Forests for People

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Collaborative research to enhance

benefits and livelihoods from forests

Tony Bartlett, Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research

he Non-legally Binding Authoritative Statement of

Principles for a Global Consensus on the Management,

Conservation and Sustainable Development of All Types

of Forests (Forest Principles) calls for a strengthening of the

contribution of science and research in advancing sustainable

forest management, as well as the development and application

of scientific and technological innovations that can be used by

forest owners and indigenous communities to that end.

Over the past 30 years, the Australian Centre for International

Agricultural Research (ACIAR) has been investing in international

forestry research, predominantly in the Asia-Pacific region. ACIAR’s

forestry programme facilitates collaborative research by Australian

and international forest scientists with developing country scientists,

to build capacity and enhance the contribution made by sustainable

forestry to livelihoods and economic development in partner countries.

ACIAR has facilitated significant advances in scientific knowl-

edge and transfer of Australian tree germplasm, enabling the

widespread adoption of Australian species in plantations in China,

Viet Nam, Indonesia, Laos, India, Thailand and south-

ern Africa. In more recent years, ACIAR’s forestry

projects have been located in Indonesia, Papua New

Guinea, Viet Nam, Laos and several Pacific Island

countries. These projects focus on adding value to

local and introduced species, developing non-timber

forest products and supporting forest industries and

agroforestry to benefit small landholders.

Improved management of tropical forests

In many places, tropical forests are the only forest

resources available to local communities and therefore

there is an urgent need for research to assist communi-

ties in managing them. In Papua New Guinea (PNG),

ACIAR has conducted collaborative research on improv-

ing the contributions that secondary forests make to

national and local economies by developing appropriate

strategies for their management and marketing. These

include enhancing PNG’s network of permanent forest

Papua New Guinea farmer with 10-month-old balsa trees

Landowners in Papua New Guinea conducted participatory forest

inventory research

Image: Tony Bartlett

Image: Julian Fox, University of Melbourne