General

There is a requirement to feed a rapidly growing human population whilst maintaining ecosystem services and reducing biodiversity losses. Across the world, previously extensive tracts of natural habitats have been degraded by human activities, with detrimental impacts for biodiversity and soils, and for the livelihoods of local communities living in these landscapes. Indonesia's forests are extremely biologically diverse but this hyper-diversity is threatened due to widespread loss of rainforest. Peat swamp forests contain particularly large stores of carbon and support unique flora and fauna not occurring elsewhere, but have been drained and degraded to make way for agriculture, threatening wildlife and releasing large amounts of carbon into the atmosphere from loss of trees and soil. Much of this recent forest loss is due to conversion to oil palm plantations, which provide important sources of local incomes, although drained peatlands produce many ecosystem disservices (e.g. bare land and soil with low/no agricultural value, poor air quality). Thus there are moves to rehabilitate degraded peatlands with a focus on reducing emissions, but potential co-benefits (and risks) of restoration for biodiversity and consequences for local communities whose livelihoods are dependent on agriculture are not well understood. The aim of this project is to understand the consequences of draining peatlands for biodiversity and local livelihoods, and to examine different scenarios for prioritising peatlands for restoration, according to biodiversity and emissions considerations and local community benefits and trade-offs. Restoration of degraded peat forest and re-wetting of drained areas may remove agricultural areas from production thereby reducing small holder farmer incomes and food. Moreover, decisions about sites to restore need to be compatible with systems of local governance, land rights and devolved administrations, and require the identification of alternative livelihood options for communities in restored habitats. The size and degree of connectivity of forest areas is also important for maintaining population networks of species in degraded landscapes, and for promoting the responses of biodiversity to climate change, and so decisions about peatland locations for restoration also need to include consideration of connectivity and adaptation of species to climate change. The issues we will address in this multi-disciplinary project will have a direct impact on local communities living in Indonesian peatland landscapes but the wider issues of balancing environmental, biodiversity and local community needs in multi-functional landscapes will be of broad generic importance.

Objectives

The Newton Fund builds research and innovation partnerships with developing countries across the world to promote the economic development and social welfare of the partner countries.

General

Land is one the most fundamental resources to peoples' living conditions, economic empowerment and, to some extent, their struggle for equity and equality. Property rights over land are essential for a number of reasons, especially in rural areas where agriculture and other land dependent activities are the basis of the economy. This project aims to strengthen the community capacity to demand access to and utlization of land rights in Wakiso District, Uganda

General

People's Alliance on Land Rights (PARL) will organise a week-long campaign of public awareness-raising in the lead-up to World Food Day on 16 October 2012. The campaign will seek to highlight the major role small scale food producers play in ensuring food security in Sri Lanka and the need to protect their rights and access to the land, coastal areas and forests and other natural resources such as water. Increasingly, large scale land acquisitions for tourism development, special economic zones and security facilities are having a detrimental effect on the rights of small scale food producers – farmers, fishers and allied food workers. Seminars, media briefings, leaflet and poster distributions, street drama, religious and cultural activities, petitions and marches are planned in most parts of Sri Lanka, culminating in a mass rally in Colombo on 15th October, and a National Seminar on 16th. CAFOD’s grant will allow affected communities to participate in national events and share their experiences with Sri Lankan civil society, representatives of political parties, diplomatic and UN missions, and contribute towards the printing of key studies and leaflets in English, Sinhalese and Tamil.