Understanding why forest conservation initiatives succeed is essential to designing cost-effective programs. In this study, we investigate the impacts of a REDD+ project on both environmental and livelihood outcomes in the Brazilian Transamazon region, an area with historically high deforestation rates. Using counterfactual impact evaluation methods applied to survey and remote-sensing data, we assess the impact of the project over 2013–2019, from its first year until two years after its end. Based on a theory of change, we focus on land use and socioeconomic outcomes affected by the initiative. Our findings reveal specific impact mechanisms: forest conservation occurred primarily through reducing pasture expansion, while cattle production was maintained through intensification (increased stocking rates). Additionally, the project led to significantly higher agrobiodiversity among participating farms and promoted alternative livelihoods that generated greater revenue while using less land. These results suggest that conservation programs that combine conditional payments with technical assistance and support for adopting low-impact activities can effectively reduce deforestation in the short term and induce lasting changes in production systems, with positive effects persisting even after program completion.
Tag: conservation
The critical role of forests and trees in regulating the water cycle
Forests and trees – on or near agricultural land but also hundreds of kilometres away – can provide a range of water-related ecosystem services critical for agriculture, including freshwater supply, regulation of water flows, local climates and temperatures, as well as water damage mitigation, and water purification.
The water-related ecosystem services from trees and forests to agriculture are insufficiently monitored and valued, which means that they are under recognized in the agricultural sector and agriculture-related policies, resulting in economic losses for farmers and countries.
An integrated approach to landscape and natural resource management – forests and water – at various scales is essential for ensuring that the benefits of forests and trees for agriculture are optimized. Decision-support systems that consider trade-offs and synergies among the forest ecosystem services provided are emerging as key tools to facilitate this.
Impacts of land use change on ecosystem service degradation within a traditional circular agroecosystem: a case study of the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces
Amid ongoing socio–economic development and natural environmental changes, the paddy rice area within the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces has undergone substantial decline, resulting in significant imbalances within the agroecosystem. This study employs land use change mapping and ecosystem service evaluation models to assess the ecological impacts of land use changes on the agricultural system from 1990 to 2020. The findings reveal that the area of paddy rice decreased by a net total of 36.35 km2, representing a 24.83% reduction, with most of this area being converted into forest and cropland. Although forest expansion led to a 16.61% increase in carbon storage, the habitat quality declined overall due to the reduction in paddy rice areas. Specifically, the extent of lower-quality habitat areas expanded by 134.71 km2 (30.02%), while soil retention and water yield ecosystem services decreased by 14.43% and 11.74%, respectively. Areas exhibiting extremely high sensitivity to habitat degradation (32.71%), and geological hazards (38.82%) increased markedly, thereby posing substantial risks to the resilience of the terrace system. Conversely, the total area sensitive to soil erosion declined by 48.84%. These results demonstrate that land use change has adversely affected the traditional agroecosystem services of the Honghe Hani Rice Terraces. The study further proposes pathways for the optimization and conservation of traditional agroecosystem functions.
Partnering on Forests and Climate with Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities: Improving Success Indicators with Insights from a Conservation Incentive Program in Perú
Despite substantial investments to curb tropical deforestation, effective conservation incentives for Indigenous peoples and local communities is not well-defined and generally under-researched. This study assessed an incentive mechanism in Peru for Indigenous communities that protect enrolled forests to explore whether the stated program goals are actualized in programmatic elements like the requirements, monitoring, and assessment of prioritized outcomes. The research team worked with Indigenous partners to develop key questions regarding how the mechanism could better support their values of conservation and development. Data were sourced from interviews with implementation experts and participants in eight Indigenous communities, a review of programmatic documents, and an assessment of nationally aggregated community data. The results revealed challenges in program capacity, a lack of cultural awareness, and a reliance on capitalistic economic indicators that exclude other aspects of well-being important for Indigenous peoples. We find that the program’s success indicators do not adequately align with conservation or social realities on the ground and that enhanced indicators are needed to ensure success and avoid negative unintended consequences. We demonstrate that enhancing the assessment of governance, economics, engagement, and social inclusion can improve the design, implementation, and monitoring in this and similar programming. We conclude with generalizable recommendations for establishing requirements and monitoring in existing and future conservation incentive programs that target Indigenous communities.
