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Tag: community involvement
Community perspectives around low‑emission food systems in Soc Trang, Vietnam: Opportunities and challenges for future implementation
While policymakers and donors see low-emission food systems as desirable for mitigating climate change, limited studies reveal community perceptions and related implementation opportunities and challenges. We address this knowledge gap using Soc Trang Province, Vietnam as a case study. Strong political and financial support is seen through numerous policies and projects incentivising implementation of low‑emission food systems in Soc Trang. Yet communities and Indigenous Peoples lead the field with locally‑led low‑emission food systems, even without external stakeholder support. Positive impacts of existing schemes – access to finance, improved incomes, knowledge and networks – have driven local desire to engage. However, constraints include unstable markets for low-emission products, climate change and inconsistent policy. Findings show policy and practice mismatch; current policies fail to consider diverse perspectives and sociopolitical contexts. Our paper highlights the need for locally‑led, co‑developed approaches and context-specific policy that recognises diverse stakeholder values, challenges and solutions.
Balancing act: navigating increasing human-wildlife conflict amidst megafauna recovery in the tropical lowlands of Nepal
Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) involving megafauna is a global conservation concern. In the tropical lowlands of Nepal (Terai), the megafauna populations are increasing due to successful conservation efforts, introducing the potential for greater HWC. We analyzed the spatio-temporal trend of reported HWC incidents from 2013 to 2022 in the buffer zones of Bardia and Chitwan National Parks in the Terai. Of the total 14,989 reported HWC incidents, crop raiding (n = 8,129) and livestock depredation (n = 4,611) were the most common. Elephants were responsible for 42.8% of all incidents. Total HWC incidents increased over the 10-year period, and there was a significant association between total population estimates of rhino and tiger and total HWC incidents involving those species. At the site level, this association held except for rhino HWC in Bardia. Similarly, incidents of livestock depredation driven by leopard and tiger, and crop damage incidents from elephant, rhino, and boar, increased over the study period. In contrast, property damage—exclusively by elephants—remained relatively stable in Chitwan but decreased in Bardia, possibly reflecting seasonal and transboundary movement patterns of elephants, or the effectiveness of targeted mitigation measures that have reduced elephant intrusions into settlements. Conflict hotspots—defined as the wards in the top quantile of HWC incidents—indicated priority areas for focused mitigation and remedial efforts. Habitat restoration in the buffer zones and corridors outside PAs could potentially mitigate HWC, but it might simultaneously export HWC to new areas outside the PAs. Targeted community-based mitigation measures should be implemented in the peak raiding periods, and predator-proof sheds would reduce livestock losses; both initiatives require substantial external financial support. Finally, the widespread adoption of livestock insurance that responds to spatiotemporal risk should be considered, along with funding and coordination by government and conservation organizations. Overall, the evidence suggests that successful megafauna conservation may be associated with increased HWC. Nevertheless, our findings offer practical insights to guide species-specific conflict mitigation and HWC management in tropical landscapes where megafauna populations are recovering, and conflicts are intensifying.
Weak compliance with Nigeria’s wildlife trade ban imposed to curb mpox spillovers
Zoonotic diseases pose global public health threats, prompting various interventions to limit their emergence and spread. One increasingly common response by governments has been to ban wildlife hunting, trade and consumption. However, there is limited evidence of the effectiveness of wildlife trade bans. Here we assess compliance with Nigeria’s wildlife trade ban—enacted to curb the spread of mpox (formerly monkeypox)—by analysing approximately 4.5 years of wild meat sales data from 19 vendors in southeast Nigeria (988 vendor-months) alongside interviews with vendors and law enforcement officials. After matching the sales data by time of year, we found no significant differences before and after the ban in the number of vendors selling wild meat per week, the weekly mass of wild meat sold, or the weekly price per kilogram of wild meat; however, the total weekly sales price was higher post-ban. These findings, supported by interview insights, indicate widespread non-compliance by vendors, questioning the ban’s effectiveness. We propose that successful regulations require clear enforcement mechanisms, active public engagement and economic incentives to improve compliance. This study provides valuable insights for designing effective interventions to mitigate zoonotic spillovers.
A global biodiversity use data infrastructure acknowledging indigenous and local knowledge
Many global biodiversity datasets overlook or misrepresent the knowledge of Indigenous Peoples, Local Communities, and Afro-Descendants (IPLCAD). We propose minimum data and metadata standards for a global data infrastructure on biodiversity knowledge and use, co-designed with IPLCAD, including information on language, community attribution and consent, to ensure data traceability and ethical use. This initiative integrates ancestral and academic sciences to advance inclusive biodiversity governance, addressing historical inequities for global sustainability.
Forest landscape restoration and tenure security in Madagascar
This report, “Forest landscape restoration and tenure security in Madagascar,” is a scoping study prepared within the research-action project “Forest landscape restoration for improved livelihoods: secure tenure to catalyze community action in Madagascar and Cameroon”, financed by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
This report pursues two main objectives: provide FLR practitioners and decision makers with an overview of the socioecological, governance, and tenure context shaping FLR in Madagascar; and distil key lessons learned from restoration and tenure initiatives to date, culminating in design principles for tenure-responsive and socially inclusive FLR.
