The forest tenure assessment tool (FTAT) and user guide consists of an integrated set of methodologies and guidelines for assessing both why it is important to secure community-based forest tenure in a specific national or sub-national context, and what needs to be done to strengthen forest tenure in that context. It is a companion piece to the analytical framework (AF), developed during phase one of the securing forest tenure rights for rural development initiative. The AF highlights the relevance of secure community-based forest tenure to sustainable development goals (SDG), and presents…
Read More

This is a Special Issue of the International Forestry Review published to honour the legacy, impact and career of the late John Spears, who was for many years the Senior Forestry Adviser at the World Bank. It outlines the long arc of his career and draws on some of the key themes which motivated John, and to which he returned throughout his life. In particular, it focuses on why he came to advocate for social and community forestry, the involvement of the private sector in forest plantation development, forestry research, education and training, the role of forests in reducing poverty…
Read More

This Policy Note is a follow-up to the Global Expert Workshop on Fire and Climate Change jointly convened by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) and the World Bank's Program on Forests (PROFOR) on July 2018 in Vienna, Austria. Building on the Workshop, this Note aims to lay out the key policy…
Read More

In 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) identified pathways to curtailing global emissions to 1.5Oc—all included planting forests and protecting existing forests to reduce and avoid further emissions. Catastrophic forest fires, made worse by climate change, sharply increased the urgency to adapt forest management practices. New research showed that biodiversity loss is even more severe than originally thought, with unprecedented levels of deforestation and land degradation. PROFOR knowledge is showing how forests and the people who directly depend on…
Read More

Shea parklands cover 300 - 350 million hectares of Sahel-Sudanian-Savannah Africa and contribute 10-25% of household income in shea-production villages. However, Shea Parklands are threatened by changes in land-use, unsustainable fuel and water consumption, insecure land tenure policies, price volatilities in the international market, and social, cultural, and political issues. This report identifies the threats to shea parklands, suggests solutions for parkland restoration, and reports on the progress so far
Read More

This report reviews existing knowledge and experience around mining in forested landscapes. It focuses on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). It analyzed several active ASM mine sites as case studies to identify good and bad practices for forest-smart mining and the conditions and mechanisms that motivate these practices.
Read More

This report explores what forest-smart mining might look like and the extent to which examples already exist on the ground. It focuses on large-scale mining (LSM) for the minerals of highest economic value (with the exception of coal). It also focuses on a range of LSM projects occurring in forests across a variety of geographies, ecologies, and economies, analyzing for each the condition of the forest around the mine site and the potential factors associated with better or worse forest outcomes.
Read More

This report presents five detailed case studies: (1) ArcelorMittal’s iron ore project in Liberia, (2) Newmont’s Akyem project in Ghana, (3) Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée and Guinea Alumina Corporation’s bauxite projects in Guinea, (4) Wildlife Works’ carbon offset project in Kenya, and (5) Aston Coal’s Maules Creek coal mine in Australia. Together, they highlight the spectrum of challenges faced by those aiming to implement enduring offsets.
Read More

This summary synthesizes key findings and recommendations from three studies, which assess the extent of mining in forests, identify the first known lessons learned for implementing a forest-smart approach to mining, and analyze the opportunities and challenges for implementing biodiversity offsets to compensate for residual impacts of mining on forests.
Read More

This working paper examines the types of gender inequalities that exist in forest landscapes, and the gender considerations or actions that many countries are taking to address these gaps. It reviews and synthesizes a wide range of World Bank and partner projects and forest sector investments in different regions.
Read More