Oficinas comunitárias são uma oportunidade para agricultores familiares tirarem suas dúvidas sobre como implantar agroflorestas e quais benefícios elas trazem.

No Brasil, a data de 05 de setembro marca a celebração pelo Dia da Amazônia. Para o CIFOR-ICRAF Brasil é dia de divulgação e mobilização pelas agroflorestas na Amazônia.

Nesta terça-feira (05), será realizada oficina comunitária no município de Concórdia do Pará para um bom diálogo com os agricultores e agricultoras familiares da comunidade Nova Galiléia sobre os benefícios das agroflorestas e as oportunidades com o Projeto Acelerador de Agroflorestas e Restauração, que está sendo implantado em municípios do Nordeste do Pará pelo CIFOR-ICRAF Brasil.

Esta não será a primeira vez que a equipe técnica do CIFOR-ICRAF vai à Concórdia do Pará. Para preparar uma oficina comunitária, e falar diretamente com os produtores, é necessária uma articulação antecipada.

“A mobilização para as oficinas comunitárias é feita, inicialmente, a partir de contatos com diversos atores representantes do município (secretarias, sindicatos, Empresa de Assistência Técnica e Extensão Rural – EMATER, entre outras instituições). Por meio desses representantes é realizada a aproximação com as lideranças das comunidades. Então, é realizada a oficina com as lideranças e, em seguida, com a comunidade interessada”, explicou Francinete Almeida, técnica agroflorestal do CIFOR-ICRAF Brasil.

Durante a oficina preparatória com as lideranças locais, realizada em junho, foram apresentadas algumas das atividades realizadas na Unidade Demonstrativa 01, que pertence ao agricultor Dedi Nascimento e está localizada na comunidade Nova Galiléia. Na ocasião, foi reforçado o papel da UD como uma área que será utilizada pelo projeto Acelerador e pelo município para treinamentos e capacitações em sistemas agroflorestais (SAFs).

A oficina comunitária é um momento para explicar o que são agroflorestas e suas vantagens e as possibilidades aportadas pelo Projeto Acelerador de Agroflorestas e Restauração. Além de recuperar áreas improdutivas ou degradadas, apoiar a regularização ambiental de agricultores familiares e diversificar a produção de alimentos (para consumo próprio ou para venda), o projeto vai viabilizar mecanismos para participação no mercado de créditos de carbono, além de capacitar técnicos (as) agroflorestais para ofertar assistência aos agricultores familiares.

A realização da oficina conta com o apoio da Secretaria Municipal de Agricultura (SEMAGRI) e da Conselheira Elizete Moreira.

“No Dia da Amazônia, será importante ressaltar a necessidade de recuperação de áreas degradadas ou improdutivas. Além disso, os sistemas agroflorestais são muito importantes para a segurança alimentar das famílias e para a diversificação de produtos que serão colocados à venda pelos agricultores. Restaurar com agrofloresta, é dizer sim a vida; é confirmar que queremos garantir a biodiversidade e uma vida melhor para as próximas gerações”, concluiu Francinete Almeida.

Autora: Denise Oliveira – d.oliveira@cifor-icraf.org 

Grupo de estudantes de especialização em restauração ambiental recebeu capacitação do CIFOR-ICRAF Brasil.

Brazil_ Agricultores familiares, integrantes de movimentos sociais, quilombolas, indígenas, técnicos e professores do campo participaram da capacitação em diagnóstico, co-desenho e análise de desempenho de arranjos de Sistemas Agroflorestais (SAFs), ministrada por equipe do CIFOR-ICRAF Brasil no âmbito do Curso de Especialização em Restauração Ambiental e Sistemas Agroflorestais na Amazônia.

As metodologias que o CIFOR-ICRAF Brasil utiliza para co-desenho de arranjos agroflorestais baseados nos contextos foram apresentadas ao grupo de estudantes em junho de 2023, no campus experimental da Embrapa Oriental em Tomé-Açu, Pará. Durante a capacitação foi também realizada oficina prática de co-desenho em grupos, culminando com a apresentação e discussão de desenhos de arranjos agroflorestais entre toda a turma de aproximadamente 40 alunos e alunas.A metodologia parte do princípio de que se tratando de sistemas agroflorestais, pacotes prontos são muito pouco adequados para as diferentes realidades como as encontradas na Amazônia. O método de co-desenho é orientado por um conjunto de indicadores, que incluem desde as aspirações e aptidões da família, passando por acesso a recursos, características das espécies, até logística e mercado, resultando em arranjos mais adequados a cada realidade que por sua vez garantem melhores resultados tanto na adoção quanto na permanência dos sistemas.

A Especialização em Restauração Ambiental e Sistemas Agroflorestais na Amazônia é promovida em parceria entre o Instituto Amazônico de Agricultura Familiar (INEAF) da Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA), Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia (UFRA), Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecuária (EMBRAPA) e o Centro de Cooperação Internacional em Pesquisa Agronómica para o Desenvolvimento (CIRAD), contando com o apoio do CIFOR-ICRAF Brasil para a última etapa realizada.

