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 Introduction
Forests
comprise a rich and complex world whose vast array of products
and benefits touch our lives in many fundamental ways. Tropical
forests alone are home to a wealth of animal and plant life,
housing more than 50 percent of the world's terrestrial biological
diversity. All forests, whether, temperate, tropical, or boreal
supply us with timber, fuelwood, medicines, foods, and raw
materials for industry. Many agricultural crops have been
domesticated from forests where their wild relatives still
evolve.
Despite
their value, we are destroying the Earth's forests at an ever-increasing
rate. If we continue to use forests for human benefit, we
must not only protect the forest areas that remain, we must
also manage them to meet both present and future needs. A
related issue is the degradation of agricultural land caused
by unsustainable farming systems. The loss of productive lands
forces farm communities to cultivate new land in forests.
Many international
institutions and governments have launched initiatives to
slow depletion of the world's forests and agricultural lands.
The CGIAR is supporting these efforts through research on
the conservation and use of forest genetic resources, the
sustainable management of natural forest ecosystems, and the
development of agroforestry systems.
In 1991,
the CGIAR expanded its mandate to include forestry and agroforestry.
As part of this initiative three CGIAR centers are undertaking
research on forest genetic resources.
- The
Center for International
Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Bogor, Indonesia. CIFOR
focuses on natural ecosystems and their management, as well
as on plantations.
- The
World Agroforestry
Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. World Agroforesty looks
at the role of agroforestry and specifically at the adoption
of multipurpose trees in sustainable farming systems.
- Bioversity International in Rome, Italy. Bioversity International
concentrates on the conservation and utilization of the
genetic resources of agricultural crops and forest tree
species.
Example
of a CGIAR forestry project
In 1997,
the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry and the International
Tropical Timber Organization signed a groundbreaking agreement
that allows CIFOR to research the Bulungan model forest located
in East Kalimantan, Indonesia. The Indonesian Ministry of
Forestry has designated that CIFOR may develop 321,000 hectares
of forest as a model of exemplary researcy-based management.
The project's objective is to achieve long-term forest management
for multiple uses, integrating social and silvicultural aspects.
Developing a successful model for application in other regions
could go far in sustaining the biodiversity and economic resources
of tropical forests worldwide.
Agroforestry
Agroforestry,
or the growing of trees on farms, is an ancient practice.
In the past two decades, modern research has taken on the
challenge of turning this traditional form of land use into
a science, bringing together a broad range of disciplines
to develop improved agroforestry systems.
Agroforestry
research begins with the small-scale farmers who stand to
benefit most from the income, products, and services that
trees on farms can provide. For researchers, agroforestry
is a set of stand-alone technologies, but rather a holistic
and ecological approach to land use-a natural resource management
system that integrates trees into the landscape, whether on
a single farm or in an entire region. These trees help recycle
nutrients, protect soils, and provide a myriad of products:
fruit, vegetables, fodder, medicines, oils, nuts, fibers,
fuelwood, and timber. These products can generate income for
cash-starved smallholders. Moreover, with trees growing on
farms, pressure can be eased on the remaining stands of tropical
forests. All of which points to sustainble development-the
ultimate goal of any agroforestry research.
Examples
of agroforestry research
1) Through
on-station and on-farm participatory research in the central
Kenyan highlands, World Agroforestry researchers and their national partners
in 1996 identified Calliandra calothyrsus, a leguminous fodder
tree, as a species that can be grown on farms and used as
a substitute for expensive commercial dairy meal. Using calliandra
as a protein substitute can increase a farmer's annual income
by more than USD 150 per cow per year. With an estimated 400
000 smallholder dairy farmers in Kenya who have one or two
cows each, the potential benefits from adopting calliandra
amount to about USD 102 million a year in the Kenya smallholder
dairy sector alone.
2) In
1997, World Agroforestry researchers and their national partners developed
an inexpensive, easy-to-use method to improve the seriously
depleted soils of western Kenya. Working with farmers in the
area, they find that dramatic improvements in crop yields
can be achieved when large applications of indigenous rock
phosphate together with the common shrub Tithonia diversifolia
are added to soils in the first two seasons of cropping. Tithonia
contains high amounts of nitrogen and considerable amounts
of other nutrients. Many farmers report that when they use
this combination of readily available nutrients, their maize
and vegetable harvests double.
Conserving Forest Genetic Resources
Conservation
of forest genetic resources is the best means to guarantee
their availability for the use of present and future generations.
Scientists and breeders use genetic material, or germplasm,
to increase a tree's resistance to a new disease, improve
the quality of its products, or make it more suitable for
use in agroforestry. In this way, forest genetic resources
can be developed to protect the environment, rehabilitate
degraded lands and improve the welfare of rural communities.
Forest
genetic resources can be conserved on sit (in situ) and off
site (ex situ). Both approaches have advantages, as well as
drawbacks, which is why a combination of in situ and ex situ
are often necessary.
The main
targets for Bioversity InternationalI's conservation work are tree species of
high socioeconomic and commercial value. The objective is
to conserve maximum genetic diversity and to ensure that valuable
traits of potential value, such as resistance to pests or
tolerance to severe environmental stress, are available for
future tree improvement.
Finding Alternatives to Burning Forests
In 1997,
the world watched in alarm as Southeast Asian tropical forests,
which are rich in biodiversity, went up in smoke. Worldwide,
concern focused on how to prevent such catastrophes from happening
in the future.
The Alternatives
to Slash and Burn (ASB) Program World
Agroforestry/ASB,
a CGIAR system-wide initiative, responded immediately to this
concern. After studying the problem, ASB reported that unless
land clearing policies and logging practices changed, the
Asian fires would likely worsen. ASB recommended re-examining
Indonesian forest polices, allowing less government land clearing
permits during El Niño years, and conducting more research
on no-burn, land clearing techniques.
Led by
World Agroforestry, the ASB Program has become a worldwide research and
development project to reduce tropical deforestation and promote
the rehabilitation of degraded land. The Program has identified
five "best-bet" alternatives for farmers who practice slash-and-burn
agriculture: complex multistrata agroforests, simple agroforests,
improved fallows, agropastoral systems, and natural forest
management. The Programme aims to develop local solutions
to slash-and-burn problems by developing and distributing
these scientifically sound best-bet alternatives.
Since
its conception in 1992, ASB has developed into a multi-institutional
research consortium of 9 international research centers, 62
national research institutes, universities, and governmental
and non-governmental organizations. Originally based in three
benchmark sites in Brazil, Indonesia, and Cameroon, the Program
has expanded to five more countries-Peru, Thailand, Philippines,
Mexico, and Vietnam.
CGIAR Investment in Agroforestry / Forestry Research
In 2005 the CGIAR spent approximately $ 57 million in agroforestry/forestry research.
Sources
World Agroforestry web site
CGIAR Financial Report 2005
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