This document summarizes findings from a baseline study evaluating a USAID-funded Community-based Forest Management Program (CFP) in Zambia. The study used mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, including household surveys, focus groups, and participatory mapping exercises. Key findings include:
1) Respondents observed increases in deforestation and changes in rainfall patterns and seasonal cycles. Most viewed these environmental changes as severe problems.
2) Perceptions of the causes of environmental change were mixed and included deforestation, population changes, poverty, and biblical explanations.
3) Participatory mapping revealed tensions between communities and "outsiders" over land and forest resource use and control.
Key baseline findings for USAID's Community-Based Forest Management Program (CFP) impact evaluation in Zambia. Presented at the American Evaluation Association's Evaluation 2015 Conference. Credit:
- Heather Huntington, PhD, The Cloudburst Group
- M. Mercedes Stickler, USAID
- Stephanie Fenner, The Cloudburst Group
- Aleta Haflett, The Cloudburst Group
Learn more: http://bit.ly/TCGcbfp
Key baseline findings of the impact evaluation of USAID's Tenure and Global Climate Change (TGCC) Project impact evaluation in Zambia. Presented at the American Evaluation Association's Evaluation 2015 Conference. Credit:
- Heather Huntington, PhD, The Cloudburst Group
- Lauren Persha, PhD, The Cloudburst Group and UNC Chapel Hill
- M. Mercedes Stickler, USAID
Learn more: http://bit.ly/TCGtgcc
Key baseline findings of the impact evaluation of USAID's Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development II (PRADD II) Project. Presented at the American Evaluation Association's Evaluation 2015 Conference. Credit:
- Heather Huntington, PhD, The Cloudburst Group
- Kate Marple-Cantrell, The Cloudburst Group
- Mike McGovern, PhD, University of Michigan
- Darrin Christensen, Stanford University
Learn more: http://bit.ly/TCGpradd
Linking adaptation and mitigation to achieve climate compatible development i...CIFOR-ICRAF
Presented at the COP21 side event 'Forests, landscapes, climate & sustainable development – The evidence we need for the future we want' by Houria Djourdi on 3 December 2015.
Women, men and the management of forests and landscapesCIFOR-ICRAF
Presented by CIFOR Scientist Amy Duchelle on 14 December 2016 at a side event on Mainstreaming Gender Equality and Social Inclusion at CBD COP13 in Cancun, Mexico.
Presentation by the Foundation for Ecological Security at “Commons tenure for a common future” Discussion Forum on the first day of the Global Landscapes Forum 2015, in Paris, France alongside COP21. For more information go to: www.landscapes.org.
Key baseline findings for USAID's Community-Based Forest Management Program (CFP) impact evaluation in Zambia. Presented at the American Evaluation Association's Evaluation 2015 Conference. Credit:
- Heather Huntington, PhD, The Cloudburst Group
- M. Mercedes Stickler, USAID
- Stephanie Fenner, The Cloudburst Group
- Aleta Haflett, The Cloudburst Group
Learn more: http://bit.ly/TCGcbfp
Key baseline findings of the impact evaluation of USAID's Tenure and Global Climate Change (TGCC) Project impact evaluation in Zambia. Presented at the American Evaluation Association's Evaluation 2015 Conference. Credit:
- Heather Huntington, PhD, The Cloudburst Group
- Lauren Persha, PhD, The Cloudburst Group and UNC Chapel Hill
- M. Mercedes Stickler, USAID
Learn more: http://bit.ly/TCGtgcc
Key baseline findings of the impact evaluation of USAID's Property Rights and Artisanal Diamond Development II (PRADD II) Project. Presented at the American Evaluation Association's Evaluation 2015 Conference. Credit:
- Heather Huntington, PhD, The Cloudburst Group
- Kate Marple-Cantrell, The Cloudburst Group
- Mike McGovern, PhD, University of Michigan
- Darrin Christensen, Stanford University
Learn more: http://bit.ly/TCGpradd
Linking adaptation and mitigation to achieve climate compatible development i...CIFOR-ICRAF
Presented at the COP21 side event 'Forests, landscapes, climate & sustainable development – The evidence we need for the future we want' by Houria Djourdi on 3 December 2015.
Women, men and the management of forests and landscapesCIFOR-ICRAF
Presented by CIFOR Scientist Amy Duchelle on 14 December 2016 at a side event on Mainstreaming Gender Equality and Social Inclusion at CBD COP13 in Cancun, Mexico.
Presentation by the Foundation for Ecological Security at “Commons tenure for a common future” Discussion Forum on the first day of the Global Landscapes Forum 2015, in Paris, France alongside COP21. For more information go to: www.landscapes.org.
Investment in the sustainable commons conditions for commons based enterprisesCIFOR-ICRAF
Presentation by Steven Lawry and Ruth Meinzen-Dick at “GLF Discussion Forum on Commons Tenure for a Common Future” on the first day of the Global Landscapes Forum 2015, in Paris, France alongside COP21. For more information go to: www.landscapes.org.
Presentation by Ruth Meinzen-Dick at “Commons Tenure for a Common Future” Discussion Forum on the first day of the Global Landscapes Forum 2015, in Paris, France alongside COP21. For more information go to: www.landscapes.org.
Sustainable landscapes: A means of managing social and environmental issues i...CIFOR-ICRAF
Presented by Terry Sunderland, from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), at the Meeting of ASEAN Senior Officials on Forestry in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on July 24-29, 2017.
