The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted lives around the world. Communities depending on forests and forest produce, such as wild foods, have both been at times blamed for the outbreak, while being among the hardest affected by the pandemic. Existing challenges such as insecure land tenure, infrastructure inequalities, access to health care, or government neglect have been exacerbated. Forest communities – making up to 1.6 billion people worldwide – were indeed already marginalised before the pandemic. How did the pandemic impact their livelihoods and environments and how did they cope?

The outcomes of the pandemic on forest landscapes are numerous, diverse, and yet not well understood. To find out more, Focali and SIANI invited experts from around the world for an online dialogue to present and discuss the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on forest communities and forest resource use. Representatives from the forest and Indigenous communities, civil society actors and researchers attended the dialogue, bringing a diverse group of voices to the table to map impacts, reveal knowledge gaps and identify opportunities for a green and inclusive recovery process.

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Read the full report from the dialogue and see our key recommendations "pathways for a green and inclusive recovery of forest communities" on the SIANI webpage. 

Videos: Watch texted recordings of the first and the second sessions and read the full program.

About the initiative: This dialogue was the first in the Focali – SIANI Dialogue Forum – a pilot initiative during 2021 for multi-stakeholder exchange and joint action on interlinked forest, biodiversity and livelihood issues. The initiative is an expansion of the ongoing Focali – SIANI collaboration.