There is much policy, political, and financial interest in nature-based solutions (NbS) as a transformative solution to the climate change and biodiversity crisis. This transformational potential is not yet fully understood, and what is defined as NbS at the global level does not always match what is implemented on the ground.

Forests play a crucial role in people’s lives, homes and livelihoods. They significantly impact health, food security, income generation and biodiversity conservation.

This session aims to present the current challenges faced by the woodfuel sector in responding to the demand of a growing market of fuelwood and charcoal in many countries of the developing world, with a particular focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, and the options that governments and donors have to develop strategies and solutions to make the production, transformation, and commercialization of woodfuel products more sustainable and carbon neutral.

The Capacity Development and Education team from CIFOR-ICRAF is collaborating with IUFRO to show-case CIFOR-ICRAF’s work on Restoration Education.

This session will confront, and try to reconcile, a variety of trends and perspectives on possible forest futures in 2050, from various – often conflicting – angles and demands that fall on the forest sector, such as climate, carbon, biodiversity, wood and materials production for the bioeconomy, food security (including liberation of land to farming), income generation etc.

The session will present how methods and tools including tree-ring analysis, quantitative wood anatomy and stable isotopes help assess drought tolerance and water use efficiency of tree species and forests and its implications for climate resilient restoration, among others.