The Dynamics of Forests, Livelihoods and Poverty Alleviation Relationships – ...IFPRIMaSSP
Forests play very critical roles in Malawi. Over 90% of the country’s energy requirements are fuelwood-based. However, Malawi, like most Sub-Saharan African countries, presents a case of policy dilemma in sustainable forest management. With its growing population and the resultant contraction of per capita land area, coupled with the ever increasing fuelwood demand, the challenge is to sustainably manage the forests without alienating the majority of rural communities whose livelihoods heavily depend on the forests. There is therefore need to fully understand the forest-reliant people if the goal of sustainable forest management is to be achieved. The aim of this desk study is to characterize the forest-livelihoods-poverty alleviation links and their impact on households’ choice of livelihood strategies. By synthesizing relevant theoretical and empirical literature, the study demonstrates that the links between poverty and forests are complex. For example, while there is evidence that it is the poor that rely more on forests, the reverse causality, though rare in literature, is also possible, i.e. forest reliance can act as a poverty trap. Understanding the livelihood status of forest-reliant households is therefore a necessary condition to sustainably manage the forests in particular and other environmental resources in general.
Alan GRAINGER "Is zero net land degradation in dry areas a feasible operation...Global Risk Forum GRFDavos
The document discusses the challenges of achieving zero net land degradation, a goal proposed by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. It outlines two major challenges: implementation and monitoring progress. For implementation, there are political challenges due to differing country perspectives, complexity since ZNLD has dual goals of reducing degradation and increasing restoration, and societal constraints like lack of support and conflicts with traditional institutions. Monitoring brings difficulties in assessing restoration of soil quality as well as establishing baselines for degradation rates since estimates vary widely. Overall, achieving zero net land degradation is complicated by the interactions between environmental and human factors in dryland systems.
This document outlines 5 key challenges for sustainable forest governance: 1) Using forests to mitigate climate change through carbon storage and sustainable management. 2) Linking local forest management to global issues through improved knowledge sharing. 3) Implementing REDD+ and resolving conflicts over forest tenure rights. 4) Promoting gender equity in forest governance and management. 5) Engaging various forest user groups in governance arrangements to accommodate multiple forest uses.
Prospects for REDD+ in swidden landscapesCIFOR-ICRAF
Abstract of the research referred to in this presentation: The mosaic swidden landscapes with forests, fallows, and fields of northern Laos are undergoing rapid land use change as intensified agriculture and plantations are expanding. This may occur at the expense of older forests, but it is mostly secondary regrowth that is removed and not allowed to grow back to forest. This happens as a response to: 1) land allocation policies that restrict swidden systems to very short fallow cycles; 2) economic policies promoting investment in cash crops and land development; and 3) the uneven enforcement of land policies. We show how contradicting land and economic policies in Laos cause deforestation and forest degradation, with local people as both potential winners and losers. Based on interviews with villages and district, provincial and national level government staff, we argue that successful REDD+ will be difficult to achieve in the current policy environment. Moreover, as local people seize every opportunity to increase their well-being, REDD+ without substantial local payments will not be competitive with other land use activities. A strong focus on the multiple benefits of non-carbon ecosystem services will have to be developed in conjunction with REDD+ to spare the mosaic swidden landscapes that provide these services.
This presentation was given by Ole Mertz at the IUFRO conference in Beijing, China that was held from October 24-27, 2016.
Tools for integrating conservation priorities with conservation opportunities...Aberdeen CES
1. Land clearance continues to be an issue in Australia, with over 130,000 square kilometers of forests converted to agricultural land globally between 2000-2010. In South Australia's agricultural region, only 29.5% of native vegetation remains.
2. The study examines the relationship between conservation priority and opportunity on private farmland in South Australia's Murray-Darling Basin region through a landholder survey. Landholders were classified as disengaged, moderately engaged, or highly engaged in conservation based on native vegetation planting.
3. Results show highly engaged landholders had higher education, more off-farm income, and were more motivated by environmental factors than disengaged landholders. Moderately engaged landholders
Investing in projects to change practice and build community capacity. Naomi ...Joanna Hicks
1. Barkly Landcare aims to support pastoralists in adopting best management practices through projects, activities, and building community capacity.
2. A key challenge is balancing conservation and production values in the Barkly region. Barkly Landcare's weed management projects use aerial surveys, workshops, treatment programs, and long-term monitoring to effectively manage weeds like Parkinsonia across large areas.
3. Through strategic multi-year projects, Barkly Landcare works to bring entire regions under active weed control to improve both production and ecosystem outcomes in the Barkly.
The document summarizes discussions from a Global Forest Watch partnership meeting about advancing forest monitoring technologies. It covered several topics:
1) Differentiating forest types and disturbances using remote sensing to provide more detailed context for tree cover loss. This included classifications for managed vs. natural forests, primary vs. degraded forests, and stand-replacement vs. non-stand-replacement disturbances.
2) Increasing the spatial resolution of forest monitoring using data from Planet Labs that can image the entire land surface of the Earth nearly every day. This high frequency of observations allows for more accurate tracking of infrastructure development and natural disasters.
3) Increasing the temporal frequency of monitoring using multi-sensor approaches that combine Landsat, Sentinel
Community forestry. Where and why has devolution of forest rights contributed...IFPRI-PIM
Presentation for the webinar organized by the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (www.pim.cgiar.org) on August 29, 2017. Steven Lawry, Director of Equity, Gender and Tenure research program at Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) summarized findings of selected meta-analyses, presented case studies from Nepal, Guatemala, and Mexico, and previewed emerging research looking at the investment effects of community forestry models that feature strong elements of forest rights devolution.
