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Asia-Pacific Roadmap – Materials

04 February, 2021
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Presentations from the Final Validation Online Expert Workshop (23-24 November 2021)

Full report from the workshop can be accessed here

Day 1

  1. James Roshetko – Innovative Technologies, Main Findings
  2. James Roshetko – Innovative Technologies, Recommendations

Day 2

  1. Yves Laumonier – Primary Forests in Asia and the Pacific: Diversity, Status, Trends and Threats
  2. Alexandre Meybeck – Towards a Roadmap for Primary Forest Conservation

Presentations from the Online Expert Workshop (23-25 March 2021)

Full report from the workshop can be accessed here

Introduction:

  1. Yves Laumonier, Principal scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR): Primary forests in the Asia-Pacific region: status, extent and diversity.

Keynote address:

  1. Anne Branthomme, FAO, Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA): Towards improved global reporting on primary forests.

Expert presentations:

  1. Li Diqiang, Institute of Forest Ecology, Environment and Protection, the Chinese Academy of Forestry: The diversity, extent and status of primary forests in China and their importance for biodiversity conservation.
  2. Ate Poortinga, Senior scientist for the Servir-Mekong Project, Thailand will give a presentation entitled: Mapping forest disturbances using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and Artificial Intelligence (AI).
  3. Rajan Kotru, Lead Strategist Trestle Management Advisors & Fellow of the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD): Diversity, extent and status of primary forests in India.
  4. Jalesi Mateboto, Land Resources Division, Pacific Community (SPC): Diversity, extent and status of primary forests in the Pacific Island countries.

Session 2. Increasing pressures on primary forests

Expert presentations:

  1. Nguyen Manh Hiep, Vietnam Administration of Forestry: Natural forest in Viet Nam.
  2. Lilik Budi Prasetyo, Professor at the Division of environmental analysis and geospatial modelling, Faculty of Forestry and Environment, IPB University, Indonesia: Disturbance of forest ecosystem in Indonesia.
  3. Jennica Masigan, Center for Conservation Innovations Ph Inc., the Philippines: Extent of forest cover change in West Mt. Bulanjao and Puerto Princesa Subterranean River National Park, Palawan.

Introduction to breakout group discussions:

  1. Yves Laumonier, Principal scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR): Typology of the main threats facing different forest types.

Session 3. Priority areas for primary forest conservation

Introduction:

  1. Yves Laumonier, Principal scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR): Assessment of priority areas for primary forest conservation in the Asia-Pacific region.

Expert presentations:

  1. Edward Game, Lead Scientist for the Asia Pacific Region in The Nature Conservancy: The Nature Conservancy.
  2. Kasturi Devi Kanniah, from the TropicalMap Research Group, Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Water Security, Faculty of Built Environment and Surveying, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia: Geospatial technology for identifying and mapping priority areas of primary forest for conservation in Malaysia.
  3. Riina Jalonen, Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT: Conservation priorities for native Asian tree species from a multi-threat assessment.

Session 4. Primary forests: governance tools in the Asia-Pacific region

Introduction:

  1. Alexandre Meybeck, special advisor at CIFOR/FTA: What governance for primary forests’ conservation in Asia-Pacific?

Keynote address:

  1. Ryosuke Ujihashi, Forestry Agency of Japan: Initiatives in biological diversity conservation of national forest in Japan.

Expert presentations:

  1. Vongvilay Vongkhamsao, Director of the Forestry Research Centre, National Agriculture and Forestry Research Institute (NAFRI), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF): Policies and directions for primary forest conservation in Lao PDR.
  2. Ricardo Calderon, Executive Director of the Asian Forest Cooperation Organization (AFoCO): Role of AFoCO to support primary forest conservation in Asia.
  3. Tetra Yanuariadi, International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO): Sustaining tropical timber trade: ITTO’s roles in preventing illegal logging and supporting primary forest conservation in Asia and the Pacific.

