Approaches to materialising the value of forests
Claudia, Elisabeth and Knut were contracted by the Wyss Academy for Nature at the University of Bern to map ways and approaches that exist globally to value nature, and tropical forests in particular. In addition to presenting such approaches, their work has identified examples of interventions and tools which aim at materialising the multiple values of nature in various contexts.
Their research was based on the premise that forests have multiple values and provide a wide range of benefits to people, which support livelihoods and well-being. These benefits are often referred to as ecosystem services or nature’s contributions to people (NCP) as defined by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES).
The study draws on academic and grey literature in order to capture research published in peer-reviewed articles as well as grey literature published by non-academic institutions such as international organisations, non-governmental organisations, and relevant web sites. This combination of sources produced an overview of academic research and other material containing analyses and recommendations based on practitioners’ perspectives and interventions on the ground.
The project was carried out by Future Horizons in partnership with Professor Mike Christie from the Aberystwyth Business School.