FOREST QUIZ - INFO PACKAGE FOR SCHOOLS

 FOREST OWNERS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

There are approximately 255 million smallholder forest owners in the world, and 1,6 billion people rely on forests for their livelihoods. Forestry is also important in many developing countries, where forests are used to grow many other things besides wood as well, such as food and other important products. The welfare of the world's forests is also extremely important for our environment, climate and soils as well.

Every second second, a forest area the size of a football field is lost, and the tropical forests suffer the most. Meanwhile, many smallholder forest owners in developing countries live in poverty. Supporting them is anti-poverty and pro-climate at the same time.

How does FFD support smallholder forest owners?

FFD supports local forest owners' organizations and cooperatives, which are akin to Finnish Forest Management Associations (FMAs). FFD has forestry initiatives in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Nepal and Vietnam, and they reached a total of around 100,000 people in 2019. Our projects incorporate Finnish expert twinning partners, who have a strong forestry know-how.

Our mission is to ensure that forest owners receive a fair price for their product, and that their position in society is improved. We support sustainable forest management practices, and seek to reduce the effects of climate change.

Prolonging the felling cycle is often a key objective in the projects. Forests grow much faster in many developing countries than they do in Finland, but it can be very risky for many poor families to wait for their forests to mature. Although larger trees command a larger price, forests can be destroyed in, for instance, a storm or forest fire. Management of risks requires a lot of support and assistance.

All of FFD's forestry projects provide training for smallholders, so that they could themselves improve the productivity and sustainability of their livelihoods. We also assist with tree nurseries, market linkages and ancillary income sources such as bee-keeping.

Our particular focus is supporting women and various vulnerable groups. In Nepal, for instance, we have successfully empowered members of long-discriminated Dalit group. For them, forestry has been a way to rise from generations of poverty.

What does the Forest Quiz donation enable?

Financiers of Forest Quiz donated one euro per teacher participating in Forest Quiz , totaling 1200€. This may enable, for instance:

• Planting approximately 3 hectares of Pine forest in an FFD project in the Southern Highlands region of Tanzania

• Planting approximately one hectare of Acacia forest in a smallholder forest plantation in the Hue region of Vietnam

  • A smallholder-tended forest in Vietnam can sequester approximately 8,5 tonnes of carbon annually

  • Converted to Carbon Dioxide, this is approximately equal to the CO2-emissions of three average Finns per year!

• Train 21 Vietnamese smallholder forest owners in sustainable forest management practices and protection of their interests

Forest Quiz is a nation-wide competition on forestry for middle-school students, with around 27,000 students and 650 teachers participating in close to 400 schools. For more information, visit www.metsavisa.fi