The top 20 questions for forestry and landscapes

We are pleased to publish the top 20 priority questions for forestry and landscapes. Thank you to everyone who took part.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website.

The T20Q project, funded by CIFOR and supported by many partners, set out to collect policy-relevant questions relating to forestry and landscapes as a first step towards supporting systematic reviews in these subjects. It was designed to operate in two phases: initially, crowd-sourcing questions, followed by asking respondents to rank them. The audience was intended to be global, with support from partners with a worldwide reach, and the survey was translated into multiple languages.

In the first phase, 502 respondents submitted questions from over 100 countries. The questions were coded with up to three keywords, allowing them to be organized into clusters or themes. In the second phase, 818 respondents (many of whom were new participants) took part in ranking these questions.

The top twenty questions

Below is the list of the twenty priority questions derived from this process, where 1 is the highest ranked:

1. How can degraded ecosystems be restored to meet the objectives of biodiversity conservation, ecosystem function, ecosystem resilience, and sustainability of rural livelihoods?
2. In the context of high human density and scarcity of farming land, how can we address the sustainable management of tropical forests?
3. How can we integrate sustainability into trade regulation and law?
4. How can we develop economically feasible models of forest restoration?
5. Can we develop practical tools that allow land planning and forest management to be tailored to the needs, culture, and perceptions of different communities and locations?
6. What are the implications for biodiversity and the environment of using afforestation as a means of carbon mitigation?
7. How can the needs of indigenous people who rely on intact forest systems be met while also providing wood products for economic growth?
8. How can we develop a sustainable mechanism for payments for ecosystem services?
9. What institutional arrangements might enable smallholders within a landscape to jointly market ecosystems services provided by reforestation of some of their land?
10. How can we improve agriculture to reduce pressure on forested areas?
11. How can we best select species that simultaneously provide ecological and economic benefits?
12. What are the best means to ensure that forest/landscape restoration projects add value to the landscape in terms of connectivity between populations and habitats, facilitating gene flow, species migration, and complementarity of land uses and local livelihoods?
13. How can local knowledge, wisdom, and experiences be effectively combined with national and subnational forest assessment, monitoring, and management efforts?
14. How can we guarantee effective protection and conservation of environmental services in a world increasingly in need of low-cost raw materials?
15. The adaptation to climate change involves responding to future climate trends and increasing risks. How can these two aspects be effectively combined?
16. Can we accurately use ecosystem service values to assess the value of a whole landscape?
17. How can inclusive forest and landscape management be enhanced for resource-poor communities?
18. How can farmers receive financial benefits from biodiversity conservation?
19. How can we maintain, restore, and shape water-friendly landscapes, including forests and trees, while addressing conflicting land use and water needs among all stakeholders?
20. How can we ensure that forests benefit local economies and are not appropriated for the advantage of foreign companies?

We welcome any comments on the final 20 questions and the overall process on this blog.

Visit the T20Q project website.

How can we best select species that simultaneously provide ecological and economic benefits? Icaro Cooke Vieira / CIFOR.

Carol Colfer and Doris Capistrano dedicate their book 'The Politics of Decentralization: Forests, Power and People' to 'those whose voices have not yet been heard,' a sentiment central to the T20Q project—a global initiative that allows individuals to express their views on important issues.

The T20Q project involved a two-stage process: first, crowd-sourcing questions deemed high priority for research and policy by anyone interested in forestry and landscapes, followed by ranking those questions in the second phase. Participation was accessible, requiring only internet access and an ability to read one of four languages. All partner organizations in the Evidence-Based Forestry (EBF) initiative invited online participation, with T20Q necessitating digital engagement, utilizing various social media platforms to reach the global community.

How did it work?

Over 500 individuals from more than 100 countries submitted 2,800 questions during the first phase of T20Q. Common themes were identified and organized by a forestry-information specialist into broad categories.

During the second phase, representative questions from these themes were selected at random for participants to rank on a significance scale of 1 to 10. A total of 818 individuals participated in this ranking phase, evaluating 109 representative questions organized into various categories, all randomized for each participant.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website.

What did people say and who said it?