This document summarizes a project that provided incentives for dairy farmers to adopt management intensive grazing (MIG) systems to improve soil and water quality while sustaining productivity. The project recruited 16 dairy farmers across three counties, who converted over 788 acres to permanent pastures. This saved an estimated 2,337 tons of topsoil per year. Participating farmers installed over 13,000 feet of fencing and watering facilities. Extension agents held 28 educational pasture walks. The incentive payments and technical assistance helped overcome barriers to adoption and increased the use of more sustainable grazing practices.
Nancy A. Omolo: Gender, food insecurity and climate change amongst pastoral c...AfricaAdapt
This document summarizes a study on the impacts of climate change and food insecurity on pastoral communities in Northern Kenya. It finds that livestock production is the main source of livelihood and food security in the region. However, climate change is projected to negatively impact livestock production through changes in rainfall patterns and drought. The study assessed perceptions of and vulnerability to climate change among women and men in the Turkana and Mandera districts. It found that women are more vulnerable due to reproductive roles and limited decision making power and access to resources. Current coping strategies are insufficient to deal with increasing climate risks. Diversification of livelihoods and support for existing strategies were recommended.
Boran pastoral innovations in response to climate change a case of merti divi...Alexander Decker
1) The document discusses innovations among the Boran pastoralist community in Merti Division, Isiolo County, Kenya in response to climate change.
2) It finds that prolonged droughts, conflicts, and invasive species linked to climate change are driving innovations among Boran pastoralists. Innovations include improving existing drought coping strategies as well as newly emerging strategies such as agreements between herders and ranchers and livelihood diversification.
3) The study concludes that climate change is forcing Boran pastoralists to adapt their strategies and that increasing pastoralist participation in policy and reducing obstacles to pastoral mobility can help support adaptation to climate change.
From the rivers to Gulf of Mexico, Towards an ecosystem management approachIwl Pcu
This document discusses ecosystem services and their economic valuation. It describes the different types of ecosystem services including provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services. It then discusses methods to quantify the total economic value of ecosystem services, including market and non-market valuation techniques. The document also covers the concepts of eco-compensation, no net loss, and net gain in the context of offsetting environmental impacts. It provides an example of applying habitat hectare assessment and compensation ratios to ensure no net loss of habitat quality.
This document summarizes research on engaging non-operating farmland owners (landlords) in conservation practices. A survey of over 300 landlords in Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana found many are interested in soil and water conservation but lack information. Outreach that connects landlords with Natural Resource Conservation Service and local agencies could increase conservation by including practices in rental agreements. Pilot projects in Ohio and New York saw landlords and farmers gain confidence in discussing conservation leases after informational meetings. Engaging both parties indicates potential to expand conservation on rented agricultural lands.
End of project results presentation given to stakeholders in Nidderdale AONB, from the RELU-funded Sustainable Uplands project. Includes new data on the relationship between burning, heather cover and water quality.
End of project presentation given at Castleton, Peak District National Park, 2nd June 2010, describing outputs from the RELU funded Sustainable Uplands project
REDD+ aims to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and foster conservation and sustainable forest management. It has opportunities to mainstream climate change actions and improve forest governance. However, it faces many challenges including strengthening institutions, ensuring participation and benefits for local communities, addressing issues around land and carbon tenure rights, financing, setting reference levels and implementing monitoring. Full implementation costs and addressing multiple stakeholder interests are also challenges. Capacity development and coordination are needed to realize REDD+ goals.
Changing the nature of nature in policy and decision making ruralfringe
This document outlines challenges in current nature policy and decision-making. It argues that nature is often seen as a constraint rather than an asset, and economic models do not adequately value ecosystem services. Evidence used in policymaking focuses too narrowly, and nature is associated only with iconic places and species. The speaker advocates revaluing nature by integrating it into development and assessing impacts using tools like ecosystem services analysis. This can help move nature from being a disconnected afterthought to an integrated asset that maximizes benefits for both environment and humans. Key is measuring nature's intrinsic value, overcoming silos, and recognizing growth and nature can work together rather than opposition.
Investment in the sustainable commons conditions for commons based enterprisesCIFOR-ICRAF
Presentation by Steven Lawry and Ruth Meinzen-Dick at “GLF Discussion Forum on Commons Tenure for a Common Future” on the first day of the Global Landscapes Forum 2015, in Paris, France alongside COP21. For more information go to: www.landscapes.org.
Presentation by Ruth Meinzen-Dick at “Commons Tenure for a Common Future” Discussion Forum on the first day of the Global Landscapes Forum 2015, in Paris, France alongside COP21. For more information go to: www.landscapes.org.
Sustainable landscapes: A means of managing social and environmental issues i...CIFOR-ICRAF
Presented by Terry Sunderland, from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), at the Meeting of ASEAN Senior Officials on Forestry in Putrajaya, Malaysia, on July 24-29, 2017.
