Ecosystem services constitute the base for humans' well-being. Benefits are ranging from improved local livelihoods to global benefits provided by forests' climate regulation services. However, there are internal and external drivers of change like new consumption patterns and conflicting interests in specific services, demographical development, or climate change and extreme events. In this context, ecosystems like forests need to be managed in a sustainable and equitable way to ensure a provision of ecosystem for the benefits of the local population and for mitigating impacts for the global community by equitable and efficient sharing of benefits - and of costs. 

  
Dr. Maria Brockhaus
Center for International Forestry Research - CIFOR, Bogor, Indonesia
m.brockhaus@cgiar.org
 
Dr. Edwige Botoni
Secretariat CILSS - Comité Permanent Inter
Etats de lutte contre la Sécheresse dans le Sahel
Ouagadougou,Burkina Faso
Edwige.botoni@cilss.bf