Conclusion of Day 2:

Keynote address:

  1. Robert Nasi, Director General of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR): Asia-Pacific roadmap on primary forest conservation: food for thoughts.

Presentations from the Online Expert Workshop (Nov 30th, Dec 1st and Dec 3rd 2020)

Full report from the workshop can be accessed here

  1. James Roshetko, ICRAF/FTA, Indonesia: Introduction to Day 1
  2. Junqi Wu, Director of Communications, International Bamboo and Rattan Organization (INBAR), China: Harmonized system code for monitoring international trade of bamboo and rattan
  3. Tony Page, Tropical Forests and People Research Centre, Forest Research Institute, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia: Development and deployment of teak germplasm in Papua New Guinea [pdf]
  4. Jalaluddin Harun, former Director General of Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB) and Fellow of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia (ASM): Rubberwood – Valuable source of plantation grown timber for high value-added products in Malaysia
  5. Bas Louman, Programme coordinator, Tropenbos International, the Netherlands: Innovative finance for forestry
  6. Dr Vu Tan Phuong, Deputy Director in Charge of international cooperation, Academy of Forest Sciences, Vietnam: Forest technologies application in Vietnam
  7. Wu Shengfu, National Forest Products Industry Association, China: Innovative practices in the woodworking industry in China
  8. Oliver Coroza, Center for Conservation Innovations Ph, the Philippines: Geospatial solutions to conservation
  9. James Roshetko, ICRAF/FTA, Indonesia: Introduction to Day 2
  10. Lok Mani Sapkota, RECOFTC, Nepal: Social innovations in community forestry: an application and success case from Nepal
  11. Andrew Lowe, University of Adelaide, Australia: Using DNA to identify illegal and conflict timber in global supply chains
  12. Lobzang Dorji, Director of the Department of Forest and Park Services, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Bhutan: Use of innovative technologies in sustainable forest management in Bhutan
  13. James Roshetko, ICRAF/FTA, Indonesia: Introduction to Day 3

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  • New online platform promotes collaboration in the Congo Basin

New online platform promotes collaboration in the Congo Basin

17 April, 2019
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FTA COMMUNICATIONS TEAM

Aerial view of the Congo River. Photo by A. Gonzalez/CIFOR

To address the duplication of initiatives in the Congo Basin, the Central African Forest Observatory (OFAC) – whose mission is to provide data to decision makers so they can create evidence-based policies – recently launched an interactive project monitoring platform. The online tool enables access to data and projects in the region, to promote collaboration and put an end to wasted resources.

Conservation of the Congo Basin forests is a critical, but complex undertaking. This massive tropical forest block, the world’s second largest, covers over 200 million hectares and spreads across six countries in Central Africa.

It is home to some of the world’s most critically endangered animals, such as lowland gorillas, as well as over 10,000 endemic tropical plant species.

It also provides livelihoods to 60 million people, who depend on forest resources for food, energy, and jobs – a significant economic contribution in one of the world’s least developed regions. And as if this was not enough, it stores around 46 billion metric tons of carbon, benefitting the whole planet facing climate change.

The importance of this ecosystem means that a multitude of actors, including donors, implementing agencies, national governments, and local organizations, are simultaneously carrying out conservation and development efforts on the ground.

While international interest, availability of funds, and political will are certainly good news, duplications of initiatives do happen. Information gaps and a lack of overarching coordination stand in the way of achieving environmental and development objectives.

“In the last two decades, the region has seen an exponential increase in the number of actors in the forest-environment sector,” explained Quentin Jungers, OFAC’s technical advisor, who leads the IT team behind the platform.

“The new project monitoring platform answers calls for better coordination at the regional and national levels. It will allow organizations and governments to share information, promote collaborations, and ensure harmonization.”

Read also: Can DRC’s community forests alleviate poverty?

