Making knowledge work for forests and people
Together we can achieve sustainable management of tropical forestlands for the benefit of people, conservation and sustainable development.
More informationSmallholders and small and medium size-enterprises (SMEs) in the global south often lack the capital to invest in sustainable businesses, even when they are profitable. This is especially true in the forestry and agroforestry sectors, which are considered risky by banks. To address this, Tropenbos International (TBI) is developing a financial support unit, named Green Finance for SMEs, or GFS in short. Here Eveline Trines, senior expert business & finance at TBI, answers five questions about this new programme, made possible by the Dutch Postcode Lottery.*
NGOs that support community-based forest conservation often focus on communities that have formal titles to their forest, as this is considered a main condition for success. According to Marieke van der Zon, PhD student at Wageningen University, the importance of having formal titles is overstated. Instead, she stresses that the key to conversation success lies in community-based monitoring and enforcement.
Partnerships between NGOs are increasingly commonplace, providing opportunities to learn with and from each other. This is well illustrated by Tropenbos International and the Forest Foundation Philippines, which have been working together for five years. Over zoom, the directors of both organizations entered into a lively conversation, exploring the merits of their partnership.
The TBI network has members in Indonesia, Vietnam, Ghana, DR Congo, Suriname, Colombia and the Netherlands. The members share a common vision and mission, as well as a common focus and approach, while tailoring their efforts to the specific local context