Webinar with Vi Agroforestry, Swedish Development Forum and Sida: Biodiversity preservation as poverty reduction

A Webinar hosted by Swedish Development Forum with guests Vi-skogen and Sida.

Date and time: 25th of March, 17.30-19.00
Where: Zoom
Hosts: The Swedish Development Forum (FUF) and Vi Agroforestry (Vi-skogen)

Preservation of biodiversity plays a vital role in ensuring the health of our ecosystems, climate and environment. Biodiversity preservation also has an opportunity to contribute to poverty reduction. However, it can also create challenges such as conflicts relating to the use of land and resources. For this reason, FUF invites you to an online seminar where Sida (The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) and Vi-skogen (Vi Agroforestry) will discuss the possibilities and challenges between preserving biodiversity and reducing poverty.

In October 2020, the Swedish Government decided that the Swedish development cooperation will have a greater focus on using biodiversity preservation as a method to reduce poverty. The initiative will be carried out by Sida and focus on African and Latin American forests. At this event, we will get some of the latest news on how this new programme is being implemented.

Our speakers will discuss the opportunities and challenges which biodiversity preservation can create, the importance of working with a holistic approach and hurdles such as conflicts over land use and difficulties in measuring biodiversity. The speakers will also highlight how people living in poverty are restoring biodiversity while also improving their livelihoods. This is sometimes made possible through agroforestry, a type of land management system where all parties benefit. For this purpose, Vi Agroforestry in Kenya will join us to talk about their work.

The first 45 minutes will focus on presentations from each speaker, and the remaining 45 minutes will be a moderated discussion where we open up for questions from the audience.

About the speakers:

Dr. Matilda Palm is the Advisor on climate compensation and resource mobilization at Vi Agroforestry in Stockholm. Palm comes from a research background where she has been engaged in the intersection between land use, agriculture, climate and conservation throughout the tropics. She has previously worked for Chalmers University and World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), among others.

Wangu Mutua is the Deputy Regional Director at Vi Agroforestry in Nairobi, Kenya. Mutua has been Deputy Regional Director for the past 9 years at Vi Agroforestry in Kenya. She has been a part of the organizations’ evolvement from planting trees to teaching and supporting farmers’ organizations in four countries with technical expertise and funding regarding agroforestry methods.

Jan Wärnbäck is a Policy Specialist Environment and Climate at Sida. Wärnbäck has a background in biology and political science. He has previously worked as an expert on agriculture and freshwater, and as a conservation officer at WWF. Wärnbäck currently works as a Policy Specialist in environment and climate at Sida, where he focuses on the new assignment on Biodiversity and ecosystems, CBD Biodiversity negotiations and acts as an advisor on the Green Climate Fund.

Join us for an interesting webinar on the linkages between biodiversity preservation and poverty reduction!

The webinar is moderated by FUF’s event group in Stockholm. You need to register before the 24th of March to get the link for the participation. The webinar will be held live on Zoom in English.

Register here »