Our analysis suggests that Madagascar has a solid foundation for scaling tenure-responsive FLR: high biodiversity and restoration potential; a national FLR strategy; a diversity of local institutions; and a growing portfolio of projects that link restoration with tenure and livelihoods. However, major challenges include persistent tenure insecurity in some areas and overlapping claims between state and communities; uneven and sometimes contradictory land law reforms; limited geographic coverage of FLR and land tenure security initiatives; structural rural poverty; and political and governance volatility.
We propose design principles for tenure-responsive and socially inclusive FLR. These principles centre around several key ideas: recognize and strengthen legitimate customary and statutory rights; work through and with locally legitimate governance institutions; tailor FLR strategies to different landscape types (including grasslands and pastoral systems); integrate livelihood support and equity considerations; and treat carbon finance and PES as tools to complement rights-based and participatory restoration rather than to replace them.
Atelier de lancement « Reverdir l’Afrique — Phase II »
La réunion a débuté par l’allocution de bienvenue d’Abena Amedormey (représentante nationale de CRS pour le Ghana) et de Maxwell Amedia (au nom de l’équipe ghanéenne et de World Vision Ghana). Les participants ont été présentés et salués. Cette séance a permis de poser les bases solides pour des discussions approfondies et une participation active tout au long de l’atelier.
Local Indicator Selection Process (LISP): For designing context-specific agroecological performance assessments
How can agroecological performance be assessed in ways that are both locally meaningful and globally credible? The Local Indicator Selection Process (LISP) offers a practical, participatory answer. Developed and tested across diverse contexts, this guide supports teams in co-designing indicators that reflect local priorities while remaining aligned with broader agroecological assessment frameworks.
Grounded in the Holistic Localized Performance Assessment (HOLPA) Framework, LISP provides step-by-step guidance for facilitators and project managers to convene stakeholders, articulate shared visions, and translate them into robust, measurable indicators across agricultural, environmental, social, and economic dimensions. The process balances scientific rigor with inclusivity, ensuring indicators are meaningful, feasible, and responsive to real-world change.
Designed for use within Agroecology Living Landscapes (ALLs) but adaptable far beyond them, this publication is a hands-on resource for anyone seeking to generate credible evidence of agroecological transitions, whether for community monitoring, project evaluation, or investment decision-making. LISP puts local knowledge at the center of performance assessment, where it belongs.
Strengthening Rural Capacity in Kapuas Hulu District Towards Enhancing The Climate-Smart Agriculture Technologies and Practices (ECSAP) of Smallholder Commodity Farmers
The Enhancing Climate-Smart Agriculture Practices (ECSAP) project in Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan, strengthens the capacity of smallholder farmers to adopt climate-smart agroforestry and sustainable farming systems. The project promotes soil and water conservation, diversified crops, and improved farm management to increase productivity while protecting forest and landscape health. Through training, demonstration plots, and knowledge exchange, farmers and extension workers enhance their technical and business skills. In Pondok Mensiau and surrounding villages, ECSAP supports community-based learning and local innovations that improve livelihoods and resilience. These efforts contribute to stronger rural institutions, sustainable incomes, and more climate-resilient agricultural landscapes.
Migration, remittances and forest restoration in Tajikistan: Turning a coping strategy into local resilience
Key messages
- Tajikistan has made steady progress towards medium levels of economic and human development, yet its fragile ecosystems and limited domestic employment make the country highly vulnerable to economic shocks, natural disasters and climate change. Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, labour migration has become a central livelihood strategy, and remittances (funds that the migrant send back home) now play a vital role in sustaining both household incomes and national stability.
- Under the Bonn Challenge and the Astana Resolution, Tajikistan has pledged to reforest or afforest 4,000 hectares (ha) annually through 2030. Assuming an average cost of USD 450 per ha, this would require about USD 1.8 million per year – equivalent to only 0.04% of annual remittance inflows or 2.4% of the annual economic losses caused by landslides and mudflows (USD 75 million).
- Strengthening Joint Forest Management and the Saving Book approach could provide practical incentives for local participation in restoration. The Saving Book mechanism allows communities to voluntarily pool and reinvest small savings into collective restoration initiatives – without diverting remittances – linking financial inclusion with sustainable land and forest management.
- Migration in Tajikistan represents both an adaptation strategy and a vulnerability factor, highlighting the need for policies that transform remittance-based livelihoods into long-term local opportunities. Enabling frameworks – secure tenure, targeted incentives, financial inclusion and community-based management – can help channel voluntary savings and local capacities towards forest and land restoration.
- The Tajik experience offers valuable lessons for other remittance-dependent countries seeking to link migration, adaptation and sustainable landscape recovery.