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Expert Panel on Forests and Poverty 2020

Report

Forests, Trees and the Eradication of Poverty: Potential and Limitations

According to the World Bank, 736 million people lived below the international poverty line of US $ 1.90 a day in 2015. Around 75% of the poor inhabit rural areas, in many cases regions of high forest cover. A number of studies conclude that poor and vulnerable populations tend to concentrate in environmentally fragile areas and rely disproportionately on natural resources and ecosystem services. At the same time scientific evidence shows that forests can support rural livelihoods, have a buffer function in maintaining livelihoods and represent a natural insurance.

This report presents the findings of the Global Forest Expert Panel (GFEP) on the interactions between forests and poverty and contributes to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by highlighting the nexus between SDG 1 on ending poverty and SDG 15 on life on land, as well as relevant links to other SDGs.

More than 50 scientists and experts contributed to this major assessment on forests, trees and the eradication of poverty. The assessment report and the accompanying policy brief were launched at an online event in October 2020 in conjunction with the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. You can watch the video of the event on our IUFRO YouTube channel.
 

Full Report
 

Forests, Trees and the Eradication of Poverty:
Potential and Limitations
. A Global Assessment Report.


Editors: Daniel C. Miller, Stephanie Mansourian and Christoph Wildburger


For hard copies of the global assessment report, please write to schimpf(at)iufro.org.


For download:

 


Policy Brief

Forests, Trees and the Eradication of Poverty: Potential and Limitations

This policy brief summarizes the key messages of the GFEP report “Forests, Trees and the Eradication of Poverty: Potential and Limitations” and reaches out to international as well as national policymakers and other stakeholders.

Following key messages are highlighted:

  • Forests and trees support human well-being and contribute to global efforts to end poverty
  • Benefits from forests and trees to human well-being are unevenly distributed
  • Forests and trees can contribute to the well-being of the poor as they face profound global changes
  • Inadequate land use policies and programmes may lead to excessive costs being borne by the poor
  • Policy and management measures that enable forests and trees to alleviate poverty need to be tailored to each specific context
     

Policy Brief

Forests, Trees and the Eradication of Poverty: Potential and Limitations

For download:
   


Regional Policy Brief for Africa

Forests, Trees and Poverty Alleviation in Africa: An Expanded Policy Brief: https://www.iufro.org/science/science-policy/regional-activities/forests-trees-and-poverty-alleviation-in-africa/