International Commission on Poplars and Other Fast-Growing Trees Sustaining People and the Environment
Bulawayo, Zimbabwe - Tembani Mabhena, forestry researcher, inspect affected leaves of eucalyptus woodlot at Chesa Forest Reserve. ©FAO

Working Party on Policy and Livelihood

Objective

The Working Party on Policy and Livelihood (WP-POL) analyzes forest policies and management plans globally, especially those focusing on planted forests and agroforestry systems using fast-growing trees. The Working Party assesses how they cater to the optimization of multiple objectives, including timber production, climate change adaptation and mitigation, biodiversity conservation, prevention of hydrogeological instability, and protection of soil, lands and territories from erosion and degradation, while increasing livelihood opportunities, resilience and well-being. 

Topics of interest include: measures for the establishment and maintenance of planted forests and agroforestry systems using fast-growing trees; the development of guidelines for topics such as the use of environmentally sustainable management methods and plant systems; the choice of species; the role of urban forestry; the uses and markets of forest products; improvements to the technical and qualitative characteristics of the timbers obtained; the security of supplies for processing value chains; the profitability of the plantations and agroforestry systems; and the remuneration of the forestry and farm workers. 

Action plan 2023-2024

  1. Carry out a survey to the national commissions to receive feedback on the commissions’ interactions with the IPC and its Working Parties;
  2. Develop a technical paper compiling case studies on policies fostering sustainable management of planted forests with fast-growing species for the livelihood and well-being of rural populations;
  3. Review case studies and proposals regarding the functioning of National Commissions and their interactions with the IPC and its Working Parties;
  4. Conduct an analysis of policies fostering the sustainable management of planted forests with fast-growing species for the livelihood and well-being of rural populations, and participate in relevant international meetings;
  5. Participate and/or lead sessions in relevant international meetings on matters of relevance to the Working Party.

WP-POL Contacts 

  • Giuseppe Nervo, Chairperson, Consiglio per la ricerca in agricoltura e l'analisi dell'economia agraria (CREA) - Research Centre for Forestry and Wood, Italy. Contact: [email protected]; [email protected].
  • Esteban Borodowski, Vice-Chairperson, Secretaría de Agricultura, Ganadería y Pesca de la Nación, Argentina. Contact: [email protected]; [email protected].
  • Alberto Del Lungo, Technical Secretary, Senior Forestry Expert at Forestry Department, FAO, Senior Expert Rural Development at CREA and University of Tuscia, Department for innovation in biological, agro-food and forest systems (DIBAF), Italy. Contact: [email protected].

Members:

  • Meng-Zhu Lu, State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Silviculture School of Forestry and Biotechnology, Zhejiang A&F University Linan, China. Contact: [email protected].
  • Patrick Worms, World Agroforestry (CIFOR-ICRAF), Belgium. Contact: p.worms@cifor-icraf.org.
  • Christian Espinosa Ackerknecht, National Poplar Commission of Chile, Chile. Contact: [email protected].
  • Marzena Niemczyk, Forest Research Institute, Department of Silviculture, Poland. Contact: [email protected].