Autora: Denise Oliveira – d.oliveira@cifor-icraf.org 

A renewed formal collaboration between the university and the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) will stimulate research into ways to effectively and efficiently restore landscapes and address other critical issues.

Universitas Sriwijaya is based in Palembang, in Indonesia’s South Sumatra Province, which has hundreds of thousands of hectares of degraded peatland. The renewed research agreement contributes to the global community’s effort to intensify restoration of the world’s degraded land through mechanisms such as the Land Degradation Neutrality framework of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the Bonn Challenge. The agreement also contributes specifically to the Government of Indonesia’s efforts to restore an estimated 12 million hectares of degraded land by 2030, of which 2 million is degraded peatland. Research into site-specific techniques, especially in populated landscapes, is crucial for ensuring the success of such programmes; many restoration projects have failed by not fully understanding their landscape and the people in it.

Achieving this ambition in a mere seven years will require all stakeholders to work together in a coordinated manner, with appropriate funding, monitoring and adjustments. The two organizations are keen to assist the government achieve its goals through applied research into new restoration methods – particularly those suited to degraded peatland – and ways of increasing the scale of successful methods efficiently and effectively.

The collaboration document, in the form of a memorandum of understanding (MoU), was signed by the Rector of Universitas Sriwijaya Anis Saggaff and CIFOR-ICRAF’s Chief Operating Officer Robert Nasi at the university’s campus in Palembang on 21 August 2023.

“We have been collaborating under the first 5-year MoU as part of the project, Sustainable Community-based Reforestation and Enterprises or SCORE,” said Nasi during the signing ceremony. “The research has already been successful after just two years of implementation: we have developed a new ‘agrosilvofishery’ approach that can be increased in scale across related peatlands.”

Led by Himlal Baral, a senior restoration scientist with CIFOR-ICRAF, the research team, which includes researchers from UNSRI and the National Institute of Forest Science of the Republic of Korea, have created a 13-hectare demonstration site in collaboration with farmers that showcases the agrosilvofishery approach, which combines rice, trees and fishponds on a single plot.

CIFOR-ICRAF has also engaged with universities, including UNSRI, to conduct two series of a Young Scientist Incubator Programme, which involved more than 100 fresh graduates in training, field data collection and writing of site-specific cases of peat ecosystem livelihoods in the province.

“We can further strengthen the relationship between CIFOR-ICRAF and UNSRI in conducting studies and research, especially related to peatland and mangrove restoration,” said Saggaff. “The peatland restoration pilot project is in Perigi Village, Ogan Komering Ilir District. We also have another collaboration activity in mangrove restoration in Sungsang Village, Banyuasin District. I believe that this cooperation can be further expanded into other aspects of forestry to gain new knowledge in order to improve the recovery of degraded natural resources and also improve the welfare of surrounding communities.”

The mangrove project is just beginning. It aims to contribute to understanding how best to restore mangroves in Indonesia, where around 1.82 million of the 3.31 million hectares covered with mangrove forests are currently degraded – another large figure that creates an equally large challenge for restoration programmes. The collaboration expects to provide models for restoration that address the drivers of deforestation by creating economic and environmentally friendly solutions.

Other projects by CIFOR-ICRAF in South Sumatra Province include: Improving the Management of Peatlands and the Capacities of Stakeholders in Indonesia (Peat-IMPACTS Indonesia), funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) of the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety and Consumer Protection (BMUV); and Sustainable Landscapes for Climate-Resilient Livelihoods (Land4Life), funded by Global Affairs Canada. Both projects are aligned with the national target of restoring and rehabilitating peat ecosystems in Indonesia, and cover 18 villages in Ogan Komering Ilir, Banyuasin and Musi Banyuasin districts. The Government of South Sumatra is also receiving assistance to develop a Peat Ecosystem Protection and Management Plan. In addition to providing education on sustainable peatland management to youth, CIFOR-ICRAF has been working with the provincial and district governments to produce local curricula on sustainable peat ecosystems that are now part of formal processes in elementary schools in Ogan Komering Ilir and Banyuasin districts.

For more information, contact Himlal Baral: h.baral@cifor-icraf.org.

Trees do many things for cities, and the potential for change led by urban forestry is huge, according to Cornell and Yale university fellows who spoke at an event in Nairobi.

By Cathy Watson

Recently, the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) held its first-ever science talk on urban forestry, the practice of cultivating trees and green spaces within cities for environmental, social and economic benefits.

“Trees in cities in relation to adaptation and mitigation are very important,” said Vincent Gitz, CIFOR-ICRAF’s director of programme and platforms. “We can develop an agenda on the role of trees in cities that is as strong as the agenda we have for forests and trees in agriculture.”

The speakers included urban forestry research fellows at CIFOR-ICRAF, namely Alice Gerow, who is pursuing a master’s in forestry at the Yale School of the Environment, and Kate Chesebrough, a professional landscape architect who is studying for a master’s degree at Cornell University’s Department of Landscape Architecture.

Gerow shared some early observations from her field inventory of Nairobi’s street trees. Her census asks how the abundance, size structure and species composition of street tree assemblages differ across neighbourhoods along a socio-economic gradient.

