauld Chyngwa/CIFOR
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This year’s international day of women and girls in science (11 February 2021) focuses on the role of Women Scientists at the forefront of the fight against COVID-19. FTA has long acknowledged both the important role of women in the fight against the pandemic and their importance to build back better, increasing resilience of agricultural systems. At the same time, we have stressed the fact that women, especially rural women, are often among the most vulnerable of categories, suffering greatly from the consequences of this global pandemic.
Today, 11 February 2021, the 6th International Day of Women and Girls in Science Assembly will be held at the United Nations Headquarters virtually. Its theme is specifically: Beyond the Borders: Equality in Science for Society. We chose to focus on this topic, as FTA has always given gender equality a vast space in its research.
Women scientists have a particular viewpoint: they faced in their own personal experience many of the challenges deriving from social norms and obligations, but through their studies, they have also acquired knowledge and intellectual strength to overcome these. At the same time, they are constantly researching for solutions to wider, planetary problems. This is why their testimonies are so powerful: they bridge sectors, they go beyond borders.
This year we had the pleasure to talk with Houria Djoudi, senior CIFOR-ICRAF scientist. Houria has 20 years of work experience in understanding human and ecosystem interaction in different socio-ecological systems in North and West Africa and Central Asia.
We asked Houria about her personal story: how and why did she choose to become a scientist? What were her challenges? Our conversation touched upon many themes, from the times she was a girl, in a little Amazigh village, hiding on the slopes of the Djurdjura mountains of Algeria. She explained to us about her realization, early in life, that nature represents the greatest treasure we have. This mountainous landscape was shaped by old cedar and oaks trees, olives and figs. Through the ancestral practice of drying figs, her parents would store fruits for the cold winters, securing nutritious and delicious sweets. Houria remembers how important these were during her long morning walks to reach school, a taste that “warms the body and gives a young child the feeling that life is inestimable”.
“I owe my entire life to the trees, and so do the lives of my parents, grandparents and all our ancestors. From here comes my deep respect for the farmers, many of which women, who feed their families and the world. With the force of their body and the strength of their minds and spirit, and with their millennial knowledge, these people are able to transform even the most harsh landscapes into places full of life and diversity, where humans, animals, trees, stones, rivers all are one.”
Houria also focused on challenges: the desire to fight against the injustice she saw being perpetrated to her indigenous community while trying to personally overcome many of the hidden or visible limits inherent in social norms and values. “Women can encounter those lines and borders everywhere,” she underlines.
But today, as a senior scientist at CIFOR-ICRAF and looking back at her life, she realizes that not shying away from these difficulties had a truly transformative power. “Every adversity I faced made me stronger and sharpened my understanding and my determination to overcome barriers,” she says now with energy.
“There are unfortunately still too many reasons why a woman can feel vulnerable in the scientific community, some of them are very subtle and hard to grasp. What I want to say to all the young women scientists is: I know women have the power to transform vulnerabilities into strengths and resilience, and this is the first step to transform the world into a better place.”
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After talking with Houria, we interviewed a junior scientist on her decision and experience in choosing the path of science for life. This year we had the pleasure to talk to Pamela Tabi, a Cameroonian living and working in Yaoundé. Pamela started working at CIFOR as an intern in 2011 while doing her master’s research on the VPA FLEGT programme in Cameroon’s community forests. After obtaining graduating with her MSc degree and a short period in the private sector she was recruited as Research Assistant at CIFOR-ICRAF in the GML Project (Governing Multifunctional landscapes in Sub-Saharan African countries). The project aims to develop strategies to sustainably manage wood fuel value chains. Pamela’s interests lie in many aspects of the forest sector: illegal logging, community forestry, forest certification, and woodfuel value chain. Let’s meet her!
This year the UN Assembly will be discussing the theme: “Beyond the Borders: Equality in Science for Society” – what does this mean for you? Should it be rather “equity”? Did you have to cross a lot of borders to get where you are now?
Before answering this question, it is important to define “equality” and “equity.” From my perspective, “equality” means provide the same/similar consideration among gender, race, disability, etc. allowing people to achieve the same level of competences. “Equity” means considering the divergences/differences among people and allowing people, even the most vulnerable, and designing pathways to have access to the same opportunities.
For me, “Beyond the Borders: Equality in Science for Society” means to allow everybody in the field of sciences the same opportunities. Speaking overtly about equity could highlight the necessity to consider the differences among people before assigning them certain tasks or positions.
I struggle a lot to be at the level where I am. As a woman and a mother, I could be perceived as a person who has too many hurdles and might not give the best of herself to achieve the planned milestones, compared to someone has less social obligations. In this situation, I find myself sometimes working double to prove my skills and meet expectations.
Did science bring more equality in your life? How? Was it a path of (internal/external) challenges? Which ones and how did you overcome them?
I learned a lot from my experience as a young scientist woman. In my daily life, science did not directly impact me, but a scientist’s profession has many challenges. First, we have to dig into the internal. We shall be transformed in our way to see and analyze things and to view the external. Sometimes, we have to reduce or be selective of the social activities that we attend. Some of our relatives don’t always understand those transformations. The best way to overcome those challenges is to speak out with them and invite them into our universe!
Tell us when you decided you were going to be a scientist? How did that happen? Was there a “spark” that made you take this decision?
In my understanding, having a Ph.D. degree can have more opportunities, responsibilities and be recognized worldwide as a scientist.
Is there a significant anecdote from your family life or your academic life that has impacted your decision to pursue a scientific career? Which one?
The passion truly sparked when I was working on my bachelor’s degree. One of our professors organized a 3-day trip to learn more about biodiversity and inventory methods for flora and fauna. The time I spent in that forest, without electricity, without a network signal, surrounded by trees: it was just amazing. That experience instilled in me a huge desire to become a forester for life.
What is the most important feature to become a scientist (determination, creativity, etc.)? Why? What would be your advice to a young girl undecided whether to study science or not?
The most important feature is to love what you do and have a passion for that. Then, determination and creativity will follow naturally. When you love your job, you don’t feel like it’s work, because what you do is an integral part of your life. My advice for a young girl is, first of all identify what you want to dedicate your life to and then, whether it should be in the field of science or not, give yourself all the means to achieve your goal. People will see your determination, detect your talent and open the right doors to you.
Why is achieving gender equality in the scientific community essential for you?
Because women have so much to offer, equality can be beneficial to the community as a whole and individually for many women who perceive the scientific environment giving them less opportunities. There are many examples – from the most famous French scientist Marie Curie, the Senegalese Rose Dieng-Kuntz, and the Lithuanian-American astrophysicist Vera Rubin.
Rubin famously said, “There is no scientific problem that a man can solve that a woman cannot.”
Any other thing you’d like to add?
I want to encourage agencies and funding organizations which support research to keep their belief, their confidence and their hopes on what woman can deliver in the field of science.
The last word will be to thanks all those who had faith in me and who allowed me to be where I am. There are more and more challenges to be achieved. Science is waiting for us. The show must go on! Thank you for the opportunity given for this interview.
By the FTA Communication Team.
This article was produced by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). FTA is the world’s largest research for development program to enhance the role of forests, trees and agroforestry in sustainable development and food security and to address climate change. CIFOR leads FTA in partnership with ICRAF, the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, CATIE, CIRAD, INBAR and TBI.FTA’s work is supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund.
Nepal: the second country with a national agroforestry policy
Nepal: the second country with a national agroforestry policy
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Nepal is the 2nd country in the world to have a national agroforestry policy. This was possible through FTA support.
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FTA brings evidence-based research and technical support to the table
In landlocked, mountainous Nepal – a country with 45% forest cover – agroforestry is not a new practice. Many farmers have kept trees in and around croplands to diversify their incomes and build resilience to the shocks of a changing climate.
But legal restrictions on the trade of timber and forest products and the harvest and transport of trees grown on agricultural land, combined with 32 (often contradictory) national polices that referred to agroforestry, have largely discouraged farmers from growing trees on their farms.
Change is now in course!
In 2019, following India, Nepal became the second country in the world to have a national agroforestry policy. As the world’s largest research for development program to enhance the role of forests, trees and agroforestry in sustainable development, the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) – through its partner World Agroforestry (ICRAF) – played a pivotal role in the development of the policy, building on its previous experience in India in 2014. In 2016 and 2017, the development of the policy was supported by a program by the Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN).
“The dividends of implementing the agroforestry policy in India are impressive: around 2% increase in forest and tree cover during 2015–2019 – of that around 1.8 % is outside of forests – and trees grown outside forests are producing more than 70% of the country’s timber requirement reducing pressure on forests. We expect a similar transformative impact of policy implementation in Nepal,” said ICRAF Principal Scientist and Regional Director of the South Asia Regional Program, Dr Javed Rizvi.
