Geographic Focus: Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Burkina Faso, Mali and Ghana, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

The research has a goal of increasing resilience and reducing vulnerability to climate change.  The research is carried out through developing tools and best practices for integrated planning and management of forest ecosystem services. The objectives of the activity are:

1. To promote synergies between environmental services and integrate the production of forest products and environmental services by developing methods, tools and best practices for planning and managing forest ecosystem services at the landscape level.
2. To promote pro-poor climate change mitigation and adaptation schemes involving forest ecosystems and articulate the role of forest ecosystems in adaptation to climate change.

The target ecoregions of this research are: Southeast and East Asia (Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam); West Africa (Burkina Faso, Mali and Ghana) and South and Central America (Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica).

A. Tools and Best Practices for Balancing Water Use and Carbon Sequestration Services from Forests at the Landscape Level

The research aims to develop methods for optimizing multiple forest environmental services, build local capacity for using these methods, and help to harmonize policies for the different environmental services.

B. Identification of Pro-poor Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Schemes

The research addresses forest ecosystems related issues and articulate the role of forests ecosystems in mitigating and adapting to climate change. It aims to develop methods, tools, and decision-support systems for climate change adaptation and mitigation. The focus is on developing best practices for promoting synergies between adaptation and mitigation measures and between different ecosystems services in landscapes. On the adaptation side, the activities are in line with the latest discussions on adaptation to climate change currently being discussed under the UNFCCC, in particular, assessments of vulnerability and the mainstreaming of adaptation into development policies.

See also Tropical Forests and Climate Change Adaptation (TroFFCA), FORMA, Carbon Forestry (CarboFor), Forest Fire and Forest Rehabilitation Project Website.