The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has launched a new global project to integrate safeguarding forests and other natural resources in the way we respond to humanitarian crises.

The initiative, entitled ‘Greening the humanitarian response in displacement settings’, was conceived and driven by FAO’s Office of Emergencies and Resilience and Forestry Division to strengthen the resilience of refugees, displaced people and the communities who host them worldwide, as well as piloting sustainable forest management activities on the ground in four African countries.

When large numbers of people move into rural areas, the dramatic increase in energy demand for cooking and heating, for shelter, food and livelihoods can place extraordinary pressure on already fragile ecosystems.

The two-year project will analyse this environmental impact and develop short and long-term plans as pilot activities for the sustainable management of natural resources around displacement settlements in rural areas of Djibouti, Somalia, Uganda and United Republic of Tanzania. At a global level, the project will work to improve methodologies for assessing environmental impact, energy access and related livelihood challenges, and promote good practices for a greener humanitarian response.