Nepal is among the world’s most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change, such as droughts, storms, landslides, soil erosion and avalanches. Melting snow and glaciers in the Himalayas result in devastating glacier lake outburst floods.
Agroforestry is recognized by more than 60 countries as a tool either for adaptation or mitigation of climate change, according CGIAR research, as well as being a proven way to improve food, nutritional and environmental security. Thus, development of the policy is in line with Nepal’s Nationally Determined Contributions (2016) and Climate Change Policy (2011).
Extensive engagement
“Any process leading to wide-scale change in the land-use sector has to be inclusive and multifaceted. We adopted a holistic approach, the most reasonable and efficient pathway for inducing transformational changes in complex and socially-differentiated agricultural areas,” said Dr Rizvi, who was confirmed as the only non-governmental member of the inter-ministerial committee (IMC) that oversaw the policy development. To date, he remains associated with the committee that oversees policy implementation.
Recognition of the need to formulate and implement a National Agroforestry Policy in Nepal originated during the three-day national consultation workshop on agroforestry held in Kathmandu on 26–28 March 2015. Involving more than 150 stakeholders representing various sectors related with agriculture, forestry and rural development, the workshop was jointly organized by the Ministry of Agriculture Development (MOAD), Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation (MFSC), the Asia Network for Sustainable Agriculture and Bioresources (ANSAB), and ICRAF. This consultation led to the 2015 Kathmandu Declaration on Agroforestry. Signed by the Secretaries of the Ministry of Agricultural Development and the Ministry of Forest and Soil Conservation, the Declaration called for the development of an agroforestry policy for Nepal to help improve the livelihoods of smallholders and enhance their socioeconomic resilience.
In seven consultations held between 2016 and 2018, perspectives were gathered from more than 550 stakeholders and incorporated into the draft policy, which was submitted to the Ministry of Agricultural Development in September 2018. After approval by the Cabinet in a session chaired by the Prime Minister, the final policy was launched on 3 July 2019 by the Minister of Agriculture in Kathmandu.
ICRAF provided technical support to the inter-ministerial committee constituted to oversee the policy formulation, with financing from the Climate Technology Centre and Network. This support included an analysis of 32 policies, laws and strategies affecting agroforestry in Nepal, pointing to a clear need to develop a new agroforestry policy.
“It took a lot of engagement with a lot of people at all levels of society, from ministers and secretaries of departments through to state leaderships to communities and farmers’ associations. Throughout the process, we continuously worked with the government and stakeholders as a trusted technical partner and supported the process based on our experience with Indian agroforestry policy,” said Dr Rizvi.
Launching the policy, Agriculture Minister Mr Chakrapani Khanal said, “With the approval and launch of the National Agroforestry Policy, Nepal achieved the distinction of being second country globally, after India, to launch an agroforestry policy”.
Launch of the policy by the Minister and Secretary of Agriculture; member, Planning Commission of Nepal; with Dr Javed Rizvi (left to right). Photo: World Agroforestry (Mohammad Abiar/ICRAF)
During the consultation period, engagement also spread beyond national borders. Through its South Asia Regional Program (SARP), ICRAF initiated brainstorming with government policymakers, thinktanks, researchers and others on the requirements of a national agroforestry policy. Currently, the program is working with stakeholders in Bangladesh and Maldives on their agroforestry policies.
In 2019, SARP and its partners, especially the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) and Tamil Nadu Agriculture University trained 26 mid-level policymakers from Asia and Africa[1] in agroforestry policy, research, innovation and development, catalyzing agroforestry research and development in the respective countries. Between 10 and 24 October, 2019, the group participated in three phases of training, first at ICRAF’s Delhi office, then at the Central Agroforestry Research Institute (CAFRI) in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, and finally at the Forest College and Research Institute (FCRI) in Mettupalayam, Tamil Nadu. The curriculum comprised 26 classroom lectures, 8 case studies and several field visits.
Addressing the trainees, Mustapha El Hamzaoui, Director of the Food Security Office at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in India, which funded the training, said: “Agroforestry is the ideal approach to secure a sustainable future for humankind. You are all becoming ambassadors of agroforestry for your countries”.
The program ignited interest from the South and Southeast Asian regions. ICRAF is also working with member states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). ASEAN ministers of agriculture and forestry adopted the ASEAN Guidelines for Agroforestry Development in 2018, and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) established a technical cooperation program with ASEAN to implement the guidelines, focusing on three pilot countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar. FTA, through ICRAF, is the program’s main technical partner.
“Under this cooperation, national agroforestry roadmaps will be developed to guide activities moving forward,” said Delia Catacutan, Regional Coordinator of ICRAF in Southeast Asia.
Trainees, trainers and donor representatives at the inaugural day of the training
Trainees, trainers and donor representatives at the inaugural day of the training
Roadmap to impact
The National Agroforestry Policy is expected to clear the path for a more comprehensive use of agroforestry by smallholders, and to strengthen the capacity of policymakers, researchers and extension workers to promote more resilient farming systems, support tree-planting initiatives, and ensure ecological stability by reducing pressure on natural forests from over-collection of fuelwood and fodder. It also aims to facilitate investment in agroforestry and promote connections between agroforestry farmers and markets, industries, banks and insurance providers.
Intensifying the agricultural value of cultivated areas, agroforestry – which can be less labor-intensive than annual crop farming – could be a game-changer in rural communities affected by migration. As young men (mainly) leave their villages for paid work in other parts of the country or overseas, it is the elders, women and children who must bear the burden of cultivating the fields. This results in underused existing agricultural land and household incomes suffering. Agroforestry could help communities develop new income streams and get more out of their land – without having to cover so much ground.
Mapping it out
Land productivity varies widely across Nepal, making it difficult for government planners, development agencies and scientists to target suitable areas for agroforestry in order to implement the policy. In many situations data is not available. For this reason ICRAF continues to provide scientific evidence-based advice to support the development of agroforestry in the country. Researchers from the Vindhyan Ecology and Natural History Foundation, Ranchi University, Ministry of Forest and Environment of Nepal, and ICRAF’s South Asia Regional Program used different geospatial datasets of land, soil, climate and topography to identify potential areas where trees can be sustainably established on farms. In 2020 they published their findings in the journal Modeling Earth Systems and Environment.
“Agroforestry is very important for Nepal to improve livelihoods and the resilience of smallholders to the challenges of climate change and extreme events. In close collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, ICRAF and the provincial governments, we are mainstreaming agroforestry in our programs,” said Bishwa Nath Oli, Secretary, Ministry of Forests and Environment, Government of Nepal.
This is a result that FTA is proud to have facilitated.
[1] Trainees were from Bangladesh, Botswana, Cambodia, Malawi, Myanmar, Nepal, Kenya, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Uganda.
This article was written by Erin O’Connell.
Produced by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) together with one of its managing partners, the International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR). FTA is the world’s largest research for development program to enhance the role of forests, trees and agroforestry in sustainable development and food security and to address climate change. CIFOR leads FTA in partnership with Bioversity International, CATIE, CIRAD, INBAR, ICRAF and TBI. FTA’s work is supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund.
Uganda now has a new 10-year National Bamboo Strategy and Action Plan
Uganda now has a new 10-year National Bamboo Strategy and Action Plan
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Monopodial bamboo. Copyright: International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR)
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FTA provided key technical and financial support for the strategy
Bamboo is extremely versatile. Its sturdy, wood-like nature makes it useful in construction, and it is also a source of paper, packaging, furniture and fabric. It can be used to produce biofuels, charcoal and crafts, as well as stick-based products like curtains, mats, toothpicks, incense sticks and skewers. It is also a source of fuelwood and fodder.
A bamboo house in Uganda. As well as handicrafts, furniture, fuel and fodder, bamboo can also be a durable construction material. Copyright: International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR)
As one of the fastest-growing plants in the world, it is a major carbon sink. It acts as a windbreak and its extensive root systems help control soil erosion, prevent flooding and landslides, retain moisture and raise water tables, thereby reversing desertification. Various iconic animals, including panda, gorilla and monkeys, rely on bamboo for food and shelter. Managed sustainably, it could help many countries reach their global land restoration, climate change and sustainable development commitments.
Yet it is often seen as the poor cousin to timber – viewed as less durable and with few market opportunities.
Uganda has 55,000 hectares of bamboo, including species that can be used for everything from fodder and fuel to furniture and flooring. But, despite high demand for bamboo as a construction material, few farmers are planting the crop, and the country is missing out on a global market worth an estimated USD 60 billion.
“Bamboo has huge potential in terms of timber substitute products, energy products, fiber products, furniture and crafts, as well as soil and water conservation, and climate change mitigation and adaptation,” said Michael Malinga, Uganda National Coordinator for the International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR).
