The three thematic areas of the first phase were reviewed and retained. Two additional thematic areas were added to address pertinent challenges and gaps in the two sub-regions and reflect the interdisciplinary nature of REFOREST Africa PhD Programme. The thematic areas serve as the main framework from which students research fall. These are:
- Theme 1: Commercial forestry and bio-economy: Tree growing as business, tree improvement and silviculture, forest health and protection, forest products development, marketing, forest products value chains, sustainable forest management (SFM)
- Theme 2: Sustainable Natural Forest Management: Ecological and socio-economic aspects and forest restoration; bio-energy, Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES), ecotourism, trade-offs between conservation/tourism and rural livelihoods, forest land policy, ownership and forest-land-water relations.
- Theme 3: Agroforestry: Forest-agriculture interactions and synergies, land conflict management, agroforestry structures, systems and functions including agro-silvo pastoral and home gardens, soil health and nutrient management, rehabilitation of degraded lands, socioeconomics, economics and environment aspects, pest management, gender, system resilience, and improvement of microclimate.
- Theme 4: Climate change: Impact of climate change (CC) on species and biomes, species migration, CC and water catchment/dynamics, floods, droughts and forest fire risks, CC impact on tree health, capacity for Carbon sequestration (species, biomes, forest types including mangroves) and nature based solutions. Effectiveness of Carbon offsetting mechanisms, forest degradation assessment, Carbon footprints, mitigation, livelihood and green economy & adaptation (tools and effectiveness), green knowledge/skills, analysis of CC-energy nexus.
- Theme 5: Biodiversity and Ecosystems: Biodiversity conservation, genetic diversity of tropical trees, threats to tropical ecosystems, risks of species extinction, transhumance and ecosystem integrity, habitat loss management, ecosystem restoration, invasive species management, social and cultural aspects, payment of ecosystem services. Forest-based food chains, bio-prospecting, waste management (e.g. recycling/reuse innovations).
Cross-cutting areas: the following areas may be included in the themes above: Gender, policy, livelihoods, political ecology, natural resource inclusivity and pluralism, forest governance, forest sector modelling, environmental and economic sustainability. Particular attention will be on areas requiring more interdisciplinary research approaches, e.g. climate-forest issues, land use conflicts, market system analyses, poverty alleviation potentials of various forest/tree-derived products, economic/social/ecological aspects of forestry, food and nutrition security.
