DoForChange

Coordinating institution: IRD
Partner institutions: École Nationale d'Agriculture de Meknès | Association Cormier Sorbus domestica | Cirad | INRAE | Université de Montpellier | Association pour la Conservation, l'Étude et la Valorisation des Bois de Lutherie et de la Facture Instrumentale 
Project leaders: Julien Blanco (IRD)
Project duration: 48 mois | 1 octobre 2025 → 30 septembre 2029

Global changes challenge current nature-society interactions by revealing not only their ecological impacts but also their socio-economic limitations. Addressing these challenges requires collaboration across academic disciplines and with non-academic stakeholders. Yet, such efforts often remain siloed. In particular, the forest and agricultural sectors operate in isolation, limiting their ability to address issues arising from their dynamic interface. This separation is especially detrimental to the resilience and sustainable governance of domesticated forests – forests whose management is significantly influenced by farmers and rural societies. Specific tree species within these forests, such as oleasters and service trees, face conservation challenges due to genetic exchanges with their agricultural relatives. Meanwhile, conventional forestry often overlooks the socio-economic potential of domesticated forests, which produce a diversity of ligneous and non-ligneous forest products.

The DoForChange project seeks to advance an integrated understanding and governance of domesticated forests by bridging the forest and agricultural sectors. Through a transdisciplinary and cross-sectoral approach, the project aims to:

• Advance knowledge of the social-ecological interactions between domesticated forests and agricultural dynamics,
• Foster dialogue between forestry and agricultural stakeholders to identify socio-economic opportunities and promote equitable, sustainable management, 
• Contribute to the conservation of forest genetic diversity and adaptability in a rapidly changing environment.

The approach will be applied to three target species representing a gradient of forest-agriculture integration in distinct Mediterranean and tropical systems:

• The service tree (Cormus domestica) in southeastern France, which faces genetic conservation challenges despite its renewed importance in forestry and agroforestry;
• Oleasters (Olea europaea subsp. europaea var. sylvestris) in northern Morocco, whose genetic diversity is threatened by olive tree expansion, jeopardizing climate resilience and local uses;
• Caryocar species (Caryocar spp.) in French Guiana, vital to local livelihoods but with underexplored genetic dynamics and economic potential.

Cross-site analyses of their social-ecological systems (SESs) will provide site-specific insights while offering broader, generalizable perspectives.

The first research axis aims to codesign fair and sustainable governance systems with local stakeholders. A key innovation lies in treating our transdisciplinary research consortium itself as a governance actor, producing knowledge and norms about domesticated forests. The project will address inequity issues within the three SESs and the consortium itself, and develop participatory processes in each SES to codesign technical and/or socio-organizational innovations.
The second axis focuses on the biological diversity of the three tree species. First, it aims to enhance understanding of their genetic diversity and of the genetic flows between their forest and agricultural forms. Second, it will explore links between genetic and functional diversity, particularly in traits like drought resistance. Finally, it will contribute to the ex-situ conservation of these species by design core collections in partnership with stakeholders.
The third axis aims to document the past, present and future uses of the target species, considering all direct and indirect stakeholders. It will analyze contemporary uses, assess potential conflicts (in collaboration with Axis 1), and document historical trajectories. Wood mechanical characterization (in collaboration with Axis 2) will help assess the innovation potential of these species for underexplored applications, such as using service tree wood in lutherie.