Governance
Key challenges for governing forest and landscape restoration across different contextsBackgroundForest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) restores ecological integrity, strengthens climate resilience, enhances human well-being, and increases the productivity of deforested or degraded landscapes. By integrating diverse land uses and restorative actions, FLR balances environmental and socio-economic needs. Global agreements, including the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, the Paris Climate Agreement, and the Bonn Challenge, recognize its importance. Effective governance—defined by clear rules and inclusive decision-making—plays a critical role in ensuring FLR's success. Open access copy available |
Environmental governance and its implications for conservation practiceBackgroundEnvironmental governance is a growing field that expands conservation practice beyond traditional management approaches. Managers make operational decisions to achieve specific conservation outcomes, while governance involves the broader processes and institutions through which societies make decisions that affect the environment. Unlike management, governance incorporates diverse views, fosters networks, and supports hybrid partnerships among state and non-state actors, creating opportunities for shared learning. Open access copy available |
Why environmental impact assessments often failBackgroundEnvironmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) aim to mitigate the environmental costs of development, particularly in biodiversity-rich developing nations. While governments and corporations claim EIAs as safeguards against environmental harm from roads, dams, mines, and housing, many are ineffective or even worthless. Weak assessments fail to prevent projects that destroy habitats and endanger species. Key shortcomings include insufficient funding, narrow focus on immediate project areas, conflicts of interest among consultants, and poor governance that grants developers undue influence over policy decisions. Open access copy available |
The 10 Elements of Agroecology: enabling transitions towards sustainable agriculture and food systems through visual narrativesBackgroundAgriculture and food systems around the world are failing to deliver the desired outcomes for food security and nutrition, creating an urgent need for transformative change to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Addressing this challenge requires stakeholders to adopt holistic approaches that integrate population, diet, and food production, moving beyond a narrow focus on technological advancements and productivity. Agroecology, which incorporates social, political, and economic dimensions, provides a promising pathway to build sustainable and equitable food systems. Open access copy available |
Foresters' beliefs about farmers: a priority for social science research in social forestryBackgroundAvailable with subscription or purchase |
Livelihoods, Forests, and Conservation in Developing Countries: An OverviewBACKGROUND:Poverty is a huge challenge, with 2.8 billion of the world’s 6 billion people living on less than $2 a day. The paper highlights the alarming extent of poverty in developing countries and addresses the rapid deforestation, which compromises ecological integrity and exacerbates social inequities. The authors focus on exploring whether poverty alleviation and forest conservation can be aligned as complementary rather than conflicting objectives. Available with subscription or purchase |
Peasants, agroforesters, and anthropologists: A 20-year venture in income-generating trees and hedgerows in HaitiBackgroundAvailable with subscription or purchase |
Rural Women, Poverty and Natural Resources: Sustenance, Sustainability and Struggle for ChangeBackgroundAvailable with subscription or purchase |
Environmental Rights are a Human Right to a Healthy Environment: A Brief ReviewBACKGROUND:Environmental rights constitute a legal field dedicated to protecting and preserving the environment. This area of law governs the interactions between humans and nature through a comprehensive set of regulations. The paper delves into the intrinsic link between environmental protection and human rights, highlighting the evolution and significance of environmental rights within legal frameworks. It particularly focuses on developments in the Americas and explores how environmental rights have been increasingly integrated into broader human rights agendas. Open access copy available |
Beyond Tenure: Rights-based Approaches to Peoples and ForestsBackgroundOpen access copy available |
