Mitigation and adaptation: Two Sides of the Same Coin

Forests contain a lot more than just carbon when it comes to their economic importance. And then there’s the social, environmental and cultural importance of forests too.

International concerns about forests and climate change have primarily focused on how to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation or improve carbon sequestration through reforestation.

These basically constitute the mitigation approach which tends to address the forests and climate change debate from the perspective of how forests affect climate.

An equally important but less prominently discussed approach is adaptation, which looks at the debate from the reverse perspective – how climate change impacts on forests and how to cope with change.

This is not to suggest that the two perspectives are mutually exclusive.  more

From Conservation to Innovation: Building Capacity for Smallholder Teak Farmers in Central Java

“These farmers may need urgent cash for school fees or medical bills, yet they have no access to capital reserves while waiting for their plantation to harvest", said Dede Rohadi, CIFOR scientist.

Teak has played a vital role in Javanese culture and economy for centuries. Originally a species from Burma, Javanese teak represents 35% of the world teak supply, with logs and sawn timber sales for 2001 amounting to more than 680,000 m3, valued at nearly $AUS115 million.

Furniture production is a major industry throughout Central Java, with more than 15,000 factories depending on teak to survive. Much of this raw timber comes from smallholder plantations in and around the Gunung Kidul district.

During the 70’s, drought, civil unrest and other factors had left this area largely degraded and unproductive, yet a range of government rehabilitation initiatives over the last 30 years has meant the region is now made up of 60% productive land, the majority of this comprising teak plantations. These plantations also deliver added value as they can be combined with planting crops, traditional medicinal plants or livestock food sources.  more

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