This month we are happy to be joined by Markus Kröger and Peter Dewees. Markus is a professor of Global Development Studies at University of Helsinki and one of the co-PIs of the TreesForDev Project. Peter is retired from a 30 plus year career with the World Bank. During his time with the World Bank Peter worked on many different projects, with a focus on why rural people cultivate and plant trees, wood fuel use, and the management of the Miombo woodlands. While his focus was on Eastern Africa, he also has done work in Eastern Europe and Asia. He shares with us his insights into the role of rural peoples’ agency in tree planting and how historical factors have influenced the land use practices. Top-down processes are not always the best path to get trees into the rural landscape; if a farmer needs a tree, they will figure out how to grow it. He shares with us some of the innovations that have been brought to the field that have been successful. We also discuss the question of ecological restoration and whether it is possible through tree planting schemes. We talk about some of the mismatches between the goals of funding agencies and the on-the-ground realities of the people living in place. And while he worked at the Bank for a long time, the views he expressed in this podcast are his own, and should not be ascribed to the World Bank.

Want to learn more about Peter’s work? https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=-HD6w24AAAAJ&hl=en

Want to learn more about Markus’ research? https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/persons/markus-kr%C3%B6ger

Want to revisit the TreesForDev episodes about carbon?

Steffen Böhm https://podcasts.apple.com/ee/podcast/treesfordev-maria-ehrnstr%C3%B6m-fuentes-and-steffen-boehm/id1499621252?i=1000666744435

Forrest Fleischman https://podcasts.apple.com/ee/podcast/treesfordev-maria-ehrnstr%C3%B6m-fuentes-and-forrest/id1499621252?i=1000663758730

Want to learn more about the TreesForDev Project? www.treesfordev.fi