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Forest Trends focuses on market-based mechanisms to achieve sustainable forest management and conservation because they are powerful means to (1) ensure the maintenance of ecological functions and services provided by forests; (2) generate economic benefits; and (3) promote the equitable distribution of benefits among diverse stakeholders.
Our approach integrates the fundamental dimensions of ecology, economy, and equity because our goal is impact on a scale that is meaningful globally. Equally important, we have created a forum where all actors in the forest community can be linked. In a time in which change is rapid and antagonism is commonplace, there is a need for safe environments in which disparate factions can convene around a common purpose.
To this end, we have organized our work around three program areas:
• Accelerating the Development of Markets for Ecosystem Services
In the long term, building financial value into forests will be the ultimate guarantee that they are not destroyed. Today, many of the serviced provided by forests are either undervalued or have no financial value at all. Forest Trends' goal is to move markets for ecosystem services towards center stage in the debate around forest conservation by catalyzing pioneering projects and innovative investments around the world.
Two major initiatives that have resulted from this work are the Katoomba Group* – an international working group on markets for ecosystem services - and the Ecosystem Marketplace* - the first global information resource in ecosystem service markets.
• Forest Trade and Finance: Linking Commerce with Conservation
To conserve forests, investment and trade in forest products must reward sustainable forest management in commercial terms. This commercial alignment with conservation goals is nowhere more urgent than in China . Since 2000, Forest Trends has been actively engaged in encouraging sustainable forest management and forest trade policies in China and the Asia-Pacific. We are also working on raising transparency and accountability, and ultimately improving practices by financial institutions that fund forestry investments.
• Making Markets Work for Community Forest Producers
Indigenous and other communities now own or administer 20% of the world's tropical forests totaling 400 million hectares globally. Forest Trends has launched a portfolio of work to sustainably manage and restore forest resources and improve their livelihoods. Our strategies include providing analytical support for making markets work for the poor, eliminating harmful regulatory barriers, securing tenure rights, and promoting equitable ecosystem service markets. We are also actively supporting a growing number of indigenous and community enterprises and organizations with strategic market intelligence.
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