The “Building capacity and sharing knowledge for tree and forest conservation” project is a three year project (2025 – 2028) that will work across Africa, South America and South East Asia. The project is funded by the Audemars Piguet Foundations.

Project context

Trees are important ecologically, culturally and economically. The Global Tree Assessment has compiled extinction risk information on >58,000 tree species worldwide, 30% of tree species are threatened with extinction. Forest conservation projects are not without challenges. Tree species which could be invasive and cause harm to local ecosystems are planted in forest restoration projects. Mass tree plantings (frequently monocultures) provide little support for wildlife and ecosystems and are more susceptible to pests and diseases. Current forest conservation projects often lack specialized knowledge and skills to conserve tree habitats, have a short-term focus with limited consideration of local community livelihoods and forest use as well as, little aftercare and monitoring.

Project overview

This project will focus on developing capacities in three of the most biodiverse regions of the world to equip, support and empower partners, local communities and governments with the knowledge and skills to conserve threatened and ethnobotanically important trees. The project will combine ecological expertise, community engagement through participatory approaches, training and the development of sustainable forest use and conservation practices to ensure protection of existing forests and restoration. By creating collaborative platforms connecting conservation practitioners we will enable the sharing of knowledge, resources and the promotion of best practices for the conservation of threatened and useful native tree species and their habitats. We will conduct introductory sessions for each regional network on participatory approaches and provide in person training on using these approaches on a train the trainer basis. The project will provide training on tree and forest conservation techniques led by the needs of each region. This will be achieved through a survey and needs analysis, followed by the development of bespoke training modules. We will enable peer-to-peer sharing and learning within and between regions to develop global best practices. The project will assist governments in updating local and national biodiversity and forest conservation plans, through provision of prioritised tree species lists. The project will promote the conservation and restoration of native forests at international conservation conventions to further the impacts of this and other projects for global tree conservation.

Project objectives

1. Strengthen technical tree conservation capacity globally
2. Deliver a Train-the-Trainer programme
3. Develop training materials
4. Provide one-to-one mentoring and support

About the funder

The Audemars Piguet Foundations, active in the fields of the environment, social equity and education, work towards a sustainable world in which every individual can reach their full potential as part of resilient and autonomous communities.
Operating in Switzerland and around the world, they put local stakeholders at the heart of their action to help create virtuous circles by and for the communities they serve.

Since its creation in 1992, the Audemars Piguet Foundation for Trees has supported over 200 projects across nearly 80 countries, with the aim of safeguarding forest ecosystems, raising awareness of environmental issues among young people, and preserving ancestral knowledge related to nature.