About us

Millions of people in the tropics depend for their livelihoods on forests, and yet these resources remain undervalued and threatened. Over the years, Tropenbos International (TBI) has established itself as an important platform supporting the forest and development agenda in developing countries. We have built a reputation for improving knowledge, personal capacity and institutional capacity for better governance and management of tropical forest resources. We operate partnership programmes between research institutions in the North and the South to build capacity that meets the needs of forest stakeholders.

TBI is a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in the Netherlands. It was established in 1986 in response to the ongoing concern about the disappearance and degradation of tropical rain forests worldwide. Part of its mission was to mobilize the research capacity and knowledge of Dutch universities and it focused initially on the establishment of research programmes in a number of tropical forest countries. Now a programme of research, capacity building and institutional development, we run programmes in the Congo Basin (Cameroon and DR Congo), Colombia, Ghana, Indonesia, Viet Nam and Suriname. Additionally we support projects in Guyana and Bolivia.

Our goal is to achieve the sustainable management of tropical forest lands for the benefit of people, conservation and sustainable development.

Our objective is to ensure that knowledge is used effectively in the formulation of appropriate policies and managing forests for conservation and sustainable development.

Our mission is to improve tropical forest management for the benefit of people, conservation and sustainable development.

In our vision knowledge and skills play a central role in improving forest governance and forest management. At the national level in the programme countries, we believe that any real, long-term improvement in the use and conservation of forests requires strong institutions that regulate access to and the use of forests. The forest management organizations in these countries should be staffed by knowledgeable and well-trained people who identify and apply state-of-the-art information for the benefit of people and sustainable development.

Our added value:

• Locally led and participatory programme development
• Long-term commitment to our partner countries
• Demand-driven approach to policy and sustainable forest management
• International dialogue and cooperation
• Flexibility to adapt to changing contexts

Annual report 2010

View this publication

See all publications in this country programme