The Dynamics of Forests, Livelihoods and Poverty Alleviation Relationships – ...IFPRIMaSSP
Forests play very critical roles in Malawi. Over 90% of the country’s energy requirements are fuelwood-based. However, Malawi, like most Sub-Saharan African countries, presents a case of policy dilemma in sustainable forest management. With its growing population and the resultant contraction of per capita land area, coupled with the ever increasing fuelwood demand, the challenge is to sustainably manage the forests without alienating the majority of rural communities whose livelihoods heavily depend on the forests. There is therefore need to fully understand the forest-reliant people if the goal of sustainable forest management is to be achieved. The aim of this desk study is to characterize the forest-livelihoods-poverty alleviation links and their impact on households’ choice of livelihood strategies. By synthesizing relevant theoretical and empirical literature, the study demonstrates that the links between poverty and forests are complex. For example, while there is evidence that it is the poor that rely more on forests, the reverse causality, though rare in literature, is also possible, i.e. forest reliance can act as a poverty trap. Understanding the livelihood status of forest-reliant households is therefore a necessary condition to sustainably manage the forests in particular and other environmental resources in general.
Alan GRAINGER "Is zero net land degradation in dry areas a feasible operation...Global Risk Forum GRFDavos
The document discusses the challenges of achieving zero net land degradation, a goal proposed by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification. It outlines two major challenges: implementation and monitoring progress. For implementation, there are political challenges due to differing country perspectives, complexity since ZNLD has dual goals of reducing degradation and increasing restoration, and societal constraints like lack of support and conflicts with traditional institutions. Monitoring brings difficulties in assessing restoration of soil quality as well as establishing baselines for degradation rates since estimates vary widely. Overall, achieving zero net land degradation is complicated by the interactions between environmental and human factors in dryland systems.
This document outlines 5 key challenges for sustainable forest governance: 1) Using forests to mitigate climate change through carbon storage and sustainable management. 2) Linking local forest management to global issues through improved knowledge sharing. 3) Implementing REDD+ and resolving conflicts over forest tenure rights. 4) Promoting gender equity in forest governance and management. 5) Engaging various forest user groups in governance arrangements to accommodate multiple forest uses.
Prospects for REDD+ in swidden landscapesCIFOR-ICRAF
Abstract of the research referred to in this presentation: The mosaic swidden landscapes with forests, fallows, and fields of northern Laos are undergoing rapid land use change as intensified agriculture and plantations are expanding. This may occur at the expense of older forests, but it is mostly secondary regrowth that is removed and not allowed to grow back to forest. This happens as a response to: 1) land allocation policies that restrict swidden systems to very short fallow cycles; 2) economic policies promoting investment in cash crops and land development; and 3) the uneven enforcement of land policies. We show how contradicting land and economic policies in Laos cause deforestation and forest degradation, with local people as both potential winners and losers. Based on interviews with villages and district, provincial and national level government staff, we argue that successful REDD+ will be difficult to achieve in the current policy environment. Moreover, as local people seize every opportunity to increase their well-being, REDD+ without substantial local payments will not be competitive with other land use activities. A strong focus on the multiple benefits of non-carbon ecosystem services will have to be developed in conjunction with REDD+ to spare the mosaic swidden landscapes that provide these services.
This presentation was given by Ole Mertz at the IUFRO conference in Beijing, China that was held from October 24-27, 2016.
Tools for integrating conservation priorities with conservation opportunities...Aberdeen CES
1. Land clearance continues to be an issue in Australia, with over 130,000 square kilometers of forests converted to agricultural land globally between 2000-2010. In South Australia's agricultural region, only 29.5% of native vegetation remains.
2. The study examines the relationship between conservation priority and opportunity on private farmland in South Australia's Murray-Darling Basin region through a landholder survey. Landholders were classified as disengaged, moderately engaged, or highly engaged in conservation based on native vegetation planting.
3. Results show highly engaged landholders had higher education, more off-farm income, and were more motivated by environmental factors than disengaged landholders. Moderately engaged landholders
Investing in projects to change practice and build community capacity. Naomi ...Joanna Hicks
1. Barkly Landcare aims to support pastoralists in adopting best management practices through projects, activities, and building community capacity.
2. A key challenge is balancing conservation and production values in the Barkly region. Barkly Landcare's weed management projects use aerial surveys, workshops, treatment programs, and long-term monitoring to effectively manage weeds like Parkinsonia across large areas.
3. Through strategic multi-year projects, Barkly Landcare works to bring entire regions under active weed control to improve both production and ecosystem outcomes in the Barkly.
The document summarizes discussions from a Global Forest Watch partnership meeting about advancing forest monitoring technologies. It covered several topics:
1) Differentiating forest types and disturbances using remote sensing to provide more detailed context for tree cover loss. This included classifications for managed vs. natural forests, primary vs. degraded forests, and stand-replacement vs. non-stand-replacement disturbances.
2) Increasing the spatial resolution of forest monitoring using data from Planet Labs that can image the entire land surface of the Earth nearly every day. This high frequency of observations allows for more accurate tracking of infrastructure development and natural disasters.
3) Increasing the temporal frequency of monitoring using multi-sensor approaches that combine Landsat, Sentinel
Community forestry. Where and why has devolution of forest rights contributed...IFPRI-PIM
Presentation for the webinar organized by the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets (www.pim.cgiar.org) on August 29, 2017. Steven Lawry, Director of Equity, Gender and Tenure research program at Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) summarized findings of selected meta-analyses, presented case studies from Nepal, Guatemala, and Mexico, and previewed emerging research looking at the investment effects of community forestry models that feature strong elements of forest rights devolution.
This document summarizes a project that provided incentives for dairy farmers to adopt management intensive grazing (MIG) systems to improve soil and water quality while sustaining productivity. The project recruited 16 dairy farmers across three counties, who converted over 788 acres to permanent pastures. This saved an estimated 2,337 tons of topsoil per year. Participating farmers installed over 13,000 feet of fencing and watering facilities. Extension agents held 28 educational pasture walks. The incentive payments and technical assistance helped overcome barriers to adoption and increased the use of more sustainable grazing practices.