So far, in 90 locations, she has found over 1,500 street trees and treelike monocots of approximately 130 species. Confirming what many botanists suspected, three-quarters of the species do not naturally occur in Kenya, and five exotic tree species account for more than a quarter of the trees, among them Brazil’s Jacaranda mimosifolia; Howea forsteriana, a palm from an island in the Tasman Sea; and Filicium decipiens, a native of India’s Western Ghats mountain range and Sri Lanka.

“Diversity of species composition is key to the resilience of urban forests. Awareness raising is needed if Nairobi is to maintain the benefits of street trees over time,” said Gerow, who also noted the paucity of indigenous trees. One participant also observed that “indigenous trees host more birds than exotics do.”

Partly bearing out her hypothesis that lower-income neighbourhoods will have lower tree density and different species composition, Gerow found that in high-income areas, 100 percent of her transects – lines used for measurement between two points – had trees, with an average of more than 30 trees every 200 metres. This was approximately 15 times more than what she found in low-income and informal settlements.

“It is easier to address inequity in access to green infrastructure by planting a street tree than creating a park,” said Gerow, who has also worked for parks departments in Paris and New York. “Street trees are key pillars of an urban forest that benefits all residents. Goodwill towards street trees could lead Nairobi to be a model.”

Chesebrough spoke about landscape architectural design thinking for a robust urban forest at large and small scales over time. Her ultimate goal is to support urban forestry in Nairobi with informed and actionable takeaways.

The Cornell master’s student called for the availability of seedlings from a palette of native urban-adapted trees and defined urban forestry as the “entire network of trees within an urbanized context: individual and community, ecological corridors, patches and nodes.”

“Urban forestry is therefore networked – created and performed differently depending on actors and conditions,” she said.

Conducting research largely on trees in informal settlements, Chesebrough stressed the importance of maintenance: “Trees are about time, and urban forestry is about adopting and growing trees, not simply planting. Workers are an integral part of this. Maintenance must be considered in budgets.”

The care and management of urban trees strongly affect perceived safety, according to Chesebrough. Nairobi slum dwellers associate “bushy” and overgrown vegetation with crime, echoing the crime-related hesitancy about trees that Gwedla and Shackleton (2019) found in South African townships, she said.

“Urban forestry can do many things for cities, and the potential for change led by urban forestry is huge,” Chesebrough said. She referred to a project by CIFOR-ICRAF staff to restore road reserves in Nairobi, describing it as a “model partnership for roadside forests” and a “linear public space,” as defined in the 2020 UN-Habitat Nairobi City County: Public Space Inventory and Assessment.

“The planet is warming up, and people living in big cities are highly affected,” said Ann Degrande, CIFOR-ICRAF’s coordinator in Cameroon. “Studying the presence of urban trees and understanding people’s perceptions are extremely relevant. Finding ways of getting as much green as we can in our cities matters as much as trees in rural landscapes.”

“In government, we do not have this background,” said Lawrence Wachira, an environment manager at the Kenya Urban Roads Authority. “We are struggling with expertise. A road engineer may have to act as landscape architect, and you end up doing very little urban forestry. But we have road reserves amounting to 7,000 hectares that we need to plant.”

It sounded like an invitation.

“We are entirely committed to urban forestry,” says Éliane Ubalijoro, chief executive officer of CIFOR-ICRAF. “The abrupt dichotomy between rural and urban is no more. We address all ecosystems where there are trees. Trees in urban landscapes combat heat islands, bring flood resilience and are critical contributors to livable cities.”

For more information, please contact Cathy Watson at c.watson@cifor-icraf.org.

Further background and tools:

• CIFOR-ICRAF’s TreesAdapt Platform is designed to support all actors, including those in cities, to use to tree for their solutions to adapt to climate change.
• CIFOR-ICRAF’s Regreening App is ideal for urban foresters to map polygons and tag, label and record important attributes of individual street trees such as height, DBH and species.
• UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Guidelines on urban and peri-urban forestry. FAO Forestry Papers No. 178.
• Reuters editorial: “Nairobi recovers its green spaces during pandemic. Other cities can too”.
• In US cities, American Forests leads thinking to address inequity in tree cover. See https://www.americanforests.org/our-programs/tree-equity/

• Dr Daniel Murdiyarso, a Principal Scientist at CIFOR-ICRAF, will chair the prestigious Indonesia Academy of Sciences (AIPI) for a five-year term until 2028.
• Dr Murdiyarso is also a full professor of the Department of Geophysics and Meteorology at IPB University with a research focus including climate change mitigation and adaptation and land-use change and biogeochemical cycles.
• AIPI was founded by, among others, the then-president of Indonesia and established by law in 1990 to function as a platform for leading Indonesian scientists.

CIFOR-ICRAF Principal Scientist Dr Daniel Murdiyarso has been unanimously elected President of the Indonesia Academy of Sciences (AIPI).

“It is a great honour to lead the Indonesia Academy of Sciences over the next five years,” said Dr Murdiyarso, an academy member since 2002. “This is not an easy mandate, but I am confident that through the collegial fashion of the academy, we’ll realise our purpose in nurturing Indonesia’s scientific temper and supporting even greater impact,” he said in his brief acceptance speech.

