Forests, trees and poverty alleviation: Policy implications of current knowledge

Major advances have been made over the past two decades in our understanding of the contribution forests and trees outside forests make to human well-being across the globe. Yet this knowledge has not always been incorporated into broader poverty and development policy agendas. The result is a misse...

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Main Authors: Miller, D.C., Mansourian, S., Gabay, M., Hajjar, R., Jagger, P., Kamoto, J.F.M., Newton, P., Oldekop, J.A., Razafindratsima, O.H., Shyamsundar, P., Sunderland, T.C.H., Wildburger, C.
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: Elsevier 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115402
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author Miller, D.C.
Mansourian, S.
Gabay, M.
Hajjar, R.
Jagger, P.
Kamoto, J.F.M.
Newton, P.
Oldekop, J.A.
Razafindratsima, O.H.
Shyamsundar, P.
Sunderland, T.C.H.
Wildburger, C.
author_browse Gabay, M.
Hajjar, R.
Jagger, P.
Kamoto, J.F.M.
Mansourian, S.
Miller, D.C.
Newton, P.
Oldekop, J.A.
Razafindratsima, O.H.
Shyamsundar, P.
Sunderland, T.C.H.
Wildburger, C.
author_facet Miller, D.C.
Mansourian, S.
Gabay, M.
Hajjar, R.
Jagger, P.
Kamoto, J.F.M.
Newton, P.
Oldekop, J.A.
Razafindratsima, O.H.
Shyamsundar, P.
Sunderland, T.C.H.
Wildburger, C.
author_sort Miller, D.C.
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Major advances have been made over the past two decades in our understanding of the contribution forests and trees outside forests make to human well-being across the globe. Yet this knowledge has not always been incorporated into broader poverty and development policy agendas. The result is a missed opportunity to effectively and sustainably reach national and international poverty alleviation goals. Here, we address the need for greater integration of forests and trees in development policy. We distil five key findings based on the current evidence base and discuss their implications for decision-makers. We find that (1) forests and trees are critical to global efforts to end poverty but (2) their benefits to human well-being are unevenly distributed. Although the evidence indicates that (3) forests and trees can help the rural poor as they face profound global changes, it also shows that (4) poorly aligned forest and land use policies and programmes may lead to excessive costs being borne by the poor. However, we do find that (5) policy and management measures exist that can enable forests and trees to effectively address poverty goals even as there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. Key overarching policy implications of these findings include the need to integrate forests and trees more explicitly into land-use planning and poverty reduction programs, strengthen forest property rights, self-governance and technical skills of forest-reliant communities, and carefully tailor policy measures to the context in which they are implemented.
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spelling CGSpace1154022023-12-08T19:36:04Z Forests, trees and poverty alleviation: Policy implications of current knowledge Miller, D.C. Mansourian, S. Gabay, M. Hajjar, R. Jagger, P. Kamoto, J.F.M. Newton, P. Oldekop, J.A. Razafindratsima, O.H. Shyamsundar, P. Sunderland, T.C.H. Wildburger, C. forest policy livelihoods poverty land use sustainable development Major advances have been made over the past two decades in our understanding of the contribution forests and trees outside forests make to human well-being across the globe. Yet this knowledge has not always been incorporated into broader poverty and development policy agendas. The result is a missed opportunity to effectively and sustainably reach national and international poverty alleviation goals. Here, we address the need for greater integration of forests and trees in development policy. We distil five key findings based on the current evidence base and discuss their implications for decision-makers. We find that (1) forests and trees are critical to global efforts to end poverty but (2) their benefits to human well-being are unevenly distributed. Although the evidence indicates that (3) forests and trees can help the rural poor as they face profound global changes, it also shows that (4) poorly aligned forest and land use policies and programmes may lead to excessive costs being borne by the poor. However, we do find that (5) policy and management measures exist that can enable forests and trees to effectively address poverty goals even as there is no ‘one size fits all’ solution. Key overarching policy implications of these findings include the need to integrate forests and trees more explicitly into land-use planning and poverty reduction programs, strengthen forest property rights, self-governance and technical skills of forest-reliant communities, and carefully tailor policy measures to the context in which they are implemented. 2021-10 2021-10-14T04:43:12Z 2021-10-14T04:43:12Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115402 en Limited Access Elsevier Miller, D.C., Mansourian, S., Gabay, M., Hajjar, R., Jagger, P., Kamoto, J.F., Newton, P., Oldekop, J.A., Razafindratsima, O.H., Shyamsundar, P. and Sunderland, T.C.H., Wildburger, C., 2021. Forests, trees and poverty alleviation: Policy implications of current knowledge. Forest Policy and Economics, 131, 102566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2021.102566
spellingShingle forest policy
livelihoods
poverty
land use
sustainable development
Miller, D.C.
Mansourian, S.
Gabay, M.
Hajjar, R.
Jagger, P.
Kamoto, J.F.M.
Newton, P.
Oldekop, J.A.
Razafindratsima, O.H.
Shyamsundar, P.
Sunderland, T.C.H.
Wildburger, C.
Forests, trees and poverty alleviation: Policy implications of current knowledge
title Forests, trees and poverty alleviation: Policy implications of current knowledge
title_full Forests, trees and poverty alleviation: Policy implications of current knowledge
title_fullStr Forests, trees and poverty alleviation: Policy implications of current knowledge
title_full_unstemmed Forests, trees and poverty alleviation: Policy implications of current knowledge
title_short Forests, trees and poverty alleviation: Policy implications of current knowledge
title_sort forests trees and poverty alleviation policy implications of current knowledge
topic forest policy
livelihoods
poverty
land use
sustainable development
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/115402
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