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Making forests work for local people: Developing locally-adapted, moto-manual forest management schemes for communities in the Eastern Lowlands of Bolivia.

Projektbeschreibung:
Induced by increasing pressure for ensuring human rights at an international level, many governments, particularly in South-America have been recognizing the customary rights of their indigenous and traditional communities to land and resources. In response to the challenges of climate change, these efforts have been intensified in the expectation that the legally recognized presence of traditional and indigenous communities who sustainably managing their forests would not only guarantee their livelihood basis, but also effectively protect the forests. However, the legally prescribed management schemes seriously suffer from a lack of compatibility with the locally existing capacities and interests. Guaranteeing the conservation of natural forests in the hands of local communities requires forest management schemes allow for high levels of flexibility and autonomy, waive complex bureaucracies and large investments, basically rely on local labour inputs, and optimize rather than replace existing technical and managerial skills and capacities. But, the prevailing legal national standards and regulations leave little room to develop such alternative forest management approaches. Against this backdrop, the project seeks to support the reforms in the regulatory framework in Bolivia that allows for the legal recognition of locally defined forest management practices. The project will support indigenous communities in the eastern lowlands of Bolivia to test and implement the technological and operational design of a range of low-input forest management schemes adapted to their capacities and interests for the sustainable generation of urgently required income. Additionally, the project will scientifically accompany this process to assess the financial, environmental and social feasibility as a basis to promote the broader application of locally adapted schemes for the sustainable use of forests for the benefits of local populations. The Bolivian government will use the findings of this project to assess the possibility to make the national forest regulations better aligned to the capacities of local forest users. At a larger scale, the project will provide urgently required guidance to overcome the problems of inappropriate regulatory and institutional frameworks, and adapted technologies that so far hamper the efforts to make forests a sustainable component of local livelihoods.

Ansprechpartner: Benno Pokorny
Tel: 0761/203-3680
Email: Benno.Pokorny@waldbau.uni-freiburg.de
Projektlaufzeit:
Projektbeginn: 01.06.2018
Projektende: 31.10.2022
Projektleitung:
Prof. Dr. Benno Pokorny

Dr. Nataly Ascarrunz
(Instituto Boliviano de Investigación Forestal - IBIF)

Professur für Waldbau
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Bauhus
Tennenbacherstr. 4
79106 Freiburg i. Br.

Telefon: 0761/203-3678
Fax: 0761/203-3781
Email: Waldbau@waldbau.uni-freiburg.de
www.waldbau.uni-freiburg.de

Mitarbeiter:
  • James Johnson (Canavalia)
Kooperationspartner
Instituto Boliviano de Investigación Forestal (IBIF) Finanzierung: STIHL, ProBosque (BMZ), Tropbenbos International
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