Nancy A. Omolo: Gender, food insecurity and climate change amongst pastoral c...AfricaAdapt
This document summarizes a study on the impacts of climate change and food insecurity on pastoral communities in Northern Kenya. It finds that livestock production is the main source of livelihood and food security in the region. However, climate change is projected to negatively impact livestock production through changes in rainfall patterns and drought. The study assessed perceptions of and vulnerability to climate change among women and men in the Turkana and Mandera districts. It found that women are more vulnerable due to reproductive roles and limited decision making power and access to resources. Current coping strategies are insufficient to deal with increasing climate risks. Diversification of livelihoods and support for existing strategies were recommended.
Boran pastoral innovations in response to climate change a case of merti divi...Alexander Decker
1) The document discusses innovations among the Boran pastoralist community in Merti Division, Isiolo County, Kenya in response to climate change.
2) It finds that prolonged droughts, conflicts, and invasive species linked to climate change are driving innovations among Boran pastoralists. Innovations include improving existing drought coping strategies as well as newly emerging strategies such as agreements between herders and ranchers and livelihood diversification.
3) The study concludes that climate change is forcing Boran pastoralists to adapt their strategies and that increasing pastoralist participation in policy and reducing obstacles to pastoral mobility can help support adaptation to climate change.
From the rivers to Gulf of Mexico, Towards an ecosystem management approachIwl Pcu
This document discusses ecosystem services and their economic valuation. It describes the different types of ecosystem services including provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services. It then discusses methods to quantify the total economic value of ecosystem services, including market and non-market valuation techniques. The document also covers the concepts of eco-compensation, no net loss, and net gain in the context of offsetting environmental impacts. It provides an example of applying habitat hectare assessment and compensation ratios to ensure no net loss of habitat quality.
This document summarizes research on engaging non-operating farmland owners (landlords) in conservation practices. A survey of over 300 landlords in Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana found many are interested in soil and water conservation but lack information. Outreach that connects landlords with Natural Resource Conservation Service and local agencies could increase conservation by including practices in rental agreements. Pilot projects in Ohio and New York saw landlords and farmers gain confidence in discussing conservation leases after informational meetings. Engaging both parties indicates potential to expand conservation on rented agricultural lands.
End of project results presentation given to stakeholders in Nidderdale AONB, from the RELU-funded Sustainable Uplands project. Includes new data on the relationship between burning, heather cover and water quality.
End of project presentation given at Castleton, Peak District National Park, 2nd June 2010, describing outputs from the RELU funded Sustainable Uplands project
REDD+ aims to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and foster conservation and sustainable forest management. It has opportunities to mainstream climate change actions and improve forest governance. However, it faces many challenges including strengthening institutions, ensuring participation and benefits for local communities, addressing issues around land and carbon tenure rights, financing, setting reference levels and implementing monitoring. Full implementation costs and addressing multiple stakeholder interests are also challenges. Capacity development and coordination are needed to realize REDD+ goals.
Changing the nature of nature in policy and decision making ruralfringe
This document outlines challenges in current nature policy and decision-making. It argues that nature is often seen as a constraint rather than an asset, and economic models do not adequately value ecosystem services. Evidence used in policymaking focuses too narrowly, and nature is associated only with iconic places and species. The speaker advocates revaluing nature by integrating it into development and assessing impacts using tools like ecosystem services analysis. This can help move nature from being a disconnected afterthought to an integrated asset that maximizes benefits for both environment and humans. Key is measuring nature's intrinsic value, overcoming silos, and recognizing growth and nature can work together rather than opposition.
This document summarizes the keynote presentation on designing and planning for climate-smart communities given by Nancy Somerville and Neil Weinstein to the ASLA Blue Ribbon Panel on Climate Change and Resilience. The presentation outlines core principles and design approaches for creating healthy, climate-smart, and resilient communities. It recommends public policies that support approaches using green infrastructure, transit-oriented development, protection of natural systems and vulnerable communities, among others. The document provides an overview of the presentation content including climate adaptation challenges and opportunities for landscape architects.
Presented by Julia Naime (Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG)) at "Identifying effective policy interventions for different deforestation dynamics" on 4 May 2023
1) The document summarizes scenarios developed by Ecotrust to explore how managing ecosystems in the Portland, Oregon region for certain services could help meet social goals around climate change, stormwater management, and food security.
2) Modeling estimates that expanding riparian and urban forests could sequester over 2% of Oregon's 2050 greenhouse gas reduction target and intercept 6-15% of Portland's projected additional stormwater infrastructure needs by 2040.
3) Increasing regional food production could satisfy demand for most crop categories with the exception of meat.
Transforming REDD+ lessons learned and way forwardCIFOR-ICRAF
1. The document discusses lessons learned from REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) programs and ways to improve their effectiveness.
2. It summarizes findings from the Global Comparative Study on REDD+ which assessed REDD+ policies and projects in 6 countries and found modest impacts on reducing deforestation and mixed effects on community well-being.
3. It argues that for REDD+ to be more effective, programs need to support large-scale reforms that incentivize conservation, economic efficiency, and government budgets, rather than remain as small projects. Impact assessments also need to better evaluate REDD+ outcomes.
