Principles, criteria and indicators

This concept paper addresses those elements in the people-forest interface which we perceive as critical to sustainable forest management, based on our own training and experience, as well as two field tests of the conceptual framework (in Kalimantan and Côte d’Ivoire ). Initially, we define our use of important terms, like sustainability, well being/needs, and people; and make clear some of our assumptions. We briefly allude to four pertinent conceptual and policy issues, including the role of people in relation to the forest; the significance of maintaining cultural diversity; the relationships among cultural integrity, culture change, and stakeholder participation; and finally, policy issues pertaining to land use, population, and people’s participation. The body of the paper discusses two principles, each with three associated criteria. An appendix lists principles, criteria, indicators and verifiers found useful in our field tests. We conclude briefly by describing future research plans, focused on refining our definitions of stakeholders, testing the importance of inter- generational access to resources and people’s participation in sustainable forest management, and testing the applicability of such criteria and indicators for community forestry contexts.

Introduction

The introductory chapter introduces the Agenda 2030 and its 17 SDGs and briefly presents the process that led to its adoption. It discusses the nature of the SDGs, recognising the great variation in the nature, scope and function of the SDGs and related targets, and drawing attention to the interlinkages among the goals and targets. Forests provide ecosystem services that are crucial for human welfare and for reaching the SDGs. The chapter gives a brief overview of the world’s forests and forests’ contributions to the SDGs. Forests are only mentioned in two SDGs (SDG 6 and SDG 15). However, due to the interrelated nature of the SDGs and targets, the implementation of the SDG agenda will inevitably influence forests and forest-related livelihoods and the possibilities to achieve the forest specific targets. Understanding the potential impacts of SDGs on forests, forest-related livelihoods and forest-based options to generate progress towards achieving the SDGs, as well as the related tradeoffs and synergies, is crucial for efforts undertaken to reach these goals. It is especially important for reducing potential negative impacts and to leverage opportunities to create synergies that will ultimately determine whether comprehensive progress towards the SDGs will be accomplished.

Sustainable Development Goals: Their Impacts on Forests and People

Forests provide vital ecosystem services crucial to human well-being and sustainable development, and have an important role to play in achieving the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations 2030 Agenda. Little attention, however, has yet focused on how efforts to achieve the SDGs will impact forests and forest-related livelihoods, and how these impacts may, in turn, enhance or undermine the contributions of forests to climate and development. This book discusses the conditions that influence how SDGs are implemented and prioritised, and provides a systematic, multidisciplinary global assessment of interlinkages among the SDGs and their targets, increasing understanding of potential synergies and unavoidable trade-offs between goals. Ideal for academic researchers, students and decision-makers interested in sustainable development in the context of forests, this book will provide invaluable knowledge for efforts undertaken to reach the SDGs. This title is available as Open Access via Cambridge Core.

