CIFOR implemented the Tropical Forests and Climate Change Adaptation (TroFCCA) project from March 2005 to December 2009 in Central America (Costa Rica, Honduras, Nicaragua), South-East Asia (Indonesia, Philippines) and West Africa (Burkina Faso, Ghana, Mali), in partnership with the Tropical Agriculture Center for Research and Higher Education (CATIE, Costa Rica) and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF, the Philippines). The European Commission funded the project under contract EuropeAid/ENV/2004/081-719.

TroFCCA aimed to increase the understanding of climate change impacts on forests and the role of forests in the adaptation of society, in order to contribute to national processes of adaptation to climate change. The project produced policy-relevant research outcomes by:

• focusing research activities on regional and national development priorities for which forests play a substantial role. Stakeholder consultations and policy dialogues identified topics and priorities.

• developing methods to assess the vulnerability of socio-ecological systems related to the development priorities identified above.

• conducting integrated vulnerability assessments to identify adaptation priorities.

• developing adaptation strategies together with national stakeholders in the context of identified development priorities.

• identifying pathways to incorporate adaptation priorities into national policies, including sectoral ones.

• exploring the potential of mechanisms, such as payments for ecosystem services, to finance adaptation activities and compensate eventual trade-offs as a way to achieve sustainability of adaptation strategies.

• establishing regional policy dialogues to enhance cooperation on adaptation.