State of the Urban Forest Assessment for FAP Oct 2013Allison Segrest
Georgia's urban forests provide significant economic, environmental, and social benefits but are threatened by ongoing loss of tree canopy and increase in impervious surfaces like roads and buildings. The document outlines Georgia's strategy over the next 5 years to promote urban tree canopy through green infrastructure, increase advocacy for community forests, promote development of local tree ordinances, and provide training to implement best management practices. The plan aims to enhance the sustainability of Georgia's urban forests and the many benefits they provide.
The document provides an agenda and overview for an environmental behaviour change course. The course covers topics such as identifying preferred behaviours to target, understanding audience segmentation, and motivations for behaviour change. It also discusses principles of social marketing and provides tips for effective environmental communications and behaviour change programs, such as focusing on benefits, barriers, and social influences. The goal is to equip participants with knowledge for designing interventions to promote pro-environmental behaviours.
This document summarizes the scientific evidence on ecosystem-based adaptation (EBA). It presents six major ways that forests and trees can help human adaptation to climate change: 1) provision of products, 2) support of agriculture, 3) management of watersheds, 4) protection of coasts, 5) regulation of cities, and 6) influence on regional climate. The document discusses opportunities and challenges of EBA, including its consideration in national climate adaptation policies and programs. It analyzes examples and case studies of EBA interventions while also acknowledging knowledge gaps and uncertainties regarding some ecosystem services.
Beyond IPCC Scenarios: Synergies Between Climate Adaptation and Mitigation a...CIFOR-ICRAF
This presentation by Shahid Naeem from Columbia University focuses on the three central biodiversity issues:
1. Ecosystem services and biodiversity
2. Functional biodiversity and climate change
3. Bio-ecological adaptation
Managing Growth on the Rural Urban Fringe BSBEtalk
This document discusses managing growth on rural-urban fringes. It notes the fragmented and disintegrated approaches to planning and policy across different sectors like the natural environment and built environment. It advocates overcoming these divisions by taking an integrated approach through connections across scales, learning from past experiences, and challenging conventions to achieve more creative and multifunctional uses of fringe spaces.
Will Villota: Market Research into Consumer Behavior on Sustainable Lifestyle...AIGA Portland
The document discusses how concern over climate change is declining due to it lacking an immediate threat and how lifestyle of health and sustainability (LOHAS) consumers are segmented. It then provides examples of lifestyle choices around organic foods, natural cleaners, renewable energy, and energy efficiency. Barriers to consumer action on climate change are also examined, such as dollar savings not being significant enough or impact seeming too small. The document concludes by suggesting using messages around economic savings, social norms, and loss aversion to better inspire consumers to take action.
Going beyond boundaries: Doing interdisciplinary research in the rural urban ...BSBEtalk
This is a presentation made to a PhD Winterschool. It shows the power of working at edges and interfaces in order to make progress in theory and practice.
PAS Nature Recovery for LAs 8 Dec Post Event.pptxPAS_Team
The document provides an overview of a webinar hosted by the Planning Advisory Service (PAS) about what nature recovery means for local authorities.
The webinar featured presentations from Natural England and local authorities on setting the national context for nature recovery, emerging insights from early adopter local authorities, linking evidence on nature to local plans, and examples of delivering nature recovery from Warwickshire County Council, Bath & North East Somerset, and Birmingham City Council.
It discussed the opportunities and challenges of implementing nature recovery at the local level, including the need for clarity on funding, embedding nature into wider corporate priorities, the value of partnerships, navigating different frameworks and timelines, and the role of regulations and guidance.
This document discusses how trees can help communities adapt to climate change through nature-based approaches. It provides examples of the National Wildlife Federation's Climate-Smart Communities program, which encourages the use of trees and other green infrastructure. Trees can help reduce carbon pollution, manage stormwater, provide habitat and shade, and keep communities cooler. The document highlights tools developed by NWF and partners to help communities understand how to select and care for climate-resilient trees, including a geographic information system tool for King County, Washington.
The document provides an overview of major environmental issues and introduces concepts of environmental science and sustainability. It discusses objectives of environmental studies like developing systemic understanding of the environment and cultivating an environmental ethic. Major issues covered include ozone layer depletion, pollution, extinction, global warming, and resource depletion. Specific issues like tragedy of the commons relating to overfishing and groundwater depletion are explained. The document also introduces concepts of sustainable development and discusses limitations of using GDP as the sole metric for development.
This document summarizes an approach to exploring water sustainability issues in island communities through community engagement and systems modeling. It involves identifying key issues through discussion with community members, mapping groundwater vulnerability, and developing an interactive systems dynamics model to explore water usage and availability over time under different policy scenarios. The approach has been applied successfully in two Gulf Islands communities in British Columbia to integrate scientific knowledge into policymaking.
Similar to AEA Presentation: Perceptions of Environmental Change (20)
Predictably Improve Your B2B Tech Company's Performance by Leveraging DataKiwi Creative
Harness the power of AI-backed reports, benchmarking and data analysis to predict trends and detect anomalies in your marketing efforts.
Peter Caputa, CEO at Databox, reveals how you can discover the strategies and tools to increase your growth rate (and margins!).
From metrics to track to data habits to pick up, enhance your reporting for powerful insights to improve your B2B tech company's marketing.
- - -
This is the webinar recording from the June 2024 HubSpot User Group (HUG) for B2B Technology USA.
Watch the video recording at https://youtu.be/5vjwGfPN9lw
Sign up for future HUG events at https://events.hubspot.com/b2b-technology-usa/
The Building Blocks of QuestDB, a Time Series Databasejavier ramirez
Talk Delivered at Valencia Codes Meetup 2024-06.