A woman carries vegetables in Yangole, DRC. Photo by A. Fassio/CIFOR

A call for a regional approach

Better coordination has long been part of the Congo Basin conservation agenda. In 1999, the Central Africa Forest Commission (COMIFAC), became the birth-child of all ten Central African countries; its mandate to oversee the sustainable management and conservation of the Congo Basin’s forest ecosystems.

In 2005, the finalizing of a first Convergence Plan provided a common strategy for the COMIFAC Member States and international partners to reach sustainable goals.

OFAC officially became part of COMIFAC in 2011, leading to the development of an integrated monitoring and evaluation system just a few years later.

“There are so many initiatives to support the sustainable management of Central Africa’s forests, that sometimes it is difficult for COMIFAC to have a clear vision of all the efforts that contribute to the implementation of our Convergence Plan,” explained Vincent Medjibe, OFAC coordinator at COMIFAC. “We expect this platform to give us an accurate overview of what is happening on the ground”.

Read also: Observatory addresses urgent need to monitor forests in East Africa

Digital solutions

The development of the project monitoring platform, the first of its kind in Central Africa, began in 2015 with a basic repository and took over 8 months of intense work to convert into an analytical platform, which was finally ready last year.

“We started by developing a basic database with experts, projects, and capacity building initiatives in the fields of environment and climate change, sustainable management of natural resources, and conservation,” said Donald Djossi, programmer at OFAC. Though he says the real technical challenge was to find the “interconnections” of the projects, so as to provide a comprehensive cross-view of all initiatives.

“Our goal was that all kinds of users, tech-savvy or not, could benefit from it,” added Jungers. Appetite for the platform is clear. Though it was only launched a couple of months ago, it already has an average of 60 users per week.

Users can benefit from a directory and an interactive map showing geolocation and explanation of each initiative, an analysis tab that examines the current state of projects, as well as a report generation tool.

People gather outside the parish of Notre Dame de l’Assomption in Yangambi, DRC. Photo by A. Fassio/CIFOR

Learn more: Go to the project monitoring platform website 

Contributions needed

This platform is a collaborative initiative, and its success will depend on the organizations’ will to share their projects’ information. Until now, over 651 projects have already been submitted, out of which 508 have been validated and published, a significant amount considering that they account for 5 billion euros of funding.

To contribute, it is first necessary to create a user account. This gives organizations access to a private module. Then they can fill out a form for each project. “That’s all is needed,” said Djossi.

After a project is submitted, OFAC’s team reviews the form to ensure that all information is accurate and to avoid duplications. “We need to go through this validation process to ensure that our platform is a reliable source,” explained Jungers.

To encourage organizations to feed the platform, with their user account they also get access to a free monitoring tool that can help them track the progress of their projects. “They can have a report with one click”, said Djossi.

The next step for OFAC is to use the information on this platform to produce a regional publication called “The State of the Projects”, expected in 2020. As a complementary instrument, it will analyze the impact of projects in the Congo Basin in the last 15 years, looking to better integrate them into national and regional environment policies.

“The State of the Projects will help regional policymakers understand what has been done to conserve Central Africa’s forests, and what still needs to be done,” concluded Jungers.

By Ahtziri Gonzalez, originally published at CIFOR’s Forests News.

This research was supported by the RIOFAC,  funded by the European Union.

This work is also part of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA), 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, ICRAF, INBAR and TBI. FTA’s work is supported by the CGIAR Trust Fund.