One surprising outcome of the project was the significant participation from younger individuals, women, and those in the Global South—often unheard voices. A quarter of the participants were under 35 years, and 34% were women. Although this does not meet a 50% target, it surpasses numbers seen in many international deliberations.

Nearly 65% of participants who submitted questions were from Asia, Central and South America, and Africa, while around 50% voting participants were from the same regions. Brazil contributed the highest number of voters, surprising given the language barriers in both phases. Very few individuals engaged from Russia or China, both crucial forestry nations, likely due to language issues.

Many participants expressed interest (over 500 people indicated this in the surveys) in replicating this exercise regionally for specific topics like ecology, biodiversity, and climate change. Future regional focuses should consider the languages of target participants.

Participants were primarily highly educated, with over 95% holding at least a bachelor's degree. Most were engaged in research or education, with only 11% working in policy directly.

The top 20 questions ranked in importance can be categorized in various ways; for this discussion, they are grouped into six broad topics based on simple indexing and discussions within the project team.

The highest-ranking question may surprise many; it addresses the restoration of degraded areas for multiple benefits, rather than highlighting climate change or deforestation explicitly. However, it is broadly related to these key issues, including the often-overlooked aspect of forest degradation.

Addressing these questions will require integrated thinking, as advocated in international discussions. Many top questions necessitate a multidisciplinary approach, potentially leading to systematic reviews as part of the EBF initiative.

What happens next?

T20Q marks the beginning of a series of evidence-based activities, rather than a definitive answer to the most pressing research and policy needs in forestry and landscapes. The questions will be further discussed by EBF partners to pinpoint those warranting systematic review; others may inspire new research initiatives. All questions can be considered within the context of future international discussions, representing a subset of forestry and landscape community perspectives on priority agendas for further consideration and action.

The Top 20 Questions for forestry and landscapes research (grouped by theme)

Afforestation/restoration

• How can degraded ecosystems be restored to meet the objectives of biodiversity conservation, ecosystem function, ecosystem resilience, and sustainability of rural livelihoods?
• How can we develop economically feasible models of forest restoration?
• What are the implications for biodiversity and the environment of using afforestation as a means of carbon mitigation?
• How can we best select species that simultaneously provide ecological and economic benefits?
• What are the best means to ensure that forest/landscape restoration projects add value to the landscape in terms of connectivity between populations and habitats, facilitating gene flow, species migration, and complementarity of land uses and local livelihoods?

Types of knowledge

• Can we develop practical tools that allow land planning and forest management to be better tailored to the needs, culture, and perceptions of different communities and locations?
• How can local knowledge, wisdom, and experiences (e.g., on tree species, NTFPs [non-timber forest products]) be effectively combined with national and subnational forest assessment, monitoring, and management efforts?
• How can inclusive forest and landscape management be enhanced for the resource-poor?

Landscape-scale/integrated thinking

• In the context of high human density and scarcity of farming land, how can we address the sustainable management of tropical forests?
• How can we improve agriculture to reduce pressure on forested areas?
• Adaptation to climate change means addressing current climate trends and increasing risks. How can these two aspects be effectively combined?
• How can we maintain, restore, and shape water-friendly landscapes, including forests and trees, while addressing conflicting land use and water needs among all stakeholders?

Rights and benefits

• How do we ensure the needs of indigenous people reliant on intact forest systems while also supplying wood products for economic growth?
• What institutional arrangements might enable smallholders in a landscape to jointly market the ecosystem services provided by reforestation of some of their lands?
• How can we ensure that forests benefit local economies instead of being appropriated for the benefit of foreign companies?

Environmental services

• How is it possible to develop a sustainable mechanism for payments for ecosystem services?
• Can we accurately use ecosystem service values as a method for assessing the value of a whole landscape?
• How can farmers receive monetary compensation for biodiversity conservation?

Green business

• How can we integrate sustainability into trade regulation and law?
• How can we guarantee effective protection and conservation of environmental services in a world increasingly demanding low-cost raw materials?

Gillian Petrokofsky is a senior CIFOR Associate and James Martin Research Fellow at the University of Oxford.

T20Q was primarily funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) through their KNOW-FOR grant to CIFOR and coordinated by the Sylva Foundation, a UK charity in collaboration with CIFOR.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website.