Diversity, structure and socioeconomic importance of agroforestry systems in buffer zones of Bouba Ndjidda National Park, Cameroon
Protected areas in the Sudano-Sahelian zone face increasing threats from human activities. Establishing agroforestry systems in buffer zones is a strategy to mitigate these pressures. This study characterized agroforestry systems surrounding Bouba Ndjidda National Park, assessed tree diversity in agroforestry systems, and evaluated of the use pattern of agroforestry species. Farmers were randomly selected for interviews, and their farms surveyed to document agroforestry practices and woody flora. Four agroforestry systems were identified: agroforestry parklands (48.65%), homegardens (27.03%), fallows (13.51%), and live fences (10.81%). A total of 50 woody plant species, spanning 42 genera and 23 families, were recorded, with Fabaceae being the most dominant family. Senegalia polyacantha had the highest Importance Value Index (88.65). Fallows exhibited the highest biodiversity indices, with significantly greater Shannon (1.15 ± 0.18, P = 0.0103) and Simpson indices (0.64 ± 0.05, P = 0.0003) than live fences. Tree density was highest in live fences (P < 0.05), while tree diameter and height were significantly greater in agroforestry parklands than in fallows (P = 0.0187), homegardens (P = 0.0024), and live fences (P = 0.0003). Tree basal area was largest in live fences (P < 0.05). Woody plant species were primarily used for fuelwood (66.49%) and food (63.69%). Vitellaria paradoxa had the highest Use Value (4.36), while Anacardium occidentale had the highest Cultural Importance Index (1.00). Conservation assessments recorded Eucalyptus camaldulensis (near-threatened) in fallows and parklands, Tectona grandis (endangered) in homegardens, and two vulnerable species, Khaya senegalensis and Vitellaria paradoxa, in agroforestry parklands and homegardens.
From Rio to Johannesburg and beyond: forest conservation and rural livelihoods in the global South
In the last few years, forests have lost their previous prominence on the international agenda. The forestry and conservation community needs to work hard to change that because forests can contribute greatly to meeting the challenges of poverty, disease, access to clean water, biodiversity conservation, climate change and violent conflict. There have been more successes than most policy-makers realize, particularly in the areas of devolving rights over forests to disadvantaged groups and forest restoration. Poverty Reduction Strategies should ensure that poor people maintain access to forest safety nets and provide support for small-scale forest-based enterprises. Biodiversity conservation strategies in developing countries should: 1) reduce incentives for forest destruction, 2) give rights to groups that are less likely to destroy forests; 3) pay people to conserve biodiversity, and 4) focus on landscape mosaics, in addition to supporting protected areas. World leaders should recognize the potential contribution of forests to global peace and take action to realize that potential.
Towards rights-centered conservation for and by indigenous peoples and local communities: The case of Amazônia
Drawing from extensive field research at multiple (sub)national jurisdictions and protected areas (PA) detecting resource access restrictions per strict forest protection in Amazônia, this article analyses means and processes for affected rightsholders to secure their access to resources. In this case, the main question addressed is: How can PA-affected rightsholders (re)gain collective access to livelihood-relevant resources? The findings reveal that resource co-management compromises between State and PA-affected non-State actors – in the case of the Trombetas River Biological Reserve’s Term of Compromise updated in 2024 – fall short in accounting for Quilombolas (i.e. traditional afrodescendents who are also covered by ILO Convention 169) right to resources; despite such right being formalized per Brazil’s constitution, particularly for their right to land. Moreover, access limitations can further be addressed and redressed (non)judicially, provided accessibility for affected rightsholders to file rights-infringement complaints via grievance redress mechanisms (GRM). Such access(ibility) depends on whether GRM are known to potential grievance-submitters and if they have established processes for enforcing and securing rights. In Brazil, (sub)national ombuds offices function as GRM at multiple administrative levels – Ministério Público (MP) – for all citizens in Brazil but do not yet effectively leverage self-determined operationalisation of resource rights by affected Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities, including Quilombolas. Despite the latter being aware of MP’s safeguarding rights responsibilty, the MP is understaffed and affected rightsholders are often dependent on law offices with State-lawyers – Defensoria Pública – to support them free-of-charge in dealing with ‘legal language’ as well as entangled bureaucratic procedures to effectively secure respective rights. Further, Quilombolas live in and with forests in remote areas, which in Amazônia often implies prohibitive costs for affected rightsholders to cover boat transport from communities to ombuds offices in larger urban centers, which prevents them from conveying their complaints. Besides, State-lawyers are scarce and seldomly travel to communities. Finally, moving from rights-blind conservation not only to rights-based but also to rights-centered conservation calls for further institutionalizing grievance spaces and processes, and for facilitating access(ibility) to GRM if we are to inclusively address resource disputes in contested PAs in Brazil and elsewhere.
