This presentation details research into social forestry, livelihoods and climate change—including recent findings on forests and livelihoods (PEN).

1. Social Forestry, Livelihoods and
Climate Change

2. • Income from natural forests & other natural areas
~28% of total household income, nearly as much as
crops.
• Men generated at least as much income from
forests as women do.
• Forests were less important as “safety nets” in
response to shocks and as gap fillers between
seasonal harvests than previously believed.
• State forests generated more income than
private or community forests.
• While the poorest farmers are often blamed for
deforestation, they played only a modest role in
forest clearing.
Recent findings on forests and
livelihoods (PEN)

3. Smallholders do not only “use” and “rely
on” forests they also “manage” and
“create” forests and forest resources

4. Smallholder-managed Landscapes
Shifting cultivation in Laos
Managing forests for food production

5. Most forests are rich in “natural” resources but they
are also rich because local groups have enriched
forests through their knowledge and practice.

6. THINKING beyond the canopy
Village of Tae
Sanggau, Kalimantan Barat
SWIDDEN FALLOW
ADAT LAND
TEMBAWANG

7. Different forests, Different
access rights, Different
communities
 Tembawang: Lineage group rights
 Tanah adat: Village rights
 Swidden-fallows: Household rights
 And they are all changing

8. • They are not “managed enough” or “formally
enough” for development
• They are “too managed” for conservation
• These systems are dynamic.
• This is particularly unfortunate because
management also frequently creates rights to
forests.
But these practices largely fall
“between the cracks”

9. • Migration
• Urbanization
• Impact of remittances
• Impacts of Climate Change: Adaptation and
Mitigation
• How can these systems respond to these and
other new challenges?
Changing Communities (and Landscapes):
Challenges to Community Forestry

10. Time for revising previously held assumptions over
forests role in providing livelihoods and deeper
understanding of local context and drivers of change
In particular, with introduction of REDD+ need to ensure
equitable outcomes
Institutional implications: need for more in-depth
analysis of what is existing already (e.g. what kind of
practices and legal frameworks)
Livelihood implications: need to understand how
REDD+ will contribute or constrain livelihood strategies
Involvement in CC? Mitigation
efforts