Local Livelihoods
Lowering Emissions in Asia's Forests (LEAF)BackgroundThe Lowering Emmissions in Asia's Forests (LEAF) program was USAID regiona initiative that ran for five years, from 2011 to 2016. This final report summarizes the challenges the LEAF program faced and the results it achieved. Open access copy available |
Climate Resilient Participatory Afforestation and Reforestation ProjectBACKGROUNDThe project takes place in one of the most densely-populated agrarian countries in the world, Bangladesh, which has also been facing the problem of high rates of deforestation. In the last three decades, Bangladesh’s forest cover has declined by 2.1 percent per year. On the other hand, the country is highly vulnerable to natural disasters such as storms, floods and drought. The lower part of Bangladesh adjoining the Bay of Bengal is particularly prone to frequent tropical cyclones, storm surges and salinity intrusion. Climate change models suggest that the intensity of super cyclonic events will further increase over the coming decades. Open access copy available |
Community-based Mangrove Reforestation and Management in Da Loc, VietnamBackgroundIn 2005, the Da Loc commune in Vietnam was hit by Typhoon Damrey, causing major flooding and the destruction of agricultural lands. The dikes that upheld through the storm were surrounded by mangroves, thus a program was devised to increase adaptation and mitigation strategies to strong storms through mangrove reforestation. Open access copy available |
ERECON, Ministry of Environment Cambodia, UNU: Kampong Cham province, Mondol Kiri province, and Battam Bang province, CambodiaBackgroundDeforestation has been a signficant issue in Cambodia since the 1970s due to agricultural expansion and unstable political eras. This has caused severe flooding or drought downstream, environmental degradation and loss of biodiversity. Relatively recently, there has been an increasingly call to promote restoration and conservation of environment and sustainable use and management of natural resources. Open access copy available |
Restoration of degraded forest land in Thailand: the case of Khao KhoBackgroundIn the 1960s, the Khao Kho district in Thailand experienced extremely deforestation and destruction due to both armed conflict and an influx of migration to the area. In 1990, the UNDP began the project "Reforestation of Denuded Forest Lands in Khao Kho" in order to reverse these trends. Open access copy available |
Eden Project and the Forest Restoration Unit, ThailandBackgroundThe Doi Suthep-Pui National Park in north-west Thailand attracts millions of visitors annual but has also been degraded by slash-and-burn agriculture and tourism use. The Forest Restoration Research Unit has collaborated with scientists and the national park to attempt to restore the degraded land and return it to a rich tropical forest. Open access copy available |
Face the Future: EcuadorBackgroundDue to high population levels and a constant reliance on natural resources for livelihoods, the Andes region in Ecuador has lost an estimated +90% of its primary forest. Since 1993, Face the Future and the Ecuadorian Ministry of the Environment have worked together to reforest this region. Goals & MethodThe objective of the project was to work towards reforesting the region through plantings. Farmers preferred species that grew well and had economic value, such as plant pines and eucalyptus. Native species were also planted, particularly within reserve areas. Open access copy available |
Forest in the Air ProjectBackgroundAs a joint venture by Conservation International and Daikin, the Forest in the Air Project works in Gunung Gede Pangrango National Park in Indonesia. The forest is not only home to a variety of flora and fauna but also provides critical ecosystem services. Like other forests in Indonesia, the park is under threat from agriculture and other human activities, such as illegal logging. Open access copy available |
Farmer Strategies for Dealing with Climatic Variability: A Case Study from the Mixteca Alta Region of Oaxaca, MexicobackgroundClimate change is likely to disproportionally effect tropical regions. Yet effective adaptation requires an understanding of climate variability at specific locations and most data is regional. This is particularly true for small-scale farmers, who are highly vulnerable. This paper calls for a bridging of scientific and traditional knowledge in order to construct this location-specific understanding. This article discusses participatory research in the mixteca alta region of oaxaca, mexico that facilitated a process whereby farmers evaluated the ability of their agroecosystems to withstand the vagaries of climate. Open access copy available |
Mitigation of Climate Change through Sustainable Forest Management and Capacity Building in the Southern States of MexicoBackgroundIn 2007/8 the Government of Mexican and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) developed a proposal for a forestry value chain project. The Community-based Forestry Development Project in the Southern States of Campeche, Chiapas, and Oaxaca, otherwise known as DECOFOS, was the project that emerged from this proposal. Open access copy available |
