CIFOR began the process of selecting priority research domains by seeking ideas from staff, board members and external stakeholders. This input was consolidated into a ‘long list’ of 13 candidate research domains. To help reduce the list down to six, CIFOR applied the Delphi approach to priority setting, with reference to a set of criteria identified by CIFOR scientists and management.

At the end of the priority-setting process, six research domains were selected for inclusion in CIFOR’s future research agenda:

1. Enhancing the role of forests in mitigating climate change
2. Enhancing the role of forests in adapting to climate change
3. Improving livelihoods through smallholder and community forestry
4. Managing trade-offs between conservation and development at the landscape scale
5. Managing the impacts of globalised trade and investment on forests and forest communities
6. Sustainably managing tropical production forests

You can download the full version of this CIFOR strategy at http://www.cifor.cgiar.org/strategy