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08 June 2022 the Netherlands
The high endemic biodiversity in Madagascar is being threatened by the increasing use of fire that is seeing whole landscapes being gradually transformed from closed forest to savannas. Here, Harifidy Rakoto Ratsimba of the University of Antananarivo, Madagascar, and Head of the Regional Eastern Africa Fire Management Research Center (REAFMRC) tells us what is being done, and the next steps needed to reduce the risk of wildfires and the threat to Malagasy forests.
07 June 2022 Bolivia
During 2021 the Instituto Boliviano de Investigación Forestal (IBIF) has been helping Indigenous women and youth to develop their own forest-based businesses. This has resulted not only in detailed business proposals, but has also provided people with inspiration, confidence and courage to pursue their dreams within their territories.
02 June 2022 Ghana
Tropenbos Ghana helped to develop 12 Village Savings and Loan Associations in the Juabeso-Bia and Sefwi-Wiawso landscapes. This has provided cocoa smallholders with access to finance to invest in climate-smart practices, such as diversifying their crops and improving irrigation.
31 May 2022 the Netherlands
“Community forestry can benefit from the knowledge, energy, creativity, diverse points of view, and cultural resources that young people provide,” says Constanza Mora Sanchez. However, this is hampered by the fact that young people are seldom included in the local institutions that govern community forestry. According to Sanchez this needs to change. Here she talks with Koen Kusters about the findings of her research on the engagement of youth in community forestry in Oaxaca, Mexico.
30 May 2022 Indonesia
Fires occur every year in Indonesia, during the logging of peat swamp forest, and for clearing land to be developed into industrial plantations, and to a smaller extent in non-peatland areas as part of the traditional practice of shifting cultivation. Here, Atiek Widayati of Tropenbos Indonesia, coordinator of the Indonesian wildfire component of the Working Landscapes programme tells what is being done, and the next steps needed to reduce the risk of wildfires in Indonesia.
24 May 2022 the Netherlands
“I want to help smallholders like my grandmother to have access to innovations that can help to feed their families and communities,” says Nassib Mugwanya. After years of working as an outreach officer with smallholders in Uganda, Mugwanya is now a doctoral student at North Carolina State University. Here he talks with Koen Kusters about the importance of innovations for smallholder farming, and the risks of romanticising traditional farming practices.