Dispelling the Myths of Community Forestry Projects: An 'Eyes Wide Open Approach'

During COP26 in Glasgow the Global Landscape Forum hosted a hybrid event 'GLF Climate: Frontiers of Change'.

Taking place over three days, 'GLF: Climate' made the call for real, ambitious action, presenting innovative solutions to the climate crisis.

Speakers included leading scientists, activists, youth, government leaders, Indigenous leaders and financiers. Interactive sessions and climate talks focused upon forests, food and finance. Sessions explored the potential of these three climate solutions within the framework of forest restoration, resilient food systems and sustainable finance.

Plan Vivo's hosted session aired on day three of the event. Within the 50 minute session we hoped to debunk myths around community forestry projects. Our aim was to show that taking a participatory and holistic approach is both necessary and prudent.

Watch the Webinar recording:

Within Plan Vivo certified projects, forest restoration, resilient food systems, and sustainable finance exist as core pillars. In our 20+ years of experience we have learned that - when it comes to community forestry projects - there are no easy wins or silver bullets. Community forest landscapes are inherently complex ecosystems made up of often competing interests for limited and contested resources. Putting community perspectives at the heart of any intervention design discussion and accepting that nature is complex and multi-layered is crucial to achieving sustainable change.

Plan Vivo's CEO Keith Bohannon was joined by three of our project partners; Carbon Tanzania's Marc Baker, Sil Lanckriet from EthioTrees, and ECOTRUST Uganda's Pauline Nantongo. Marc, Sil and Pauline focused on different aspects of project design and implementation, with Keith introducing the Plan Vivo model.

Webinar speakers:

We're thankful to GLF for awarding us the time and opportunity to host this talk during their much anticipated and well-attended event.

You can find out more about the session here, and catch up with other recordings here.