Natural Resources Management

The depletion of natural resources around the world continues dramatically. It remains a chal-lenge to protect environmental resources as the foundation for social and economic development. In protecting and managing natural and man-made resources such as water, air, forests, grasslands, marine life, and agro-ecosystems, GFA Consulting Group concentrates on five  major fields of activity.

GFA's core expertise lies in sustainable forest management. Our experts are exceptionally well qualified to provide advice in forest policy reform and governance issues, effective forest adminis-tration, management of boreal and tropical natural forests, reforestation of degraded lands and income growth strategies for communities dependent on forests.

Forest and wood certification is a proven means of ensuring sustainable forest management. GFA is the only accredited German institution for FSC forest management and chain of custody certification. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and many private clients have entrusted GFA with certifying more than 1.5 million hectares and over 200 wood processing and trading firms. Eighty per cent of terrestrial biodiversity is found in natural forests. Conserving biodiversity can best be achieved by managing forests in a sustainable manner and protecting natural forests rich in biodiversity. At GFA, biodiversity conservation means including instruments to finance protected areas in a sustainable manner, to develop local markets for environmental services and to improve the well being of forest-dependent communities, in core zones as well as buffer zones.

Forests help maintain soil fertility, protect water-sheds and mitigate the risk of natural disasters such as floods and landslides. GFA addresses cross-sectoral and institutional issues on a global and national level to ensure soil and water conservation. This approach is location-specific and may include erosion control, reducing industrial, urban and agricultural effluents as well as developing multi-cropping and agro-forestry systems.

In the field of coastal and marine resources management, GFA focuses on strategies to strengthen governance, community participation, sustainable economic activities and environmental conservation. By using tools such as spatial devel-opment planning and introducing measures to reduce resource degradation, our experts also help protect coastal zones (e.g. mangrove areas) that act as barriers against natural disasters and the effects of climate change.

Link to Projects