Sustainable forestry

Technology will help to address the challenges for sustainable forestry in the 21st century. Some of the challenges will include the shift of production from native forest to plantations in areas of comparative advantage, more efficient processing delinking end-use products from raw wood characteristics, increased demand, better information technologies to support decision makers, and more options for conserving biodiversity. Definitions of sustainability will vary in time and space as society's expectations and aspirations change, so there can be no 'silver bullet' to ensure sustainability. However, progress may be facilitated with a systematic approach to forest management embracing the usual planning cycle: formulation of objectives, preparation of a strategy, planning, implementing, monitoring, and reappraisal. This requires a good understanding of each particular situation. Managers need good resource assessment and decision support systems; they must foster stak...

A sustainable forestry scenario aimed at meeting the projected biomassdemands, halting deforestation and regenerating degraded forests wasdeveloped and analyzed for additionality of mitigation and cost-effectivenessfor India. Similarly, mitigation potential of a commercial forestry scenarioaimed at meeting the biomass demands from forestry activities on privateland was assessed. India has a significant scale baseline scenario afforestationand effective forest conservation activities. India is afforesting at an averagegross rate of 1.55 × 106 ha yr-1 over the past 10 years, while the gross deforestation rate was 0.272 × 106 ha yr-1 during the same period. The sustainable forestry scenario could lead to an additional carbon (C) stock of 237 × 106 Mg C during 2000 to 2012, while the commercial forestry scenario apart from meeting all the incremental biomass demands (estimated for 2000 to 2015) could potentially lead to an additional carbon stock of 78 × 106Mg C during 2000 to 2012. Short- and Long-rotation forestry activities arecommercially viable. With appropriate policies and financial incentives allthe industrial wood, sawnwood and commercial fuelwood requirementcould be met through commercial forestry, so that government funds couldbe dedicated for conserving state owned forests and meeting subsistencebiomass demands. The commercial forestry activities could receive financialsupport under greenhouse gas (GHG) abatement programmes. The government, however, needs to develop institutions and guidelines to process, evaluate, approve and monitor forestry sector mitigation projects.

... 7 to a lesser extent, coastal species is deteriorating faster than that of species in other ... consider ways of addressing REDD, and notes that effective actions to reduce deforestation could be a ... adapt to climate change, and notes that mitigation and adaptation activities can be done ...

Illegal logging is a major environmental and economic problem, and exceeds in some countries the amounts of legally harvested timber. In Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, illegal logging increased and reforestation on abandoned farmland was widespread after the breakdown of socialism, and the region's forest cover trends remain overall largely unclear. Our goal here was to map forest cover change and to assess the extent of illegal logging and reforestation in the Ukrainian Carpathians. We used Landsat TM/ETM+ images and Support Vector Machines (SVM) to derive forest change trajectories between 1988 and 2007 for the entire Ukrainian Carpathians. We calculated logging and reforestation rates, and compared Landsat-based forest trends to official statistics and inventory maps. Our classification resulted in reliable forest/non-forest maps (overall accuracies between 97.1%–98.01%) and high clear cut detection rates (on average 89.4%). Forest cover change was widespread in the Ukrainian Carpathians between 1988 and 2007. We found forest cover increase in peripheral areas, forest loss in the interior Carpathians, and increased logging in remote areas. Overall, our results suggest that unsustainable forest use from socialist times likely persisted in the post-socialist period, resulting in a continued loss of older forests and forest fragmentation. Landsat-based forest trends differed substantially from official forest resource statistics. Illegal logging appears to have been at least as extensive as documented logging during the early 1990s and so-called sanitary clear-cuts represent a major loophole for overharvesting and logging in restricted areas. Reforestation and illegal logging are frequently not accounted for in forest resource statistics, highlighting limitations of these data. Combating illegal logging and transitioning towards sustainable forestry requires better monitoring and up-to-date accounting of forest resources, in the Carpathians and elsewhere in Eastern Europe, and remote sensing can be a key technology to achieve these goals.