Riders on a bamboo bike tour in Uganda, in 2018, to raise awareness about the plant’s potential uses (the frame of all the bicycles is made out of bamboo – light and solid). Copyright: International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR)
“Bamboo can be an available, scalable solution to some of Uganda’s pressing development challenges, but as in other countries, Uganda’s bamboo sector needs a more supportive policy environment to reach its full potential,” said Charlotte King, INBAR’s communications and press specialist.
Fast-growing, versatile and easy to process, bamboo grows across much of East Africa. Copyright: International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR).
New plan for bamboo
Now, that potential will be more fully tapped, as Uganda begins to implement its National Bamboo Strategy and Action Plan for 2019–2029. With technical and financial support from INBAR/FTA, the Ugandan Forest Sector Support Division (FSSD), the Ministry of Water and Environment (MoWE) and the National Forestry Authority (NFA) developed the strategy in 2019.
Research by INBAR’s Dutch-Sino-East Africa Bamboo Development Programme generated important evidence about the potential significance and contributions of bamboo to sustainable growth in Uganda, informing key aspects of the strategy. This included a regional remote sensing assessment, a property test of indigenous bamboo species, a value chain analysis and training materials.
“The focus of Uganda’s bamboo strategy is on managing the country’s bamboo resources to provide economic, social and environment benefits for all. Its vision, goal, guiding principles, strategic objectives and strategies are all tailored towards achieving a viable and sustainable bamboo industry in Uganda,” said Malinga.
The strategy is in line with international obligations to which Uganda is a signatory, like the UN Sustainable Development Agenda, as well as with national policies and planning frameworks such as the Uganda Vision 2040, the Uganda Forestry Policy 2001, the National Forest Plan 2012, the National Land Use Policy 2013, and the National Energy Policy 2002.
The strategy was approved and released by Hon. Dr Goretti Kitutu Kimono, Uganda’s Minister of State for Environment, on 24 September 2019 in Kampala. “This strategy will go a long way in redeeming the bamboo industry in this country. Bamboo could help Uganda to restore forests and create jobs,” said Dr Goretti.
A collaborative effort
A wide range of stakeholders were involved in the consultative process to develop the Bamboo Strategy and Action Plan. Two national-level stakeholder consultation workshops and a series of internal reviews from task forces, as well as senior management of the Ministry of Water and Environment, National Forestry Authority (NFA) and FTA partner the International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR), contributed to the development and validation process.
One of the highlights of the latest FTA Annual Report
The overall goal of the strategy is to ensure the coordinated development of the bamboo industry to stimulate green economic development and the production of high-value products for domestic, regional and international markets.
Planting and managing bamboo will contribute an estimated 15% towards Uganda’s goal of restoring 2.5 million ha of forest landscape by 2030, of which about 28% will be on government land and the remaining on private land. The Ministry of Water and Environment estimates that the strategy will help create 150,000 full-time jobs, producing 140 million bamboo poles each year.
Long term, this could lead to the creation of 700,000 full time jobs, with 230,000 ha of bamboo planted on farms and 60,000 ha of regenerated natural bamboo forest.
Early growth
Progress is well underway, and Phase II of the Dutch-Sino-East Africa Bamboo Development Programme for Uganda was designed in response to the strategy. Collaborative efforts by various stakeholders are under way to assess the country’s potential for bamboo industrialization. This is expected to supplement the information on suitable species of bamboo.
In 2020, researchers identified bamboo-growing areas and grouped them in the following clusters:
West Nile
Mt Elgon
Western
Acholi
South Western
Karamoja
Albertine
Teso
The clusters were ranked according to present status, potential for participating households, bamboo resource base, gender dynamics, current business/marketing practices, and product knowledge and skills, among other criteria. The team also started developing specific clusters for integrated bamboo development, in partnership with the National Forestry Resources Research Institute of Uganda.
The government of Uganda began the process of developing bamboo clusters for small and medium-sized enterprises and industries, tasking an ad hoc committee to develop a plan on how the country will advance the bamboo sector, and also advocate for the inclusion of bamboo in the National Development Agenda.
Planting bamboo does not stop with the pandemic! Moments during INBAR’s bamboo propagation techniques training in Moyo (23/9/2020). Copyright: International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR)
Despite the COVID 19 pandemic, the Ministry of Water and Environment planted nearly 80 ha of bamboo in several districts, along with over 2,000 seedlings in terraces around Echuya Forest Reserve communities to protect their hills from soil erosion. This was done in partnership with INBAR and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and local partner the Mgahinga Craft and Cultural Centre.
More on-the-ground workshops! INBAR’s bamboo propagation techniques training at the National Tree Seed Centre in Namanve, Wakiso near Kampala (19/9/2020). Copyright: International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR)A shot from INBAR’s bamboo propagation techniques training in Kabale (15/9/2020). Copyright: International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR)
By the end of July 2020, the production of quality bamboo seedlings had reached over 500,000 from government and community-based nurseries, while private enterprises had produced over 2 million seedlings. And by the end of August, 144,000 seedlings were supplied to the refugee-hosting districts of Kikuube and Moyo, of which 29,600 seedlings were planted as a buffer in Bugoma and Era central forest reserves, which are in close proximity to refugee settlements. Seed imports amounted to 16 kg of quality bamboo germplasm, and another 18 kg were already in transit – an amount capable of producing more than 400,000 seedlings.
A bamboo nursery established as part of the INBAR-led Dutch-Sino-East Africa Bamboo Development Programme. Copyright: International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR)
Finally, although the pandemic restrictions limited awareness-raising efforts to virtual channels, INBAR organized 10 online seminars between July and August, around two themes: environmental management of bamboo, and bamboo for poverty reduction and livelihood development. The topic of bamboo also featured in a talk show on the current state of Uganda’s forestry sector on the country’s NBS TV channel.
“INBAR is proud to have worked with Uganda’s Ministry of Water and Environment to support the development of this bamboo strategy, which should be an important step forward for the sector’s development,” said King.
This article was written by Erin O’Connell.
Produced by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) together with one of its managing partners, the International Bamboo and Rattan Organisation (INBAR). FTA is the world’s largest research for development program to enhance the role of forests, trees and agroforestry in sustainable development and food security and to address climate change. CIFOR leads FTA in partnership with Bioversity International, CATIE, CIRAD, INBAR, ICRAF and TBI. FTA’s work is supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund.
Forests and agroforestry taking its place for climate adaptation
Forests and agroforestry taking its place for climate adaptation
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New FAO-FTA supplementary guidelines on NAPs
The potential of forests and trees to mitigate global warming has long been the main focus of climate change discussions. But forests – and the livelihoods of the 1.6 billion people who depend on them – are also greatly threatened by increasing variability in temperature and precipitation, storms, pest outbreaks and more frequent and intense fires. In fact, the ability of forests and trees to adapt to these impacts will influence their ability to mitigate climate change.
Moreover, forests and trees provide so called nature-based solutions for adaptation helping other sectors build resilience. Thanks to their crucial ecosystem services, forests support crops, livestock, and fisheries, as well as prevent flooding and erosion that can threaten infrastructure, economies and people.
The new forestry guidelines highlight the importance of forestry and agroforestry for adaptation.
As climate change impacts forests, adaptation measures are needed to reduce negative impacts and maintain ecosystem functions and its biodiversity. Also forest ecosystems contribute to adaptation by providing local ecosystem services that reduce the vulnerability of local and indigenous communities and the broader society to climate change. The potential of forests and trees is overlooked in both rural and urban areas. Forest adaptation will be crucial as part of COVID-19 green recovery, and a more resilient and sustainable future, says Julia Wolf, co-author and Natural Resources Officer, FAO.
Potential contributions of forests, trees and agroforestry to the adaptation of other sectors/systems
In the global agenda
Recognizing the multiple links of forests, trees and agroforestry with other activities and sectors, and the contributions they make to multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the guidelines takes a systemic approach based on the Integrative Framework for NAPs and SDGs defined by the LEG, allowing for a more explicit consideration of how to address the SDGs through NAPs.
The UNFCCC established the NAP process for Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and for other developing countries to identify and address their medium- and long-term adaptation needs. It is the main instrument for countries to deliver on their adaptation priorities and nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, as well as aligned climate resilience and disaster risk management measures under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. By taking into account interactions between all sectors in a coordinated way, the NAP process can foster a more holistic approach to land use and landscapes.
Sample process to formulate and implement NAP
These guidelines came out in response to a call from the FAO Committee on Forestry (COFO) in 2018 encouraging countries to incorporate forests into their NAPs, develop policies for adaptation through forests, take action to improve forest health and to restore degraded forests and landscapes. They mobiliz the existing body of knowledge related to forest management, vulnerability assessments and climate change adaptation, building on lessons learned in addressing climate change adaptation related to the agriculture sectors. They aim to provide guidance for policy- and decision-makers on adaptation planning and climate financing as well as multiple actors in the forestry and agriculture sectors, in their engagement and contribution to the NAP process at national and local levels.
