This study was presented during the conference “Production and Carbon Dynamics in Sustainable Agricultural and Forest Systems in Africa” held in September, 2010.
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New Forests for New Generations Olle Forshed, International Conservation, WWF-Sweden ABSTRACT The pressure on the world’s forests has never been as high as now. Traditional products like timber and fire wood is still taken out from the forests at an alarming speed, often in a destructive and unsustainable way. Forest land is also needed for production of commercial commodities like for example: bio energy, palm oil, sugar, soya and beef, which often leads to conversion of large forest ecosystem into plantations. These pressures can often lead to severe complications for people living in and of the (former) forest. On top of this intact ecosystem services, such as clean water, become more and more important as the worlds population increase. The forest is also now seen as one of the key factors when combating climate change. At the same time people are traditionally living in many of these forested areas and rely on the forest for food and well being. It seems sometimes like the forest is the solution for everything and a never ending source and maybe that can be true? However it is not easy for smallholders and others living in these “new” forests. The challenge of multifunctional forests surely demands a new approach and a new generation of forest management thinking. We must see the new forest landscapes as multifunctional and realise they are important productive units as well as home for people and other creatures. WWF-Sweden runs a program under the Forest Initiative umbrella that deals with many of these questions, especially poverty reduction and sustainability issues in the context of multi-functionality. The program focuses on how the private sector and their activities can help in creating a new generation of forest management for a new generation of people.
Transcript
New Forests for New GenerationsOlle Forshed, International Conservation, WWF-Sweden
ABSTRACT
The pressure on the world’s forests has never been as high as now. Traditional products like timber and fire woodis still taken out from the forests at an alarming speed, often in a destructive and unsustainable way. Forest land isalso needed for production of commercial commodities like for example: bio energy, palm oil, sugar, soya andbeef, which often leads to conversion of large forest ecosystem into plantations. These pressures can often lead tosevere complications for people living in and of the (former) forest. On top of this intact ecosystem services, suchas clean water, become more and more important as the worlds population increase. The forest is also now seenas one of the key factors when combating climate change. At the same time people are traditionally living in manyof these forested areas and rely on the forest for food and well being. It seems sometimes like the forest is thesolution for everything and a never ending source and maybe that can be true?
However it is not easy for smallholders and others living in these “new” forests. The challenge of multifunctionalforests surely demands a new approach and a new generation of forest management thinking. We must see thenew forest landscapes as multifunctional and realise they are important productive units as well as home forpeople and other creatures. WWF-Sweden runs a program under the Forest Initiative umbrella that deals withmany of these questions, especially poverty reduction and sustainability issues in the context of multi-functionality.The program focuses on how the private sector and their activities can help in creating a new generation of forestmanagement for a new generation of people.
•Forest certification used for a long time by NGO’s
•Tool for Sustainable Forest Management
• Today large areas are certified• FSC ~135 million ha in 81 countries
Proof that it actually works for:• Biodiversity - nature conservation• Economically viable• Social beneficially
• Today several other commodities follows in round table discussions
But how is certification working for people in the south living close the forests, like:small scale farmers, forest dwellers
Are they affected in someway?
Is certification helping poor people dealing with there natural resource?
Is certification reducing poverty?
Easy to forget the people living in and of
the forests
Important with today's forest situation, where the forests seems as the overall global solution:
