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Electronic assessments and corrections (EAC) of assignments, continuous assessments, and projects over type-printed versions stimulate students’ happiness owing to its economic and forest conservation components. Hence, the objective of this paper was to evaluate the crucial elements of economic and forest conservation by adopting absolute electronic assessments over typed-and-printed paper submissions (TPPS) for corrections in a Faculty of Agriculture at a Tertiary Institution in Rivers State, Nigeria, by collecting data from 188 500L using a Google Form questionnaire. The happiness index was determined using the Cantril Ladder scale as well as appropriate statistical tools. The data showed a low average students' happiness index (3.58); however, students in Forestry and Wildlife Management (4.79), Animal Science (4.26), and Fisheries (3.98) showed significantly higher happiness than students in other departments. The estimated economic cost of the printed paper submissions was ₦6,761,354.00 ($4,829.52) per session, compared to ₦370,970.8 ($264.97) for the electronic submissions. Study estimates indicated that participants used 326.55 reams of 80 gm A4-sized paper during their final year session, at an average cost of ₦41.41 ($0.029) per printing page. This is comparable to 741.28 kg of dried pulp, or 20.4 pulp trees. The substantial financial strain students endured on typed-and-printed paper submissions—more importantly, research project corrections have a profound negative impact on their happiness. By phasing out TPPS at the institutions of learning, students' happiness would be enhanced, while considerable economic and forest resources could be conserved.

Rewritable paper has recently become prevalent in both academic research and marketplace due to the potential environmental advantages, including forest conservation, pollution reduction, energy saving and resource sustainability. However, its real-life applications are limited by a lack of effective strategy to realize multicolour and water-jet printing on rewritable paper with long legible image-lasting times. Herein, we report an effective strategy to construct rewritable paper based on colour or luminescence switching induced by dynamic metal-ligand coordination. This type of rewritable paper can be conveniently utilized for multicolour water-jet printing by using aqueous solutions containing different metal salts as ink. In addition, the printed images on the water-jet rewritable paper can be retained for a long time (> 6 months), which shows great progress compared to previous work. We believe that this type of rewritable paper could be considered as a prototype for multicolour water-jet printing to meet the practical needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2010.03.008 Byline: David A. Raitzer Keywords: impact assessment; policy research; evaluation; forests; Asia; Indonesia Abstract: Qualitative and quantitative methods are applied to assess the impact of CIFOR's political economy research on the Indonesian pulp and paper sector. Key-informant interviews triangulated by trend-series tests suggest important influence through advocacy intermediaries and counterfactuals of slower adoption of improvements. Effects on conservation set-asides, overcapacity, and plantation establishment are estimated to avert loss of 76,000-212,000hectares of natural forest (135,000 under main assumptions). Application of an economic-surplus framework for environmental benefits of forest conservation and avoided implicit wood subsidies finds benefits of US$19 to US$583 million (US$133 million main estimate), compared with US$500,000 of direct research costs. Author Affiliation: International Rice Research Institute, Philippines Article History: Accepted 21 March 2010

Campaigns by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) pressuring companies to adopt sustainability standards have caught academic interest in recent years. Critics of this approach toward increasing biodiversity protection and social justice argue that campaign successes are often short-lived while proponents emphasize the potential of NGO campaigns to achieve positive environmental and social change in the absence of governmental legislation. Focusing on the recent forest conservation policy of Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), a leading pulp and paper company operating in Southeast Asia, we analyze the challenges companies face in implementing sustainability commitments made as a result of NGO and market pressure. Drawing from research on policy implementation and corporate greening we identify key activities to help entrench APP's commitments in the company's operations. Furthermore, we suggest that a range of actions by different stakeholder groups can achieve broader effects of APP's commitments toward better environmental and social stewardship in the region's pulp and paper sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The biennial Visual Resource Stewardship conferences of 2017, 2019, and 2021 were designed to catalyze new ideas and innovation between academia, practice, NGOs, and government agencies who work to address the analysis, planning, valuation, design, and management of visual resources. This Special Issue is a compilation of articles from these conferences that represent a broad perspective of research and project works focused on visual, scenic, and landscape resource assessment and management. With the foundation set for a new conference, a conference planning committee was formalized with a vision to expand the reach and dissemination of activities within the subject area. [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on the impact of paper trends in publishing books to several print publishers and paper suppliers. With the demand of eco-friendly papers, various industries were encouraged in meeting the needs of customers due to initiatives given by the government. Scholastic Corp., the publisher of "Harry Potter" book series in the U.S., had purchased nearly 22 million pounds of paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Based on the standards of FCS, the paper used in printing must contain at least 30% post-consumer waste fiber. According to Canadian publisher Raincoast Books, the Canadian editions of "Harry Potter" were printed on 100% ancient-forest free and 100% post-consumer recycled paper.