Possible process flow for addressing the agriculture sectors in the formulation and implementation of NAPs
To address the needs of countries more effectively, the guidelines draw on an analysis of already published NAPs, along with related documents prepared by developed countries or subnational authorities. They also draw on consultations with technical experts and key stakeholders from civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and international organizations, and from the NAP-Ag guidelines and the recommendations of the UNFCCC Least Developed Country Expert Group.
Forests at the heart of climate action
The guidelines invite countries to review the vulnerabilities of forests and forest dependent people. They can rely for this on another joint FAO-FTA publication, Climate change vulnerability assessment of forests and forest-dependent people: A framework methodology, released at CoP 25 in Madrid in 2019 in response to urgent calls for simple, effective approaches to conducting vulnerability assessments. It provides flexible, step-by-step guidance on how to undertake these assessments, with the aim of ramping up efforts to improve conditions for forests and people.
With the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement, the international community has pledged to ambitious collective objectives. Land use is key to all of these ambitions, especially to the commitments made by countries as set out in their NDCs. Due to their important role in mitigation, for adaptation, for sustainable management of natural resources and for food security, forests and trees are at the heart of such an integrated approach.
This article was produced by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). FTA is the world’s largest research for development program to enhance the role of forests, trees and agroforestry in sustainable development and food security and to address climate change. CIFOR leads FTA in partnership with Bioversity International, CATIE, CIRAD, INBAR, ICRAF and TBI. FTA’s work is supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund.
Emphasis on agri-business exports puts small-scale producers at risk
Women have dominated shea production and sales for centuries in West Africa, managing trees, gathering nuts, roasting and crushing kernels to create rich butter used in cooking, cosmetics and medicines.
This women-led shea market value chain now faces increasing uncertainties on various fronts, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
A deteriorating security situation in Burkina Faso has seen the country “replace Mali at the epicenter of the Sahel’s security crisis” over the past year, as countries in the semi-arid region engage in increasingly volatile battles against insurgencies with links to al Qaeda and Islamic State.
To explore the potential impact of multiple changes affecting domestic and international trade in shea, the Global Shea Alliance (GSA) – a multi-stakeholder platform comprised of government, private sector, non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, research and women’s shea producer associations – recently organized three online sessions for a “Virtual Shea Lab.”
The shea trade has been seen by Europeans as a potentially lucrative investment opportunity from at least the early 20th century, said Andrew Wardell, a principal scientist with the Center for International Research (CIFOR), who delivered one of the presentations during the event.
“Various historical, political, economic and social threads are becoming entangled and should be addressed to protect the industry as the region confronts a confluence of significant crises and changes,” he said.
The first significant European incursions into the shea sector involved so-called Treaties of Friendship and Trade that were negotiated with local chiefs by the French, British and Germans as early as the 1890s.
In 1924, a colonial superintendent of agriculture and forestry in the Gold Coast Colony – now Ghana – observed that the collecting of shea kernels was entirely done by women, but anticipated that would change “…when it was found out there was money to be made from shea kernels,” Wardell said.
The most significant growth in shea demand in Burkina Faso has occurred over the past 20 years as large agri-business firms producing Cocoa Butter Equivalents (CBEs) have established trading bases and crushing facilities in the south-west of the country.
Although prices and the volume of trade in shea nuts have both increased, profit margins for women shea nut producers have been reduced as an oligarchy of wholesalers in Bobo Dioulasso — the country’s second largest city after the capital Ouagadougou — continue to act as intermediaries in bulking-up for the large transnational corporations, said Wardell, who has studied the sector for 20 years.
“In Burkina Faso, where 94 percent of households collect shea nuts and 60 percent of households sell shea nuts or butter, shea is the fourth largest source of government revenues after gold, cotton and livestock,” he said. “Not only is it the most significant source of household revenues and subsistence use for women, but it remains a staple food oil for more than 200 million people across sub-Saharan Africa.”
MARKET EXPANSION
The CBE technology was developed in the 1960s, although the main CBE manufacturers, including the Danish-Swedish speciality fats producer AAK AB., Indian fats and cosmetics company 3F Industries Ltd. and the U.S. agricultural commodities trader Bunge Ltd. did not establish trading bases or crushing facilities in the country until after 2005. Previously, they operated out of West African ports such as Abidjan, Tema and Cotonou and hence, depended on in-country wholesalers.
“Since global demand in chocolate products grew in the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – we’ve seen a big growth in demand for shea nuts for use in chocolate manufacture because it’s much less expensive as a raw material,” Wardell said, explaining that cocoa butter can now be substituted up to 5 percent by a so-called equivalent.
Although the CBE manufacturers have recently initiated direct purchasing from women’s shea producer associations, they remain dependent on a complex pyramidal purchasing network established by Bobo Dioulasso wholesalers during the colonial period.
The network trading is based on trust, distant kinships, “apprenticeship” of wholesaler family members and an intimate knowledge of local units of sale — yoruba and cocotassa — and weight loss associated with the drying of shea nuts, he said.
The shea trade in Burkina Faso is now divided into two basic strands, Wardell added. The smaller strand, which represents about 10 percent of trade, is a classic agri-food, vertically-integrated value chain, driven by buyers and increasingly governed by trading standards. This is similar to the horticultural trade from other sub-Saharan African countries such as Kenya with European supermarkets. In this scenario, shea is typically traded as butter to supply the cosmetics industry.
The second strand is where 90 percent of the trade now occurs; it involves the unprocessed nuts or semi-processed nuts. The nuts are crushed, then they are fractionated to separate the different oils, the latter occurring outside the country.
TRADE OFFS
Now, the coronavirus pandemic poses new threats due to lockdowns, which have limited business activities, led to unemployment and reduced incomes, and limited mobility while creating obstacles to free trade, even as the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA) moves ever closer to implementation.
Once roasted, Rabo Nafissatou (L) and Bassia Mariam grind the shea nuts to a paste, mix it with water and beat it. CIFOR/Ollivier Girard
“COVID-19 has made the 16 million women throughout sub-Saharan Africa who rely on revenues from shea nuts and shea butter increasingly vulnerable,” Wardell said.
The U.N. Economic Commission for Africa estimates that the African continent will face an immediate decline in gross domestic product growth from 3.2 percent to 1.8 percent in 2020 due to COVID-19, but with a further adverse impact if it is not contained in the short-term, said Ify Ogo, regional coordination specialist for AfCFTA at the U.N. Development Programme and a speaker at the GSA Africa Conference 2020.
“Trade is a significant conduit for this negative impact through three transmission channels,” she said, explaining that compressed demand related to Africa’s most important trading partners — including the European Union, China, the United States and India — are undergoing simultaneous crises and reducing imports.
Additionally, prices for many of the commodity exports on which Africa depends are dropping. Finally, disrupted supply chains are taking a toll, more than half of Africa’s exports go to countries that are significantly affected by COVID-19, while 53 percent of its imports originate from such significantly affected countries, she said, adding that quarantines and movement restrictions further frustrate supply chains.
GSA could see financial gains through AfCFTA, which came into effect in 2019, Ogo said.
But it remains unclear if women shea butter producers will see economic benefits when the free trade agreement — which was originally to be launched on July 1, but has now been put on hold due to coronavirus — is eventually implemented.
While negotiations are still underway, 55 member countries would remove tariffs from 90 percent of goods, with the goal of boosting trade on a continent-wide free trade market valued at more than $3 trillion, which would serve 1.2 billion people.
Shea nuts are harvested in Burkina Faso between mid-June and mid-September. After the pulp is removed, the nut is then washed and allowed to dry. CIFOR/Ollivier Girard
Under the agreement, shea exports could increase due to the removal of trade tariffs on shea products. Currently, tariffs on raw shea butter are between 10 and 40 percent in African countries, Ogo said. Other benefits would include the increase in productive capacity and enhancing trade readiness, she said.
Through the agreement, trade has a key role to play as a driver of economic recovery and development, therefore, for Africa, the post-COVID-19 stimulus package is the actual AfCFTA and the implementation of this agreement, she said, citing Wamkele Mene, secretary general of the AfCFTA secretariat.
“Under this scenario, trade routes must be open, so as yet it’s unclear how the single market would benefit women involved in the shea industry,” Wardell said. “As well, due to much of the work occurring in women’s collectives and associations, physical distancing makes production untenable.”
AfCFTA does not necessarily take into account historical trade routes, which are not always reflected in official country borders. Although it may be beneficial over the long term, it is still unclear how AfCFTA will help women shea producers in the short term, even without factoring in COVID complications.