Traditionally, databases have treated timestamps just as another data type. However, when performing real-time analytics, timestamps should be first class citizens and we need rich time semantics to get the most out of our data. We also need to deal with ever growing datasets while keeping performant, which is as fun as it sounds.
It is no wonder time-series databases are now more popular than ever before. Join me in this session to learn about the internal architecture and building blocks of QuestDB, an open source time-series database designed for speed. We will also review a history of some of the changes we have gone over the past two years to deal with late and unordered data, non-blocking writes, read-replicas, or faster batch ingestion.
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AEA Presentation: Perceptions of Environmental Change
1. Solutions for Health, Housing and Land ● www.cloudburstgroup.com
Perceptions of Environmental Change:
Using Qualitative Methods to Ground
Culture in the Evaluation of
Environmental Programs
Cynthia Caron, Clark University and The Cloudburst Group
Stephanie Fenner, The Cloudburst Group
November 13, 2015
2. 2
Outline
• Background: Community-Based Forest Management Program (CFP)
• Impact Evaluation of CFP: Objectives and methodology
• Illustrative Findings: Perceptions of deforestation and climate
change
• Conclusions and Lessons Learned
4. 4
The USAID-funded Community-based
Forest Management Program (CFP)
• CFP aims to establish the largest REDD+ program in Zambia.
Four primary objectives:
1. Empower and equip communities to lessen the drivers of
deforestation;
2. Establish and improve forest and natural resource
management plans;
3. Promote alternative livelihoods to unsustainable charcoal and
timber production;
4. Implement pay-for-performance and/or revenue-sharing
programs for forest conservation and carbon sequestration.
6. 6
Community-Based Forest Management
Program: Intervention
CFP initiates local livelihood and community development
projects to promote the adoption of alternative livelihoods and
energy sources. Projects designed to:
• Provide tangible benefits that replace the income and/or
livelihood benefits received from deforestation or forest
degradation activities, such as charcoaling and timber
harvesting
• Promote business minded approach to support development of
sustainable enterprises.
7. 7
Community-Based Forest Management
Program: Intervention
Potential livelihood initiatives to promote forest conservation
include:
• Eco-charcoaling
• Conservation farming (maize)
• Eco-tourism
• Non-timber forest product (NTFP) extraction / small business
development
8. Solutions for Health, Housing and Land ● www.cloudburstgroup.com
CFP Impact Evaluation
9. 9
CFP Impact Evaluation (IE):
Purpose
USAID’s primary learning objectives for the CFP IE:
1. Understand how REDD+ programs impact land tenure and
property rights (LTPR) and related livelihoods, either positively
or negatively.
2. Learn what aspects of REDD+ programming are most effective in
incentivizing long-term carbon sequestration and reduced GHG
emissions from forests and landscapes.
10. 10
CFP Impact Evaluation:
Research Questions
Example research questions include:
• Has CFP resulted in increased knowledge and awareness of
deforestation and climate change?
• Which CFP benefits do stakeholders cite as effective incentives
for the adoption of behaviors that reduce deforestation,
degradation and GHG emissions?
11. 11
CFP IE: Mixed Methods Design
• Quasi-experimental Difference-in-Differences (DD) approach,
complemented with qualitative component.
• Survey data collected at baseline (Spring 2015), midline, and end
line.
• This presentation draws on baseline data from 4395 household
surveys; 80 focus group discussions (FGDs) with local
stakeholders, including women and youth; 40 participatory
mapping exercises with separate groups of men and women.
12. 12
Culture and the Evaluation of
Environmental Programs:
Drawing from the literature:
• Krause et al. (2015) propose using an “assessment framework that
focuses on subjective perspectives on adaptation (i.e.,
perceptions and judgments of individual decision-makers) and
links them with objective perspectives” (38).
• Samuels et al. (2011) “evaluations characterized by Western
culture and ways of thinking overlook indigenous knowledge(s),
threatening the cultural relevance and validity of evaluation
results”(184).
13. 13
Grounding Culture: Participatory
Mapping Excercises
• Kawakami et al. (2008) note that participatory maps spatially
reflect the cultural views of the participant mapmakers’ forest
environment, allowing stakeholders to participate in an
evaluation through a practice that is driven by and with them.
• Sletto (2009) proposes participatory mapping can highlight
contests surrounding rights, identities, and authenticities, while
simultaneously facilitating the unveiling of the multiple, complex
relations of power that shape landscapes in the Global South.
14. Solutions for Health, Housing and Land ● www.cloudburstgroup.com
CFP IE Illustrative Findings:
Perceptions of Deforestation
and Climate Change
15. 15
Observed changes in
environment: Deforestation
• HH survey respondents state that the majority of forests in
project area are in ‘good’ or ‘very good’ condition (62%, 2482).
• Despite generally good rating, the overall condition of most
forests (42%, 1688) was noted to have worsened in the past 3
years; the overall condition of 33% (1305) of forests was noted to
have remained the same.
• Respondents also reported that 35% (1405) of forests have
decreased slightly in area, and 38% (1540) of forests have
decreased in thickness and forest cover.
16. 16
Observed changes in environment:
Rainfall and seasonal patterns
• 82% of HHs noted a reduction in rainfall in the past 3 years; 28%
noted changes in the intensity/concentration of rain
• 44% of HHs noted changes in seasonal patterns
• “In the past it used to rain and the rains used to start early but that has
changed. Now you plant in November and just after 2 months the rains go.
That’s changing of the world.”
