Creating evidence for forest based resilience during Covid-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping how forests are used and managed around the world.

Forest products play a critical role in household responses to many kinds of livelihood shocks, particularly in rural areas of low-income countries.

However, increased forest use—driven by declining off-farm employment and widespread urban to rural migration in the wake of COVID-19—risks degradation, which may threaten longer-term human welfare and environmental objectives.

This project studies the role of forests in contributing to livelihood security at a time of unprecedented distress in order to identify policy mechanisms that can help build more secure and sustainable human-environment systems over the longer term.

We focus on forest-adjacent communities in several states of India – a country with a large forest dependent population, well-establish policies for community forest management, and significant regional variation for comparative analysis.

Through a mixture of qualitative enquiry, household surveys, and remote sensing analysis, we will assess the role of forests in household coping strategies, study the impacts of changing forest use on forest structure, and identify policies associated with greater socio-ecological resilience.

Our research will contribute critical knowledge to building more sustainable livelihood systems in the face of COVID-19, climate change, and a wide range of shocks, with direct relevance for policy in Sweden and many countries around the world.