“There is only so far the sector can expand,” Wardell said. “Women clearly get greater financial benefits from value-added processing of shea nuts into shea butter, then selling the unprocessed nuts. Even though there are greater volumes involved, the women are still getting proportionately very little from the trade in shea nuts.”
“Three draft theses are under review, one by a student studying the costs and benefits of certification of shea butter as a way of increasing the revenues of women shea producers,” Wardell said.
By Julie Mollins. FTA is the world’s largest research for development program to enhance the role of forests, trees and agroforestry in sustainable development and food security and to address climate change. CIFOR leads FTA in partnership with Bioversity International, CATIE, CIRAD, INBAR, ICRAF and TBI. FTA’s work is supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund.
Contribute! Roadmaps for primary forests conservation and innovative forest technologies in the Asia-Pacific region – the main results of the inception workshop
Contribute! Roadmaps for primary forests conservation and innovative forest technologies in the Asia-Pacific region – the main results of the inception workshop
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Following the recommendations of the ‘Third Asia-Pacific Forest Sector Outlook Study’ (FAO, 2019)[1], FAO and CIFOR, lead center of the CGIAR research programme on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA), are developing two inter-related roadmaps for primary forest conservation, and for innovative forest technologies in the Asia-Pacific region. These roadmaps will include key recommendations (policy and concrete actions) informed by science. They will be developed through an inclusive and participative process, involving key regional stakeholders and technical experts and paying a specific attention to the contributions of students and people engaged in activities related to the forest sector in the Asia-Pacific region.
On July 30th, 2020, FAO and FTA co-organized an online inception workshop to launch this collective process with three objectives in mind: (i) agree on the global direction of the two roadmaps; (ii) identify potential contributors; (iii) start building a strong community around these roadmaps to ensure a large participation to the process. The workshop combined plenary sessions with parallel sessions in smaller breaking groups (seven groups of 8-10 persons each) with the view to ensure both inclusiveness and active participation.
The workshop attracted a wide and diversified audience, representative of the key stakeholder groups in the region (international organizations, governments, private sector, civil society, research and academia).
The first session, devoted to primary forest conservation, was the occasion to discuss the main threats facing primary forest conservation, among which: climate change and natural disasters; population and economic growth; overexploitation and illegal exploitation of forests; conflicting land uses; inconsistent policies across sectors and scales; corruption, weak governance, migration and conflicts. Participants in the workshop identified many ‘hotspots’ for primary forest conservation and suggested for the roadmap to develop a list of criteria that could help describing and mapping these hotspots across the region and contribute to prioritize conservation efforts. Among such criteria were mentioned: size, level of threats, as well as richness and uniqueness of the ecosystem (considering its environmental, economic, social and cultural values).
Participants recommended to adopt an integrated, cross-sectoral, multi-stakeholder forest governance, articulated at all scales. Remnant primary forests should be considered within the broader landscape, taking into account the dynamics at stake in surrounding areas (e.g. planted forests, agricultural land, infrastructures and human settlements) that directly or indirectly impact primary forest status and trends. Among the institutional challenges for primary forest conservation, participants highlighted: the accurate monitoring of primary forest values; the sustainable funding of forest conservation; the importance of education and capacity building; the effective enforcement of existing laws and rules.
During the second session, the following categories of innovative technologies appeared as the most promising for sustainable forestry and sustainable forest management: ICTs/digital technologies; low-carbon technologies; biotechnologies; and emerging finance technologies. Most participants shared the feeling that innovation benefits will outweigh the risks. Innovative technologies can provide new products and services; generate further income and employment opportunities in the forest sector; and, by reducing waste, enhance the sustainable management of natural forest resources. However, the negative impacts of new technologies on local communities – including in terms of access to natural resources, food security, employment and livelihoods -, on natural ecosystems and on biodiversity should not be overlooked. In particular, the adoption and dissemination of innovative technologies will likely produce a shift in the labour market: generating new skilled job but destroying unskilled jobs and marginalizing traditional practices.
Among the main barriers to uptake and upscale of technologies, participants identified: (i) the lack of capacity (infrastructures and equipment, human capital and financial resources); and, (ii) restrictive policies and regulations lagging behind the rapid evolution of technologies and the rapid shifts in wood demand. One of the major challenges will be to “scale-down” innovative technologies and adapt them to each local context, so that they can also benefits to traditional users, smallholders and local communities. Participants agreed that regional cooperation, investment, infrastructure development, education and capacity building will be key to overcome these barriers, support technology transfer and dissemination, and accompany the populations at risk of being marginalized by these technological advances. They highlighted the importance for the public and private sectors to work hand-in-hand to address these issues.
Consumers have a lot of power for orienting the forest sector towards sustainability. Consequently, these roadmaps should contribute to raise consumer awareness on the two topics discussed during this workshop.
During the workshop, participants demonstrated their high level of interest and enthusiasm for the two topics discussed. This raises high expectations regarding the outcomes of this collective process. Thomas HOFER, Senior Forestry Officer in FAO Regional office for Asia and the Pacific (FAO-RAP, Bangkok), thus invited all participants to maintain their level of engagement in the coming months and to contribute actively to the work ahead with innovative ideas, out-of-the-box thinking and a forward-looking perspective, in the spirit of the ‘Third Asia-Pacific Forest Sector Outlook Study’.
At the end of the workshop, Vincent GITZ, FTA director, presented the next steps of the collective process of development of the two roadmaps.
After the workshop, the scopes of the two roadmaps were refined, based on the comments received.
In the coming months, FAO and FTA will invite further contributions to the roadmaps through different channels: (i) direct interviews of selected key regional stakeholders; (ii) an open online consultation; and, (iii) an essay competition for students and young people engaged in activities related to the forest sector in the region. Following this inception workshop, additional technical workshops will be organized as appropriate, at critical stages of the process.
The open consultation was framed based on the suggestions received during the workshop. It aims at collecting scientific and local/traditional knowledge, experience and best practices, views and perspectives, suggestions and recommendations on primary forest conservation and on the application of innovative technologies in forestry and forest management in the Asia-Pacific region.
The consultation is open till November 15th, 2020NOW EXTENDED UNTIL 15 DECEMBER!
Young people will be the managers and decision-makers of tomorrow. They have shown their capacity to generate and spearhead trans-national mobilization to address environmental challenges, such as climate change, and advance sustainable development. They can be instrumental in shaping a sustainable future by taking leadership roles and generating momentum through collaboration and social media, and by transforming rigid institutions from within and participating to the uptake and upscale of innovative technologies in the forest sector.
This is why FAO and FTA decided to organize a competition to encourage contributions from students and young people engaged in activities related to the forest sector in the Asia-Pacific region. Youth are invited to share their experience, expectations and recommendations regarding the use of innovative technologies to advance sustainable forest management in Asia and the Pacific. This competition will take place in two steps: (1) call for abstracts, (2) development of the selected contributions.
The call for abstracts is open till November 15th, 2020NOW EXTENDED UNTIL 15 DECEMBER!
The main findings and recommendations of the two roadmaps, as well as the best youth papers, will be presented and discussed during a regional multi-stakeholder workshop possibly organized back-to-back to the XV World Forestry Congress to be held in Seoul, Republic of Korea (24-28 May 2021).
The final objective is to publish the technical paper and the corresponding policy brief by end November 2021.
[1]FAO. 2019. Forest futures – Sustainable pathways for forests, landscapes and people in the Asia Pacific region. Asia-Pacific Forest Sector Outlook Study III. Bangkok. 352 pp. http://www.fao.org/3/ca4627en/ca4627en.pdf
This article was produced by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). FTA is the world’s largest research for development program to enhance the role of forests, trees and agroforestry in sustainable development and food security and to address climate change. CIFOR leads FTA in partnership with Bioversity International, CATIE, CIRAD, INBAR, ICRAF and TBI. FTA’s work is supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund.
Sustainable Food Systems for All: Inclusivity Matters!
Sustainable Food Systems for All: Inclusivity Matters!
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On World Food Day, we wish to acknowledge the critical role of forests, trees and agroforestry to global FSN
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World Food Day 2020: underlining the role of forests, trees and agroforestry for food security and nutrition.
Despite the global fight against food and nutrition insecurity, the world still suffers from an increasing number of hungry people, persistently high rates of stunted children, and a growing population of overweight and obese adults. Not enough progress has been made towards reaching the second Sustainable Development Goal related to zero hunger. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated these issues even further, exposing the flaws of our current food system. The current ‘business as usual’ model of feeding the world by focusing on producing more foods does not work; It destroys the environment and leaves marginalized people behind. How can we redesign our food systems to be more inclusive and ecologically sustainable, while providing sufficient and nutritious food for everyone? Today is the perfect time to reflect on this question as we celebrate ‘World Food’ in the middle of a pandemic that has been projected to cause more than a quarter billion of additional hungry people by the end of this year.
