Forests and Rural Livelihood in the Kyrgyz Republic - Development Potentials
Non Timber Forest Products could represent a good source of income and other benefits for rural communities in the Kyrgyz Republic.  What is the potential and what are the structural constraints to generating income and ensuring the benefits accrue to poor rural communities?

Improving Rural Livelihoods and Sustainable Management of Dryland Forests of Eastern and Southern Africa
An in-depth look at the issues of dryland ecosystems in Eastern and Souther Africa, the impacts of climate change on the development of these forests. This study will also develop operational recommendations for policy-makers.

Impacts of Agro-food and Fuel Price  Changes on Rural Livelihoods and Forests in Syria  
A large share of Syria’s poor people live in rural areas and depend on agriculture and forest resources for their livelihood. Protected forest areas are beginning to feel the strains of human activity. It seems likely that post-2006 increase in the prices of agro-food products has had a significant direct impact on rural livelihoods. But the full extent—and the impact on forests—is not fully known.

Community Forestry Enterprise Competitiveness and Access to Markets in Mexico
Some of Mexico’s forest communities are among the world’s most advanced examples of commercial community forestry. But despite the large extent of forests with commercial potential in the country, and a unique system of community ownership, Mexico’s forests are far from meeting their potential for contributing to local development and poverty reduction.  PROFOR is helping to develop the community stakeholder consensus and participation needed to develop national programs in support of community forestry enterprise competitiveness.

Nepal Forest sector Strategy –Opportunities for Integration of Community Forestry and Carbon Financing
PROFOR is lending its support to the World Bank’s South Asia region to prepare an overview of Nepal’s forest sector that will guide development over the next 5-10 years and inform both government and externally aided programs, with a special focus on community forestry and emerging commercial opportunities such as carbon financing.

Toolbox for Social Impact Assessment of Forest Carbon Projects
There is increasing concern that benefits from REDD and other forest financing are not truly equitable.  At the same time, carbon projects claiming to generate social and biodiversity benefits are attracting more discriminating buyers.  But how would one know if a project was truly pro-poor?  This toolbox would provide the methodological guidance project developers need. 

Making the Most of Learning from REDD Demonstration Activities
What we are able to learn from the first generation of sub-national REDD ‘demonstration activities’ (part of the global process agreed in Bali) will have crucial impact on the design of the second generation of REDD strategies and activities.  Such learning will have substantial influence over the international REDD mechanism, and its ability to promote the design of policies, as well as equitable actions to generate the co-benefits.

Best Practices in Financing Protected Areas - Lessons for Southeastern Europe
To help improve the financial management of biodiversity conservation in transition and accession countries in Southeastern Europe, PROFOR is supporting a synthesis of best practices in nature protection financing mechanisms and levels in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Competitiveness of Forest Products in Paraguay
In Paraguay, a greater understanding of the current state of industry competitiveness for key timber species, in terms of social, economic and environmental factors, is needed to reduce missed economic opportunities, as well as to help address a trend of unsustainable timber extraction.

Developing A Carbon Payment Scheme On Certified Forest Concessions
In countries with high forest cover, weak governance structures, and active concession forestry, how can certification and incentives be used to entice the private sector to generate REDD benefits through more sustainable concession practices?

Building Capacity for Developing REDD plans 
The World Bank is assisting developing countries in their efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD).   PROFOR will support building capacity for REDD in FCPF participant countries by strengthening stakeholder groups’ contributions to the effective design and preparation of REDD Readiness Preparation Proposals (R-PP).  

Large-Scale Land Acquisition for Agriculture: Guidelines for the Policies and Safeguards Assessment Framework
In last year, foreign investors' acquisition of agricultural land in developing countries has hit the headlines. But what is the information that exists on this trend and the policies that surround them?  What are the implications for forests? How to guide decision-makers and stakeholders?

Best Practices of Watershed Management in India
What lessons can other regions of the world  learn from successful examples of integrated watershed management in arid zones, rain-fed lowlands, and higher elevation sites in India?

Economic Growth and Drivers of Deforestation in the Congo Basin
Deforestation rates in the Congo Basin countries have historically been quite low.  But what scientific data do decision-makers in the Basin countries have to know how developing other sectors can affect forest cover?

Forestry in the Sub-Saharan Africa: Challenges & Opportunities 
Despite significant international financial support to the forestry sector in the Sub-Saharan African countries, impacts on sustainable management and poverty alleviation are still below expectations.
PROFOR, in collaboration with the World Bank’s Africa region, is helping to meet the need for a more comprehensive approach to tackling forest-related challenges and proposing strategic solutions.

Targeting watershed rehabilitation investments in Turkey
The Government of Turkey has become a global leader in the fight against soil erosion, investing  extensively in rehabilitating degraded landscapes.  Investments seek to rehabilitate badly degraded areas in areas with a prevalence of rural poverty and urban migration. Strengthening the data on the intersection of land degradation and poverty prevalence would help to ensure these investments target the right areas and improve their efficiency.

West Africa Forest Strategy
The Upper Guinea Forest, which covers six West African nations, is being severely threatened by commercial logging, slash-and-burn and plantation agriculture, weak governance, industrial-scale mining, and unsustainable bushmeat hunting.  Civil conflict adds a further strain when refugees turn to the forests for shelter and firewood.  PROFOR is supporting the World Bank’s Africa region to define a regional strategy to guide its own support (coordinating with the broader donor community) to ensure the sustainable use of forests in this sub-region, and create regional cohesion.

Assessing the Potential for Forest Landscape Restoration to Contribute to Poverty Alleviation, Climate Change Mitigation & Sustainable Forest Management
The focus of the international forest and climate debate is currently on avoiding further deforestation and degradation of forests in developing countries. Restoration of forests has huge potential to contribute to addressing climate change. Decision-makers, however, need to better understand the scope, extent, variation and priorities of the restoration potential.