80808 things to know about the World Bank’s WORK ON FORESTS IMPACT The World Bank’s Forests Strategy pledges to support countries in their efforts to harness the potential of forests to reduce poverty, better integrate forests into their economies, and protect and strengthen the environmental role forests play, locally and globally. In the last ten years, the Bank has funded almost 300 forest-related projects in 75 1 countries that have had a significant impact on many different levels consistent with these objectives. PROTECTION Around a quarter of the forest projects financed by the Bank have supported the establishment, expansion, and development of forest protected areas. In Brazil, for example, Bank teams worked with local and federal authorities and non-governmental organizations to protect Amazonian forests. In its first phase, the Amazon Region Protected Areas project helped designate 2 around 24 million hectares of new protected areas, an area roughly equal in size to the United Kingdom. The project also helped classify 45.4 million hectares as indigenous lands and set aside 2.1 million hectares into special reserves for sustainable, community-managed use. In its second phase, the project will protect nearly 70 million hectares of additional rainforest. POVERTY REDUCTION By strengthening rights of use and access to forest areas, the World Bank has bolstered the role of forests in reducing poverty. Bank financed activities have brought around 74 million hectares of forests under community or participatory forest management. Projects have also directly reduced poverty by growing valuable 3 trees. In China, for example, one World Bank project specifically targeted poor areas in 12 provinces, training farmers to plant and care for a range of profitable trees. Economic trees like chestnut, gingko and bamboo helped boost average annual income by 150% between 1998 and 2004. RESTORATION The World Bank is a strong partner in efforts to restore degraded land, from China’s Loess Plateau, to Ethiopia’s Great Rift Valley and the hillsides of Albania. Worldwide, an estimated 2 billion hectares of lost or degraded forest landscapes could be restored and rehabilitated. If those “landscapes of opportunity� were 4 to be restored to functional and productive ecosystems, they could help deliver a triple win by improving rural livelihoods and food security, increasing climate resilience, and helping mitigate greenhouse gases—while taking pressure off pristine forests. OPPORTUNITY The World Bank’s support for forest sector investments has created jobs. In Mexico, where some 80%of forests are owned by indigenous and other communities, the World Bank co-financed a project that helped people derive more value and create more jobs from the forest resources they manage. A project evaluation 5 found that between 2003 and 2008, jobs had increased by 27% in targeted communities and ejidos, while the net value of forest goods and services they produced increased by 36%. FOOD SECURITY Healthy forests and trees are central to the World Bank’s vision for a more resilient and prosperous future, in the face of extreme weather and economic shocks. In Ethiopia for example, tree planting is an integral part of the Productive Safety Net Program supported by the World Bank that has protected more than 7 million 6 people from famine in times of drought. In addition to the food they produce directly, forests and trees provide essential services to the agricultural sector—from water and soil regulation, to fertilization and pollinator habitats. Forests and trees on farms are part of the arsenal of proven, practical solutions to feeding the world in a changing climate. TRANSPARENCY The World Bank’s dialogue with developing countries has improved the governance of a sector often plagued by corruption and illegality. Engagement around difficult issues has led to progress in the way forest rights are allocated. For example, in Cameroon, legal and regulatory reforms resulted in the first legal recognition of community forests 7 in any part of West Africa. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Bank worked closely with Government to cancel around 25 million hectares of illegal logging concessions, dramatically improving transparency. Worldwide, at least 3.5 million hectares of forests now meet independent certified sustainable forest management standards as a result of Bank investment. INTEGRATION Over 80% of the World Bank’s work on forests in the last decade has happened within broader development projects that tackle issues such as rural poverty reduction, watershed management and natural resources governance. The World Bank is the largest multilateral source of financing for forests in the developing world, 8 but provides these resources within an integrated development framework across sectors. In the Congo basin for example, the Bank is working with partners to help steer economic growth toward “forest friendly� approaches that minimize the impact of transport, agriculture, energy, mining and logging on forests. INNOVATION Over the last decade, the World Bank has supported the development of new markets for the environmental services that forests provide, including biodiversity protection, carbon sequestration, and watershed management. For example, the Bank has explored and developed a range of opportunities to help countries reduce greenhouse gas 9 emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and to conserve, sustainably manage and enhance forest carbon stocks (REDD+). The Bank’s approach has been to prepare and pilot different REDD+ initiatives through partnerships such as the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, the BioCarbon Fund and the Forest Investment Program. KNOWLEDGE The World Bank is a source of cutting edge analysis that is helping equip policymakers, private sector actors and civil society with the knowledge they need to take on pressing challenges such as food security and climate change. Smarter forest policy, in turn, can improve rural livelihoods, reduce unsustainable and illegal logging, spur investments in forests and trees and reconcile different needs at the landscape level. For example, the Program on Forests (PROFOR), hosted at the Bank, works with partners to improve the way in which livelihoods data is collected. Its Poverty-Forests Linkages Toolkit sheds light on the large share of income people derive from forest goods and services in developing countries. This connection makes investment in forests and forest policy central to the Bank’s mission: Working for a world free of poverty. Learn more www.worldbank.org/forests Photo credits: Forest fog, Boleslaw Kubica; Brazil waterfall, Zig Koch / WWF; China chestnuts, Wu Zhiyi; Mexico forestry, Heriberto Rodríguez; Ethiopia food, Stephan Bachenheimer; Congo truck, Jean-François Hellio & Nicolas Van Ingen; All other images, Flore de Préneuf.