Posts Tagged ‘Africa’

International Day of Forests 2022: Forests, Trees and Poverty Alleviation in Africa

International Day of Forests 2022: Forests, Trees and Poverty Alleviation in Africa

By Dikshya Devkota, GFEP Project Manager, IUFRO

On the occasion of the International Day of Forests 2022, our member IUFRO presents its latest Policy Brief “Forests, Trees and Poverty Alleviation in Africa.” This brief aims to help decision-makers, stakeholders, and practitioners better understand the potential role of forests and trees in sustainable development in Africa.

Women in Malawi carrying firewood, a basic resource in their daily lives (Photo Jennifer Zavaleta Cheek)
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IUFRO Spotlight #87 – Getting everyone on board to succeed in forest landscape restoration

IUFRO Spotlight #87 – Getting everyone on board to succeed in forest landscape restoration

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Alignment and planting in SMM Komitibanda.
Photo: Forest College & Research Institute, Telangana, India

The world is degraded.  Worldwide, according to a 2018 UNESCO publication, land degradation affects 3.2 billion people – about 40% of humanity.

The degradation is human caused, drives species extinction, intensifies climate change, and adds to mass human migration and increased conflict, the report indicated.

So, a critical question becomes: how do we build or, perhaps more accurately, rebuild a sustainable world?

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IUFRO Spotlight #67 – Tapping the potential of restoring disturbed tropical forests

IUFRO Spotlight #67 – Tapping the potential of restoring disturbed tropical forests

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Since the 1980s most deforestation globally has occurred in tropical countries – Africa, South America and Asia. The high rate of deforestation and degradation contributes to the disappearance of 13 million hectares of tropical forests each year.

Secondary forests in Costa Rica. Photo by Geoffrey Venegas, CATIE.
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IUFRO 125th Anniversary Congress Spotlight #51 – Pooling resources to meet sub-Saharan forest challenges

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Training workshops for early and mid-career forest scientists across FORNESSA countries contribute to enhancing research competence and networking. (Photo by Michael Kleine, IUFRO)

Collaboration and cooperation are the keys to facilitating learning and making better use of research outcomes in sub-Saharan African countries facing severe forestry challenges.

That’s the philosophy behind Dr. Joseph Cobbinah’s upcoming session on the impact of forestry research on policy, livelihoods and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa. The session will take place at the IUFRO 125th Congress in Freiburg in September. Read more…

Interconnecting forests, science and people

There is a great acceleration going on in the world. The challenges that we are facing – population growth, urbanization, shortage of food and clean water, climate change and many more – are growing fast.

Research networking and global collaboration across scientific disciplines have proved to be an efficient way of generating the scientific knowledge that is indispensable for finding viable solutions to these problems. Read more…

The forestry environment is changing – and research institutions need to respond

Directors of forest research institutions – mainly from Africa – discussed future management strategies in a side event entitled “Crossing science boundaries for the benefit of forests and people” organized by the IUFRO Directors’ Forum.

Forest research is critical for forestry and natural resource management. But, as a recent survey among IUFRO member organizations – universities and research centers – clearly shows, forest research can no longer be viewed in isolation. It is being more and more recognized as part of a larger context and has become increasingly cross-sectoral. Read more…

Local approach is crucial to making forest and landscape restoration a success

A 3-day training workshop on science-policy interactions for forest and landscape restoration took place on 4-6 September 2015 in Durban, South Africa, prior to the World Forestry Congress. The workshop was organized by IUFRO’s Special Programme for Development of Capacities (SPDC) in collaboration with the World Resources Institute (WRI), and brought together a group of 14 early and mid-career scientists, educators and professionals from developing countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. http://www.iufro.org/science/special/spdc/actproj/twdurban/ Read more…

Learning how others deal with forest & landscape restoration and applying new knowledge at home

Interview with four participants of the IUFRO-SPDC/WRI training workshop on science-policy interactions for forest and landscape restoration on 4-6 September 2015 in Durban, South Africa, prior to the World Forestry Congress: http://www.iufro.org/science/special/spdc/actproj/twdurban/

Mercedes Sá from Argentina

Mercedes Sá from Argentina

Mercedes Sá is a Forestry Engineer from Argentina. She works for the national government in the Directorate of Forestry. She is not a traditional scientific researcher because her every day work is related with the supervision of conservation and management plans of native forestry resources, including restoration activities, that all the provinces of Argentina approve for the compensation of environmental services under the framework of a National Law. Read more…

Spotlight #33 – Connecting the Dots among Forests, Soils and Water

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When one thinks of forests, the immediate thought is most likely of trees. That makes sense.

But forests and trees don’t exist in isolation. Things that affect – and are affected by – forests range from human activities to climate; from water and soils to insects and disease and from economics to forest products, to name just a few.

Bitter Springs Mataranka, Northern Territory, Australia.

Bitter Springs Mataranka, Northern Territory, Australia. Photo: markrhiggins (Fotolia)

With that in mind, the IUFRO 2015-2019 Strategy focuses on five research themes: Forests, Soil and Water Interactions; Forests for People; Forests and Climate Change; Forests and Forest-based products for a Greener Future; and Biodiversity, Ecosystem Services and Biological Invasions. Read more…

IUFRO - The International Union of Forest Research Organizations