July 2020

Forests newsletter

It's been a while since the last IIED Forests newsletter but we have had a very busy 12 months and are excited to update you on what we have been doing.

In this issue… Unseen Foresters, a new WWF-commissioned report which explores how Indigenous Peoples or local communities (IPLCs) are successfully implementing forest management systems and what we can learn from them.

Following the successful completion of our CoNGOs project we are pleased to be able to share the independent evaluation and a set of five project briefings which explore the thematic findings, available in English and French.

Finally, the team continues work in the fields of women's empowerment and youth migration, which you can read about in the publications featured below.

Geraldine Warren – forests team

Photo: Women cross a river on their way to work in Bardia, Nepal. (copyright James Morgan / WWF-US)

Unseen Foresters

An assessment of approaches for wider recognition and spread of sustainable forest management by local communities

This research report explores the point of view of ‘unseen foresters’ - the forest managers among the 1.3 billion forest-dependent people who live in forests as Indigenous Peoples or local communities (IPLCs) who, if better recognised, could spread their forest management systems for local and global benefit. Good evidence suggests that when granted local control, IPLCs generally protect forests better than industrial scale companies do, and even better than many protected areas have. The report presents our analysis of approaches that could help achieve wider recognition and spread of sustainable forest management by IPLCs.

Find out more in the blog, Time to move unseen foresters into the limelight.

IIED briefings and research reports

Independent evaluation of the CoNGOs: NGOs collaborating for equitable and sustainable community livelihoods in Congo Basin forests project

Report by Teodyl Nkuintchua, Kevin Enongene and Aurelian Mbzibain

Independent evaluation of the CoNGOs project

CoNGOs was a three year, IIED-led UK consortium that aimed to achieve improved governance and practice in equitable and sustainable community forestry livelihoods in the Congo Basin. An independent evaluation was carried out to assess the performance and achievements of the CONGOs project. Its main findings indicated that the project was timely and appropriate, in an area where community forestry still has a low profile; effective in that it secured or initiated the process of securing some 90,000 hectares of community forest land; and sustainable, with clear scope for scaling up community forestry in the Congo Basin. Read the independent evaluation.

The findings of the CoNGOs project have been captured in this set of briefings:

Research report, 76 pages

Prosperity in place: meaningful work for mobile youth that enhances forest landscapes

This report explores how forest and farm producer organisations (FFPOs) can best nurture youth and address youth migration. Youth make up 30% of the largest categories of migrants who leave to find education or meaningful work. This rural exodus brings productivity challenges, but also opportunities.

Download the research report

Briefing

Places to prosper: engaging with youth migration in forest landscapes

Youth migration shapes economies and ecologies profoundly. In rural areas, young people must weigh up their chances for prosperity: whether to remain in their place of origin, migrate in search of education or work, or even return home with new skills, capital and ideas.This briefing explores how forest and farm producer organisations (FFPOs) should engage with youth to develop place-specific strategies, enhance their prospects for prosperity and strengthen their vital attachments to place.

Download the briefing

Research report, 126 pages

Women’s empowerment through collective action: How forest and farm producer organisations can make a difference

This research report examines how access to social and cultural services can facilitate women’s participation in economic and political life. The producer organisation business model provides advantages in creating job opportunities and access to markets for women which support them to participate in the labour market on a more equal footing with men.

Download the research report