The European Tropical Forest Research Network (ETFRN) is a network on forests and development, which aims to ensure that European research contributes to conservation and sustainable use of forest and tree resources in tropical and subtropical countries.
ETFRN was established in 1991 in response to the growing concernes on the rapid deforestation occurring particularly in the tropics, and the European Commission's desire to mobilise European research to address this challenge.
Objectives: The goal of ETFRN is to ensure that European research contributes to conservation and sustainable management of forests and tree resources in tropics, subtropics & Mediterranean. ETFRN aims to achieve its goal by:
promoting forest research partnerships and collaboration between the South and Europe
developing and promoting dialogue between researchers, policy makers, and forest managers and others influencing the forest environment
promoting increased coherence and co-ordination of European research capability in tropical forest research
Tropenbos International is ETFRN's coordinating member and national focal point in the Netherlands.
ETFRN provides a range of services, including ETFRN News, which comprises theme-based issues on current research relevant to the international development agenda, such as Financing Sustainable Forest Management; Non-Timber Forest Products; Forests, Water and Livelihoods; Forests and the MDGs, and; Forests and Conflicts.
Members:
Resources
Displaying 1 - 5 of 12Adoption of farmer managed natural regeneration in Senegal. Included in Restoring African Drylands
Valuable lessons can be learned from smallholder farmers who have successfully protected and regenerated tree cover across agricultural landscapes in Senegal, with minimal reliance on tree nurseries, seedling distribution or tree planting. In the process, they have restored soil fertility to sustainably increase agricultural production.
Successful landscape restoration in Abreha We Atsbeha watershed, Tigray, Ethiopia. Included in Restoring African Drylands
Key success factors
There were several reasons for the success of the restoration initiative.
• Implementation had the active participation of the local community; i.e., it was community- led restoration.
• Restoration produced short- and long-term economic and environmental benefits.
• It systematically included women, girls and youth in restoration activities.
• The former village leader had the leadership capacity to mobilize the local community.
Climate-smart village approach: communities at the heart of restoration in Senegal. Included in Restoring African Drylands
The climate-smart village approach created enthusiasm and commitment from farmers in seeking solutions to the problems and constraints that they themselves identified. The approach also involved strengthening the capacity of technical staff to use new tools, and to understand and support the new methods, with complementary finance to support the changes.
Two decades of farmer managed natural regeneration on the Seno plain, Mali. Included in Restoring African Drylands
The adoption of FMNR increased by 50% over 20 years; about 90% of all farmers now encourage natural regeneration on the land that they manage. The key to success is having local institutions that are respected and effective. The experience in Bankass shows that reforestation rates of at least 250 trees per hectare can be achieved by farmer managed natural regeneration on Sahelian agricultural lands, recreating an agroforestry parkland at a fraction of the cost of establishing conventional plantations.
Restoration of agricultural landscapes and dry forests in Senegal. Included in Restoring African Drylands
In the above initiatives, self-motivated populations increased food security and reduced vulnerabilities to climatic shocks by restoring and sustainably managing local forest resources. To regenerate agroforestry parklands, farmers built on traditional systems to increase on-farm tree density and convert degraded lands to densely wooded savannas. These actions increased crop yields and produced new sources of livestock browse. The population of Sambandé restored the local forest and managed it to sustainably produce fuel and fruit.