Papers by D. Andrew Wardell
Forests, Trees and Livelihoods, 2014
ABSTRACT Free trade in Asia could aggravate the situation of small-scale furniture producers, if ... more ABSTRACT Free trade in Asia could aggravate the situation of small-scale furniture producers, if they are not strengthened. The furniture value chain describes the role of different actors in the furniture business from forest to market. Each actor contributes to, and obtains benefits from, the chain. Research was conducted in Jepara, Central Java, the centre of furniture production in Indonesia. The value of Jepara's exports is more than US$110 million annually. This research aimed to improve the position of small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in the value chain. The study was conducted in 2008–2012, mainly using participatory action research (PAR). The results show that PAR is able to influence the value chain and improve the livelihoods of small-scale furniture producers. By creating a representative association, SMEs were able to strengthen their bargaining position, connect to wider markets and improve trust and support from government. The association was recently issued with the first collective timber legality assurance system (SVLK) license in Indonesia.
Research Handbook on REDD-Plus and International Law
The Warsaw Framework for REDD+ (WFR) has established a robust and comprehensive framework for the... more The Warsaw Framework for REDD+ (WFR) has established a robust and comprehensive framework for the effective and sustained implementation of REDD+ activities while aiming at environmental integrity and tangible results. A critical element of the WFR are the modalities for measuring, reporting and verifying (MRV) greenhouse gas emissions and removals as an essential tool for linking REDD+ activities to results-based finance. This article describes the WFR and indicates six of its implications for the implementation of REDD+ in developing countries in the context of access to results-based finance. These include (1) the accumulative nature of the requirements to obtain results-based finance, (2) a higher degree of normative bindingness and (3) systematic integration of UNFCCC COP decisions on REDD+. Furthermore, (4) the WFR enhanced transparency of MRV processes and (5) promotes centralization at the national level, by linking MRV processes to reporting obligations of developing countries under the UNFCCC and by providing the opportunity of creating a voluntary national entity or focal point for REDD+, increasing the (6) need for inter-sectoral and inter-agency coordination. While all six implications will be discussed, the article highlights in particular the aspects of centralization and increased transparency.
International Journal of the Commons, 2013
Pre-colonial patterns of trade in West Africa included exchanges of shea in periodic local and re... more Pre-colonial patterns of trade in West Africa included exchanges of shea in periodic local and regional markets. The collection, processing and marketing of shea products in such markets continues to be predominantly by women to both meet subsistence needs, and exchange of surpluses. In the early part of the 20th century, the British colonial administration considered the possibilities of starting large-scale exports of shea kernels to Europe. Multiple colonial initiatives to develop the global trade were not successful due to a composite of factors. Contemporary patterns of production, trade and regulation are contrasted in the context of globalisation in the post-independence era. The government of Ghana has progressively reinforced its ambitions to expand the shea nut trade as part of the state's portfolio of major non-traditional agricultural export commodities. This policy is embedded within the (now) dominant orthodoxy of neo-liberalism, which privileges monetized production systems and private over public regulation. Historically and culturally-embedded patterns of shea production and trade by women in northern Ghana may now be challenged by the emergence of new processing technologies, the emergence of an oligopolistic global commodity chain and the anticipated continued growth in global demand for cocoa butter equivalents. Nevertheless, the cumulative impacts of increasing commercialisation and world market integration at the national and local level in Ghana, and other West African producer countries, are still unknown. There are risks, however, that this process may result in 368 Andrew Wardell and Niels Fold social differentiation, changes in household consumption patterns and loss of livelihoods, particularly for women. Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank three anonymous referees for their valuable comments on an earlier draft. We would also like to thank the Danish Council for Development Research for financial assistance.
This research was carried out by CIFOR as part of the CGIAR Research Programme, 'Forests, Trees a... more This research was carried out by CIFOR as part of the CGIAR Research Programme, 'Forests, Trees and Agroforestry: Livelihoods, Landscapes and Governance'. The Programme aims to enhance management and use of forests, agroforestry and tree genetic resources across the landscape from forests to farms. CIFOR leads the collaborative Programme in partnership with Bioversity International, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture and the World Agroforestry Centre.
Ecology and Society, 2006
Concerns about global environmental change challenge long term ecological research (LTER) to go b... more Concerns about global environmental change challenge long term ecological research (LTER) to go beyond traditional disciplinary scientific research to produce knowledge that can guide society toward more sustainable development. Reporting the outcomes of a 2 d interdisciplinary workshop, this article proposes novel concepts to substantially expand LTER by including the human dimension. We feel that such an integration warrants the insertion of a new letter in the acronym, changing it from LTER to LTSER, "Long-Term Socioecological Research," with a focus on coupled socioecological systems. We discuss scientific challenges such as the necessity to link biophysical processes to governance and communication, the need to consider patterns and processes across several spatial and temporal scales, and the difficulties of combining data from in-situ measurements with statistical data, cadastral surveys, and soft knowledge from the humanities. We stress the importance of including prefossil fuel system baseline data as well as maintaining the often delicate balance between monitoring and predictive or explanatory modeling. Moreover, it is challenging to organize a continuous process of cross-fertilization between rich descriptive and causal-analytic local case studies and theory/modeling-oriented generalizations. Conceptual insights are used to derive conclusions for the design of infrastructures needed for long-term socioecological research.