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  • Forests in Flux: Exploring Park–People Conflicts in Colombia through a Social Lens

Forests in Flux: Exploring Park–People Conflicts in Colombia through a Social Lens

25 February, 2019
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Natural resource-related conflicts between local communities and nation states can be extremely destructive. Worldwide, interest is growing in gaining a better understanding of why and how these conflicts originate, particularly in protected areas inhabited by local communities. The literature on local attitudes towards and perceptions of park conservation and park–people conflicts is quite extensive. Studies have examined the socioeconomic and geographical determinants of attitudes to protected areas. However, the role of such determinants in the experience of park–people conflicts has received considerably less attention. Drawing on 601 interviews with people living in or near 15 Colombian national protected areas (NPAs), we examine the socioeconomic and geographical variables that are most influential in people’s experience of conflict related to restricted access to natural resources. We find that the experience of this type of conflict is largely explained by the NPA where a person resides, pursuit of productive activities within the NPA, previous employment in NPA administration, gender and ethnicity. We recommend implementing socially inclusive conservation strategies for conflict prevention and resolution in Colombia’s NPAs, whereby both women and men from different ethnic groups are engaged in design and implementation.

Access this publication.

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  • Transforming REDD+: Lessons and new directions

Transforming REDD+: Lessons and new directions

21 December, 2018
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Constructive critique. This book provides a critical, evidence-based analysis of REDD+ implementation so far, without losing sight of the urgent need to reduce forest-based emissions to prevent catastrophic climate change.

REDD+ as envisioned has not been tested at scale. Results-based payment, the novel feature of REDD+, has gone untested. International funding (both public and private) remains scarce, and demand through carbon markets is lacking.

Better national enabling conditions. Over 50 countries have included REDD+ in their NDCs and developed national REDD+ strategies. REDD+ has improved countries’ monitoring capacities and understanding of drivers, increased stakeholder involvement, and provided a platform to secure indigenous and community land rights – all key conditions for addressing deforestation and forest degradation.

Modest forest and social impacts. Local REDD+ initiatives have achieved limited but positive outcomes for forests. Well-being impacts have been modest and mixed, but have proved more likely to be positive when incentives are included.

National coordination, with a positive narrative. Forest-based mitigation strategies must now be mainstreamed across sectors and levels of government. A strong positive narrative on how forests contribute to economic development and climate goals could boost forest-based mitigation, in spite of the current political uncertainties in key emitting countries.

Evolving REDD+ and new initiatives. REDD+ has evolved, and new initiatives have emerged to support its broader objective: private sector sustainability commitments, climate-smart agriculture, forest and landscape restoration, and more holistic jurisdictional approaches working across legally defined territories.

Access each chapter via CIFOR.

Access the complete book.

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  • Impacts of forestation on water and soils in the Andes: What do we know?

Impacts of forestation on water and soils in the Andes: What do we know?

14 December, 2018
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Key messages

  • This brief summarizes the findings of a systematic review on the impacts of forestation on water and soils in the Andes (detailed in Bonnesoeur et al., 2018).
  • Exotic tree plantations and, to a lesser extent, native forests consume water and therefore often reduce the total water supply to downstream users in most Andean regions.
  • Only in areas immersed in clouds, such as in the eastern slope of the Andes, might native forests increase downstream water availability compared to other land covers.
  • Decreased total water supply could be acceptable to many users if it confers other benefits, such as increased water availability during the dry season or a reduction in water turbidity.
  • When trees, including exotic species, are planted on degraded soils (bare and/or compacted soils), they can improve soil infiltration, reduce peak flows and control erosion.
  • Exotic tree plantations on well-conserved grasslands (páramos, jalcas, punas) have detrimental impacts on total water supply and hydrological regulation.
  • Existing native forests provide excellent water regulation and erosion control, more than mature tree plantations.
  • As restoring degraded native forests does not necessarily recover original hydrological services, the conservation of existing forests must be a priority for watershed management.
  • The hydrological impacts of native species forestation, however, have largely been overlooked and require further research.
  • Long-term hydrological monitoring and research are necessary to fill the multiple data and knowledge gaps identified in this review.

