On the first International Day of Forests, Director General of the World Agroforestry Centre, Dr Tony Simons was interviewed by Reuters AlertNet about the role agroforestry can play in feeding a growing population without threatening the diversity of the world’s forests.

In the interview, Simons speaks about the achievements of public-private partnerships, specifically with Unilever and Mars, which aim to ensure funds are spent on what donors care about as well as making distribution more transparent.

One such example is the Allanblackia tree which is native to the rainforests of West, Central and Eastern Africa. The Centre is involved in a partnership working towards commercializing the high quality vegetable oil produced from the seeds of the tree. They are helping smallholder farmers to accelerate the growth of Allanblackia trees so that it can yield fruit earlier.

Simons outlines how the Centre works in about 30 countries in partnership with governments, private foundations, international organizations and regional development banks. The goal is not just to make one-off investments but to helping communities adopt agroforestry for the longer-term.

The establishment of nurseries is one activity where communities can be assisted to learn “which seeds to plant, how to speed up growth and how to use the trees to produce goods,” says Simons.

Read the full story: Climate Conversations - Trees are 'not just for Christmas'