Dr Murdiyarso has been a scientist at CIFOR-ICRAF, a global leader in action research on trees, forests and agroforestry landscapes, for 20 years. He has made significant contributions to building a global understanding of the importance of wetland ecosystems and has been involved in international collaborations and research projects to develop sustainable wetland management strategies.

“We are thrilled to congratulate Daniel on this remarkable achievement,” said CIFOR-ICRAF CEO Dr Éliane Ubalijoro. “Daniel’s commitment to excellence and improving the lives of people in Indonesia and globally through his work exemplifies the spirit of innovation and dedication that drives CIFOR-ICRAF forward.”

The decision, made during the AIPI Plenary Session on 27 June, garnered Dr Murdiyarso – currently the Head of Basic Science Commission at AIPI – the highest support from all members including former Indonesian Environment Minister and respected climate change authority Emil Salim.

Throughout his career, Dr Murdiyarso has significantly contributed to climate change research in Indonesia and internationally.

As former Deputy Minister of Environment in the government of Indonesia, he was the National Focal Point of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and Convention on Biological Diversity.

He also played an extensive role in the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as Convening Lead Author of the IPCC Third Assessment Report and the IPCC Special Report on Land-use, Land-use Change and Forestry.

Over the past two decades, he has published more than 100 research works on land-use change and biogeochemical cycles, climate change mitigation and adaptation. He has received global recognition for his work, including the Ahmad Bakrie Award (2010), the Sarwono-LIPI Award (2018), and the Habibie Prize (2020).

In 2022, Dr Murdiyarso received a prestigious doctorate from the Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry at the University of Helsinki, Finland, making him the first-ever Indonesian scientist to receive the honorary degree of Doctor Honorary Causa from the institution.

Prominent scientific figures, including the then-president of Indonesia BJ Habibie, founded AIPI and it was established by law in 1990. The academy functions as a platform for leading Indonesian scientists and is organised in five fields: basic science, medicine, engineering, culture and social sciences. It currently hosts 56 active members.

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Ilmuwan CIFOR-ICRAF, Dr Daniel Murdiyarso Terpilih Menjadi Ketua Akademi Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (AIPI)

• Dr Daniel Murdiyarso, Ilmuwan Utama CIFOR-ICRAF akan memimpin lembaga prestisius Akademi Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (AIPI) selama lima tahun hingga 2028.
• Dr Murdiyarso merupakan guru besar Departemen Geofisika dan Meteorologi, IPB dengan fokus riset antara lain mitigasi dan adaptasi perubahan iklim, perubahan pemanfaatan lahan dan siklus biogeokimia.
• AIPI didirikan termasuk oleh ilmuwan yang kemudian menjadi Presiden RI dan diperkuat oleh Undang Undang pada 1990, yang berperan sebagai wadah bagi ilmuwan terkemuka Indonesia.

Secara aklamasi, Ilmuwan Utama CIFOR-ICRAF Dr Daniel Murdiyarso terpilih menjadi Ketua Akademi Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia (AIPI).

“Menjadi kehormatan besar untuk memimpin Akademi Ilmu Pengetahuan Indonesia selama lima tahun ke depan,” kata Dr Murdiyarso, yang menjadi anggota sejak 2002. “Ini bukan kepercayaan yang mudah, tetapi saya yakin, melalui kebersamaan dalam akademi ini, kita akan mampu mewujudkan tujuan memelihara gairah ilmu pengetahuan Indonesia dan memberi dampak lebih besar,” paparnya dalam sambutan penerimaan.

Telah 20 tahun Dr Murdiyarso menjadi ilmuwan CIFOR-ICRAF, lembaga terdepan dalam riset-aksi dalam bentang alam pohon, hutan dan agroforesti. Ia memberi kontribusi signifikan dalam membangun pemahaman global mengenai urgensi ekosistem lahan basah, selain terlibat dalam sejumlah kolaborasi internasional dan proyek riset pengembangan strategi manajemen lahan basah berkelanjutan.

“Dengan bangga kami mengucapkan selamat pada Daniel atas pencapaian istimewa ini,” kata CEO CIFOR-ICRAF, Eliane Ubalijoro. “Komitmen Daniel pada ekselensi dan peningkatan kehidupan masyarakat Indonesia dan global melalui karya menjadi teladan semangat inovasi dan dedikasi yang mendorong CIFOR-ICRAF melangkah maju.”

Keputusan ini diambil pada Sesi Pleno AIPI, 27 Juni, menunjuk Dr Murdiyarso – Ketua Komisi Ilmu Pengetahuan Dasar AIPI saat ini – dengan dukungan penuh dari seluruh anggota termasuk mantan Menteri Lingkungan Hidup dan otoritas perubahan iklim Indonesia, Emil Salim.

Sepanjang karirnya, Dr Murdiyarso memberi kontribusi signifikan dalam riset perubahan iklim di Indonesia dan dunia.

Sebagai mantan Wakil Menteri Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia, ia menjadi Penanggungjawab Nasional dalam Konvensi Kerangka Kerja PBB mengenai Perubahan Iklim dan Konvensi Keanekaragaman Hayati.

