7 February 2013: The Director General of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) has published an article on evidence-based forest policy. The article highlights the challenge in balancing scientific and technical solutions, which have a relatively easily established evidence base, with broader socio-economically responsive forest policies.

The article stresses the importance of ensuring that decision-making and policy-making are carried out in a systematic and transparent manner based on all available information. It also emphasizes that if the process of establishing the evidence base is iterative and begins with the identification of clear policy questions, scientific research can better respond to policy-making needs.

With regard to the contribution of science and research to evidence-based forest policy, the article recalls that there is a great deal of existing knowledge, but the challenge lies in identifying which existing knowledge is relevant and useful.

Making use of the vast and varied information available on forests requires a systematic review process, which will soon be better supported by CIFOR’s new evidence based forest policy initiative. The initiative is being launched with the University of Oxford and is intended to provide evidence for forest policy processes. CIFOR is a member of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). [CIFOR Blog Post]