Yale University School of Forestry & Environmental Studies Call for Abstracts 19th Annual Conference - January 24-26, 2013 International Society of Tropical Foresters, Yale Chapter
Food & Forests: Cultivating Resilient Landscapes Forests are an essential component of multi-functional tropical landscapes that have the potential to meet growing global demands for agricultural goods while maintaining ecosystem services, conserving biodiversity, and providing secure access to food for local communities. In addition to being a source of nutritionally diverse food for one billion people, forests also provide resources essential to agricultural production and can play a key role in adapting agriculture to a changing climate. However, the integration of agriculture with forests is hindered by monoculture agricultural systems that drive deforestation while creating a false dichotomy between forests and food. Assessing the role that forests play in achieving equitable and resilient food systems is therefore critical for achieving both humanitarian and environmental goals. On January 24-26, the Yale Chapter of the International Society of Tropical Foresters will gather practitioners and researchers from academia, government, and environment and development institutions to discuss how development and conservation goals can be integrated across food producing landscapes in the tropics in order to promote food security and healthy forests. The conference will also consider at what scales this integration should occur, potential challenges to implementation, and lessons learned. We encourage submissions that look beyond yield and calories to address issues of access, nutrition, resilience, rights, and governance, as well as analyses of ecosystem services and forest management. Topics include: * What contributions do forests make to agriculture and food security, including ecosystem services? * What role do forests play in adapting agriculture to climate change? * What cultivation systems (e.g. agroforestry, swidden, silvopastoral) have the potential to increase resilience to climate change, extreme weather events, and price shocks? What potential do these systems have for meeting projected global demands for agricultural production? * In light of recent calls for 'sustainable intensification' what cultivation systems might qualify and what might be the equity effects of such intensification? * What governance structures and partnerships can foster multi-functional landscape management that encourages the sustainable and equitable integration of forests and food? * What is the role of rights-based approaches (e.g. indigenous rights, right to food) for integrating food production and forests? On the other hand, what is the potential role of market mechanisms and supply chain approaches? * What lessons have been learned from integrating food security initiatives and conservation and development projects that can be applied to our efforts moving forward? To apply: Submissions of abstracts based on either primary research or personal or institutional experience are solicited from academics and practitioners. Invited speakers will have the option of submitting conference proceedings for publication in an open-access journal. Abstracts should be a maximum of 300 words and contain the following information: 1. Name(s) of the author(s) 2. Title and abstract of the presentation 3. Author affiliation(s) 4. Address, telephone, and e-mail of the corresponding author 5. Whether you wish to make a presentation, poster, or either 6. If you would be willing to participate in a career panel Please submit abstracts by November 16, 2012 to: [email protected]