Ia juga memainkan peran besar dalam perolehan Hadiah Nobel Perdamaian Panel Antar-pemerintah mengenai Perubahan Iklim (IPCC) sebagai Penulis Utama Laporan Asesmen Ketiga IPCC dan Laporan Khusus IPCC mengenai Penggunaan Lahan, Perubahan Penggunaan Lahan dan Kehutanan.

Dalam dua dekade terakhir, ia mempublikasikan lebih dari 100 karya riset mengenai perubahan penggunaan lahan dan siklus biogeokimia, mitigasi dan adaptasi perubahan iklim. Ia memperoleh pengakuan global atas karyanya, antara lain Penghargaan Ahmad Bakrie (2010), Penghargaan Sarwono-LIPI 92018), dan Penghargaan Habibie (2020).

Pada 2022, Dr Murdiyarso menerima gelar doktor kehormatan dari Fakultas Pertanian dan Kehutanan Universitas Helsinki, Finlandia. Penghargaan ini menjadikanya orang Indonesia pertama yang mendapat gelar Doktor Honoris Causa dari universitas tersebut.

Tokoh ilmuwan terkemuka, termasuk ilmuwan yang kemudian menjadi presiden Indonesia BJ Habibie, mendirikan AIPI, dan diperkuat Undang Undang pada 1990. AIPI berfungsi sebagai wadah bagi ilmuwan terkemukan Indonesia dan dibagi menjadi lima bidang: komisi ilmu pengetahuan dasar, ilmu kedokteran, ilmu rekayasa, ilmu kebudayaan dan sosial. Saat ini, AIPI berisi 56 anggota aktif.

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Conference showcases sustainability solutions for mountain communities

Mountains frequently inspire awe and wonder – and, perhaps more importantly, provide essential services for people and ecosystems, such as the provision of freshwater, livelihoods for local communities, and habitats for unique biodiversity. However, they’re also particularly vulnerable to degradation and the impacts of climate change. Within this critical context, Mountain Futures is a global initiative that aims to promote the well-being of people in the mountains; enhance the diversity, stability, and sustainability of mountain ecosystems; and construct and share green mountain development solutions.

In 2022, the United Nations declared an International Year of Sustainable Mountain Development, which contributed to growing the visibility of these fragile ecosystems. The Third Mountain Futures Conference, ‘Mountain Communities in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework’, took place just before the official close of this International Year, from 16-18 April 2023, at the World Horti-Expo Garden in Kunming, China. It was organised by the Kunming Institute of Botany (KIB) at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and co-sponsored by several national and international organisations; over 200 representatives attended from 20 countries across the globe.

The conference explored pathways to the implementation of innovative actions for biodiversity conservation and rural revitalisation in mountain communities under the new Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which was launched at the 2022 United Nations biodiversity conference (UNCBD COP-15). Discussions revolved around the sustainable utilisation of biodiversity (Article 6), ecological health and restoration (Article 10), the participation of Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and other stakeholders (Article 15), public education, economic transformation, and lifestyle changes (Article 16). It showcased cutting-edge solutions based on natural, cultural, and interdisciplinary approaches; shared case studies from both scientific frontiers and grassroots communities; and addressed the challenges of biodiversity conservation under globalisation by developing a global action plan for the future of mountain communities.

“The Mountain Futures Conference was an opportunity to share experiences and network among many stakeholders and Mountain Partnership members on how to accelerate action in the mountains at a local, regional and global level,” said Sara Manuelli, Advocacy Officer for the Mountain Partnership Secretariat at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). “Different interventions showed that mountains are also incredibly rich in cultural heritage and biodiversity.”

Jianchu Xu, who is the regional coordinator for East & Central Asia at the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry Center (CIFOR-ICRAF) and the director of the KIB’s Mountain Futures Research Centre, presided over the opening plenary. John Dore, the chief water expert at the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, introduced the background of the conference. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, the former executive secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and current deputy executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); Qu Dongyu, the director-general of the FAO; and Wang Xiaojun, the director of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation, also delivered video speeches.

During the three-day conference, global scientists and inhabitants of mountain communities engaged in in-depth discussions and exchanges on four themes: scientific exploration, ecological restoration, Indigenous wisdom, and future living. There were 22 keynote speeches from representatives of a wide range of local and international institutions, including KIB, CAS, the Yunnan Provincial Department of Science and Technology, UNEP, the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, CIFOR-ICRAF, the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), and more. The event also featured 65 parallel sessions and 72 poster presentations.

Over the course of the conference, many presenters touched on the challenges faced by mountain communities in achieving sustainable development and original solutions based on scientific research and traditional local knowledge. The event closed with a resounding call for more attention and resources to be devoted to mountain biodiversity protection and restoration.

This sentiment was echoed by Manuelli, who said, “mountains need political attention and investment to promote sustainable development and improve the livelihoods of mountain people through international processes, governance, research and increased awareness.”

By Nabiha Shahab

The Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) held a new event called ‘Partner Day’ during its 2023 edition of Science Week on May 10th.