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  • Sustainable intensification of dairy production can reduce forest disturbance in Kenyan montane forests

Sustainable intensification of dairy production can reduce forest disturbance in Kenyan montane forests

28 September, 2018
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Increasing demand for food and the shortage of arable land call for sustainable intensification of farming, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa where food insecurity is still a major concern. Kenya needs to intensify its dairy production to meet the increasing demand for milk. At the same time, the country has set national climate mitigation targets and has to implement land use practices that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from both agriculture and forests. This study analysed for the first time the drivers of forest disturbance and their relationship with dairy intensification across the largest montane forest of Kenya. To achieve this, a forest disturbance detection approach was applied by using Landsat time series and empirical data from forest disturbance surveys. Farm indicators and farm types derived from a household survey were used to test the effects of dairy intensification on forest disturbance for different farm neighbourhood sizes (r = 2-5 km). About 18% of the forest area was disturbed over the period 2010-2016. Livestock grazing and firewood extraction were the dominant drivers of forest disturbance at 75% of the forest disturbance spots sampled. Higher on-farm cattle stocking rates and firewood collection were associated with 1-10% increased risk of forest disturbance across farm neighbourhood sizes. In contrast, higher milk yields, increased supplementation with concentrated feeds and more farm area allocated to fodder production were associated with 1-7 % reduced risk of forest disturbance across farm neighbourhood sizes. More intensified farms had a significantly lower impact on forest disturbance than small and resource-poor farms, and large and inefficient farms. Our results show that intensification of smallholder dairy farming leads to both farm efficiency gains and reduced forest disturbance. These results can inform agriculture and forest mitigation policies which target options to reduce GHG emission intensities and the risk of carbon leakage.

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  • New legislation advances community rights in forest management in Ethiopia

New legislation advances community rights in forest management in Ethiopia

24 August, 2018
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The government supports gum collection from acacia trees as a source of income for Ethiopians. Photo by O. Girard/CIFOR

The Ethiopian government has a big dream: restoring 22 million hectares of degraded lands and forests by 2030. 

By doing so, the country aims not only to increase tree cover and restore degraded forests, but also to significantly enhance the forestry sector’s contribution to agricultural production systems, water and energy; to improve food and nutritional security; and to create more opportunities for employment and household income.

It is a bold and laudable pledge, made as part of the 2011 Bonn Challenge and the 2014 New York Climate Summit’s goal of restoring 350 million hectares worldwide by 2030. But what’s the best way to make it a reality?

With some 80% of Ethiopians living in rural areas, one approach is to pour resources into forest protection, rehabilitation and conservation by enlisting smallholder farmer labor for the cause mainly through food or cash for work programs. Until now, that has been the predominant method of action of projects supported by development partners. Meanwhile, the government’s approach has been to increase awareness of smallholders on the need to responsibly manage land and other natural resources and systematically mobilize these rural communities to provide free labor for landscape restoration tasks through annual soil and water conservation work and tree planting campaigns.

But either way, restoration must also create socioeconomic incentives for this massive population that depends on these landscapes for their livelihoods. There is a growing recognition that communities should be able to reap more economic benefits and have better control over the land they are restoring – both within restoration processes, and in general after the land has been restored.

To this end, a new forest law was enacted in January this year that is a significant step in the right direction, says Habtemariam Kassa, Team Leader of Forests and Human Well-being Research at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) who supported efforts of the ministry in the process of revising the national forest law. The 2018 National Forest Law – a revised version of the 2007 forest law – now clearly recognizes the rights of communities and acknowledges their role in managing natural forests and establishing plantations, without unduly compromising ecological services or biodiversity.

Ato Kebede Yimam, State Minister of the Forestry Sector, says the new law contains the following three key changes:

  • Recognizing participatory forest management as a vehicle to enhance the role of communities in sharing responsibilities and benefits of managing natural forests in accordance with agreed-upon management plans;
  • Providing incentives for private forest developers through mechanisms such as lease-free land, better access to land use and forest ownership certificates, and tax holiday until and including the first harvest (for private investors and associations) and the second harvest (for communities); and
  • Putting severe penalties on those who expand farming into forests; tamper with forest boundaries; or set fires, harm endangered species, settle, or hunt or graze animals in state, communal, association or private forests.

