Welcome to this October newsletter with a focus on knowledge sharing.

For FTA, a research for development (R4D) program, knowledge sharing and engagement are fundamental to effectiveness and impact. Knowledge sharing starts with better explaining the work we do, as well as how, with whom and for what.

That is why we’ve created, with FTA’s scientists, a set of brochures explaining the work done across the program. Please take a look at our new webpage where we have already published six brochures and will release two more by year end.

Knowledge sharing means engaging with key partner institutions to bridge the worlds of research and development. FTA recently participated in the historic IUFRO 125^th Anniversary Congress, including cohosting a subplenary session on research priorities.

It also means engaging with policy and multistakeholder platforms. At the UN Committee on World Food Security (CFS) taking place this week at FAO headquarters in Rome, FTA is coorganizing two side events: one on feminism, forests and food security and one on sustainable forestry for food security and nutrition, looking at research and partners toward a joint action agenda, where we will discuss how to move forward on the implementation of the HLPE report and CFS policy recommendations. Click here to see the CFS agenda.

Please send your thoughts and feedback on this newsletter to cgiarforestsandtrees@cgiar.org.

The long and winding road to sustainable palm oil

The polemic around the expansion of oil palm plantations in the tropics is continuing, and increasingly involves consumers concerned with sustainability. At the core of the debate is the matter of hard trade-offs between conservation and development – reconciling this is still the major challenge facing governments and companies. This article looks at finding a way to ensure sustainable palm oil supply chains, in order to sustain economic gains while supporting conservation and climate action.

For secure land rights, indigenous forest communities need more than just titles

Under Peruvian law, a land title gives traditional forest communities rights over land, but resources on that land, such as forests, formally remain the property of the state. In order to use these resources, communities are required to follow additional procedures to obtain permits and authorizations. A recent study has highlighted that while securing a land title may be a key step for forest-dependent communities, it is not sufficient to ensure legal rights and improve livelihoods. This story and video were produced in recognition of UN International Day of the World’s Indigenous People.

Fighting fires with academic narrative

A recent National Policy Dialogue on Laws and Best Practices for Reducing Fire and Haze in Indonesia addressed the hot topic of fire and haze in terms of environmental conservation versus livelihoods. According to scientists, this must be resolved by taking into account the economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainability, and they hope that relevant research, leading to outputs that create an academic narrative to inform policymakers, will create the possibility of legal changes. This, in turn, could help to alleviate the annual blazes.

Are Brazil nuts the saviors of the Amazon basin?

This new study has assessed Brazil nut exploitation from a socioecological perspective. Fruits containing the weighty, nutritious nuts are collected from the forest floor by forest-based harvesters, who maintain customary rights to the resource in many areas. While this is seen as a relatively sustainable system, it is under threat. If done well, integrated management of multiple forest uses, such as low-intensity timber harvest and ecotourism, combined with Brazil nut harvesting, could prove both profitable and sustainable.

Guiding the conservation of food tree species in Burkina Faso with a threat-mapping approach

Agroforestry parklands are among the most widespread traditional land-use systems in sub-Saharan Africa, where scattered individual trees occur on cultivated fields. Over recent decades, agroforestry parklands in Burkina Faso have come under increasing demographic and climatic pressures, threatening indigenous tree species that contribute to rural households’ income and nutrition. Following a paper that analyzed 16 important food tree species in Burkina Faso and six key threats to them, this story looks at how this approach can help plan for timely, more selective and efficient conservation actions.

Getting down to business: Seminar promotes shift toward inclusive investment

In a precursor to its ongoing and future work as part of FTA, Tropenbos International recently held a workshop on inclusive investment and business models for improved land governance and livelihoods in the Netherlands. Part of a broader series of annual seminars on sustainable forest management in the tropics, the seminar not only raised awareness on the importance of moving from a do-no-harm to a do-good approach in investing in smallholder land management, but also provided evidence of the feasibility and scaling-up opportunities from such an approach.

What are the priorities for relevant, legitimate and effective forest and tree research? Lessons from the IUFRO congress

Forests and trees are central to many of the challenges of our time. This raises new questions every day, as showcased at the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) 125^th Anniversary Congress in Freiburg, Germany, where more than 40 scientists affiliated with FTA presented their latest results and findings. The prioritization of issues related to trees and forests is now becoming more difficult and more necessary – what is needed most and where we should start? How should we conduct research in order to best enable impact?

Sharing better, for better research

As a research for development (R4D) program, FTA has invested heavily in knowledge sharing in recent months. Engaging in knowledge sharing fundamentally conditions the program’s effectiveness and impact, both in the policy environment and on the ground. Thus, better sharing leads to better research. Read how FTA’s participation at the International Conference on Research for Sustainable Development in Bern, IUFRO in Freiburg, a food security and nutrition conference in Quebec and CFS44 in Rome is supporting these efforts.