• “The rains are not starting in their usual month...Sometimes it will only rain
twice and stops until December. So the seeds you planted will not grow well.
We see that there is change in the distribution of the rain.”
17. 17
Perceptions of environmental
change: Is it a problem?
HH survey respondents asked to rank top 5 development problems
faced by their community (from list of 10 potential problems)
• Forest degradation: 41% of HHs ranked forest degradation among
top five problems; Ranked as #1 problem by 11% of HHs.
• Changes in rainfall and temperature: 50% (2229) of HHs ranked
either changes in rainfall patterns or changes in temperature as
#1 problem.
18. 18
Perceptions of environmental
change: Is it a problem?
HHs asked to rate severity of problems on the development of the
community (on a scale from 1 to 10):
• Changes in rainfall patterns or changes in temperature: Average
rating was 8/10
• Deforestation or forest degradation: Average rating was 5.6/10
19. 19
Perceptions of environmental
change: Is it a problem?
• “It is a big problem because it has brought poverty, food is not
enough, fruit trees are no longer so fruitful and the grass we use
for our houses is not growing well.”
• “It is a problem, it will be a problem because the next generation
will not be able to find forest products nearby. There will be
challenges in the villages. Instead of acquiring forest products
they need they will be failing because of distances.”
20. 20
What’s causing environmental
change?
• Deforestation contributes to climate change: “(M): You said that
you haven’t had good rains in the last three years, what do you
think has caused that? (R):That time there were still a lot of trees
in the forest but this time they are all cleared so you find that
there is poor rainfall in this area now.”
• Conflicting views: “Sometime back some people came and told
us lies that the oxygen from the trees has finished so we need to
stop cutting down the trees carelessly.”
21. 21
What’s causing environmental
change?
• Biblical explanations: “Like these days our thinking, the world
has changed, we are in the end times now… Like us who read the
bible, it says in that in the last days there will be drought, rain
will not come in its season. Now when we see them like this, we
say ah, this is what is written in the bible, it has been fulfilled.”
• More conflicting views: “We can say it is God yes, but when we
look carefully again, we hear that trees help to have rainfall, but
with this modernization, modernization is too much, we can be
seated here, your friend would just pass with a motor bike, it is
just problems, because they leave the smoke behind.”
22. 22
What’s causing environmental
change?
More reasons:
• Changes in population: “Tress have reduced…Trees have reduced
due to Chewa migrants who are given settlements and fertile land
for agriculture.”
• Poverty and Hunger: “What makes us go into the forest is not our
fault, it is because of poverty... Here there is nothing to do and
there are no sources of income, that’s why people don’t follow
the rules”
23. 23
Environmental change: What
can be done?
• “(M): You said rain pattern has reduced, what have done about it?
(R1): We have done nothing. That’s God’s plan. (R2): Mumm… it’s
God’s power. (R3): Mumm….its God’s plan. That’s a difficult
question to answer (laughed).”
• “There is nothing that can be done about this climate change. We
will continue experiencing hard times.”
• “It is the government that comes to stop us from doing these
activities, but there is nothing they give us so, now like this,
there is nothing to do and in the end we go in the forest to
collect whatever we want”
25. 25
Unique Findings: Participatory
Mapping Data
Spatialization of resource use:
• Agricultural fields are “outside the village”
• Charcoaling is done “in the mountains”
• Overlaps in resource use without neighboring villages and
“outsiders”
“(M): Are there charcoal burners nearby? (R): Yes they are there,
those from the mountains (M): Oh, but these are your mountains?
(R): Yes, they burn charcoal, destroying our trees. (M): But it is your
land? (R): It is our land but then it was sold. How can we protect it if
the chief sold it?”
26. 26
Unique Findings: Participatory
Mapping Data
The research agenda, power relations and politics of control:
• “(R): What is the purpose for asking us all these questions? (F):
we are looking at how people live and use the forest (R): The
research is about those living in the forest how they are
destroying the forest? This is just about restricting charcoal
burning, not that. But we have already drawn the map! If they
stop us from burning charcoal how are we going to survive? The
thing is you can not reveal to us the truth [laughter]. So now this
forest is going to have rules.”
27. Solutions for Health, Housing and Land ● www.cloudburstgroup.com
Conclusions & Lessons
Learned
28. 28
Does the CFP IE design
integrate culture?
• Documents local understandings of causes of climate change
(understandings that are not grounded in Western science)
• Reveals tensions with migrants are also ethnic tensions,
exacerbated by resource competition
• Illuminates power relations controlling access to forests and
forest resources
• Highlights mistrust of outside agencies as doing working for those
who wish to restrict access (local politics)
29. 29
Moving forward, Lessons
Learned:
Conceptual:
• Acknowledge that more than basic economic logics frame behavior
• Use baseline study findings to inform CFP design and implementation
Methodological:
• Method Triangulation
• Training (Probing needs to improve, avoid leading questions)
• Sample size versus quality of data, important implications for qualitative
component
• Mapping needs to document the entire debate and process of creating of
the map
30. 30
Questions and
Acknowledgements
Thank you.
• Questions?
• ccaron@clarku.edu
• stephanie.fenner@cloudburstgroup.com
Acknowledgements:
The Cloudburst Group wishes to acknowledge USAID’s
funding of CFP and the CFP IE.
Editor's Notes
Adaption and mitigation are 2 sides of the same coin. Both focus on changing behavior vis-à-vis climate change.
Explanation of literature, potential this method of data collection presents for incorporating culture in evaluations, and subsequent efforts of mapping exercise.