Harnessing the potential of community and smallholder forestry for Sustainable Development Goals

IUFRO-WFSE Panel at the side event in UNFF12. Photo: Andre Purret, IUFRO.

Tuesday 2 May, 2017; Trusteeship Chamber; 1:15 - 2:45 pm

In the WFSE Side Event at UNFF 12, the special project launched a new policy brief Building on synergies: Harnessing community and smallholder forestry for Sustainable Development Goals.

The policy brief focuses on the complex and multidimensional linkages between community and smallholder forestry and the recently agreed upon Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Forests contribute to the attainment of most of the SDGs. These contributions can be further strengthened. Indigenous and local communities and smallholders, who use and manage a considerable share of the world’s forests, have a crucial role in harnessing this potential in rural areas. Furthermore, many SDGs and their targets align with the conditions that have been found to support community and smallholder forest management and related livelihoods. Meaningful progress in these SDGs can support the creation of an enabling environment for community and smallholder forestry and generate positive feedback loops that can further boost progress towards the SDGs. Efforts towards attaining the SDGs can lead to synergies among the goals, but they can also lead to trade-offs that can undermine livelihood and conservation goals, which could be achieved through community and smallholder forestry. To realize the potential that the close interlinkages among C&SF and SDGs provide for advancing towards the SDGs, it is necessary to address the inherent trade-offs among the SDGs and build on the synergies among them.

Presentations:
Community Forestry - From ethnography to SDGs - Prof. Wil de Jong, Kyoto University
Contributions and potential of community forestry to achieve SDGs - Dr. Steven Lawry, Center for International Forestry Research
Enabling environment for community and smallholder forestry and the SDGs  - Dr. Glenn Galloway, University of Florida
Linking community and smallholder forestry to SDGs - Dr. Pia Katila, Natural Resources Institute, Finland

Download the Policy Brief from:
Building on synergies: Harnessing community and smallholder forestry for Sustainable Development Goals