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People
> Natural Resources research group

James Mayers

Director, Natural Resources

James Mayers likes to get involved with issues of sustainable forestry, rural livelihoods and the governance of natural resources. He heads the Natural Resources research group at IIED and – with the group’s teams focused on land rights in investment, China in development, biodiversity, water infrastructure development, agroecology and forests – he has managed a range of multi-country initiatives such as: Policy that Works for Forests and People; Developing Markets for Watershed Services and Livelihoods; Forest Governance Learning Group; Water Ecosystem Services under Climate Change; Land Access in Sub-Saharan Africa; China-Africa Forest Governance Project; and Community Forestry in the Congo Basin. He has also been co-leader of The Forests Dialogue – an international programme that aims to encourage collaborative action on high-priority issues facing the world's forests.
Full biography
Expertise

Sustainable forestry, rural livelihoods and governance of natural resources. Particular experience in Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Liberia, Cameroon, Brazil, Costa Rica, China, Pakistan, India, Papua New Guinea and the UK.

Before IIED
  • Country officer, WWF International in Liberia and Tanzania
  • MA Natural Sciences Cambridge, MA Development Studies East Anglia

Current work

Research and policy influence for improved governance and justice in forestry and natural resource use. Action on China-Africa forest issues, particularly in relation to China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Africa. 

Interviews

IIED expert interviews: James Mayers
James Mayers's picture
Telephone: 
+44 (0) 131 300 0156
Email: 
james.mayers@iied.org
Twitter: @JamesMayers1
ResearchGate
Google Scholar
 
Languages: English, some Spanish and some French

James Mayers's projects

The timber depot of Green Timber, a Chinese-owned timber concession that are licensed to operate in Nampula and Zambezia provinces, Mozambique (Photo: Mike Goldwater)

China-Africa Forest Governance project

Project, Sep 2014
Two men sat behind a desk chat to one another, with the Forest Governance Learning Group logo in the background

Forest Governance Learning Group

Project, Sep 2013
Closeup of a man chopping a tree with an axe. Mecati Forest, near Nampula, Mozambique.

How to shape governance of tenure for responsible forestry: a practical guide

Project, Jun 2011

Water ecosystem services and poverty reduction under climate change

Project, Oct 2008
Men sitting on railway tracks with roosters. Sucat Railway Community, Manila, Philippines.

Achieving the Millennium Development Goals

Project, Apr 2008

Latest publications

Unseen Foresters: An assessment of approaches for wider recognition and spread of sustainable forest management by local communities

Places to prosper: engaging with youth migration in forest landscapes

IIED’s management response to the independent evaluation of the CoNGOs project

Empowerment of Forest-Linked Communities: What Progress and Where Next?

Analyse widely, act deeply: forest and farm producer organisations and the goal of climate resilient landscapes

China in Cameroon’s forests: a review of issues and progress for livelihoods and sustainability

View more publications by this author

 

James Mayers's blog posts

A man stands on a cut down tree amid a landscape of timber

China’s investments, Africa’s forests: from raw deals to mutual gains?

Blog, Jun 2019

Finding a green path for China and Africa?

Long read, Aug 2018
Recovering wildlife populations in Namibia are largely attributed to policies that give local people rights to benefit from wildlife on their land (Photo: Ronald Woan, Creative Commons via Flickr)

There’s justice in the battle for biodiversity 

Blog, Jun 2018
Meceburi Forest, Mozambique: a young woman harvests casava (Photo: Mike  Goldwater/IIED)

Seeds of the post-capitalist forest?

Blog, Feb 2016
Logging trucks in Ghana: legislation requires that to charge stumpage fees on harvested timber at levels that keep the timber industry under control (Photo: Duncan Macqueen/IIED)

Communities stumped as government fails to make loggers pay

Blog, Mar 2015

Tested tools for righting resource wrongs

Blog, Oct 2013
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