The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) food and nutrition researcher Mulia Nurhasan, highlighted the role of forests, trees and agroforestry for food security and nutrition. Scientific evidence has shown that forests and trees are linked to dietary diversity and better nutritional status of children and women.
Amazon wild fruits. Brazil. Photo by Neil Palmer/CIAT
Forests, trees and agroforestry also provide a multitude of ecosystem services that could simultaneously support food production, nutrition, environment and human health. CIFOR leads the largest research and development program on forests, trees and agroforestry (FTA), to address among other, food security and climate change issues. With findings from FTA research and more, Mulia urged for food security and nutrition programs that maintain forests intact, feed local people, diversify their diets and enhance the ecosystem services of their surroundings.
Above-ground and below-ground biomass in mangrove ecosystems. Kubu Raya, West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Photo by Sigit Deni Sasmito/CIFOR
Santosh Singh, head of Energy, Climate Change and Agriculture at Intellecap, an impact enterprise that aims to support equitable and inclusive markets, advocated for the practice of circularity and sustainability to be mainstreamed in food production systems. Circularity encompasses several elements including sustainable production practices, investment in consumer behavioural change and localisation of food systems through circular agriculture approaches. This way, farmers can diversify income sources and reduce their costs of cultivation, helping address both poverty and food waste.
Building resilient food systems requires inclusive action
Inclusive food systems involve and integrate people from diverse backgrounds and across generations. This takes into account that people are their own agents of change. The 2020 Global Food Policy Report highlights that policies on food security must acknowledge the imperative role of youth, women, indigenous people and other marginalised groups in shaping their food systems.
Happy Grocers, a youth-led, female-led start-up based in Bangkok, is a shining example of the vital role that youth activism can play for food security. Their co-founder Moh Suthasiny, shared how this social enterprise is redesigning city-regional food systems from the bottom-up. The vision of the young Happy Grocers team is to educate and empower conscious urban Bangkokian consumers who can actively support small-scale rural farmers through their sustainable consumer behaviour.
Indigenous communities are sometimes perceived as the target of development support. But interestingly, in these times of the pandemic, many of them seem to be more resilient towards the global food supply shock, due to their self-reliance and nature dependent lifestyle, which is sometimes erroneously interpreted as a sign of underdevelopment. Indigenous communities who live near the forest have also been the custodians of biodiversity through sustainable consumption of wild foods across centuries. We need to acknowledge and protect indigenous food systems for their fundamental contribution to the sustainability of global food systems.
Women in Kapuas Hulu helping prepare for local food. Photo by Icaro Cooke Vieira/CIFOR
The session concluded with a discussion on the necessity to redesign food systems in a way that they are truly sustainable for all. Panellists agreed that in order to achieve a long-lasting sustainability, food systems need to be fully inclusive and ecological. While it is crucial to ensure that we are able to feed a growing population, narrowly focusing on producing more food has hampered efforts to achieve many other development goals. All stakeholders in food systems need to be recognized as agents of change, development programs need to extend their scope beyond feeding the world and need to strive to empower food system actors to be part of the solution, and recognize that we all need to work with nature, not against it. Only then, we can grow, nourish and sustain, together.
Happy world food day to everyone!
By Kuntum Melati, Michaela Lo, Sofia Cavalleri, Mulia Nurhasan. Kuntum Melati is a Policy Specialist – SDGs at SEI Asia. Sofia Cavalleri is a joint PhD Candidate at SEI Asia and Chulalongkorn University. Mulia Nurhasan is a Research Associate at CIFOR. Michaela Lo is a Research Consultant at CIFOR and undertaking her PhD at the Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology (DICE), University of Kent.
This article was produced by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). FTA is the world’s largest research for development program to enhance the role of forests, trees and agroforestry in sustainable development and food security and to address climate change. CIFOR leads FTA in partnership with Bioversity International, CATIE, CIRAD, INBAR, ICRAF and TBI. FTA’s work is supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund.
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A bird view of a typical swidden landscape in Batang Lupar (Yves Laumonier/CIFOR)
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We often think about man’s effect on the environment nowadays. We rarely stop to think about man’s effect on man.
Tracking the state of the world’s forests over the decades is, of course, extremely important, but what about the forest communities – are they also flourishing? Indeed, you could make a case that any forest hosting an impoverished community is a forest that, however flourishing today, tomorrow is destined for the ax. That is why, when an international team of social and environmental scientists got together to create a long term tropical forest monitoring project, they made sure to give it two arms of equal strength, the better to collect both environmental biophysical data and human socio-economic data.
By combining these two seams of data, researchers and policymakers are able to make long range predictions about effects in both directions. That is why this ambitious project is called Sentinel Landscapes.
Yves Laumonier, senior scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research, explains: “The Sentinel Landscapes are a long term research network to monitor not only biophysical data, but also social transformation in the landscape, especially for the livelihood of indigenous people and people who are still dependent on the forest.”
FTA Sentinel Landscape Global Sites
The Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) research program of the CGIAR, led by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), has selected eight Sentinel Landscape research sites across the tropics, each site carefully chosen to represent different positions on the forest transition curve.
Forest Transition Curve – HLPE (2017), adapted from CIFOR (2011)
The forest transition curve describes how pristine primary forest is gradually cleared for timber, agriculture or development and how, at a certain point, this deforestation peaks and is replaced by the regrowth of secondary forest, planting of agroforestry or timber, leading to a degree of environmental recovery in the landscape.
With significant areas of standing ancient forest, the Heart of Borneo is perched at the top of the curve. But even here, crawling over the horizon, we see the tracks of bulldozers.
In Sentinel Solutions for the Anthropocene, we explored how long-term biophysical monitoring is a “global health check” for the tropics and how, in the Nicaragua-Honduras Sentinel Landscape, that data is being used to track forest degradation and climate change.
In this long read, we turn our attention to Borneo and look at how the different socio-economic contexts revealed by the Sentinel Landscape project affect forest conservation in one of the last forest frontiers.
Borneo: The Last Forest Frontier
The Borneo-Sumatra Sentinel Landscape report [download it in pdf here]The Borneo-Sumatra Sentinel Landscape (BSSL) unfolds over four sites on two of Indonesia’s largest islands, from the almost pristine forests of Kapuas Hulu on Borneo to the more developed plantations of rubber and oil palm on Sumatra.
The recently published BSSL report focuses on two study blocks in the Kapuas Hulu Regency of West Kalimantan on Borneo. Straddling the equator, Borneo is the third largest island in the world, more than three times larger than Great Britain and seven times the size of Cuba. With 73 percent forest cover and two national parks, the report describes Kapuas Hulu as part of the “last forest frontier”.
Yves Laumonier is lead author of the BSSL report. “We have other sites in Indonesia that are much more transformed or degraded,” he explains, “but we can imagine that Borneo shows the original state of the forest.”
Batang Lupar, Borneo: Aerial view of the Danau Sentarum National Park wetlands, a unique ecosystem of interconnecting seasonal lakes, peat swamps, and periodically inundated freshwater swamp forests. (Yves Laumonier/CIFOR)
However, Laumonier also warns that oil palm plantations are expanding near the biodiversity corridor between the two national parks, creating both economic opportunities and conflicts.
Degraded swidden landscapes on steep slopes and poor soils in Mentebah, Borneo: Improved road infrastructure has brought a different context for the mostly Malayu population. Gold mining is an important source of income and, although the area is more “developed”, inequality is also higher than in the villages of Batang Lupar. (Yves Laumonier/CIFOR)
Lost without water
Between the two study blocks, Batang Lupar in the north and Mentebah in the south, lies the Danau Sentarum National Park: “a unique wetlands system with many lakes and swamp forests,” according to Laumonier. “Water fluctuation can be ten metres,” he continues. “During the rainy season some trees are underwater!”
The two sites were specifically chosen for their position as sentinels of the wetlands. As the report states: “Any transformation of these landscapes may have an impact on the integrity of the wetland ecosystem and on the communities living there.” This is significant because the wetlands are fed by the Kapuas River, the longest in Indonesia, sprawling over an area bigger than the countries of Costa Rica and Denmark put together.
The river is ecologically important, teeming with a rich diversity of fish, flora and fauna from the dense mountain rainforests to the alluvial delta where the Kapuas is swallowed by the South China Sea. But it is no less essential to human existence: a livelihood for fishermen and farmers, a shipping superhighway for passengers and freight, and a water reservoir that nourishes the whole of West Kalimantan province.
Indeed, the significance of the river to the people of Kapuas Hulu is not restricted to its magnitude, diversity or even the yield of its fruits. The indigenous Iban Dayak don’t navigate by the cardinal points – north, south, east or west – they navigate by reference to the natural world – uphill, downhill, upstream or downstream. The Iban are quite literally lost without water.
