Making landscape finance more inclusive

Making landscape finance more inclusive

the Netherlands - 07 June, 2018

A new initiative aims to share information regarding more inclusive, responsible finance that promotes sustainable landscape restoration and management.

To this end, the CGIAR Research Program on Forests, Trees and Agroforestry (FTA), along with two of its strategic partner institutions, Tropenbos International (TBI) and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), are launching a new online platform on inclusive finance.

Forests and farmland, land use and landscapes are the basis of much of the global economy. And they are even more important to those who live in them and live off them. But ever-increasing levels of external investment are making huge impacts — positive and negative.

To shift the balance in favor of beneficial outcomes, growing attention is now focusing on sustainable business models that include more responsible finance, and that are inclusive of men, women and youth in local communities and indigenous peoples.

This complex topic needs to be addressed urgently, and strategically. Different actors and sectors hold pieces of the puzzle, but many are not automatically connected to each other or to wider networks. The overriding question is “How can investing in sustainable land use and land management be made more inclusive of smallholder and community needs while remaining attractive to investors?”

Whether public or private – governments, corporates, banks, smallholders, communities, NGOs – all see the need for common understanding and collaboration, and there are many valuable and innovative experiences and insights that others would do well to learn from.

FTA-GLF Washington v05-web.jpg

The past few years have seen a number of high-level discussion forums, and the relevant players are learning from international to grassroots levels as we move toward shared strategies and sustainable solution at the scales needed, which this initiative aims to build on. The online platform will provide a mechanism to present and discuss key issues related to inclusive finance to complement existing forums.

For more information, download the flyer for this initiative.