Central African Forests

The Central African Forests and Institutions (CAFI) program at University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and Environment seeks paper and poster submissions for its conference on Central African Forests at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI between May 6 and May 8, 2010.

The Central African Forests and Institutions (CAFI) Project is an interdisciplinary, multi-year study at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor funded by the National Science Foundation.

The project seeks to understand the relationships between several actors including Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), industry, and government, and their effects on logging concessions in Central Africa. Our project is a comparative study of two countries, Cameroon and the Republic of Congo and concentrates on three time periods between 1995 and the present. For more information about CAFI visit our website at www.umich.edu/~cafi.

We encourage submissions from graduate students, senior researchers, professionals, NGOs, and activists that address the following themes relevant to the tropical forests of the Congo Basin:

• Logging, concessions, and governance: What are the patterns and trajectories of logging, concession arrangements, and forest governance in the Congo Basin? How can these be explained? What is the role of conflict, market integration, changes in involvement of civil society and market actors in logging outcomes in the region?

• REDD and climate change: REDD Plus was one of the least contentious issues in UNFCCC CoP15 and has been recognized in The Copenhagen Accord as most important for climate change mitigation.  How can the forests in the Congo Basin benefit from the substantial funds promised by developed countries? What are the chief issues and concerns that need to be incorporated into REDD agreements for Congo Basin countries?

• Remote sensing, GIS, and modeling of deforestation and forest cover: In what ways can spatial analyses of forests and concessions be made more useful for those interested in conservation and better use of Central African forests? What are the best analytical models available to understand deforestation and associated forest outcomes?
• Conservation, livelihoods, and carbon: How can the competing objectives of forest governance – conservation, livelihoods, and carbon sequestration – be balanced?
• Ethnographies of adaptation: Climate change and rapid social, economic, demographic, institutional, and ecosystem changes in Central African forests mean that the region’s residents have to adapt to multiple stressors and drivers of change. What are the major patterns of vulnerability and adaptation in the forested regions of Central Africa? How do these intersect with changes in agriculture, technology, and pastoralism? What are the most important shifts that affect local residents?
• Conservation, livelihoods, logging, and REDD in tropical forests in other parts of the world: What lessons are available for Central African forest governance from studies of tropical forests in other parts of the world?

Abstracts will be refereed by a high level panel of scholars and decision makers. Selected participants will be notified of their acceptance in mid March, 2010. Support for participation will be available to selected participants on a competitive basis to make best use of limited available funds.

To submit an abstract click here  or use our website: www.umich.edu/~cafi >events>2010 meeting>submit abstract. The deadline for abstract submissions is February 28, 2010.

Please email questions to Amanda McAllister, Administrative Secretary at amcall@umich.edu.