Science Week, an annual event, brings together CIFOR-ICRAF’s staff from all over the world to exchange knowledge and insights on crucial global issues within their mandate. This year’s theme, ‘Equity in Action’, provided a unique opportunity to learn about CIFOR-ICRAF’s commitment to equity and inclusion and how their work addresses the global challenge of inequality in collaboration with communities, partners and governments.

The inaugural Partner Day celebrated the contributions of CIFOR-ICRAF’s work with partners to just transitions and equitable transformations in Indonesia. It showcased and reflected on achievements to date, explored ways to enhance existing partnerships and identified new areas for future collaboration.

“The partnership that has been built, has certainly been a powerful one, with personal relationship, friendship and innovation. We are all friends here, we all partners and we are working for the future,” said Robert Nasi, CIFOR-ICRAF’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) in a welcome address, highlighting the significance of the organization’s work in Indonesia for the global forest sector.

“To ensure sustainability, overcoming intergenerational conflict is vital, and a social system that supports decision-making which takes into account the benefits to future generations is critically important,” said Arif Satria, the rector of Bogor Agricultural University (IPB) – one of CIFOR-ICRAF’s strategic partners engaged in collaborative projects to promote sustainability sciences – in a keynote speech.

IPB is part of the Trade Hub consortium led by CIFOR-ICRAF in Indonesia, which aims to promote sustainable trade and address challenges faced by smallholder farmers in the palm oil sector, explained Satria, adding that IPB’s activities there include capacity building, strengthening programs and the development of knowledge products.

Ary Sudijanto, Director-General of the Agency for Standardization of Environment and Forestry Instruments (ASEFI), recognized the longstanding collaboration between the Indonesian government and CIFOR-ICRAF in addressing challenges and improving the country’s forestry sector. “The form of cooperation that is carried out is not only research, but also capacity building, information and expertise exchange,” he said. “The locus of cooperation covers several regions spread throughout Indonesia.”

He listed some key activities that have resulted from the partnership, including the development of the Indonesian National Carbon Accounting System (INCAS), the Haze Free Sustainable Livelihoods Project (HFSLP), the Sustainable Wetlands Adaptation and Mitigation Program (SWAMP), the improvement of governance, policy and institutional arrangements for UN-backed climate mitigation scheme REDD+ and the national arm of the Global Comparative Study on REDD+.

Collaboration for regional green growth planning

In a panel focusing on promoting green growth for improved food security and livelihoods, speakers explored different green growth strategies and initiatives being implemented with the support of research conducted in partnership with CIFOR-ICRAF. The partners shared their experiences in implementing approaches towards sustainable land use and management, improving food security and livelihoods.

Regina Ariyanti, Head of the Regional Planning Agency (BAPPEDA) for South Sumatra, shared insights into the collaboration between the provincial government and CIFOR-ICRAF in the development of a master plan for green growth in the province. She recalled how the partnership began when South Sumatra was hit by severe forest fires in 2015. “ICRAF calculated how much [carbon] loss occurred due to forest fires in the province and helped address some of the challenges from being put in the spotlight, since South Sumatra contributed a lot to smoke and haze at the time.”

One of the current initiatives to reduce emissions is the provincial REDD+ project. The province has received a challenge from the president to keep economic growth in line with emission reductions. This means that economic growth of 7% must be achieved alongside emission reductions of 29%, with an additional contribution of 41% from other countries, said Ariyanti.

Panels on restoration and trade

The afternoon of Partner Day opened with a panel on landscape restoration, with a particular focus on carbon-rich ecosystems like wetlands – including peatlands and mangroves – which face significant pressure for conversion to other uses. Restoring these ecosystems is crucial for mitigating climate change and sea-level rise. The panel discussed mitigation and adaptation measures, highlighting their potential to improve the livelihoods of local communities.

The last panel of the day focused on trade and the new EU anti-deforestation regulation. The trading bloc recently issued a new law to prevent companies from trading commodities linked with deforestation and forest degradation within or from the EU. The session focused on navigating the new regulation, its implications, and the way forward for global trade, the environment, and smallholder farmers. Insights were shared from consumer and producer countries, civil society organizations (CSOs) and research organizations, with palm oil and timber highlighted as case studies.

Overall, Partner Day provided CIFOR-ICRAF with an opportunity to showcase and reflect on how its work addresses the global challenge of inequality – a central focus of its strategy for 2020-2030. The event served as a platform to celebrate existing partnerships, discuss ways to strengthen them and identify new areas for future collaboration.

By Ann Wavinya

CIFOR-ICRAF and the Aga Khan Foundation signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen action research and promote the conservation and sustainability of agricultural, forest and coastal ecosystems.

The Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) has entered a five-year memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF).

The two organizations aim to cooperate in the sustainable use and conservation of agricultural, forestry and coastal ecosystems and in social development benefitting local communities.

“We look forward to this new partnership to strengthen action research on-the-ground,” says Leigh Ann Winowiecki, Global Research Leader of Soil and Land Health at CIFOR-ICRAF. “Specifically, the Soils Research Theme looks forward to generating the evidence base on how land management practices impact soil health across diverse landscapes and farming systems.”

