ACES: Abrupt Changes in Ecosystem Services and Wellbeing in Mozambican Woodlands

ACES examines how woodland loss is changing ecosystem services and wellbeing of the rural poor in Mozambique. It aims to integrate this information in to land use policy and practice to alleviate rural poverty in Mozambique.

Poor rural households depend vitally on ecosystem services derived from African woodlands. However, little is known about the impacts of woodland loss and agricultural expansion on rural wellbeing. It is likely that gradual land-use change can cause abrupt changes to rural livelihoods, but the key ecological and social processes involved remain opaque.

At all levels of land use policy and practice, there is a clear need for empirical evidence on the impacts of land-use change on rural wellbeing. ACES will deliver such evidence, within a framework designed for, and by, those involved in land use decisions. It will do so through a novel mixture of stakeholder participation in the construction of Bayesian Belief Networks, the collection of large scale socio-ecological data sets along gradients of land-use change, and their quantitative and qualitative analysis, leading to the creation of future scenarios of the impacts of land-use change. These methods allow the incorporation of different types of knowledge, a systems approach to complex realities, and the co-production of outputs that maximise impact.

This work will move beyond the existing literature which describes how the rural poor rely on woodlands (Campbell and Byron '96) towards an integrated understanding of the socio-ecological processes at play. Our approach will inform debate and policy formulation that will directly influence the expansion of commercial agriculture, intensification of small-holder agriculture, rural development, and the likely trade-offs in management of woodlands for food, energy, timber, carbon and biodiversity.

The project will employ four post doctoral researchers from Mozambique and Zimbabwe who will work in close collaboration with cognate researchers from 2 UK Universities, led by an interdisciplinary team of scientists from Southern and Northern institutions. A steering committee of experienced scientists and practitioners from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Brazil and Europe will provide strategic guidance and international policy linkages.

The project builds on decades of work at three sites in Mozambique, and long involvement in pro-poor science-based policy on land management in Mozambique. It leverages 6 other projects in Mozambique with a value of >£2.1M, and international projects >£30M. In particular, this project is closely linked to a £1.9M investment in pro-poor land use in our study area, allowing our research to have a direct impact, as well as attracting stakeholder interest and the development of communities of practice.

Our goal is better land use management in African woodlands, which optimizes ecosystem services and rural wellbeing, in particular benefiting poor rural communities in Mozambique. To deliver this we need to catalyse the installation and implementation of better-informed land use policy at district, provincial and national levels. We therefore involve multiple stakeholders, such as government, civil society and private sector actors from the outset of the project. However, since national policies are highly influenced by international processes, we also need to involve stakeholders beyond Mozambique. Articulating what changes are needed requires decision makers to understand the likely ecosystem service impacts of current and proposed policies. This will be achieved by the production of scenarios detailing the impacts of realistic policy alongside detailed quantitative outputs. Clear articulation will be ensured through sequential, scenario-critiquing workshops from district to national level and the use of communications on scenario outcomes using visual, audio and published media for a range of audiences.

Underpinning the scenarios will be new knowledge on ecosystem service impacts of major land use changes such as agricultural expansion and deforestation. Generating this new knowledge will involve direct engagements with communities in the study sites who will then be in a position to use these insights to improve the practices over which they have direct control. But to influence land use policy beyond their control we will draw on the extensive experience of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), to create impact-effective 'communities of practice' (CoP). These include the actors listed in the main document, who share a common interest in the topic. Experience of achieving impact suggests that CoPs are most effective when stimulated through three actions: sharing new evidence; strengthening capacity; active engagement: we will strive to integrate these elements to achieve impact. New evidence will become embedded in the various policy programmes of the members of these CoPs through participatory learning group approaches, in which peer-review is used to sure-up public commitments to create safe space, provoke dialogue, build constituency, wield evidence and ultimately effect policy change. The efficacy of change emerging from within such communities has been well documented, especially when sustained by external support.

Communities of Practice will be developed at the District, Provincial. National and International levels; at all three we will work extensively with our project partners (see Box 1 of the case for support for further details of stakeholders and partners). To be effective CoPs require 'cultivation' and shared trust - which is why we will build on the established IIED-coordinated Forest Governance Learning Group, Growing Forest Partnership, Forest Connect and South-South REDD+ platforms. The fostering and support of these communities of practice will be the primary responsibility of a Policy Impact Fellow based in Mozambique, and contracted by IIED, which has extensive expertise in participatory learning groups in sub-Saharan Africa. The Policy Impact Fellow will be responsible for convening the events fostering the CoPs, and have a significant budget for the scenario formulation process, attendance at events, and interaction with the media through community radio, print media, subtitled film and television. This work will be managed by Macqueen, Nhantumbo and Olsson. Other scientists within the project are committed to the CoPs and will be brought in to present and discuss evidence as and when required.

We will also foster impact through a range of high profile policy briefs, again leveraging IIED's considerable expertise in this area.