CIFOR/FTA AND THE CBD
Terry Sunderland, Principal Scientist & Team Leader, Sustainable Landscapes and
Food Systems
CGIAR-CBD Linkages Side Event
Cancun, 8th December 2016

CIFOR/FTA CONTRIBUTIONS TO CBD & AICHI TARGETS
• Bushmeat, sustainable
wildlife management
• Forest restoration
• Integrated landscape
approaches
• “Big data” biodiversity
research
• Partnerships and
events

SUSTAINABLE WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT: TARGETS 7 & 12

“In view of its ecological, social and economic value, wildlife is an important renewable
natural resource, with significance for areas such as rural development, land-use planning,
food supply, tourism, scientific research and cultural heritage. If sustainably managed, wildlife
can provide continuous nutrition and income and contribute considerably to the alleviation of
poverty as well as to safeguarding human and environmental health”.

FOREST RESTORATION: TARGETS 14 & 15
• Undertaking evidence-based
assessments for designing
national restoration plans with
a cross sectorial, holistic
vision (Mexico: collaborating
with the National Biodiversity
Commission--CONABIO)
• Reaching the practitioner
community by reviewing
existing prioritization tools for
effective decision making.
• We will launch on Restoration
Day (13 Dec.) a state-of-the-
art review on participatory
monitoring in the context of
forest restoration

KEY RESULTS
• Examining the effectiveness
of institutional innovations in
large scale restoration
(China’s conversion of
cropland to forest program)
• Critical examination of
natural forest regeneration
as a large scale, cost
effective restoration
approach

IN THE SHORT TERM WE WILL BE
• Assessing the sectorial, institutional and policy
dimensions affecting restoration outcomes, focusing first
on Latin America.
• Generating evidence-based knowledge on the potential
of the global carbon sink to be achieved through forest
landscape restoration via (i) natural regeneration; (ii)
assisted regeneration through tree planting; and (iii)
restoration of high-carbon ecosystems (i.e. wetlands and
peatlands).
• Assessing risks threatening the permanence of restored
ecosystems (fire, conversion).

LANDSCAPES AND BIODIVERSITY: TARGETS 5 & 7

THE ORIGIN OF THE “LANDSCAPE APPROACH”
1980s 1990s 2000s 2010 - present
1980s: Integrated
Rural
Development
1998: Integrated Natural
Resource Management
(INRM)
1985 onwards: Integrated
Conservation & Development
projects (ICDPs)
Contributing Sciences:
Ecosystem Management
Landscape Ecology
Island biogeography
Conservation rooted
frameworks e.g. “Ecosystem
Approach”
1992: “Landscape Approach”
first documented (Barrett
1992)
Last decade:
(Integrated)
Landscape Approach
frameworks

“The note provides an overview of existing guidance and guidelines which could
complement existing decisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity, including: a rationale
for addressing the landscape perspective in land-use planning; multilateral efforts to improve
sustainable use of biodiversity at the landscape level; and a proposed new set of combined
principles under development by the Center for International Forestry Research”.

INTEGRATED LANDSCAPE APPROACHES

EMBRACING THE LANDSCAPE APPROACH –
INTEGRATED SOLUTIONS FOR PEOPLE ACROSS SECTORS
“Despite some barriers to
implementation, a landscape approach
has considerable potential to meet social
and environmental objectives at local
scales while aiding national commitments
to addressing ongoing global challenges.”
Reed et al. 2016, Global Change Biology.

IMPACTS OF AGRARIAN CHANGE
• Indonesia: Major dietary transition towards processed
foods which has major impact on nutrition and health
status
• Bangladesh: Agroforestry seen as an important
livelihoods strategy but only for those with secure tenure
• Ethiopia: Loss of forest has led to increased poverty
due to loss of common grazing land and access to
fuelwood
• Cameroon: Annexation of land for oil palm concessions
has resulted in land displacement and encroachment
into protected areas. Threatens future regional food
security.
• Zambia: Heavy policy emphasis on agriculture for food
security at expense of forests. Loss of safety-net
function
• Burkina Faso: Recurring droughts are increasingly
common and income from forest products (timber,
fuelwood and NTFPs) are important safety-net to
purchase food during dry periods. Continued forest loss
will further jeopardise future adaptation strategies

BIG DATA RESEARCH – BIODIVERSITY: TARGET 19

PARTNERS AND PROCESSES
83
MoU
33
countries
35
universitie
s
33
research
institutes
33
development
organizations
CIFOR and its stakeholders currently benefit from:
CIFOR and its partners contribute to the following global
processes, frameworks, panels and conventions, among others:
116
LoA

FTA HIGHLIGHTS IN 2016
• Proposal 2017-22 approved after many months of revisions
• Recruitment of first official FTA Director
• More than 600 publications were downloaded 45,000 times
(nearly 80% open access)
• Research highlights included in Annual Report brochure,
downloaded more than 1,600 times since August
• Outreach at two Global Landscapes Forums, and other high-
profile events such as UNFCCC COP22, Asia-Pacific
Forestry Week, IUFRO Asia Regional Congress, IUCN World
Conservation Congress, Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit
• Nearly 50,000 people trained by four centers
• INBAR and Tropenbos to join in 2017

“FTA is the world’s largest research program on forests, trees and agroforestry, with the
largest expertise, with the greatest legacy of publications, with the widest network of
partners in the developing world. This is a fantastic opportunity to work towards global
goals”. Tony Simons, Director General, ICRAF

WHAT NEXT?
• Tree genetic resources to bridge production gaps and promote resilience;
• Enhancing how trees and forests contribute to smallholder livelihoods;
• Sustainable global value chains and investments for supporting forest conservation
and equitable development;
• Landscape dynamics, productivity and resilience; and
• Climate change mitigation and adaptation opportunities in forests, trees and
agroforestry

cifor.org
blog.cifor.org
ForestsTreesAgroforestry.org
THANK YOU
t.sunderland@cgiar.org
@TCHSunderland