The present paper studied the chemical composition of recent and historical oak wood comparing the extractive, holocellulose, α-cellulose, lignin, and ash contents. Comprehensive knowledge of the chemical components in recent and historical oak wood will facilitate the use of conservation agent in the restoration and conservation process of the investigated artifacts. The cyclohexane–ethanol extract of historical oak wood was significantly lower compared to recent wood, which can be explained by the leaching of extractives into the soil. No significant differences in the holocellulose and α-cellulose content of recent and historical oak wood were found. The lignin and the ash contents were significantly higher in the historical samples. The EDX analysis of the ash of historical oak wood showed remarkably higher iron content compared to the recent material. The result indicated the degradation of hemicelluloses in the historical sample. The significant difference in the amount of ash between the samples was explained by sediment materials that have been introduced into the wood from the soil. SEM imaging made these materials clearly visible as depositions in the cell lumens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports that 19.6 million metric tons of wastepaper were turned into recycled paper and paperboard products in China in 2006. According to Forest Trends, a nonprofit organization that promotes sustainable forestry, China's wastepaper imports for recycling has grown significantly. The trends probably saved 54 million metric tons of wood from being harvested for pulp. However, China's higher-quality paper products require virgin fibers, which are logged illegally from forests in Indonesia and eastern Russia.

Abstract: Satellite imagery can be used to assess the state of vegetation in areas that are rarely visited. Here we report how satellite imagery clearly shows the outline of Mucheve Forest Reserve in Mozambique because the vegetation within the park has been severely degraded. This is contrast to several other protected areas, where the vegetation outside their boundaries is often more degraded than within. Possible reasons for the difference between the vegetation structure inside and outside the reserve are shortly discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

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Mangrove forests, which are declining across the globe mainly because of human intervention, require an evaluation of their past and present status (e.g. areal extent, species-level distribution, etc.) to better implement conservation and management strategies. In this paper, mangrove cover dynamics at Gaoqiao (under the jurisdiction of Zhanjiang Mangrove National Nature Reserve -- ZMNNR, P . R. China) were assessed through time using 1967 (Corona KH-4B), 2000 (Landsat ETM+), and 2009 (GeoEye-1) satellite imagery. An important decline in mangrove cover (-36%) was observed between 1967 and 2009 due to dike construction for agriculture (paddy) and aqua-culture practices. Moreover, dike construction prevented mangroves from expanding landward. Although a small increase of mangrove area was observed between 2000 and 2009 (+24%), the ratio mangrove/aquaculture kept decreasing due to increased aquaculture at the expense of rice culture. In the land-use/cover map based on ground-truth data (5m x 5m plot-based tree measurements) (August-September, 2009) and spectral reflectance values (obtained from pansharpened GeoEye-1), both Bruguiera gymnorrhiza and small Aegiceras corniculatum are distinguishable at 73-100% accuracy, whereas tall A. corniculatum is identifiable at only 53% due to its mixed vegetation stands close to B. gymnorrhiza (classification accuracy: 85%). Sand proportion in the sediment showed significant differences (Kruskal-Wallis/ANOVA, P < 0.05) between the three mangrove classes (B. gymnorrhiza and small and tall A. corniculatum). Distribution of tall A. corniculatum on the convex side of creeks and small A.corniculatum on the concave side (with sand) show intriguing patterns of watercourse changes. Overall, the advantage of very high resolution satellite images like GeoEye-1 for mangrove spatial heterogeneity assessment and/or species-level discrimination is well demonstrated, along with the complexity to provide a precise classification for non-dominant species (e.g. Kandelia obovata) at Gaoqiao. Despite the limitations such as geometric distortion and single band information, the 42-yr old Corona declassified images are invaluable for land-use/cover change detections when compared to recent satellite data sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many terrorist organizations around the world seek shelter in forests and this paper tries to address the impact of this phenomenon on forest conservation. We construct a framework to measure the social loss when a terrorist lives in the forest and has full control over the forest resources. We also consider a game between the terrorists and the government when the government tries to combat them to recover the social loss. We characterize the equilibrium of the game in which the terrorist chooses the optimum rotation length of the forest and the government chooses the optimum combat-effort. We derive the impact of two popular policy measures such as strengthening the combat operations and restricting the sale of timber by the terrorist groups in the market, on forest conservation and find both