Trees, Woodlands & Resilience in the Drylands

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Edmund Barrow, IUCN

Global distribution of drylands

Approximately 40% of terrestrial surface of the planet

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Resilient trees

• Species – diversity, adapted to risk – produce more and higher quality in dry times

• Adapted, able to bounce back• Valuable products – non-timber

forest products, basis for land use

• Dry forests as key assets for risk reduction and resilience enhancement

• Conversely – can tip to degradation or/and bush land (tipped to new system)

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Resilient people

• Diverse livelihood options • Spatial and temporal uses –

wet, dry, drought, famine• Trees for all seasons –

management and ownership

• Trees (and management) enhance adaptive capacities of people (products, importance at critical times)

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Resilient systems

• Trees core component of many systems

• Produce (or/and retain quality) more and for longer in times of hardship

• Livestock (esp. dry times)• Products (gums, shea

butter)• Foods (people, sale)• Medicinals (people,

livestock, sale)

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Resilient institutions

• Diverse land-use options• Wet-dry-drought time

management strategies and rules

• The customary governance means – capacity to make and enforce rules

• But short term “projectised” approaches undermine

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So what’s going/gone wrong???

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Lack systems thinking that dryland users

have• Governance – foundation of

sustainable land management• Many rights lost (decisions,

management, land)• Insecure rights weaken• Systems/governance are a

process not a project• Understanding of what makes

system work being lost and replaced by “one way silver bullet thinking” and short-term approaches.

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Silver bullets don’t work• Want silver bullets (irrigation, or farming in

wrong zones, livestock)• Often best lands expropriated (irrigation,

farming)

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Outcome of herbivore exclusion on the Santa Rita Experimental Range, Arizona (Western U.S.)

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Best Lands may be expropriation for Forests, Reserves, Parks

Respect various forms of community conserved areas

Impact of misunderstanding “mistaken received wisdom” (pastoralism, dryland use – antiquated, past its sell-by date)

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Challenges for us “Tree People”!

• How can we validate and enhance value of existing customary/indigenous knowledge and institutions?

• Why are trees/forests so important for dryland systems? Why is that importance “hidden”?

• How resilient are these systems, and how can resilience be further promoted?

• How – within pillar-like sectoral policies – can we achieve system approaches that promote resilience?

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• How can we better secure rights, strengthen governance, to support Sustainable Forest Model/Community Forest Management and enhanced livelihoods?

• What incentives can we put in place for dryland forest management and why?

• How can we optimise the increasing importance of “dry forests” in the face of climate change?

Challenges for us “Tree People”! …continued

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Perspectives on drylands: Multi-functionality – Forests a key asset

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