The tropics lost a whopping 4.1 million hectares of primary forests in 2022, equivalent to losing 11 football fields of forest per minute, according to research from the World Resources Institute. Numerous restoration projects worldwide target counteracting these large scales of forest destruction that are causing insurmountable loss of biodiversity. By planting native vegetation as well as by assisting in natural regrowth of vegetation, these projects aim to restore degraded forests back to their flourishing state. These efforts are not just about the trees. They are crucial for the recovery of animal communities too. However, it is unfortunately undermined by the limited data available on the influence of forest loss and regeneration on recovery of faunal species and communities.
The tropics lost a whopping 4.1 million hectares of primary forests in 2022, equivalent to losing 11 football fields of forest per minute, according to research from the World Resources Institute. Numerous restoration projects worldwide target counteracting these large scales of forest destruction that are causing insurmountable loss of biodiversity. By planting native vegetation as well as by assisting in natural regrowth of vegetation, these projects aim to restore degraded forests back to their flourishing state. These efforts are not just about the trees. They are crucial for the recovery of animal communities too. However, it is unfortunately undermined by the limited data available on the influence of forest loss and regeneration on recovery of faunal species and communities.
In the vast expanse of sub-Saharan Africa, trees sustain the timeless tradition of producing charcoal; the very charcoal used to grill food at barbecues. Charcoal is a vital energy source fueling households and industries. Having said that, this seemingly innocuous practice of burning wood in a kiln comes at a hefty price tag. Converting trees to charcoal disrupts the delicate balance of carbon in ecosystems, with consequences that reverberate far beyond the local landscape.
In the vast expanse of sub-Saharan Africa, trees sustain the timeless tradition of producing charcoal; the very charcoal used to grill food at barbecues. Charcoal is a vital energy source fueling households and industries. Having said that, this seemingly innocuous practice of burning wood in a kiln comes at a hefty price tag. Converting trees to charcoal disrupts the delicate balance of carbon in ecosystems, with consequences that reverberate far beyond the local landscape.
Forage grasses are the primary source of roughage for ruminant livestock and substantially contribute to sustainable milk and meat production. Cultivars adapted to specific environments and management conditions are needed to produce the required amounts of high-quality roughage. Moreover, there is a need to efficiently breed for novel forage grass cultivars to mitigate challenges emerging through climate change and to facilitate sustainable and productive agriculture.
The publication of RESPONSE fellow Katrin Sievert shows that costs of removing large quantities of CO2 from the air will fall in the medium term, but not as much as previously hoped.
Let’s start by demystifying the acronyms. IPBES, often dubbed as the IPCC for biodiversity, is a global panel synthesizing scientific and traditional knowledge on biodiversity and ecosystem services. Complementing this, NFF serves as a tool for scenario development, offering three unique values perspectives: Nature for Nature, Nature for Society, and Nature as Culture.
Figure 1: Nature futures framework showing the three perspectives of nature which overlap and seamlessly blend together. The resulting human-nature relationships may be understood by different knowledge system and world view, which is partly depicted by the right spiral– which is not exhaustive (IPBES 2023).
Setting the scene
On this scenic island, which is itself a symbol for nature and biodiversity conservation, participants were comprised of early career researchers and students from various nations within the regional chapter Europe and Central Asia. This regional chapter, being a geographical sub-unit of the global IPBES, spans all the way from Portugal to Kazakhstan. Each participant was representing their country of residency or origin as well as their respectively affiliated (inter)national youth networks and academic institutions.
Crafting Positive Scenarios
During the workshop on Vilm, individual groups developed scenarios for positive futures based on a mix of the above mentioned three value perspectives. The core principle when applying the NFF, is to envision futures without any rational constraints. In other words, conceptualize scenarios without any limits, to foster a more radical approach to transformative change. This was best done in an iterative moderated group discussion. Starting from seeds, innovative projects for positive future groups collected key elements and states for envisioned futures before identifying synergies between different future states. Again, feasibility was never assessed throughout the process to avoid limiting ideas. Eventually, a narrative was formed through an interview-like process where moderators encouraged group members to put forward descriptions of a daily routine in the developed future to understand organization of society and nature.
Figure 2: Three future wheels for initial seeds (center white hexagon) with synergies (threads) between matured seeds.
Creative Summaries
The workshop’s outcomes were as diverse as the participants themselves. Various scenarios were not just documented but creatively summarized. Focusing on the interface between Nature for Culture and Nature for Society, Simon’s group, for instance, created a fairy tale on the envisioned future in a graphic novel style using artificial intelligence. Such aimed to summarize the core values and components of the visions and highlight human-nature relationships in an engaging way.
Insights and Future Exploration
The workshop’s impact has not ended on Vilm. Ongoing efforts involve translating the insights gained into a scientific publication as well as creating a new youth network. Simon and his colleagues are actively contributing to the conversation on biodiversity, ecosystem services, and the pivotal role of youth. By sharing lessons learned and making experiences accessible, the group aims to spread the motivational spark for positive futures and highlight the importance of collective discussion with people from different backgrounds to bring upon transformative change.
Simon Landauer is a fellow of the RESPONSE Doctoral Program (DP) «RESPONSE – to society and policy needs through plant, food and energy sciences» funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Grant Agreement No 847585.
The photos are owned by Simon Landauer and Jutta Stadler (group picture).
Bessie Noll, a RESPONSE fellow in the PhD program Science and Policy, successfully completed her PhD this past September! Her dissertation, entitled “Modeling the Low-carbon Road Transport Transition: Policy Insights and Implications”, seeks to expand our comprehension of how public policy can accelerate transformative change in the road transport sector towards low-carbon technologies. The thesis argues and demonstrates that policymakers need up-to-date, quantitative, approaches to evaluate and project dynamic technology competition and to assess prospective policy impacts on the transition.
