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1
Natural capital measurement and valuation
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2
Environmental finance and economics
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3
Sustainable agriculture
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4
Sustainable forestry
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5
Biodiversity conservation
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6
Natural resource management
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7
Conservation-based tourism
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8
Socio-economic development
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9
Sustainable development planning
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10
Climate change mitigation and adaptation
forestLAB
forestLAB is ACDG’s research partnership, established to identify new ways to unlock social, environmental and financial value for our conservation-led development programmes
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New solutions
translating academic and scientific excellence into real-world impact
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New techniques
designed to examine complex developmental questions in a holistic way.
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New financing mechanisms
maximising the value of natural capital and avoided carbon emissions

Multidisciplinary Partnerships
In collaboration with our founding partners, London School of Economics, University of Stirling and Gabon’s National Centre for Scientific and Technological Research, forestLAB is helping to foster new solutions, techniques and financing structures to advance conservation-led development in Africa.
forestLAB represents the crystallisation of decades of visionary thinking and pioneering sustainable development practice by ACDG. Its value lies in the ability to convene best-in-class specialist expertise across diverse disciplines to answer complex developmental questions that can be applied in the real world.
forestLAB partners
forestLAB has ten principal areas of focus:
Through forestLAB, we have forged partnerships with the University of Stirling, Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, and Gabon’s National Centre for Scientific and Technological Research (CENAREST) focused on ten core areas of research:
The findings that flow from forestLAB’s research are intended to guide our Group’s operating models and practices, catalyse new sustainable ventures on the African continent, and create traction with policymakers and business leaders.

"forestLAB presents a tremendous opportunity for social and natural scientists to work together on a vitally important challenge that will provide lessons for developing countries."— Baroness Minouche Shafik, Director of LSE
The Congo Basin
forestLAB is focusing its initial research in Gabon, part of the Congo Basin which harbours the second largest expanse of rainforest on earth and represents a critical line of defence in the fight against climate change.
At its first research centre in Loango National Park, forestLAB will build on the work conducted by the University of Stirling, which has monitored African rainforest ecosystems for over 40 years.
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