Over the past six years, Forest Day has become one of the world’s most influential events on the role of forests in mitigating and adapting to climate change and providing sustainable livelihoods. Convened since 2009, Agriculture and Rural Development Day (later changed to Agriculture, Landscapes and Livelihoods Day [ALL-5 Day]) has been widely recognized as one of the leading global meetings on the critical role of agricultural adaptation and mitigation in relation to climate change.
On 2 December 2012, about 700 forestry experts, activists, policymakers, global leaders and climate change negotiators gathered on the sidelines of the United Nations climate talks in Doha for the sixth annual Forest Day to discuss how forests could be better harnessed to slow the pace of global warming and help communities adapt to the changing environment.
The following day, Agriculture, Landscapes and Livelihoods Day 5 – the second of the two popular conferences – provided the natural resource and agricultural community an opportunity to share solutions for climate change adaption and mitigation in agricultural landscapes.
These two popular conferences, under the banner of “Living Landscapes”, which referred to the interconnections between forests and agriculture and their impacts on people and society, recognized the call for a broadened approach to tackle climate change, deforestation, poverty and food security.
A landscapes-based approach, which looks at the synergies and trade-offs of managing a broad resource mix, has been hailed as a new way to bring together the agricultural, forestry, energy and fishery sectors to better manage the world’s resources while offering opportunities for climate adaptation and mitigation.
“The window to stay in a two-degree world is closing very rapidly,” said Mary Barton-Dock, Director of Climate Policy and Finance at the World Bank. And in the context of a changing climate, she added, “A landscape approach is going to be essential to meet the growing need for food without invading forests.”
This year in keeping with a landscape-based approach, Forest Day and Agricultural and Rural Development Day are combined into the Global Landscapes Forum to discuss four main themes:
Investing in sustainable landscapes in forests and on farms
Landscapes policy and governance for forestry, agriculture and other land uses
Synergies between adapting to and mitigating climate change in forest and agricultural landscapes
Landcsapes for food security and nutrition
Click here to read more about Agriculture, Landscapes and Livelihoods Day 5.
Click here to read more about Forest Day 6.