Contents

  1. Sustainable Development Goals: Their Impacts on Forests and People
  2. Sustainable Development Goals – Title page
  3. Copyright page
  4. Contents
  5. Contributors
  6. Preface
  7. Acknowledgements
  8. Executive Summary
  9. Abbreviations
  10. IntroductionBy Pia Katila, Carol J. Pierce Colfer, Wil de Jong, Glenn Galloway, Pablo Pacheco, Georg Winkel
  11. Chapter 1 – SDG 1: No Poverty – Impacts of Social Protection, Tenure Security and Building Resilience on ForestsBy Kathleen Lawlor, Erin Sills, Stibniati Atmadja, Liwei Lin, Karnjana Songwathana
  12. Chapter 2 – SDG 2: Zero Hunger – Challenging the Hegemony of Monoculture Agriculture for Forests and PeopleBy Terry C.H. Sunderland, Alida O’Connor, Giulia Muir, Lauren Nerfa, Giulia Rota Nodari, Camilla Wildmark, Nur Bahar, Amy Ickowitz
  13. Chapter 3 – SDG 3: Good Health and Well-Being – Framing Targets to Maximise Co-Benefits for Forests and PeopleBy Rosemary A. McFarlane, John Barry, Guéladio Cissé, Maya Gislason, Marta Gruca, Kerryn Higgs, Pierre Horwitz, Giang Huu Nguyen, Jane O’Sullivan, Subhashis Sahu, Colin D. Butler
  14. Chapter 4 – SDG 4: Quality Education and Forests – ‘The Golden Thread’By Peter Kanowski, Dollie Yao, Stephen Wyatt
  15. Chapter 5 – SDG 5: Gender Equality – A Precondition for Sustainable ForestryBy Seema Arora-Jonsson, Shruti Agarwal, Carol J. Pierce Colfer, Stephanie Keene, Priya Kurian, Anne M. Larson
  16. Chapter 6 – SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation – Forest-Related Targets and Their Impacts on Forests and PeopleBy Jaime Amezaga, James Bathurst, Andrés Iroumé, Julia Jones, Rajan Kotru, Laxmi Dutt Bhatta, Elaine Springgay
  17. Chapter 7 – SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy – How Access to Affordable and Clean Energy Affects Forests and Forest-Based LivelihoodsBy Pamela Jagger, Robert Bailis, Ahmad Dermawan, Noah Kittner, Ryan McCord
  18. Chapter 8 – SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth – Potential Impacts on Forests and Forest-Dependent LivelihoodsBy Dietmar Stoian, Iliana Monterroso, Dean Current
  19. Chapter 9 – SDG 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure – Anticipating the Potential Impacts on Forests and Forest-Based LivelihoodsBy Maria Fernanda Tomaselli, Joleen Timko, Robert Kozak, Justin Bull, Sean Kearney, Jack Saddler, Susan van Dyk, Guangyu Wang, Xinxin Zhu
  20. Chapter 10 – SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities – An Environmental Justice Perspective on Implications for Forests and PeopleBy Bimbika Sijapati Basnett, Rodd Myers, Marlène Elias
  21. Chapter 11 – SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities – Impacts on Forests and Forest-Based LivelihoodsBy Tahia Devisscher, Cecil Konijnendijk, Lorien Nesbitt, Jennifer Lenhart, Fabio Salbitano, Zhaohua Cindy Cheng, Shuaib Lwasa, Matilda van den Bosch
  22. Chapter 12 – SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production – Potential Benefits and Impacts on Forests and LivelihoodsBy Patrick Schröder, Alexander S. Antonarakis, Jana Brauer, Abu Conteh, Ryo Kohsaka, Yuta Uchiyama, Pablo Pacheco
  23. Chapter 13 – SDG 13: Climate Action – Impacts on Forests and PeopleBy Bas Louman, Rodney J. Keenan, Daniela Kleinschmit, Stibniati Atmadja, Almeida A. Sitoe, Isilda Nhantumbo, Ronnie de Camino Velozo, Jean Pierre Morales
  24. Chapter 14 – SDG 14: Life below Water – Impacts on MangrovesBy Daniel A. Friess, Toe Toe Aung, Mark Huxham, Catherine Lovelock, Nibedita Mukherjee, Sigit Sasmito
  25. Chapter 15 – SDG 15: Life on Land – The Central Role of Forests in Sustainable DevelopmentBy Jeffrey Sayer, Douglas Sheil, Glenn Galloway, Rebecca A. Riggs, Gavyn Mewett, Kenneth G. MacDicken, Bas Arts, Agni K. Boedhihartono, James Langston, David P. Edwards
  26. Chapter 16 – SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions – A Political Ecology PerspectiveBy Constance L. McDermott, Emmanuel Acheampong, Seema Arora-Jonsson, Rebecca Asare, Wil de Jong, Mark Hirons, Kaysara Khatun, Mary Menton, Fiona Nunan, Mahesh Poudyal, Abidah Setyowati
  27. Chapter 17 – SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals – Focus on Forest Finance and PartnershipsBy David Humphreys, Benjamin Singer, Kathleen McGinley, Roy Smith, Jessica Budds, Mónica Gabay, Shonil Bhagwat, Wil de Jong, Helen Newing, Charlotte Cross, Poshendra Satyal
  28. Chapter 18 – Synergies, Trade-Offs and Contextual Conditions Shaping Impacts of the Sustainable Development Goals on Forests and PeopleBy Wil de Jong, Glenn Galloway, Carol J. Pierce Colfer, Pia Katila, Georg Winkel, Pablo Pacheco
  29. Chapter 19 – The Impacts of the Sustainable Development Goals on Forests and People – Conclusions and the Way ForwardBy Georg Winkel, Glenn Galloway, Carol J. Pierce Colfer, Wil de Jong, Pia Katila, Pablo Pacheco

Chapter 19 – The Impacts of the Sustainable Development Goals on Forests and People – Conclusions and the Way Forward

This chapter summarises the lessons learnt in the book, based on a reflection process amongst the editors and a joint workshop with the lead authors. The key messages are that 1) forests are a crucial base for sustainable development, and need to be fully considered in all related decision making, 2) the SDGs will impact forests and the people dependent on them in many ways, with the exact impact being highly dependant on the respective ecological and socio-economic context, 3) the SDGs include partially conflicting visions for forests and people, corresponding to distinct values and interests, involving the necessity to consider trade-offs and set priorities when implementing them, 4) there are fundamental values and principles that may guide sustainable development related to forests and people regardless of the context, including basic human rights but also forest-specific aspects and principles for how existing trade-offs can be managed, 5) that there is the necessity to continuously learn from, and adapt, the process of implementing the SDGs. The chapter concludes by addressing the urgency of creative and forward-looking human engagement at the forest–people interface, to make sure that sustainable development can benefit both forests and people.

Chapter 18 – Synergies, Trade-Offs and Contextual Conditions Shaping Impacts of the Sustainable Development Goals on Forests and People

The chapter summarises the main findings from the SDG chapters (1–17) combined with the results from a workshop in 2018 to answer the following questions: How is Agenda 2030 likely to interact with forests and people? What are the possible synergies, trade-offs between goals and targets? What are the contextual conditions that shape the interactions between SDGs and targets and subsequent impacts on forests and people? Two broad groups of SDGs emerge. One includes SDGs that primarily focus on institutional, governance and social conditions. Those contribute to an enabling environment for inclusive forest management and conservation with associated livelihood benefits. A second group of SDGs affect land use directly and thus are expected to impact forests. Progress in the first group of SDGs results in synergistic interactions and positive outcomes for forests and peoples. Among the second group of SDGs, the potential for trade-offs is high, with important repercussions for forest and people. Understanding the potential for these trade-offs is essential in order to avoid implementation pathways that favour a small subset of these SDGs at the expense of the others.

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