Local knowledge and practices on use and management of edible insects in Lake Victoria basin, East Africa
Edible insects (EIs) provide an important food source in Africa, but their potential to improve livelihoods and environmental conservation is yet to be fully exploited. This study contributes towards enhancing the use of EIs in the Lake Victoria basin (LVB), with particular attention to local perspectives of the catalogue, ecology, management, collection, processing and consumption. The study was conducted along the LVB in Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda between 2012 and 2013 using a household survey and focus group discussions. Results revealed that up to 20 insect species were eaten in Uganda, 13 in Burundi, and six in Rwanda. In Uganda, the most consumed insects were a katydid grasshopper (Ruspolia differens), palm weevil (Rhynchophorus phoenicis) larvae and termites (Macrotermes), while in Rwanda and Burundi, Macrotermes species were the most consumed. The most common source of EIs in households was their own collection from the wild, although a number of insects were also bought from markets. Local communities reported various ways of collecting, processing and storing insects. Overall, most of these activities require technological interventions. Despite the high consumption of EIs, no deliberate efforts were reported on conservation and rearing of any of the insects consumed in the three countries. This raises serious questions pertaining to the sustainable consumption of EIs, especially in the face of climate change in this region.
Do commercial forest plantations reduce pressure on natural forests? Evidence from forest policy reforms in Uganda
This paper investigates if and how the establishment of private commercial forest plantations in degraded forest reserves can conserve natural forests in Uganda. It uses difference-in-difference and decomposition analyses on household data collected from intervention and control villages in the neighborhood of forest reserves. We find that commercial forest plantations are weakly effective in conserving natural forests. The reduction in forest use is unevenly distributed across households depending on location and resource endowments such as farmland and livestock. The results suggest that the conservation effectiveness can be enhanced by complementary interventions that change characteristics that reduce forest use, such as more education for forest users.
Bridging the gap: how can information access and exchange between conservation biologists and field practitioners be improved for better conservation outcomes?
It is widely accepted that there is a considerable gap between the science of conservation biology and the design and execution of biodiversity conservation projects in the field and science is failing to inform the practice of conservation. There are many reasons why this implementation gap exists. A high proportion of papers published in scientific journals by conservation biologists are seldom read outside of the academic world and there are few incentives for academics to convert their science into practice. In turn, field practitioners rarely document their field experiences and experiments in a manner that can meaningfully inform conservation scientists. Issues related to access to scientific literature, scientific relevance in multidisciplinary environments, donor expectations and a lack of critical analysis at all levels of conservation theory and practice are factors that exacerbate the divide. The contexts in which conservation biologists and field practitioners operate are also often highly dissimilar, and each has differing professional responsibilities and expectations that compromise the ability to learn from each other’s expertise. Building on recent debate in the literature, and using case studies to illustrate the issues that characterize the divide, this paper draws on the authors’ experiences of project management as well as academic research. We identify five key issues related to information exchange: access to scientific literature, levels of scientific literacy, lack of interdisciplinarity, questions of relevance and lack of sharing of conservation-related experiences and suggest new ways of working that could assist in bridging the gap between conservation scientists and field practitioners.