Depending on the definition of ‘forest’ used, forests cover between 5% and 15% of Ethiopia’s area. Photo my M. Edliadi/CIFOR

Yimam says his ministry has been working to socialize the new law since it was enacted in January 2018. The revisions were based on inputs from policy- and decision-makers at a range of levels, as well as CIFOR scientists – which, Yimam says, make the law an impressive example of science and politics coming together for the betterment of a landscape.

“The law, recognizing the need to strengthen the role of the state in protecting biodiversity rich forests with global and national significance, has identified reserved forests where access is strictly limited,” says Yimam. “On the other hand, the law intends to promote the socioeconomic contribution of forests to the surrounding communities and to local and national economies.

“It is designed to significantly enhance the involvement and ownership of communities and associations in the establishment of plantation forests, in the restoration of degraded forests, and in responsible management and sustainable use of natural forests.”

CHANGE OF SCENERY

According to Kassa, a key shift in the new law is its recognition of the need to maximize socioeconomic benefits of all forest types to the surrounding communities. In the past, when communities managed natural forests under participatory forest management paradigms, “the only thing that they could use were non-timber forest products [NTFP], because most experts considered that cutting [down] indigenous trees was a forbidden act,” Kassa describes. So, the economic returns for managing forests were not really worth communities’ efforts. As such, “we recommended that the law allow a certain level of timber harvesting in natural forests based on forest management plan to be developed,” he says.

To some senior foresters invited to discuss the law in draft phases, this sounded undesirable and even dangerous: “There was a certain group who were really against some of these changes, because they thought that it would open up all natural forests for individuals and communities,” says Kassa. So a new article was created, whereby forests of significant biodiversity are demarcated, and treated as ‘no-go zones.’ “This also places responsibility on the state for protecting biodiversity-rich forests, which wasn’t so obvious before,” he says. 

The 2007 law only made mention of state and private forests. This meant that all restored forest land was treated as state property, so even after decades of restoration effort by a given community, the state could reallocate the land to other users. This tenure uncertainty demotivated communities to invest in forest landscape restoration. Since they didn’t clearly stand to benefit from landscape restoration and tree-planting, there was little incentive for them to take care of state-owned lands.

The new law, in contrast, grants rights of communities to manage and benefit from forests “very explicitly,” says Yimam. It does so by recognizing four categories of forest – state, private, community and association – thereby opening up new avenues for involvement and ownership. “So where you have degraded forest, the community can organize themselves, and with the approval of the relevant authority, can have all the responsibility of managing that forest as a community forest,” he explains.

“When you have groups of women or unemployed people, you can organize them to establish plantations on degraded hillsides, or even reforest and manage degraded forest, and this can be recognized as an association forest. Communities can then also stand to benefit financially from the carbon credits available for reforestation and forest preservation.”

REVISION TO REALITY

These new developments were hard-won. Kassa and his colleagues at CIFOR attempted to contribute similar content to the law’s predecessor in 2007, but then, forestry issues fell under the Ministry of Agriculture’s jurisdiction, and the sector was not getting the political attention it deserved. “We felt we were not really being listened to,” recounts Kassa.

When the Ministry of Environment and Forests (now the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change) was established in 2013, CIFOR staff and other national researchers pushed hard for it to confront and address the limitations of the 2007 law, advocating that forest sector development could bring a host of economic benefits as well as help the country attain its national and international restoration commitments. The ministry listened, set up a committee to work with the scientists, and revised the law according to their technical feedback.

However, putting a law to work is always a challenge. Kassa says the ministry and relevant regional authorities will need significant support to translate the law into concrete actions on the ground. One issue is expertise. The focus of forestry training has thus far been on enhancing the protection function of forests rather than the livelihoods of forest dependent communities, says Kassa, and now leaders and experts in forestry will need new knowledge and skills.

