The UKRI GCRF Trade, Development and the Environment Hub studies how different systems of trade have affected biodiversity from a biophysical, social, political and economic point of view, and seeks to trace the impact of the trade throughout supply chains - from supplier to consumer countries via trading companies. As well as feeding into public policy advice, this research will help companies understand their products’ true environmental impact all the way back to the raw materials. The Hub will work closely with international and regional trade bodies, charities and corporate partners to design targeted recommendations for the public policy and corporate spheres, ensuring impact of the research and creating sustainable change. Within this global project, WUR implements a component on understanding where are trade-offs, risks and opportunities for biodiversity and livelihoods from the development of cocoa and oil palm in the Congo Basin.

Contact persons: Marieke Sassen and Ken Giller

The SESAM project is a large interdisciplinary research project of Wageningen University with two postdocs and 15 PhDs from seven different countries (Indonesia, Kenya, Uganda, Suriname, Ecuador, Peru, and Brazil). The project aim is to analyse and improve decision-making processes related to water and (agro)forest landscape management. To achieve this, the project develops and implements serious games, so-called ‘Scenario Evaluation Games’, which are tools to analyse, support and enhance social learning, decision-making, and action. The Scenario Evaluation Games are developed and played with people and organisations who are involved in complex decision-making processes around the forest-water-people nexus. The process of developing and playing the games will help the researchers to understand how complex landscape management decisions are made. In addition, the games should help to give local stakeholders a stronger voice, and to create better and more sustainable landscape management policies.

Project output:

• Paper: Tree diversity and carbon stocks in cacao agroforests in Sulawesi (2020)

Contact person: Danaë Rozendaal