Forests for a Just Future - Green Livelihoods Alliance (GLA 2.0)

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Forest protection as one of the keys to suppressing the rate of climate change requires increasingly urgent action to achieve the sustainability of all life on earth. Deforestation and forest degradation not only increase climate change but also cause disasters that threaten human life, ranging from loss of livelihoods, damage to water sources and carbon sinks that keep the air clean and healthy. Changes in land use such as monoculture plantation and the rapid development of infrastructure have exacerbated the challenges of forest and land protection.

Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLC) whose forest lands and livelihoods are directly affected by deforestation often do not have the power to stop the ongoing destruction. They are also often powerless and do not have the ability to defend and claim their rights to regulate and manage customary areas, as well as forest areas that have been their homes for generations. Therefore, encouraging and equipping them with the ability to fight for justice and manage their territory so that it is sustainable is an important contribution made by the GLA.

Through close collaboration between GLA partners in Indonesia and relevant stakeholders at the local, national and global levels, it is hoped that forest area management practices can continue to be improved towards sustainable management and all human rights violations that still occur can be stopped.

Currently, GLA partners in Indonesia consist of 9 organizations, namely NTFP-EP, Sawit Watch, Tropenbos Indonesia, WALHI, WARSI, and several partners who act as technical partners such as WGII related to the rights of indigenous people/ICCA and AKSI, Yakkum and Solidaritas Perempuan for gender-related issues. At the global level, GLA collaborates with various institutions in 12 countries that have tropical forests and is involved in social advocacy to increase community participation, especially indigenous people in influencing policy and decision-making regarding land rights and forest governance, as well as lobbying and advocating to the government and to restrain the dominance of the agro-commodity industry, extractive industry, energy and infrastructure which are often responsible for deforestation and human rights violations.

At the international level, The Green Livelihoods Alliance (GLA) is an alliance of Gaia Amazonas, IUCN NL, Milieudefensie, NTFP-EP, SDI and Tropenbos International, with WECF and FERN as technical partners. Tropenbos International implements the GLA program through its network in Bolivia, Colombia, Liberia, Ghana, Uganda, DR Congo, Viet Nam, Indonesia and the Philippines.

This program is a continuation of the first phase of GLA entitled “Forested Landscapes for Equity” (2016-2020) which aimed to strengthen the capacity and effectiveness of Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in influencing policies and practices to achieve inclusive and sustainable forest and landscape governance.