What’s more, “Ethiopia is a federal state, and the various regional governments have been forming different institutional arrangements to manage the forestry sector”, says Yimam. “We need to develop the understanding that the regions can produce their own guidelines to clarify and specify certain articles, but all these cannot go beyond or against the national forest law.”

Both Yimam and Kassa are hopeful that rural communities and forests throughout the country will soon experience the benefits of the new law’s possibilities. “Ethiopia’s 2018 National Forest Law is a really progressive law, and if it is implemented properly it is going to make a big difference” says Yimam.

“The next step is to support the efforts of the Ethiopian government as it attempts to put in place appropriate structures at different levels, redefine the roles of experts and build their capacity to actualize the rights of communities and other forest managers provided by the law,” concludes Kassa.

By Monica Evans, originally published at CIFOR’s Forests News.  

For more information on this topic, please contact Habtemariam Kassa at h.kassa@cgiar.org.

This research forms part of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry, which is supported by CGIAR Fund Donors.

This research was supported by the Strategic Climate Institutions Program (SCIP). SCIP is financed by the Governments of UK, Norway and Denmark.

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  • Understanding gendered innovation processes in forest-based landscapes: Case studies from Indonesia and Kyrgyz Republic

Understanding gendered innovation processes in forest-based landscapes: Case studies from Indonesia and Kyrgyz Republic

19 July, 2018
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An estimated 1.6 billion people depend in part or in full on forests and trees outside forests for their livelihoods. Yet, there are important inequities in the distribution of the benefits forests, trees, and agroforests yield to local people. Gender relations and norms, as fundamental organizing structures across cultures and societies, contribute to shaping the opportunities and constraints of women and men in these (agro)forests, and their ability to benefit from, and contribute to, positive development and environmental change processes. Drawing on data from Indonesia and Kyrgyzstan, this report focuses on how gender norms and agency shape innovation processes in forest, tree, and agroforestry landscapes. The capacity to creatively adapt and innovate to build resilience through natural resource-based livelihood practices is unevenly distributed amongst men, women and young people within communities, and may be constrained by shrinking opportunities in the context of wider structural economic and environmental changes. This aim of this report is to provide a better understanding of how men and women might be supported in exercising their agency in pursuing livelihood goals, independently or with others, in the context of rapidly transforming forest and tree-based landscapes.

The case studies reported here form part of ‘GENNOVATE: Enabling gender equality through agricultural and environmental innovation’; a qualitative comparative research initiative engaging 11 of the Phase I CGIAR Research Programs to examine the gender dimensions of innovations – new agricultural and natural resource management technologies, institutions, and practices. Despite significant historical, socio-political and environmental differences, the five case studies in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, and the case from southwest Kyrgyzstan exhibit pronounced and rapid changes in the relationship between people and forests. Both country contexts are marked by shifts in the relationship between rural and urban livelihood opportunities, forest livelihoods increasingly linked to migration and remittances, and commodification processes intensifying people’s integration into tree-based value chains. In the Indonesia cases, recent transformation is being driven by large scale commercial oil palm investment, which is bringing new wage work opportunities, whilst displacing other forms of livelihoods and resource access. In Kyrgyzstan, integration into the market economy and changing forest tenure regimes are resulting in new opportunities and challenges for different groups of forest dwellers.

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  • Himlal Baral discusses how forests can aid climate change impacts on geographical diversity

Himlal Baral discusses how forests can aid climate change impacts on geographical diversity

08 June, 2018
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Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) Senior Scientist Himlal Baral discusses how forests can aid climate change impacts on geographical diversity during a Q&A on the sidelines of the 2018 Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit (APRS) in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, for which CIFOR and FTA were science and engagement partners.

Originally published by CIFOR.

