Forests blogs
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Indigenous Peoples and forest communities are central to tackling the climate crisis – but they need finance
5 November 2021Forests, and the communities who protect and manage them, are critical in tackling climate change and nature loss. From COP26, guest blogger Gustavo Sánchez explains why they can no longer be ignored in the distribution of climate finance and describes a new fund that gets money directly to local forest level
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Escalating local climate resilience finance
12 October 2021A new IIED report offers 30 practical options to help local people build vital resilience into their livelihoods, landscapes and food systems and calls for an urgent increase in climate finance to and through local organisations
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Trees need locally-grown politics
4 June 2021Presidents and celebrities planting trees are in the news again, and with green post-COVID-19 recovery plans afoot and the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, James Mayers considers what it will take to get the right trees planted and looked after in the right places, by people who actually want them.
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Charting a “path to recovery and wellbeing” on 2021’s International Day of Forests
19 March 2021Guest blogger David Kaimowitz explains why global ambition to restore the world’s forests will only be achieved if the huge potential of forest and farm producers is realised.
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Time to move unseen foresters into the limelight
14 July 2020A new report spotlights alternative approaches by which sustainable forest management can deliver more for indigenous people and local communities
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Harnessing the power of bees to benefit forest and people
26 March 2020To mark the International Day of Forests earlier this week, we’re sharing a story about a beekeeping project that’s helping to conserve Kenya’s Loitokitok forest and support the surrounding community
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Planting pilot has vision to nurture young tree ambassadors
11 February 2020Guest blogger Joanes Ooko Odero reports from Kenya on a new tree-planting initiative
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Tapioca tech in Togo – how producers are organising to transform lives and land
5 February 2020Togo’s expanding populations need both food and means of generating income. After a recent visit, Duncan Macqueen reflects on how multi-tiered self-organisation is supporting sustainable solutions among tapioca producers
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Madagascar needs agroforestry businesses in its response to climate change
27 September 2019Madagascar’s forests are under increasing pressure from agricultural expansion, in an increasingly erratic climate. Agroforestry could be a key part of a response
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China’s investments, Africa’s forests: from raw deals to mutual gains?
19 June 2019The grand-scale Belt and Road Initiative is driving ever greater Chinese investment in Africa’s forests. But will the benefits of this ‘development’ reach local people? And will it be sustainable? A recent IIED project in Cameroon highlights both the potential and the pitfalls of surging investment.
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Vietnamese forest and farm producers work towards more resilient livelihoods and landscapes
27 May 2019As the UN launches the Decade of Family Farming, Duncan Macqueen considers the role of the Forest and Farm Facility programme in improving incomes, employment and sustainable agricultural practices for Vietnamese farmers
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Modern food systems to emerge in new decade of family farming
4 April 2019Global farmers affirmed the vital relevance of small-holders at the World Rural Forum in Bilbao, Spain recently, highlighting how through innovative approaches they will contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals over the next ten years
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Incendiary observations from the 4th FLARE conference
22 October 2018Researchers into forest livelihoods recently met in Copenhagen to share ideas on how to support forests, sustainable forestry and forest peoples. Duncan Macqueen reports back on some of the highlights
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Locally controlled forest enterprises are the whole enchilada
10 September 2018Duncan Macqueen explains how community forest enterprises in Mexico are already supporting the integrated delivery of the SDGs
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Crucial agreement with China could save Mozambique’s forests
14 August 2018Chinese companies can help Mozambique conserve country’s threatened forests, writes Duncan Macqueen
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Mass mobilisation: boosting businesses and protecting forests
20 March 2018As Phase I of the Forest and Farm Facility partnership closes, Duncan Macqueen reflects on its impressive achievements and the role that the mass mobilisation of forest and farm producers has played in its success
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Forest rights create new livelihoods in Myanmar
5 December 2017In Myanmar, the National League for Democracy (NLD) is transferring the rights to forest land – and all its potential bounty – to local communities. Duncan Macqueen explains how this important move, supported by peer-to-peer learning, is helping to establish new long-term livelihoods
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If you go down to the woods today, you're sure of a big surprise…
27 October 2017Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a magnet for tourists wanting to see gorillas in the wild, but surrounding communities don't get much revenue from the tourist trade. Dilys Roe describes a project that is helping local people who live close to the edge of the forest to develop products and activities that will attract visitors – and much-needed income
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Shaping the future of forest and farm landscapes in Africa
21 August 2017As part of a new interdisciplinary partnership, IIED will be working with sector experts, scientists and practitioners to better understand and manage the growing competition for land in Sub-Saharan Africa, as governments seek to balance food production with forest conservation targets
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Protecting Cameroon's forests: a fishy business?
28 July 2017Projects that invest in more efficient fish smoking businesses are improving livelihoods and conserving mangrove forests on Cameroon's coastline. Valuable lessons in forest protection can be taken from the coast, deep into the country's rainforests.
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Restorative insights at the pool in Kigali
8 June 2017A recent meeting in Rwanda concluded that enabling investment in business capacity development is vital to get small-scale forest entrepreneurs ready for 'asset investment' – and promote forest landscape restoration at scale
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A Chinese passion: adding value to Mozambique's timber exports
10 April 2017Mozambique wants to encourage a timber industry that creates jobs and adds value: Duncan Macqueen visited one Chinese company keen to do just that and saw how an IIED-led project is providing support
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Bridging the two worlds of carbon forestry
5 April 2017Drones and satellites swirl overhead to monitor our forests. Computers churn out calculations of forest growth, while carbon markets ring up transactions. This is the backdrop to carbon credits that are financing forest conservation. But how do local people fit into this fast-evolving world of technology?
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Cameroon's real indomitable lions are in the forest
20 March 2017A planning mission to Cameroon's community forests by the CoNGOs project team found the Baka people brimming with business ideas, but needing a little help from their friends
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Business incubation motivates fire management
6 March 2017Entrepreneurs from forest communities in Belize are embarking on new businesses ventures, where the products and services come from the forest itself. As well as supporting livelihoods, driving these businesses forward doubles up as an incentive to protect the forests from fire