to be negative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The agro-industrial grain industry generates a large amount of waste, which is often discarded, leading to environmental problems and the potential loss of valuable resources. However, in recent years an innovative approach has emerged that aims to use this waste to obtain cellulose, a compound with several industrial applications. The process of extracting cellulose from agroindustrial by-products of the food industry involves stages such as harvesting and milling, followed by a chemical and/or enzymatic treatment to obtain pure cellulose. Dependence on primary sources of pulp such as wood is reduced, thus contributing to the conservation of forests and natural ecosystems. In addition, the use of agro-industrial waste for pulp production reduces the amount of waste burned or poorly discarded, thus minimizing the environmental impacts associated with its disposal. Inadequate, in addition to the environmental benefits, the use of agro-industrial waste to obtain cellulose can also generate economic opportunities for many families who can use this medium to grow economically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land tenure security (LTS) is important for achieving many sustainable development goals but its influence on forest cover is mixed. The uncertain relationship between LTS and forests is driven, in part, by the moderating influence of other drivers of deforestation. In this paper we illustrate this complex relationship between LTS and forest cover for individual private landholders in the Colombian Amazon. We use household surveys and econometric analysis with matching techniques to examine whether formal land titles and perceptions of LTS influence forest cover. We explore how the effect of a land title on forest cover is moderated by perceptions of LTS, time to markets, and participation in a conservation program. We find that more secure land tenure, on average, has a statistically significant and negative influence on forest cover in our sample. The negative association between LTS and forest cover is stronger when landholders perceive they have secure tenure and are closer to markets. However, we find the negative relationship between land title and forest cover goes away when a landholder participates in a conservation program. While our cross-sectional data and quasi-experimental methods cannot lead to causal statements, our results are in line with many recent studies in the Amazon region, and our household-level data provides important insight regarding drivers of deforestation that moderate the relationship between land title and forest cover. Our results inform the design of future LTS interventions and conservation efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic assessments and corrections (EAC) of assignments, continuous assessments, and projects over type-printed versions stimulate students' happiness owing to its economic and forest conservation components. Hence, the objective of this paper was to evaluate the crucial elements of economic and forest conservation by adopting absolute electronic assessments over typed-and-printed paper submissions (TPPS) for corrections in a Faculty of Agriculture at a Tertiary Institution in Rivers State, Nigeria, by collecting data from 188 500L using a Google Form questionnaire. The happiness index was determined using the Cantril Ladder scale as well as appropriate statistical tools. The data showed a low average students' happiness index (3.58); however, students in Forestry and Wildlife Management (4.79), Animal Science (4.26), and Fisheries (3.98) showed significantly higher happiness than students in other departments. The estimated economic cost of the printed paper submissions was ₦6,761,354.00 ($4,829.52) per session, compared to ₦370,970.8 ($264.97) for the electronic submissions. Study estimates indicated that participants used 326.55 reams of 80 gm A4-sized paper during their final year session, at an average cost of ₦41.41 ($0.029) per printing page. This is comparable to 741.28 kg of dried pulp, or 20.4 pulp trees. The substantial financial strain students endured on typed-and-printed paper submissions--more importantly, research project corrections have a profound negative impact on their happiness. By phasing out TPPS at the institutions of learning, students' happiness would be enhanced, while considerable economic and forest resources could be conserved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a futures study of international forest trends. The study, produced as part of the Swedish Future Forest program, focuses on global changes of importance for future Swedish forest use. It is based on previous international research, policy documents, and 24 interviews with selected key experts and/or actors related to the forest sector, and its findings will provide a basis for future research priorities. The forest sector, here defined as the economic, social, and cultural contributions to life and human welfare derived from forest and forest-based activities, faces major change. Four areas stand out as particularly important: changing energy systems, emerging international climate policies, changing governance systems, and shifting global land use systems. We argue that global developments are, and will be, important for future Swedish forest use. The forest sector is in transition and forest-, energy, climate- and global land use issues are