Call for Abstracts: Yale, International Society of Tropical Foresters

[Yale ISTF]

*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 26, 2012* to:
*is...@yale.edu*<is...@yale.edu>