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  • Gender lessons for climate initiatives: A comparative study of REDD+ impacts on subjective wellbeing

Gender lessons for climate initiatives: A comparative study of REDD+ impacts on subjective wellbeing

04 May, 2018
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Although REDD+ is primarily a mechanism for reducing carbon emissions from forests, concerns regarding social benefits, wellbeing and gender are increasingly part of its mandate. This is consistent with the Paris Declaration as well as SDG 5 on gender equality and women’s empowerment. Critics have argued, however, that REDD+ design, both in policy and projects, does not take gender into account effectively, rather marginalizing women from decision making processes and exacerbating inequalities. Most of that research has been site specific or on single countries. This article uses data from a longitudinal study of subnational REDD+ initiatives in six countries to analyze their gendered impact on perceived wellbeing. Comparative research on subjective wellbeing was conducted at 62 villages participating in 16 REDD+ initiatives and 61 control villages at two periods in time, using a before-after-control-intervention (BACI) design. Focus groups with villagers (68% male) and women (100% female) permit a gendered comparison of definitions of wellbeing and outcomes of initiatives. The results highlight that while definitions of wellbeing overlapped between the two groups, almost half of the women’s focus groups thought that having their own source of income was important. Outcomes regarding wellbeing change suggest that perceived wellbeing decreased in REDD+ villages both for villagers as a whole and for women, relative to control villages, but the decrease was much worse for women – a decrease that is significantly associated with living in a REDD+ village. These declines may be due to unrealized expectations for REDD+, combined with little attention to gender in REDD+ initiatives, in spite of an important portion (46%) of specific interventions that women view positively. These interventions provide insights into potential ways forward. Overall, however, REDD+ initiatives appear to be repeating past mistakes, with insufficient attention to gender equality and safeguarding women’s rights. More effort needs to be paid to ensuring that gender is an integral part of future initiatives to combat climate change in rural communities.

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  • The returnee: Inside the lives of migrant workers from Nepal

The returnee: Inside the lives of migrant workers from Nepal

11 April, 2018
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With seven children and a wife of 21 years, Bahadur believed moving abroad from the village of Nalma in Nepal to Saudi Arabia in order to work was a financially wise choice for his family. All was going well until the news came, six months into his time abroad, that his wife had eloped with someone else, leading Bahadur to returned to his children in Nepal.

Originally published by CIFOR.

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  • Unpacking migration and gender in Nepal

Unpacking migration and gender in Nepal

09 April, 2018
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In the village of Nalma, Nepal, scientist Bimbika Sijapati Basnett from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) talks about her research on the impact of migration on lives and landscapes.

Originally published by CIFOR.

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  • Reconciling policy and practice in the co-management of forests in indigenous territories

Reconciling policy and practice in the co-management of forests in indigenous territories

23 February, 2018
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https://www.slideshare.net/CIFOR/reconciling-policy-and-practice-in-the-comanagement-of-forests-in-indigenous-territories

Presented by David Solis, Dawn Ward and Peter Cronkleton of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) at the XXXV International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association, April 29 – May 1, 2017, Lima, Peru.

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  • Strengthening women's tenure and rights to forests and trees and their participation in decision making

Strengthening women’s tenure and rights to forests and trees and their participation in decision making

12 February, 2018
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FTA COMMUNICATIONS TEAM

Presented by Dr. Esther Mwangi on Feb. 8, 2018, during the More than a seat at the table: Strengthening women’s tenure and rights to forests and trees and their participation in decision making webinar, organized by the CGIAR Collaborative Platform for Gender Research with the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA) and Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR).

https://www.slideshare.net/CIFOR/strengthening-womens-tenure-and-rights-to-forests-and-trees-and-their-participation-in-decision-making

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  • Mapping traditional forests in Maluku, Indonesia

Mapping traditional forests in Maluku, Indonesia

01 February, 2018
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FTA COMMUNICATIONS TEAM

As tenure laws change in Maluku, Indonesia, work is underway to recognize customary rights to forests. Researchers are using a participatory mapping technique to work with communities and their customary leaders to facilitate tenure reform that benefits forests and people.

This video was originally published by CIFOR.

This research forms part of the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry, which is supported by CGIAR Fund Donors.

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