The partnership will combine CIFOR-ICRAF’s global scientific research expertise with AKF’s long-standing relationships with communities to deepen their research and data.

Contact: Ann Wavinya, Communication Officer (a.wavinya@cifor-icraf.org)

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By David Henry

“The work we are doing is important for the world today, but also for future generations and for the planet.”

With these opening words at Science Week 2023: Equity in Action, Dr Éliane Ubalijoro made her first public appearance as Chief Executive Officer of the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF).

Each year, CIFOR-ICRAF hosts a weeklong event that brings its staff from around the world together to establish and sustain institution-wide engagement with the critical global problems that the organization addresses.

This year’s theme of Equity in Action provided a unique opportunity to learn about CIFOR-ICRAF’s commitment to equity and inclusion, a core area of the organization’s strategy for 2020‒2030 to ensure its actions facilitate just transitions and equitable transformations.

“How we help harness the power of trees, forests and agroforestry landscapes to address the most pressing global challenges of our times – biodiversity loss, climate change, food security, livelihoods and inequality – is critical for us to embody Equity in Action,” Dr Ubalijoro said.

Participants from around the world attended the forum at the two campuses in Bogor, Indonesia, and Nairobi, Kenya, while several sessions were streamed to the public for the first time.

The topics included value chain development as a pathway to equity and inclusion; integrated approaches for inclusive landscape governance; climate justice; gender-responsive biochar innovations; and early career scientists as a catalyst for change.

CIFOR-ICRAF’s work, along with that of its partners, has been transforming how land is used and how food is produced. It has helped governments, Indigenous Peoples and local communities develop the tools they need to better conserve and restore ecosystems, and respond to climate, malnutrition, biodiversity and desertification crises.

“Moving from inequality to justice is a journey that we are all on,” Dr Ubalijoro said. “We all have, at some point, witnessed inequity in the form of unfair and avoidable differences arising from poor governance, corruption or cultural exclusion. We have also witnessed inequality in the form of uneven distribution of wealth. We cannot be passive bystanders on this journey. We cannot be witnesses to the victimization of people or the planet.”

Dr Ubalijoro recalled her own experience as a 17-year-old undergraduate student of agriculture in a non-diverse educational environment that offered little recognition of the pioneering women who had come before her. She overcame the odds, completing a master’s and PhD in molecular genetics before becoming a research scientist and professor, leading teams in the biotechnology sector, in academia and the non-profit sector, as well as advising governments.

“As an organization, it is important we recognize that achieving equity and inclusion is not just the right thing to do, but is also essential for the success of our work,” said Dr Ubalijoro.

The opening plenary also featured keynote speaker Andrew Fanning of the Doughnut Economics Action Lab, who introduced an emerging branch of ecological economics that portrays the doughnut shape as a compass of human prosperity with the aim of meeting the needs of all people within the means of the living planet.

“We are now at a point in the 21st century – because of the system we inherited – that we are dependent on constant growth of GDP,” Fanning said. “There’s this dependence upon something that actually cannot continue on a finite planet.”

The doughnut concept, created by Kate Raworth, brings Western economies back in line with the values of other cultures that have thrived in harmony with nature, aiming to correct an imbalanced world and calling for new ways of interaction.

No nation is living within the “doughnut” currently, with all of the Global North overshooting planetary boundaries, while countries such as Costa Rica are emerging as the most efficient at achieving positive social outcomes, Fanning said.

The second public plenary on 11 May explored how change in women’s agency can be measured and monitored to positively impact food systems and the environment.

Jody Harris of the World Vegetable Center examined structural inequities – involving maternal education, wealth and location – as reasons for malnourishment in countries such as India, Botswana and Honduras. Mulia Nurhasan of CIFOR-ICRAF highlighted the lack of recognition that policy makers assign to forests and trees as providers of food and nutrition for the 1.7 people in the world who depend on forests for their survival.

Steph McMullin of CIFOR-ICRAF discussed the low diversity of food in Zambia, where 54 percent of the population are malnourished. She introduced the concept of food tree portfolios, which are designed to diversify food tree species for local food production so that different types of food are available throughout the year and provide micronutrients.

Mary Crossland of CIFOR-ICRAF explained the concept of ‘agency’ – the ability to define one’s goals and act on them – so that women in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia can participate in decisions affecting their health and household purchases. Gloria Adeyiga of the Regreening Africa project elaborated on this topic with a gender-transformative approach to changing women’s agency in land restoration, outlining a case study in the Bawku West District of northern Ghana.

Swati Renduchintala of CIFOR-ICRAF rounded up the session with a talk on the feminisation of agriculture through measuring women’s agency in agroecological approaches to natural farming in India, a holistic method of leveraging photosynthesis in plants to close the carbon cycle, improve soil health and enable better water availability.

“At the end of the day, our work is about how we are empowering smallholder farmers and everyone around that ‘last mile,’ such as Indigenous People and local communities,” CEO Ubalijoro said in closing the session. “What is humbling for us as scientists is to ask: How are we affecting mindsets, culture and behavioural change? Those are really critical elements that are going to help bring about the needed transformation.”

