Please note that this is an on-going project.
Project Description
The Primary Forest & Climate Program is a collaboration among research institutes, civil society organisations, and First Nations Peoples. This program focuses on tackling one of the world’s most urgent challenges, which lies at the intersection of the climate and biodiversity crises through protecting the planet’s remaining primary forests. The program focused on seven case study sites that host significant primary forests and endangered species, which include forest carbon accounting, planning and governance, policy options, economic and valuation, economic integrity, and data-information services. The key activities of the Primary Forest & Climate Program that have been implemented cover ecosystem service analysis, valuation, and carbon accounting; evidence-based policy options for primary forest protection; improving the information base for primary forests; planning and governance for forest ecosystem integrity; and building a business case for primary forest protection.
Project Personnel and Beneficiaries
The Primary Forest & Climate Program Research institutes, civil society organisations, and First Nations Peoples
Outcomes to Date
The Primary Forests and Climate Program has introduced a new approach to forest carbon accounting based on the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting for Ecosystem Accounts (SEEA-EA). They developed innovative methods for mapping primary forests using time series analysis and high-resolution satellite data. They also created a framework for integrating forest management across landscapes and formulated business cases utilising research on ecosystem services and landscape planning. Additionally, they identified mechanisms for financially rewarding those who protect and restore forests through fair benefit-sharing. This work has been used and cited in national and international climate policy discussions, as well as used by key organisations and networks that received this policy and technical advice on primary forests, including the UN FAO, the Climate Action Network Ecosystems Working Group, and the Climate Land Ambition and Rights Alliance (CLARA).
Project Significance
The Primary Forests and Climate Program provides information, publications, and decision-support tools on the values of primary forests, the ecosystem service benefits they provide to society, and policy options in support of their protection. Primary forests store significant amounts of carbon and host diverse biological communities. The work also ensures that local and Indigenous communities that live in and around forests are empowered to act as stewards and receive fair benefit sharing to support their livelihoods based on the importance of their forests to water, climate and other systems that people rely on globally, regionally and locally. Therefore, the program’s efforts to protect the primary forests align with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 13: Climate Action and SDG 15: Life on Land, while also seeking to support SDG 1: No Poverty and SDG 16: Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions. Additionally, the program provides ongoing research and publications to inform science as a collaborative endeavour between researchers, practitioners and community organisations across countries, supporting SDG 17: Partnership for the Goals.