Online seminar (via Zoom) followed by Q&A – all welcome

Forests are a central part of the climate change and biodiversity agendas, which are strongly connected to perspectives on just and sustainable rural transitions. These views have triggered actions on deforestation-free and nature positive and inclusive supply chains. While there is urgency to accelerate transformative actions, there is recognition that the progress has been slow. This presentation will discuss the major challenges facing societal attempts to reverse tropical deforestation and forest degradation from transnational to sub-national processes, and the narratives shaping corporate and government actions and responses frameworks. Main emphasis will be placed on examining the potential and limits of the disparate responses embraced, including both area-based and sector and/or commodity specific, and the conditions that explain disparate outcomes on effectiveness and equity. In addition, it will reflect on the likely implications of the renewed commitments on halting deforestation and forest degradation, arguing for the need of more integrated approaches, as well as more inclusive processes linking science to practice and policy tailored to specific contexts.

Pablo Pacheco is WWF’s Global Forests Lead Scientist, based in Washington DC. He supports WWF’s Global Science Team and the Forest Practice. He engages on the design of strategies, implementation actions and impact monitoring frameworks linked to targets on halting deforestation, enhancing sustainable forest management, and accelerating forest restoration. He participates in several working groups and platforms to support global forest conservation. Before joining WWF, he was Principal Scientist and Team Leader at the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Bogor, Indonesia. He also coordinated work on sustainable value chains and investments under the CGIAR Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA). His main research areas focus on community forestry, land and forests governance, landscape transformation and trajectories, drivers and dynamics of land use change, sustainable livelihoods, inclusive value chains, and sustainable development. His work has primarily focused on the tropics, mainly in the Amazon and Southeast Asia. He has published extensively in these topics. He has an interdisciplinary background. He holds a PhD from the Graduate School of Geography at Clark University, a Msc in Agricultural Economics, and a BA in Sociology.