1. Tropical Futures Initiative— Science to Impact in Addressing Tropical Sustainability
Ping Yowargana
Florian Kraxner
Presentation to the International Institutional Review Panel
Laxenburg, 8 May 2017

2. Point of departure: globally consistent land use modelling in the tropics
Tropical Futures Initiative
Addressing Tropical Sustainability
Forest projection for 2030—Full implementation of the new Forest Code will result in 30 Mha surplus in forest areas compared to BAU
From global datasets to detailed national/regional land cover data, local statistics, national policies, national drivers (socio-economic context)

3. Complexity of the land-use sector
Politically sensitive
Global trade of palm oil commodity
Dual conflict of bioenergy (food vs energy, fossil vs renewables)
Deforestation
Forest fire and transboundary haze pollution
Beyond forest
National economy
Social issues (e.g. social equity, customary rights, employment)
Biodiversity and ecosystem services
Multi-dimensional with multi-stakeholder
Spatial planning
Agriculture an forestry
Energy and mining
Multi-level actors

4. Engagement and internal capacity building
Systems perspective
Old silos: forestry, energy, agriculture, air pollution
Systems analysis: land use economy, energy landscapes, forest fires
Multistakeholder approach
Active communication direct stakeholders (i.e. Ministry of Environment and Forestry and Ministry of Agriculture)
“Excursion” to energy stakeholders (Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources)
Intensive engagement with national planners (Ministry of National Development Planning)
Local institutions as “safeguards”
Universities
International research institutes (e.g. ICRAF, CIFOR)
NGOs (e.g. WWF, WRI)
Regional/national adjustment of tools
Joint capacity building to screen potential collaboration
Substantive contribution to national initiatives

5. Strategic approach to identify entry point and allow synergy
Project design
Synergy
Increasing energy security through enhancing biofuel production on degraded and marginal land resources
RESTORE+: Addressing landscape restoration on degraded land in Indonesia and Brazil
Research capacity and critical mass for science diplomacy
Hurdle
Solution
Deforestation
Restoration
“Black box”
Crowd-informed
Local capacity oriented
Research
Policy

6. ? ? TFI model for more “off springs” to come + Land use economy
RESTORE +
Land use economy
Energy Landscapes
Forest fires

7. Tropical Futures Initiative— Science to Impact in Addressing Tropical Sustainability
Ping Yowargana
Florian Kraxner
Presentation to the International Institutional Review Panel
Laxenburg, 8 May 2017