Global forest restoration and the importance of empowering local
communities

Date:
August 24, 2020
Source:
University of Michigan
Summary:
Forest restoration is a crucial element in strategies to mitigate
climate change and conserve global biodiversity in the coming
decades, and much of the focus is on formerly tree-covered lands
in the tropics.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Forest restoration is a crucial element in strategies to mitigate climate change and conserve global biodiversity in the coming decades, and much
of the focus is on formerly tree-covered lands in the tropics.


==========================================================================
But recent forest restoration research rarely acknowledges the social dimensions or environmental justice implications of such projects. A
new study finds that nearly 300 million people in the tropics live on
lands suitable for forest restoration, and about a billion people live
within 5 miles of such lands. Many of these people live in poverty.

Just and equitable implementation of restoration projects will require
that communities be empowered to manage and use local forests, according
to the authors of the study published in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution.

Community management of forest areas includes the rights to access
the forests, withdraw forest resources, and manage lands for community
benefit.

"We argue that the success of global forest restoration critically
depends on prioritizing local communities," said study lead author James Erbaugh of Dartmouth College, who earned a doctorate from the University
of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability.

"Empowering local communities to restore forests can provide human
well-being benefits to millions of the most deprived and marginalized
people, as well as environmental benefits for all." Study co-authors
include SEAS professor Arun Agrawal, as well as other current and former graduate students and postdoctoral researchers at the U-M school.



========================================================================== Their analysis examines the overlap between opportunities for tropical
forest restoration, human populations, development and national
policies for community forest ownership. The researchers focused on the opportunities in tropical countries because of the potential there for
removing atmospheric carbon, promoting biodiversity conservation and contributing to the well-being of local residents.

For the study, the researchers combined two datasets: one that classifies forest restoration opportunities using demographic, geographic and
land-cover data, and another that uses estimates from a land-change
model to predict carbon removal from forest restoration.

They found that 294.5 million people live in recently tree-covered areas
in the tropics that hold promise for forest restoration -- places the researchers call forest restoration opportunity areas. About 1 billion
people live within 5 miles of land predicted to be suitable for forest restoration over the next 30 years if a moderate carbon-tax incentive
of around $20 per ton of carbon dioxide is implemented.

Brazil, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, India and Indonesia have the greatest number of people living in or near forest restoration opportunity areas with the greatest potential to remove heat-trapping carbon dioxide
from the atmosphere and sequester it in forests, according to the study.

Within low-income countries in the tropics, 12% of the population lives
in forest restoration opportunity areas, a finding that highlights the potential for improving the livelihood and well-being of millions of
people who are often underserved by standard investments in infrastructure
and development, according to the authors.



========================================================================== Nighttime satellite images showing the brightness and extent of artificial lighting on the Earth's surface can be used as a proxy for multiple
development indicators. In the current study, areas in low-income nations
with the least nighttime light radiance and the greatest carbon-removal potential indicated the places where forest restoration projects might
best complement sustainable development agendas.

"There are many opportunities in central, eastern and southern Africa to restore forests and provide socioeconomic and infrastructure benefits
to local people facing many multidimensional deprivations," said U-M's
Agrawal, who is also editor-in-chief of the journal World Development.

"Forest landscape restoration that prioritizes local communities by
affording them rights to manage and restore forests provides a promising
option to align global agendas for climate mitigation, conservation, environmental justice and sustainable development." On the other hand,
denying decision-making powers to affected locals could pose serious
ethical problems, especially if some of those individuals are displaced
by forest-restoration projects designed to help mitigate human-caused
climate change and preserve biodiversity.

Such exclusion would force some of the most multidimensionally poor people
- - those who live in rural areas within low-income countries -- to move
or give up their current livelihood for a global carbon and biodiversity
debt to which they contributed little, according to the researchers.

And while local communities should be empowered to manage forests for restoration, opportunities to expand community forest ownership must
also be explored, they say..

Most of the forest restoration opportunity areas analyzed in the study
are in countries with preexisting legal frameworks for community forest ownership, which represents a stronger set of resource rights than
community forest management.

Continued efforts to expand community forest ownership are especially
important in countries with a substantial proportion of people living
in forest restoration opportunity areas, such as the Central African
Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Thailand and the Lao
People's Democratic Republic.

Forest restoration projects in the tropics involve planting trees on land previously cleared for agriculture, timber harvesting or other purposes.

Increasing support for such efforts is becoming available from both
government agencies and nongovernmental organizations, Agrawal says.

The authors of the Nature Ecology & Evolution paper support the use
of a landscape planning and management tool called forest landscape restoration, or FLR, as a way to include local communities in forest-restoration projects in the tropics. FLR "aims to restore
ecological integrity and enhance human well- being on deforested
and degraded lands through the inclusion and engagement of local
stakeholders," according to the researchers.

Proponents of FLR say it contributes to human well-being through the
use and sale of forest products, that it promotes increases in local
food and water security, and that it respects diverse cultural values
that local peoples hold for trees and forests.

"Our study highlights the critical need for close ties between
researchers, decision makers and local communities to secure greater
wellbeing for people and ecosystems," Agrawal said. "Those working on
forests -- whether government agencies or researchers -- forget far too
often the necessity of working with people, not against them."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Michigan. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. J. T. Erbaugh, N. Pradhan, J. Adams, J. A. Oldekop, A. Agrawal, D.

Brockington, R. Pritchard, A. Chhatre. Global forest restoration and
the importance of prioritizing local communities. Nature Ecology &
Evolution, 2020; DOI: 10.1038/s41559-020-01282-2 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200824110114.htm

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