“We need this research”
Long term ecological monitoring projects aren’t new, but Sentinel Landscapes are the first to attempt such an undertaking in the tropics. “In Europe you have the Pan European Ecological Network, a large network of long term ecological research,” Laumonier says. “There is also something similar in the US. But in the tropics, it’s not existing.”
Given that tropical forests account for approximately half of the planet’s aboveground carbon and its critical importance for conserving the planet’s biodiversity, this is surprising, to say the least. “The key for me is to focus on the tropical belt,” Laumonier says. “We need this research. If you want to monitor climate change impact on the forest, and you don’t have long term data, it’s very difficult.”
However, long term monitoring projects in the tropics are not as straightforward as in the highly industrialized environments of Europe and North America. “Many ecological science methods used in Europe are not suitable for the tropics,” Laumonier says. “The tropics have the highest ecological biodiversity, and this makes monitoring much more complex than in Europe.”
Research in remote, pristine forests
It’s not only the scientific methods that need to be rewritten for the context. The practicalities of on site research are complicated too. “Pristine forests are only found nowadays in very remote areas that are difficult to access,” Laumonier says. “This is a burden on research. In Europe, you simply get in your car and go there.”
Even when the researchers reached the remote villages of Kapuas Hulu, that wasn’t the end of their challenges.
Alfa Simarangkir is a private consultant who helped collect the data from the socio-economic household surveys. “It took a long time to do the interviews in Batang Lupar especially,” she says. “Not many people speak Bahasa and they had difficulty understanding what we wanted to do.” Indeed, the BSSL report notes that, without a local partner who spoke the Iban dialect, the survey would have been impossible.
As well as the language barrier, Simarangkir and the rest of the team ran into trouble collecting even the most basic data, like the size of household land plots or what year a particular farm was opened. “We tend to use hectares, but in Batang Lupar they have their own local units and you can’t necessarily compare one unit with their neighbour’s,” Simarangkir says. “They also have difficulties remembering the precise timing of events. They don’t have that way of thinking. It took us one week to survey ten households!”
With 139 households to survey in Batang Lupar and another 300 in Mentebah, the socio-economic element of the Sentinel Landscape research was a heroic undertaking that compensated Laumonier, Simarangkir and their team with fascinating revelations.
FTA Socio-economic surveys in Kapuas Hulu
The Iban Dayak of Batang Lupar: from headhunting to oil palm
“Borneo is one of the most forested of the Sentinel Landscape sites, so it’s a bit special,” Laumonier says. “But the local community of Batang Lupar are also quite special: the Iban Dayak.” The Iban are renowned as ferocious warriors, notorious for severing the heads of their enemies, smoking them over a fire and keeping them as grisly mementos – a practice, thankfully, long since ended.
They do still live in traditional longhouses, however. “These longhouses are not isolated individual houses, they are connected apartments, originally to protect themselves from the enemy,” Laumonier explains. “The shared longhouses mean that cohesion in the group is very high.”
Late afternoon gathering in a longhouse in Batang Lupar (Alfa Simarangkir/CIFOR)
The Iban, at least in Batang Lupar, also still live lives that “depend on the forest”, according to Laumonier. They practice swidden agriculture (also known as slash-and-burn or fire-fallow), clearing land for cultivation by cutting and burning the existing vegetation – mostly old fallows rather than primary forest.
But with intense international scrutiny of the annual Indonesian forest fires, this traditional farming method has become problematic. “To avoid excessive haze in the region, the Iban ancestral technique of using fire to clear their fields has recently been forbidden,” Laumonier says. “But the big fires you see in the news are never caused by the indigenous people: they know very well how to control their fires. The big fires you see every dry season are caused by the big industrial companies.”
Kapuas Hulu vegetation maps 2000-2010-2019
Laumonier argues that the ban on swidden agriculture is based on an outdated theory of conservation. “In the 1980s, many governments and even conservationists wanted to get rid of agriculture in the forests,” he explains, “but now a lot of people think it’s not that bad, especially for biodiversity.”
“After one or two years of cultivation, the Iban leave the land fallow for regeneration,” Laumonier continues. “If the cycle is not too short – 10 or 15 years – the secondary forest has recovered and biodiversity is already very high.”
The light environmental touch of this traditional practice has a modern downside. “These people are living in subsistence,” Laumonier says. As development spreads even into the furthest reaches of Kapuas Hulu, traditional ways of living are being eroded by the temptation to cash in on the forest.
“The Iban plant rubber as a cash crop, but unfortunately the market price is very low and they can be tempted to shift to oil palm,” Laumonier says. “The oil palm companies are advancing little by little, sometimes with conflict, sometimes not,” he adds. “Many Iban are resisting the oil palm and in the peat swamps there’s a government-imposed moratorium on clearing – but it still happens.”
Mentebah: the road, the rubber and the gold
Batang Lupar and Mentebah are only 100km apart, but the local inhabitants could hardly live in more different situations.
Aerial view of gold mining impact on landscapes in Mentebah (Alfa Simarangkir/CIFOR)
“The tendency of some research is to work in one village and draw conclusions for whole region,” Laumonier says. “The advantage of the Sentinel Landscapes is that we get representative data for the larger region, such as districts.”
The most striking geographical difference between Batang Lupar and Mentebah districts is that, where Batang Lupar is relatively remote and hard to access, Mentebah lies on the main road between Sintang and the administrative capital of Kapuas Hulu, Putussibau. From this simple detail comes a cascade of socio-economic differences between the two sites. As Simarangkir says of Mentebah: “There is a really different way of living there. The road has given a huge opportunity to them.”
Secondary forests in Mentebah (Yves Laumonier/CIFOR)
The road has also brought outsiders to the district. “In Mentebah, people from Java are given land by the government,” Simarangkir says. “The population is diverse compared to Batang Lupar.”
Simarangkir explains that the families in Batang Lupar depend more on natural resources, while those in Mentebah largely earn their living from other employment opportunities. In particular: tapping for rubber and mining for gold.
Traditional gold mining activity in Mentebah – this activity havs desastrous effects on the riparian forest and the quality of the river water (Yves Laumonier/CIFOR)
“The gold mining is illegal,” Simarangkir says. “When one of the respondents showed me some gold he had already made into a block, he told me that he would be in serious trouble with the police if they caught him.”
Despite the potentially lucrative gold industries, the socio-economic survey also discovered that there was significantly greater food insecurity in Mentebah, and that inequality was more extreme between the haves and the have-nots.
The curse of capitalism?
“In Mentebah you need money to buy your daily needs,” Simarangkir explains, “but in Batang Lupar I think they are lucky. They grow vegetables. If they need fish, they go to the river. If they need meat, the men go hunting. You don’t need money to buy food in Batang Lupar.”
Iban man working on traditional Bemban basketry (Alfa Simarangkir/CIFOR)
The road is both a blessing and a curse for the people of Mentebah, as access to the markets of Sintang and Putussibau draws farmers away from their fields to the cash crops.
“Not many people in Mentebah concentrate on the productive landscape any more,” Simarangkir says. “Most of them work more on rubber plantations – but the rubber price fluctuates.” Without the guarantee of a stable price for rubber, a family’s fortunes in Mentebah can collapse from one year to the next in a way that the diversified subsistence farming of Batang Lupar would not.
The financial lure of rubber and gold means that the fields of Mentebah are less productive too. “In Mentebah, people might not have the time and labour to open fields because they are gold mining instead,” Simarangkir says. “In Batang Lupar they stay in the villages and have time to work in the fields.”
Despite their rice paddies, Simarangkir found that most households in Mentebah still have to buy rice. “They cannot predict the harvest,” she explains. “In Batang Lupar, one household can own many different land plots and they can rotate their crops. But in Mentebah they don’t rotate at all because they don’t have as much land. This is one reason why the harvest in Mentebah is not so good: you need to give time for the land to recover.”
Another striking difference between the two districts is that women own significantly more land in Batang Lupar than in Mentebah.
The women landowners of Batang Lupar
The BSSL socio-economic survey found the women owned nearly a third of all land plots in Batang Lupar, whereas women in Mentebah owned less than a fifth. Again, the road, rubber and gold of Mentebah offer clues to why this might be.
Iban woman working on traditional Bemban basketry (Alfa Simarangkir/CIFOR)
“Many of the women in the Batang Lupar come from the nearest village. In Mentebah, women come from cities all over Indonesia,” Simarangkir explains. This break in communal continuity and in the line of inheritance is one reason why women might own more land in Batang Lupar.
But Simarangkir speculates further: “I’m thinking that much of the land previously owned by women in Mentebah has already been sold because households can’t rely on unstable farm products like rubber,” she says. “Instead they rely on illegal gold mining. Sometimes they get a lot of money, but if not then they have to sell whatever they can – including, perhaps, their land.”
