Socio-Economic Aspects of Restoration

Establishing a FORRU requires working with people from all sectors of society from
high-ranking government officials to local villagers.

Working with protected area (PA) staff

As biodiversity recovery is one of the principal aims of forest restoration, nature reserves and national parks are ideal locations for nurseries and field trials. Support from the person in charge of a protected area is therefore essential. The PA authority might be able to grant permission for the construction of a nursery and the establishment of field trials on PA land, provided such activities are in accordance with the area’s management plan. When drafting funding applications, consider including the salary of one or more members staff, to assist with the activities of the unit such as

• If field trials contribute to increased forest cover, PA will probably want to be involved in tree planting events and in the maintenance of the planted trees.
• Vehicles owned by the PA might be available for transporting trees, nursery supplies and planting materials around the area.

The importance of working with communities

Developing working relationships with communities is essential to prevent misunderstandings about the aims of the work, and to diffuse any potential conflicts over the positioning of forest restoration plots. A good relationship with local people provides with three important resources:

• indigenous knowledge
• a source of labour
• an opportunity to test the practicability of research results

The establishment of field plots, maintenance and monitoring of planted trees, and fire prevention are labour-intensive activities. Local people should be the first to be offered such work and to benefit from payments for it. This helps to build a sense of ‘stewardship’ of the forest restoration plots, which increases support for the work at the community level.

The species choices and propagation methods developed by a researcher must be acceptable to local people. Establishing a community tree nursery where local people can test the techniques developed and ensure that community nurseries produce trees close to planting sites to reduce transportation costs.

Working with foreign institutes and advisors

Expertise and advice from foreign organisations can greatly accelerate the establishment of a unit and prevent the duplication of work that has already been done elsewhere, and is unlikely that a unit will have the funds necessary to pay international consultancy fees to foreign experts.

• Foreign institutions: contribute to unit workshops on nursery production techniques, seed handling or other topics. Some institutions might be able to accept FORRU staff for short periods of training.
• Advisors: provide expertise in specialist disciplines, such as plant taxonomy.

Obtaining funding

For financial stability, it is best to maintain a varied ‘portfolio’ of different sources of research funding by dividing the work of the unit into clearly defined research areas (e.g., forest ecology, tree propagation and biodiversity recovery), each one supported by a different funding mechanism with different start and finish dates.

Research funding can be obtained from a wide range of different organisations. Multinational or international aid agencies (e.g., the European Union (EU) or the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)) can provide large grants for large projects, but they usually impose complicated and time-consuming application and reporting procedures, to maintain accountability and transparency to their donor governments.

The market value of biodiversity

Restoring the supply of forest products to communities provides a powerful motive for local people to plant trees. It is a directly measurable value of forest restoration. The value of tropical forest products can be calculated from market prices and traded volumes. At least 150 different forest products, including rattan, bamboo, nuts, essential oils and pharmaceuticals. Income from the extraction of forest products can only be maintained if such products are harvested sustainably and the benefits shared fairly amongst community members. In addition, income from ecotourism is another way to value the return of biodiversity resulting from forest restoration.

For more detailed advice on socio-economic aspects of implementing forest restoration projects, please read Chapter 8 of "Restoring Tropical Forests". For a detailed case study of our work with local communities, please read this paper. Click on the "Related Items" panel FORRU-CMU's key papers, which focus on socio-economic aspects of forest restoration. The Regional Community Forestry Training Centre (on Kasetsart University Campus, Bangkok) specializes in the socio-economics of forestry and runs frequent training courses.