Project Evaluations
What works in tropical forest conservation, and what does not: Effectiveness of four strategies in terms of environmental, social, and economic outcomesBackgroundOpen 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 |
Advances and shortfalls in applying best practices to global tree‐growing effortsBACKGROUND:Over the past three decades, there has been a rapid increase in the number of organizations engaged in tree planting to meet international targets exceeding a trillion trees. These initiatives aim to sequester carbon, conserve biodiversity, enhance water quality, and reduce social inequity. Despite these goals, frequent failures and unintended ecological and social impacts have led to the creation of numerous best practice guidelines for reforestation. Open access copy available |
Reforesting Bare Hills in Vietnam: Social and Environmental Consequences of the 5 Million Hectare Reforestation ProgramBackgroundAvailable with subscription or purchase |
The tree planting and protecting culture of cattle ranchers and small-scale agriculturalists in rural Panama: Opportunities for reforestation and land restorationBackgroundAvailable with subscription or purchase |
Peasants, agroforesters, and anthropologists: A 20-year venture in income-generating trees and hedgerows in HaitiBackgroundAvailable with subscription or purchase |
Carbon sequestration in Africa: The land tenure problemBackgroundResearch on afforestation and reforestation projects highlights how tropical forests can store carbon on a large scale. Africa offers vast areas of suitable land for carbon sequestration through these initiatives. However, the author argues that land tenure issues in Africa create an obstacle to achieving this potential. Open access copy available |
The global status and trends of Payments for Ecosystem ServicesBackgroundPayments for Ecosystem Services (PES) have expanded significantly in recent decades. These schemes aim to internalize the positive externalities that natural systems generate. PES creates incentives for landholders to adopt behaviors that sustain ecosystem service provision and, in some cases, generates additional revenue streams for conservation. However, it captures only a small fraction of the total value that natural systems provide. Researchers face challenges in collecting comprehensive and reliable data on PES due to its relatively recent emergence and the diversity of practices across different geographic scales. Available with subscription or purchase |
The Effectiveness of Payments for Environmental ServicesBackgroundThe academic debate on how effectively Payments for Environmental Services (PES) achieve environmental and socioeconomic goals continues to grow. Researchers initially focused on defining the concept and documenting early field experiences. Over time, they shifted their attention to designing effective incentives, analyzing behavioral responses, conducting systematic reviews, and applying counterfactual-based impact evaluations to assess outcomes more rigorously. Available with subscription or purchase |
