Tropical rainforests disappear at an alarming rate causing unprecedented losses in biodiversity and ecosystem services. Rainforests are hot spots of biodiversity as well as important carbon sinks. Despite an increased recognition of the value of these and other valuable public goods provided by tropical rainforests at national and international levels, the rainforests of Asia, Africa, Australia and Latin America continue to be seriously threatened by various forms of human encroachment.

The analysis of policies and socio-economic and ecological determinants that either stabilize or threaten tropical forest margins requires a holistic interdisciplinary scientific approach. Such an approach has been adopted by a large scale research program titled “Stability of Rainforest Margins in Indonesia ” (STORMA, SFB 552). This program is jointly conducted by the University of Göttingen (GAUG) and the University of Kassel (UNIK) (Germany), and by the Agricultural University of Bogor (IPB) and the University of Palu (UNTAD) ( Indonesia). Since 2000, the research program has been funded by the German Research Council (DFG).
The symposium will feature three interconnected thematic foci of interdisciplinary research. These focus on the changes in the extent and intensity of agricultural and forest land use in tropical forest margins and their implications for rural development and for conservation of natural resources such as biodiversity, soils and water.
Sustainable management of agroforestry systems
Ecological and socio-economic impacts of different forest use intensities
Integrated spatial modelling of land use in tropical forest margins