In order to guide the World Bank and development partners' support to Syria’s natural resource management, PROFOR supported an activity that examined the implications of recent changes in international and local agro-food and fuel prices and the impact of climate change on farmers’ welfare. This activity was closed due to the political crisis in Syria.
With PROFOR support, the World Bank's Africa regional staff contracted WWF and Estelle Levin Ltd to conduct studies in Liberia and Gabon to analyze the impacts of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) activities on high-value natural landscapes and the people who live nearby, and propose more sustainable approaches to current ASM practices.
Developing countries are expected to suffer the most from changes in climatic patterns.
Forest and tree management could provide a low-cost approach to enhancing resilience of local landscapes to climate change but needs to balance production, livelihood, adaptation and mitigation goals.
Despite the very considerable body of on-farm experience which has been gained in testing agroforestry and other tree-based technologies for their impact on increasing productivity and on rural income generation, investment in agroforestry, tree planting and landscape restoration has been lagging. This activity aimed to shed light on potential private investment opportunities and identify policy, regulatory and institutional constraints that could be lifted to help tap this potential.
The Miombo Woodlands are the most extensive tropical seaonal woodland and dry forest formation in Africa. Although they are less rich in biodiversity and high-value timber than moist tropical forests, these landscapes play an integral role in the lives of millions of rural people who depend on woodland resources for food, energy and environmental services. The ongoing public debate about the value of forests and woodlands in the face of climate change provides an important opportunity to revisit policies, incentives and options for managing the miombo woodlands in ways which benefit the rural poor.
A World Bank-supported pilot project, launched in January 2011, has demonstrated that several agrosilvopastoral technology innovations and systems developed and/or tested in Central America can be adapted to the Tugi (Gutah) Hills in the North West Region of Cameroon, resulting in the rehabilitation of degraded pasture lands, improved livestock productivity, increased income of the rural communities and reduced risk and vulnerability to climate change. A new PROFOR activty aims to document and disseminate the lessons from that project.
Though the deforestation rates in the Congo Basin countries have historically been low, the trend is likely to change dramatically due to the combination of many different factors. PROFOR supported the development of robust analytical tools to help these countries make better choices and negotiate in the international REDD+ arena.
Chile is one of the most developed countries in the southern hemisphere and relies heavily on its natural resource base for employment and exports. Yet, despite its natural assets and economic prowess, the country is plagued by serious land degradation problems including desertification, accelerated soil erosion, and forest degradation. This activity will provide knowledge to the Chilean Government and other stakeholders on best practices and guidance for restoration of degraded lands through forestry applications suitable for the Chilean context.
Forests may be at risk in the immediate aftermath of conflict when myriad demands -- from government, local populations, commercial timber operations, as well as donors -- go uncoordinated. A new collection of analytical work on forests, fragility and conflict (published in June) could contribute to a more strategic approach to dealing with forest management in post-conflict operations.
PROFOR supported an effort to analyze the forests sector in five countries (Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea (Conakry), Liberia and Sierra Leone) and define elements toward an effective West African forests strategy to ensure conservation and sustainable use of forests, the maintenance of forest ecosystem services, and the fair and equitable allocation of revenues and benefits from forest resources.
