Growing global population and affluence means there are increasing and multiple demands on forest and other ecosystems to produce commodities and provide ecosystems services. While the demands for production continue to grow, the restrictions on where and how we can produce and protect become equally more prevalent. Deforestation-free and zero net deforestation (ZND) supply chain commitments by the private sector and governments have increased since the 2014 New York Declaration on Forests. Several questions remain. Where will goods be produced in future within physical landscapes with both increased protection and production? Is the restoration of degraded and under-performing landscapes an opportunity for more sustainable food and commodity production? How can strategies to combat deforestation and accelerate restoration be aligned to meet these demands?
Photo: Flickr / USFS: Maret Pajutee
Against this background, IUCN’s Global Forest and Climate Change Programme (GFCCP) is issuing a call for papers that will contribute new knowledge and innovative solutions for combatting deforestation while accelerating restoration. In particular, the papers will contribute to answering key questions within one of the following objectives:
- Developing sustainable forest and land use scenarios: What will landscapes look like in 2020 and 2030, in light of global growth projections and the need to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), New York Declaration on Forests, the Aichi Targets, and international climate targets (including pre-2020 actions towards UNFCCC workstream 2 and NDCs)?
- Upscaling deforestation-free food and commodity production that relies on restoration strategies: What scalable restoration solutions can be deployed to prevent deforestation, while also enabling economically-viable production of food and commodities, and ensuring the supply of ecosystem services? Highlight the role of the public and private sectors, as well as civil society organisations and local communities.
- Achieving private sector deforestation-free commitments: What models could be employed to help guide private sector actors in achieving their deforestation-free commitments through restoration of degraded land and forests? Highlight examples or potential options of public and private partnerships for both smallholders and large-scale producers.
IUCN will compile and distribute a peer-reviewed publication on achieving deforestation-free commitments through FLR with identified uptake pathways to inform policy and action on forests. The papers produced through this call will be a part of the IUCN publication with all authors duly acknowledged for their contribution.
Authors interested in contributing should submit their proposals for papers through the online application (https://goo.gl/TS1xxP). The abstract should not be longer than 300 words. The authors of selected proposals will be asked to develop a full paper not longer than 4,000 words.
Deliverables Timeline
Submission of proposals: February 5, 2017
Selection of proposals: February 17, 2017
Submission of papers by authors: March 24, 2017
Peer review of papers: June 5, 2017
IUCN publication launch: Expected in August 2017
Requirements
IUCN seeks contributions from our partners, members, research organisations, government institutions, private sector networks and operators with relevant experience implementing and/or supporting ongoing initiatives in relevant sectors: conservation, forestry, agriculture, water management, landscape approaches to planning and management of natural resources, restoration etc.
The proposals need to be aligned with the objectives of the call, and adhere to the guidelines on length for both the abstract and paper.
While IUCN strongly encourages contributions from organisations and authors from various geographies and backgrounds, all papers should be written in English (UK) and will be required to follow the IUCN Style Guide (full guidelines will be provided to authors of selected proposals).
Funding Support
IUCN will provide a research grant (up to US $2,500 per proposal) to support the development of selected papers.
Contact
If you have any questions about the application process, please contact Elmedina Krilasevic (elmedina.krilasevic@iucn.org) or Swati Hingorani (swati.hingorani@iucn.org).
