4:36 p.m.
Dear IUFRO Meliaceae E-list:
Below is IUFRO Spotlight #82. Other Spotlights can be found at:
http://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/
Regards,
Sheila Ward
Deputy Coordinator
IUFRO WP 1.02.04
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: IUFRO Headquarters <office(a)iufro.org>
Date: Mon, Sep 28, 2020 at 10:54 AM
Subject: IUFRO Spotlight #82 - More local involvement one key to FLR success
To: Dear IUFRO Officeholder <mahoganyforthefuture(a)gmail.com>
[image: IUFRO Spotlight]
IUFRO Spotlight #82 - More local involvement one key to FLR success
*IUFRO Spotlight is an initiative of the International Union of Forest
Research Organizations. Its aim is to introduce, in a timely fashion,
significant findings in forest research from IUFRO officeholders and member
organizations to a worldwide network of decision makers, policy makers and
researchers. IUFRO will encapsulate, and distribute in plain language,
brief, topical and policy-relevant highlights of those findings, along with
information on where/how to access the full documents.*
*Occasionally, IUFRO Spotlight also presents special activities such as
sessions at major IUFRO congresses or the work of the IUFRO Task Forces.
These focus on emerging key issues that contribute to international
processes and activities and are of great interest to policy makers and to
groups inside and outside the forest sector. With those criteria in mind,
the Spotlights for the next several months will highlight the undertakings
and goals of the IUFRO Task Forces. The IUFRO Spotlights will be
distributed in a periodic series of emails as well as blog postings.*
Developing evidence-based cases for planted forests
PDF for download
<https://www.iufro.org/fileadmin/material/publications/spotlights/spotlight82-flr-local-involvement.pdf>
[image: Photo showing Involvement of local people is key to successful
forest landscape restoration (example from India). Photo credit: Michael
Kleine, IUFRO.]
Involvement of local people is key to successful forest landscape
restoration (example from India). Photo credit: Michael Kleine, IUFRO.
"What we've got here is failure to communicate."
That classic line from the Paul Newman movie, *Cool Hand Luke*, has since
become a catch phrase to describe situations – some comical, others quite
serious – that go awry when people aren't on the same page.
Used in its more serious sense, that phrase can explain the failure of many
Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) projects.
A recent survey paper: *Forest Landscape Restoration – What Generates
Failure and Success*, shows that failing to involve local stakeholders
and-or a mismatch between goals of local communities and restoration
managers, as well as environmental, anthropogenic and technical barriers to
tree regeneration can be major obstacles to success.
Several members of an IUFRO Task Force (TF) entitled *Transforming Forest
Landscapes for Future Climates and Human Well-being* developed the paper.
It summarizes the information provided in a global online survey on
experiences with forest restoration and adaptation.
There are nine TFs currently operating under the IUFRO umbrella and
exploring a number of forest-related challenges across the globe. This
particular TF is dedicated to providing the scientific basis for
transforming forest landscapes to climate-resilient land-use systems that
fulfil the complete spectrum of ecosystem service requirements of current
and future societies.
The survey paper highlights various problems and success factors with FLR
projects on a global scale and notes that "there are high hopes for Forest
and Landscape Restoration to regain ecosystem integrity and enhance human
well-being in deforested and degraded areas."
But, as Markus Hoehl, of Germany's Thuenen Institute, and the main author
of the paper, points out, "when local communities, their goals and needs,
are disregarded in project planning and implementation, as reported from
various cases in our survey, there is a risk of project failure."
The paper warns that "failed projects and disappointed stakeholders, as
well as discouraged funders and policy-makers, could lessen the momentum of
global forest restoration ambitions."
FLR has been described as "more than just planting trees – it is restoring
a whole landscape to meet present and future needs and to offer multiple
benefits and land uses over time."
The paper describes the general results obtained in the survey and
highlights particular problems and possible solutions described by the
respondents. The identified issues are then discussed with respect to the
related literature to provide a current overview of the global challenges
and facilitating factors experienced during the practical implementations
of forest restoration.
Published tools to overcome common restoration obstacles are presented to
provide a solution-oriented reference for forestry experts.
All problems included in the paper were described by more than one
respondent. There was no single cause but several factors that contributed
to project failure for many unsuccessful projects.
Moreover, the problems were interrelated, and the participation of the
local community, or the lack thereof, was an overarching topic found in the
survey responses that connects to all other topics presented.
In identifying common obstacles and success factors for the implementation
of forest restoration, the paper notes that the majority of respondents
reported successful projects though some others reported drastic problems
and failed projects.
"While (many) promising FLR success stories are being prominently
showcased, many restoration projects fail to meet their expectations.
Success stories can provide lessons for future restoration projects and can
undoubtedly be necessary to convince potential FLR investors or
policy-makers," the paper notes.
However, it goes on to say, restoration failures are much more rarely
communicated and so the helpful lessons that could be learned from them,
such as avoidance of common mistakes, are not readily available.
The paper aims to share practical experiences – good and bad – in forest
restoration among the FLR community and beyond.
Among its conclusions, the paper notes: "Research is needed to gain a
better understanding of the perception of local communities towards
restoration activities. Further studies on the implementation of forest
restoration at the intersection of environmental factors, socioeconomic
conditions, forest regeneration/silviculture, and nursery production are
needed."
*The full paper can be found at: *https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/11/9/938
*About the IUFRO Task Force: *
https://www.iufro.org/science/task-forces/transforming-forest-landscapes/
*________________________________*
The findings reported in *IUFRO Spotlight* are submitted by IUFRO
officeholders and member organizations. IUFRO is pleased to highlight and
circulate these findings to a broad audience but, in doing so, acts only as
a conduit. The quality and accuracy of the reports are the responsibility
of the member organization and the authors.
Suggestions for reports and findings that could be promoted through *IUFRO
Spotlight* are encouraged. To be considered, reports should be fresh, have
policy implications and be applicable to more than one country. If you
would like to have a publication highlighted by Spotlight, contact: Gerda
Wolfrum, wolfrum(at)iufro.org <wolfrum(a)iufro.org>.
The International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) is the
only worldwide organization devoted to forest research and related
sciences. Its members are research institutions, universities, and
individual scientists as well as decision-making authorities and other
stakeholders with a focus on forests and trees.
Visit: https://www.iufro.org/
*________________________________*
*IUFRO Spotlight #82, published in September 2020*
*by IUFRO Headquarters, Marxergasse 2, 1030 Vienna, Austria. Available for
download at: **https://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/
<https://www.iufro.org/media/iufro-spotlights/>*
*Contact the editor at office(at)iufro.org <office(a)iufro.org> or visit
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