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Nature based solutions for restoration of degraded forests and biodiversity conservation

XV World Forestry Congress, 2-6 May 2022










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    Article
    Forest natural resource management and non-timber forest products as nature-based solutions for climate adaptation, ecosystem restoration and poverty alleviation in Mali– a case study
    XV World Forestry Congress, 2-6 May 2022
    2022
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    Climate change, nature loss and poverty are major intertwined crises that mutually reinforce each other. This is particularly true for smallholder farmers in Africa’s drylands: they are the hardest hit by the climate crisis, which contributes to the degradation of the land upon which their livelihoods depend. Further pushed into poverty, rural people are forced to resort to unsustainable land practices for survival, feeding the cycle of environmental degradation and climate change. Intertwined crises need integrated approaches, such as nature-based solutions (NbS) that protect natural ecosystems and address societal challenges. Tree Aid works in Africa’s drylands to unlock the potential of trees to tackle poverty and improve the environment. Here, we present a quantitative NbS case study looking at the impacts of the adoption of forest natural resource management (NRM) and increased production of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) among smallholder farmers in the Segou region in Mali between July 2017 and July 2020. This project was a partnership between Tree Aid, the UK funded Darwin Initiative and local partner Sahel Eco.Its socioeconomic impact was evaluated with focus group discussions, baseline and endline assessments using the Rural Household Multi-Indicator Survey (RHoMIS) (https://www.rhomis.org/). Ecosystem restoration impacts were assessed by ecological surveys and data from permanent monitoring plots.We demonstrate that NRM and NTFPs delivered positive outcomes for people (reduction of project population living below the poverty line), biodiversity (+20,404ha of land under improved management), and climate (improved climate resilience through better access to natural resources). This evidences the viability of high-quality NbS in Africa’s drylands and calls for greater long-term restoration investment and deployment in the region informed by and delivered through local communities and organisations. Keywords: NbS, NTFPs, NRM, Mali, forest governance ID: 3622597
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    The SFI conservation impact project: supporting forest-based solutions for climate- change mitigation and biodiversity conservation
    XV World Forestry Congress, 2-6 May 2022
    2022
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    SFI has provided certification standards for sustainable forest practices and forest fiber procurement since 1995, and has experienced tremendous growth, such that SFI’s Forest Management Standard is the most widely applied single forest management standard in the world, with over 365 million certified acres (147 million hectares). Seeing the need for better understanding of the conservation related outcomes from decades of sustainable management, SFI initiated the Conservation Impact Project in 2016 to enumerate outcomes across the critical themes of climate change, biodiversity, and water. Findings of these collaborative research projects reveal the critical role of these certified forests toward landscape-scale biodiversity, wide ranging bird species in decline, and carbon capture and storage. These findings make clear that SFI Certified forests contribute significantly and uniquely to forest conservation outcomes in the United States and Canada and suggest the potential importance of sustainably managed certified forests in meeting global conservation objectives. Keywords: sustainable forest management, climate, carbon, conservation ID: 3478897
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    Creating biodiversity safeguards for nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation
    XV World Forestry Congress, 2-6 May 2022
    2022
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    There have been many trials and pilot experiments to mainstream biodiversity into the climate change regime through initiatives like REDD+ and Ecosystem based approaches. Nature-based Solutions (NbS) are being viewed as yet another opportunity to synergize climate and biodiversity actions. However, NbS is being promoted more as a climate solution than a biodiversity solution, while the word “nature” makes it seem like it may be good also for biodiversity. Past experiences show that not all forest-based projects conserved biodiversity, while some turned out to be harmful due to their “mitigation-centric” approach. Carbon sequestration by ecosystems is just a part of the overall services it provides, which include a range of provisioning, supporting, regulating and cultural services. All these are not accounted for when we focus on mitigation. This has led to a fear among the conservation community whether these solutions actually focus on biodiversity or just climate. It is important that NbS considers the overall value of nature beyond its carbon sink capability. Therefore, the socio-ecological systems mechanism needs to be well studied, both through the biodiversity and climate lens, to keep proper safety nets for biodiversity and dependent communities. In this background, this paper discusses: (i) trade-offs associated with former forest-based mechanisms under the climate regime; (ii) path shown by different organizations and researchers for the implementation of NbS; and (iii) ways to introduce biodiversity safeguards for NbS, considering social-ecological interactions. NbS is seen as a broad-spectrum solution and must advocate biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. NbS is taking an important position in both CBD and UNFCCC negotiations and future COPs will be instrumental in deciding the guidelines for NbS. This paper will add to the ongoing debate using also the available literature on NbS since its inception. Keywords: Climate change, Biodiversity conservation, Deforestation and forest degradation, Landscape management, Sustainable forest management ID: 3486767

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