The final day featured a public session with speakers from the Global Landscapes Forum, including leaders of youth-led programmes. They focused on the learnings from GLF’s connection with local communities, highlighting the importance of linking scientific knowledge and expertise with local knowledge and action to catalyze just transformations and thriving landscapes.

“The knowledge, the innovative tools, and the scientific methodologies from GLF, CIFOR and ICRAF have helped us in shaping our restoration project to become more evidence- and scientific-based,” said Frances Camille Rivera, who participated in the session and was GLF Wetlands Restoration Steward in 2021.

To watch Dr Éliane Ubalijoro’s keynote speech and more, visit the Science Week event page.

The consensus is clear: without keen attention to inequities in power and resources, efforts to address the entwined climate, biodiversity, and food crises will fail. Moreover, the uneven impacts of these crises are likely to exacerbate inequality across the globe, entrenching poverty further and increasing the likelihood of conflict.

That’s why, as both a pragmatic response and a moral imperative, the Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF) threads a focus on equity and inclusion through all of its work with and for communities, partners, and governments. This year, ‘Equity in Action’ is also the focus of CIFOR-ICRAF’s Science Week, which will take place online from 8-12 May.

The annual event brings together the organisation’s staff from across the globe to connect and engage on the critical global challenges it confronts: namely, deforestation and biodiversity loss; broken food systems (including degradation of land and water resources); climate change; inequality; and unsustainable supply and value chains.

In previous years, Science Week has been a strictly internal affair (though several of the 2022 sessions were made available on YouTube following that year’s event). This year, however, many of the sessions will be available to the public to attend virtually, via free streaming on the organisation’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.

When the conference kicks off on 8 May, viewers can catch the opening remarks and keynote speech of Éliane Ubalijoro, CIFOR-ICRAF’s new CEO.

Ubalijoro has a long track record in working on equity issues, and has focused much of her working life on improving food security and improving the lives of women and smallholder farmers in emerging countries. She comes to CIFOR-ICRAF from twin roles as Executive Director of Canadian think tank Sustainability in the Digital Age (SDA) and Professor of Practice for public-private sector partnerships at McGill University‘s Institute for the Study of International Development. At SDA, she was particularly concerned with the ‘digital divides’ that limit women’s, rural communities, and least-developed countries’ access> to digital technologies.

Midweek, 10 May has been dubbed ‘Partner Day’ to celebrate how CIFOR-ICRAF’s work with partners contributes to just transitions and equitable transformations in Indonesia, as well as discussing ways to enhance existing partnerships and identify new areas for collaboration.

Presenters will include governmental representatives, such as Ary Sudijanto, Director General of the Agency for Standardization of Environment and Forestry Instruments, Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and Moch. Edy Yusuf (Assistant Deputy of Plantation Agribusiness Development, Coordinating Ministry of Economic Affairs); university representatives, such as Ni Luh Watiniasih (Udayana University) and Ali Suhardiman (Mulawarman University); and civil society representatives, such as Gita Syahrani (Director of Indonesia’s Sustainable Districts Association) and Diah Suradiredja (Kehati Foundation).

Most of the day will be live-streamed, including a session by CIFOR-ICRAF food and nutrition scientist Mulia Nurhasan. She will show how the organisation is working to address sustainability and equity issues simultaneously, by conducting research to support the wide range of inclusive ‘green growth’ strategies and initiatives being carried out by partners. Developmental and environmental objectives are still widely perceived as a “zero-sum struggle”, and much of the organisation’s work in recent years has sought to highlight how to meet both kinds of goals in a symbiotic fashion.

Later that day, and also on the public livestream, CIFOR-ICRAF principal scientist Daniel Murdiyarso and senior scientist Himlal Baral will hone in on an example of such research from their collective decades of experience. They’ll demonstrate how landscape-level restoration in wetland ecosystems such as peatlands and mangroves can address climate challenges in conjunction with livelihood issues. These ecosystems are often extremely rich in carbon, and provide services such as water cycling and flood protection which are particularly critical in the face of climate change impacts. However, they frequently face tremendous pressure from conversion for other uses such as agriculture and urban development. The session will show how restoration, adaptation, and mitigation measures can – and should – be seen as an opportunity to enhance the livelihoods of local communities.

Also on 10 May, Indonesia Deputy Country Director for CIFOR-ICRAF, Herry Purnomo, will tease out some of the knotty equity challenges wrought by international climate change mitigation and biodiversity efforts. Specifically, he’ll discuss a new EU law that’s designed to prevent companies from placing commodities on its market that are linked with deforestation and forest degradation, or exporting them from the EU. While the intent is laudable, the risk of sidelining the millions of smallholder farmers who currently supply the EU market, through increased compliance costs, is real. Purnomo will take viewers through the new law’s implications and consider the way forward for global trade, the environment, and smallholder farmers. The session will offer insights from consumer and producer countries, civil society and research organisations, and will highlight palm oil and timber as case studies.

To make sure you don’t miss out on these sessions – and plenty more – be sure to follow CIFOR-ICRAF on Facebook, YouTube, and/or Twitter, and sign up for email updates here. To catch up on last year’s Science Week, check out our YouTube playlist.