Climate change can be addressed by mitigation (reducing the sources or enhancing the sinks of gre... more Climate change can be addressed by mitigation (reducing the sources or enhancing the sinks of greenhouse gases) and adaptation (reducing the impacts of climate change). Mitigation and adaptation present two fundamentally dissimilar approaches whose differences are now well documented. Forest ecosystems play an important role in both adaptation and mitigation and there is a need to explore the linkages between these two options in order to understand their trade-offs and synergies. In forests, potential trade-offs can be observed between global ecosystem services, such as the carbon sequestration relevant for mitigation, and the local ecosystem services that are relevant for adaptation. In addition, mitigation projects can facilitate or hinder the adaptation of local people to climate change, whereas adaptation projects can affect ecosystems and their potential to sequester carbon. Linkages between adaptation and mitigation can also be observed in policies, but few climate change or forest policies have addressed these linkages in the forestry sector. This paper presents examples of linkages between adaptation and mitigation in Latin American forests. Through case studies, we investigate the approaches and reasons for integrating adaptation into mitigation projects or mitigation into OPEN ACCESS Forests 2011, 2 432 adaptation projects. We also analyze the opportunities for mainstreaming adaptation-mitigation linkages into forest or climate change policies.
Geographical Journal, 2006
A simple ecological model underlies contemporary fire policy in many West African countries. The ... more A simple ecological model underlies contemporary fire policy in many West African countries. The model holds that the timing (or seasonality) of annual savanna fires is a principal determinant of vegetation cover. The model's origin can be traced to the ideas held by influential colonial scientists who viewed anthropogenic fire as a prime force of regional environmental degradation. The main evidence in support of the model derives from the results of a series of long-term burning experiments carried out during last century. The experimental results have been repeatedly mapped onto fire policy often taking the form of a three-tiered model in which fire exclusion is considered the ultimate management objective, late dry-season fire is discouraged and early dry-season fire is allowed but only under specific, often state-controlled circumstances. This paper provides a critique of contemporary fire policy in the region and the fire ecology model on which it is based. Through an analysis of burn scars for the 2002-3 fire season generated from ETM+ imagery, the study documents the spatiotemporal pattern of burning for an area in southern Mali. It argues that current policy, which is informed by an a-spatial model, cannot adequately account for the critical pattern of burning that is characteristic of the region. A reinterpretation of the burning experiments is presented in light of four factors: empirical data; recent developments in patch-mosaic theory; historical evidence on the effects of fire suppression; and data on indigenous burning strategies, all of which suggest a need to reconsider current fire policy.
Nature Conservation
The participation of local communities in the governance of protected areas in the Democratic Rep... more The participation of local communities in the governance of protected areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo is challenged by several external and local factors. This article aims to understand the representation of local communities and factors that influence their participation in the governance of the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve. Three principal sources of information (archival records, focus group and semi-structured interviews) were used to collect data. The results indicate a top-down participatory approach. The cumulative failure of several projects in the context of local development has led to different perceptions by local communities of their role in the participative governance of Yangambi Biosphere Reserve. Initiatives in participatory management and local development only function during the lifetime of externally-funded projects when initiators are present in the intervention area. The results call into question formal claims made by both conservation projects and t...
The Journal of Peasant Studies
Global Journal of Comparative Law
This article examines innovative ways to promote investment and financing of sustainable landscap... more This article examines innovative ways to promote investment and financing of sustainable landscape initiatives in international law. It argues that increased flows of investment and finance for sustainable landscapes must be guided by a clear and comprehensive legal framework; better and more appropriate knowledge and technologies; more informed decision-making; and improved governance at all levels. The article considers concerns and opportunities to support the financing of sustainable forestry and land-use programs, especially in developing countries. It reviews the key contributions of international investment instruments to sustainability landscapes financing, in light of recent decisions concerning International Investment Agreements (iias) by arbitral panels convened to hear disputes under the rules of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (icsid) or the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (uncitral). It then proposes innovative ways ...
Journal of Agrarian Change, 2016
International Journal of the Commons, 2012
Nature Conservation
The participation of local communities in the governance of protected areas in the Democratic Rep... more The participation of local communities in the governance of protected areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo is challenged by several external and local factors. This article aims to understand the representation of local communities and factors that influence their participation in the governance of the Yangambi Biosphere Reserve. Three principal sources of information (archival records, focus group and semi-structured interviews) were used to collect data. The results indicate a top-down participatory approach. The cumulative failure of several projects in the context of local development has led to different perceptions by local communities of their role in the participative governance of Yangambi Biosphere Reserve. Initiatives in participatory management and local development only function during the lifetime of externally-funded projects when initiators are present in the intervention area. The results call into question formal claims made by both conservation projects and t...
The Journal of Peasant Studies
Global Journal of Comparative Law
This article examines innovative ways to promote investment and financing of sustainable landscap... more This article examines innovative ways to promote investment and financing of sustainable landscape initiatives in international law. It argues that increased flows of investment and finance for sustainable landscapes must be guided by a clear and comprehensive legal framework; better and more appropriate knowledge and technologies; more informed decision-making; and improved governance at all levels. The article considers concerns and opportunities to support the financing of sustainable forestry and land-use programs, especially in developing countries. It reviews the key contributions of international investment instruments to sustainability landscapes financing, in light of recent decisions concerning International Investment Agreements (iias) by arbitral panels convened to hear disputes under the rules of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (icsid) or the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (uncitral). It then proposes innovative ways ...
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Papers by D. Andrew Wardell