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Forest Policy and International Forest Management

Our unit offers practice-oriented research and consultancy in the field of forest policy and international forest management.

At the national level, we focus, for example, on policies regarding forestry and forest-based industries, the interaction between forest and society, issues at the intersection of spatial and forest planning, or urban forests and their provision of ecosystem services.

At the international level we work on sustainable forest management more specifically on forest landscape restoration, forests and climate change adaptation and mitigation, agroforestry, community-based forestry and global forest policy. We geographically concentrate on the tropics and countries in economic transition, with a current focus on West Africa, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and Eastern Europe.

Services

  • Analysis and support of forest policy processes at national, regional and global level
  • Advice on forest strategies and integration of forests and trees in related sectors (spatial planning and development, agriculture, climate, energy, etc.)
  • Elaborating the role of sustainable forest management in the global change perspective and REDD+ implementation
  • Development of the forest-landscape-society nexus at local, regional and global level
  • Valuation and valorisation of forests, forest products and ecosystem services
  • Assessment of the role of forests and trees on farms for smallholders and communities and guidance on corresponding policies
  • Assessment of forest carbon stocks through remote sensing, forest inventories, calculation and modelling of tree biomass  
  • Design of forest monitoring systems and tools for data collection and analysis
  • Urban Forests concept development for its valuation, valorization and management

Our Expertise

Our expertise Enlarge image

Concept development on the broader role of SFM in global change and development of instruments for assessing progress through standardized criteria and indicators, planning and implementation, knowledge sharing and exchange, with focus on tropical countries and countries in transition

Valuation and valorisation of provisioning, regulating, cultural and supporting services and biodiversity from forest landscapes and urban forests

Impacts of societal change on forest policies and management; development of policy and management frameworks adapted to local conditions where all actors are fully involved in designing, implementation, monitoring and evaluating forestry-related initiatives

Analysis of Urban Forests in terms of their role to society and their provision of ecosystem services in urban environments, focusing on temperate, subtropical and tropical zones

Analysis and design of forestry policies and strategies that reconcile environmental, economic and sociocultural aspects ranging from local regulations up to the international scale; analysis and design of policies and strategies for forests and the timber industry towards a circular bioeconomy

Interlinkages between forest area conservation and land use planning at strategic, policy and implementation levels

Analysis of the role of forests and forestry in climate change adaptation and mitigation, methodological development in REDD+, particularly carbon accounting and social implications

Decentralized forest management; communal management of natural resources with focus on community forestry, stakeholder roles, corresponding policy frameworks

Assessment and valorisation of agroforestry systems (including tree crop plantations and trees on farms as an integral part of forest landscapes) and NWFPs, analysis of their contribution to climate change mitigation/adaptation and rural livelihoods

Analysis of forest degradation and forest landscape restoration efforts, supporting integration of FLR concepts on the national level and inclusion of smallholders in FLR, best practices, financing and monitoring

Projects

Where we work

Where we work Enlarge image

Team & Contact

Would you like to know more about our research activities in the field of international forest sciences? Please contact us.