The effect of six plantation species in comparison to natural forest (NF) on soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) stocks, depth-wise distribution, biomass carbon (C), and N was investigated on plantations and cultivated lands on an Andic paleudalf soil in Southern Ethiopia. The SOC, N, and bulk density were determined from samples taken in 4 replicates from 10-, 20-, 40-, 60-, and 100-cm depth under each site. Similarly, the biomass C and N of the plantation species and understory vegetation were also determined. The SOC and N were concentrated in the 0- to 10-cm depth and decreased progressively to the 1-m depth. Next to the NF, Juniperous procera accrued higher SOC and N in all depths than the corresponding plantations. No evidence of significant difference on SOC and N distribution among plantations was observed below the 10-cm depth with minor exceptions. The plantations accrue from 133.62 to 213.73 Mg ha–1 or 59.1 to 94.5% SOC, 230.4 to 497.3 Mg ha–1 or 6.9 to 14.9% TBC and 420.37 to 672.80 Mg ha–1 or 12.5 to 20% total C-pool of that under the NF. The N stock under Juniperous procera was the highest, while the lowest was under Eucalyptus globulus and Cupressus lusitanica. We suggest that SOC and N sequestration can be enhanced through mixed cropping and because the performance of the native species Juniperous procera is encouraging, it should be planted to restock its habitat.

Land-use decisions and practices surrounding protected areas have proven to be contentious. Particularly in developing countries, buffer zones associated with protected areas must accommodate both conservation and development objectives, including agricultural interests. However, incorporating stakeholder group preferences in land-use decisions can be challenging and developing informed management approaches through a transparent process can be difficult. To assist the detailing of a responsive buffer zone management plan, this research used a process-oriented approach to elucidate the needs and priorities of stakeholders for the Nyungwe National Park (NNP) buffer zone in Rwanda. This article presents an application of the SWOT-AHP methodology (a strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat analysis hybridized with the analytic hierarchy process) as a particular way of engaging communities and interested groups in buffer zone management planning. This methodology engaged farmers, local governments, national agencies, non-governmental organizations, and other interested groups in a collaborative priority-setting activity. This approach may be useful to agroforestry and agricultural land-use managers when identifying differences in needs and perceptions between groups is important in order to negotiate and implement trade-offs in planning decisions.

This article reviews 15 payment for watershed services (PWS) programs in Asia, most of which are in early stages of implementation. Important constraints against PWS in Asia include high population density that escalates transaction costs of contracting potential service suppliers, and state control over most forestlands. China has two nationwide programs that encourage afforestation to arrest soil erosion. Indonesia has several local PWS schemes to conserve catchments upstream of dams and hydroelectric plants. Vietnam, Nepal, and the Philippines have similar initiatives, funded by international donors or local hydroelectric companies. India presents two cases where village communities came up with innovative social arrangements to secure watershed services. However, in most cases conditionality is weakly enforced, and participation may be mandatory. Government is the major buyer of watershed services, while private or quasi-private companies are involved in a few watersheds in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Nepal. Evidence of PWS on poverty alleviation is tenuous in most cases. China’s Sloping Land Conversion program has helped the poor increase their asset base while landless farmers in Indonesia have received conditional land tenure.

ABSTRACT A study was conducted in South Omo Zone, Ethiopia with the aim of assessing the population status of the frankincense tree Boswellia neglecta and investigating its resin essential oil chemical composition. The status of populations of B. neglecta was assessed by examining the density, abundance, frequency, dominance, importance value index, and population structure. Resin sample was analyzed for the physicochemical properties. The composition of the essential oil was analyzed with Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. The high values of density, abundance, frequency, dominance, and importance value index for B. neglecta showed the potential of the tree for bulk resin collection. Boswellia neglecta had a bell-shaped diameter distribution indicating a hampered regeneration. The B. neglecta resin had a moisture content of 2.68%, ash content of 0.99%, pH of 5.7, and oil yield of 5.92%. The resin possessed good quality as compared to resins in other reports. The essential oil was optically active (−31.6° at 23.2°C). The essential oil contained several compounds, but 71.1% of the composition were formed mainly from methyl oleate, methyl linoleate, methyl palmitate, which have not been reported from B. neglecta. Sustainable management must be enacted since the agro-pastoralist mode of life hinders regeneration of the species and its resin resources.

Personal anecdotes are used to highlight some important considerations for yield regulation and to introduce some pertinent literature. A checklist of key issues and research needs is offered. Perhaps the most important consideration is to maintain a holistic systems view, and to involve clients and ensure their needs are met.