“There is a really different way of living there,” she says again.
The question is: how can the Sentinel Landscapes help the people of Kapuas Hulu navigate between these two different ways of life, between the equitable and ecologically sustainable subsistence farming of traditional Batang Lupar and the potentially lucrative market infrastructure of Mentebah?
Conservation or infrastructure: a false choice?
“At their best, Sentinel Landscapes give evidence to decision makers that something is going wrong with the environment,” Laumonier says. “For example, we can quickly see degradation of the forest because there are fewer and entirely different birds.”
“But,” Laumonier adds, “that evidence might not convince decision makers to change course because they – quite rightly – also want to develop and build hospitals and schools.”
It may seem that, with two national parks, Kapuas Hulu is environmentally well-protected, but it is not that straightforward.
“There are two national parks in Kapuas Hulu and that’s quite unique for Indonesia,” Laumonier explains. “Local authorities will say that they have been told to do this for conservation, but that the national parks are also the reason they have no money and no infrastructure.”
There has been a lot of international pressure on Indonesia to protect the forests of Borneo, with high profile campaigns, such as that to save the orangutan, driving the government to establish the national parks in Kapuas Hulu.
There are promising signs that Indonesian conservation efforts are being rewarded. Global Forest Watch recently reported that Indonesian primary forest loss in 2019 fell for the third consecutive year, despite a harrowing fire season. Deforestation is now 40 percent lower than the average annual loss between 2002 and 2016.
The same report indicates that conservation efforts have been even more successful in forests with protected status, bolstered by the announcement last year that the moratorium on forest clearing for palm plantations or logging will become permanent. According to 2016 figures from the Indonesian government, 49 percent of forests are protected in one way or another.
However, Laumonier suggests that choosing between the extremes of conservation and infrastructure is a false choice. “The solution is not always a national park,” Laumonier argues. “We can still do conservation with agroforestry and we can do more to connect the forest fragments. These measures may be as efficient as a national park.”
“In some places around the world, national parks aren’t working because the populations living next to the park are very poor and they don’t see the benefit of conservation,” Laumonier explains. “We have to find a trade-offs between conservation and development.”
Finding that balance isn’t easy – it would be impossible without environmental, cultural and socio-economic insights from the Sentinel Landscapes.
By David Charles. This article was produced by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). FTA is the world’s largest research for development program to enhance the role of forests, trees and agroforestry in sustainable development and food security and to address climate change. CIFOR leads FTA in partnership with Bioversity International, CATIE, CIRAD, INBAR, ICRAF and TBI. FTA’s work is supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund.
Young scientists’ training builds foundation for future forests, trees and agroforestry research
Young scientists’ training builds foundation for future forests, trees and agroforestry research
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Intensive training for young scientists demonstrates key angle of capacity development and value of investments for longer term returns
Shaping a sustainable future
For a group of students in the Democratic Republic of Congo, university learning took on a whole new dimension when they were selected to participate in an innovative capacity development program involving the University of Kisangani (UNIKIS), Forests and Climate Change in the Congo (FCCC) and supported by scientists from CIFOR, ICRAF, CIRAD, University of Cambridge, Musee Royale d’Afrique Centrale and Jardin Botanique de la Belgique.
More than 180 students have since graduated with master’s degrees, while 35 students have successfully defended article-based theses obtaining a PhD. A total of more than 40 peer-reviewed articles have been published by UNIKIS graduates since FCCC was introduced.
Melissa Rousseau with MSc students Chalay Azenge Bokoy and Muyisa Mbusa Wasukundi at the wood biology laboratory in Yangambi – DRC. Photo by Axel Fassio/CIFOR
During the four-year, capacity development and governance-focused project, novel teaching methods, joint local and international supervision of students, staff training and an annual “Science Week” held alongside a media training event, which led to a Green Journalists’ Network were introduced.
“This is what capacity building is all about,” said Wardell, who coordinated the program from 2013 to 2016. “A solid education creates a solid foundation on which to develop skills and human resources to better address national and sub-national development objectives.”
Another capacity development program in East Africa financed by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), currently supports 11 Ph.D. candidates with fellowships, but has a broader reach, funding other students and a variety of projects.
In 2015, CIFOR and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), joined forces to design the CIFOR-USAID Indonesia Forestry Fellowship Program. It helps train a new generation of Indonesian environmental scientists, managers and leaders.
Through the program, students joined masters-degree, multi-disciplinary graduate programs at U.S. universities to study forestry, biodiversity, economics, natural resources governance. Students chosen through the program’s competitive selection process studied on site at four universities recognized for their leadership in forestry and environmental education, including: Northern Arizona University; the University of Missouri; the University of Florida and Yale University. Between 2015 and 2019, 20 students graduated and returned to Indonesia.
Other initiatives include ICRAF’s African Plant Breeding Academy of the African Orphan Crops Consortium and training guide of forest genetic resources, which incorporates a Biodiversity International’s gender research fellowship program. Courses and technical workshops hosted by the Global Landscapes Forum Landscape Academy and the Wageningen University & Research Center for Development Innovation have been well-attended and will continue, while the ICRAF-led “Stakeholder Approach to Evidence and Risk-Informed Decision making” serves as a framework for long-term relationship building to integrate research into policy processes.
These initiatives and others support strengthening partnerships and aligning priorities with both National Agricultural Research Systems and new networks, including the Regional Universities Forum for Capacity Building in Africa and the African Network for Agriculture, Agroforestry and Natural Resources Education.
Pisciculture workshop in Yanonge – DRC. Photo by Axel Fassio/CIFOR
Media training courses and science workshops related to covering forestry, trees, and agroforestry are also under development. An infusion into the media workforce of journalist experts who have been exposed to natural resource management theories can inspire new ideas and methods for delivering messages to the general public.
Let’s not forget the younger generations! Ennviromental awareness campaign at a primary school in Yangambi – DRC. Photo by Axel Fassio/CIFOR
Training and capacity development of staff, partners, stakeholders, journalists and students is a key point of the theory of change of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests Trees and Agroforestry.
Yet, while capacity development has resoundingly been recognized as a vital part of the theory of change, further human and financial resources are required to fully facilitate the adoption of research results into development policy and practice, Wardell said.
“Organizational capacities remain one of the most significant bottlenecks in the research and development sector,” he said. “Thwarting the overall lack of capacity and inadequate use of existing capacities are enormous challenges for research, analysis and development practice, especially in Least Developed Countries.”
FTA Capacity Development Plan of Action 2020-2021 [PDF available]FTA’s Capacity Needs Assessment Report [PDF available]Following a consultative process that began in 2018, it details a roadmap to support people, organizations and societies to obtain, strengthen and maintain capabilities so they can set and achieve their own development objectives over time. It follows a capacity needs assessment jointly authored by CIFOR principal scientist Andrew Wardell and the late Mehmood Ul-Hassan (1964-2020), who was head of capacity development at World Agroforestry (ICRAF) from 2012 until March. Mieke Bourne and Sabrina Chesterman with the Stakeholder Approach to Risk Informed and Evidence-based Decision-making (SHARED) at ICRAF were also authors.
Overall aims include contributing to the overall CGIAR Strategy and Results Framework (SRF) and the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through five “flagship” themes:
Tree genetic resources to bridge production gaps and promote resilience
Enhancing how trees and forests contribute to smallholder livelihoods
Sustainable global value chains and investments for supporting forest conservation and equitable development
Landscape dynamics, productivity and resilience
Climate change mitigation and adaptation opportunities in forests, trees and agroforestry
“Building agroforestry and forestry capacity both within our institutions and with our national partners and future researchers, technical staff, media and policy makers is critical for achieving our ambitions goals and for bringing about real and lasting change – this plan of action will help guide these capacity development efforts,” Bourne said.
This article was produced by the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). FTA is the world’s largest research for development program to enhance the role of forests, trees and agroforestry in sustainable development and food security and to address climate change. CIFOR leads FTA in partnership with Bioversity International, CATIE, CIRAD, INBAR, ICRAF and TBI. FTA’s work is supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund.
Restoration 
Plantations and tree crop commodities 
Enhanced nutrition and food security 
Biodiversity, safeguarding and conservation 
Nationally determined contributions 
Bioenergy and biomaterials 
Blue carbon and peatlands 
Climate change adaptation 
Landscape governance 
Gender 
Silvopastoral systems 
Market-based agroforestry-forestry 
Farm-forest policy interface 
Agroecology 
Livelihood trajectory modelling and assessment 
Inclusive finance and business models 
Innovating finance for sustainable landscapes 
Public and private commitments to zero deforestation 
Orphan tree crops 
Effectiveness of approaches to sustainable supply 
Quality of FTA research for development 
Sentinel landscapes 
Foresight 
Seeds and seedlings delivery systems 
Smallholder tree-crop commodities 
