ASB is the only global partnership devoted entirely to research on the tropical forest margins. ASB's goal is to raise productivity and income of rural households in the humid tropics without increasing deforestation or undermining essential environmental services.
Our vision
Prosperous people and flourishing forests across the tropics.
Our mission
Evaluate options for addressing climate change in agriculture-forest landscapes in the humid tropics for improving incomes of rural households, strengthening community engagement and maintaining essential environmental services and proactively provide information on those options to influence relevant policy and programme design processes, particularly national and international policies on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation in Developing countries (REDD).
Who we are
ASB is a global partnership of more than 80 research institutes, governed by a Global Steering Group and coordinated by a Global Coordination Office. The partnership includes non-governmental organizations, universities, community organizations, farmers' groups, and other local, national, and international organizations. Since 1994, ASB has operated as a systemwide programme of the Consultative Group for International Research in Agriculture (CGIAR).
What we do
ASB works at the nexus of two important problems: tropical deforestation and human poverty. Through collaborative efforts, we deliver attractive livelihood options for rural people while bringing hope the world's remaining tropical forests can be conserved for future generations.
How we do it
ASB applies an integrated natural resource management (iNRM) approach to analysis and action through long-term engagement with local communities and policymakers at various levels:
- ASB's multi-site network helps to ensure that analyses of local and national perspectives and the search for alternatives are grounded in reality.
- ASB partners work with households to understand their problems and opportunities.
- Consultations with local and national policymakers bring in their distinctive insights.
- Participatory research and policy consultations guide the iterative process necessary to identify, develop, and implement combinations of policy, institutional, and technological options that are workable and relevant.
Where we are
ASB focuses on the landscape mosaics (comprising both forests and agriculture) where global environmental problems and poverty coincide at the margins of remaining tropical forests. These rainforests are an invaluable natural heritage. ASB partners have established 12 benchmark sites in the Amazon, the Congo Basin, the islands of Sumatra and Mindanao, and the highlands of northern Thailand.
Why we exist
Tropical rainforests are falling fast. They also are home to over one billion rural people, the vast majority of whom are poor and depend directly on forest resources and agriculture for their livelihoods. Until we address the tradeoffs between conservation and local livelihoods, tropical rainforests will continue to disappear. No single group or organization has the means or expertise to tackle these complex, interlinked problems by itself.
How we are organized
ASB has a multi-layer structure. Coordination and facilitation are provided by the:
- ASB global coordination office
- 3 ASB regional facilitators
- 6 ASB national facilitators
Governance is provided by the ASB Global Steering Group (GSG) of 6 national and 5 international agricultural research organizations. The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) has hosted the global coordination office since inception, in Nairobi, Kenya.
ASB's acting global coordinator is Dr. Peter Akong Minang.