likely to become increasingly intertwined. Therefore, the "forest sector" must be disembedded and approached as an open system in interplay with other systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the ways that local people in different parts of the globe are working at the local level toward sustainable development, whether knowingly or unknowingly. Community forest management at the local level in Nepal is a successful model of sustainability. It exemplifies the ideals of strong sustainability, which enhances natural, economic and social capitals concurrently. The objective of such groups is to try to avoid ‘the tragedy of the commons’, and to conserve forests and obtain forest products by sustainably managing local forests. In addition, people realize indirect benefits of forest protection such as further control of landslides, and improvement of local watershed and microclimate. Further, users' groups are not only taking the forest products, but also increasing the forest stock, which is an act of natural capital enhancement. In addition, local communities are not only satisfying their demand for natural resources, but are also determined to increase their socio-ecological resource potential for the future. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research described in this paper focuses on the development of an innovative unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) tailored for a specific mission: detecting the acoustic signature emitted by chainsaws, identifying deforestation, and reporting its location for legality assessment. Various calculations were conducted to determine the optimal solution, resulting in the choice of a fixed-wing UAV. A comparative analysis between tri-rotor and quadcopter systems was performed, leading to the selection of the tri-rotor configuration. The primary objective of this study is to design an innovative hybrid UAV concept with key features including a fixed-wing design and integrated VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) capability in the experimental model. The aircraft has been constructed using advanced materials such as fiber-reinforced polymer composites, manufactured using both conventional and advanced techniques like continuous fiber additive manufacturing and the use of a polymer matrix. Additionally, the aerodynamic configuration is optimized to achieve a cruise speed of approximately 50 km/h and a flight autonomy exceeding 3 h. The UAV has been equipped with payloads for mounting sensors to collect meteorological data, and crucially, the VTOL system has been optimized to vectorize thrust for improved performance during the transition from hover to cruise flight. This paper details the entire manufacturing and assembly process of the drone, covering both the structural framework and associated electrical installations. A dedicated sound detection system is incorporated into the drone to identify chainsaw noise, with the aim of preventing deforestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detecting and localizing standing dead trees (SDTs) is crucial for effective forest management and conservation. Due to challenges posed by mountainous terrain and road conditions, conducting a swift and comprehensive survey of SDTs through traditional manual inventory methods is considerably difficult. In recent years, advancements in deep learning and remote sensing technology have facilitated real-time and efficient detection of dead trees. Nevertheless, challenges persist in identifying individual dead trees in airborne remote sensing images, attributed to factors such as small target size, mutual occlusion and complex backgrounds. These aspects collectively contribute to the increased difficulty of detecting dead trees at a single-tree scale. To address this issue, the paper introduces an improved You Only Look Once version 7 (YOLOv7) model that incorporates the Simple Parameter-Free Attention Module (SimAM), an unparameterized attention mechanism. This improvement aims to enhance the network's feature extraction capabilities and increase the model's sensitivity to small target dead trees. To validate the superiority of SimAM_YOLOv7, we compared it with four widely adopted attention mechanisms. Additionally, a method to enhance model robustness is presented, involving the replacement of the Complete Intersection over Union (CIoU) loss in the original YOLOv7 model with the Wise-IoU (WIoU) loss function. Following these, we evaluated detection accuracy using a self-developed dataset of SDTs in forests. The results indicate that the improved YOLOv7 model can effectively identify dead trees in airborne remote sensing images, achieving precision, recall and mAP@0.5 values of 94.31%, 93.13% and 98.03%, respectively. These values are 3.67%, 2.28% and 1.56% higher than those of the original YOLOv7 model. This improvement model provides a convenient solution for forest management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper attempts to contribute to existing discourse on conservation and political ecology by juxtaposing the concept of "fortress conservation" which favors the creation of protected areas, to the concept of "forest forts," a traditional conservation practice woven into a traditional village society. By drawing insights from the theory of political ecology and colonial conservation laws and practices, the present paper reiterate the critique of "fortress conservation" while advocating a dialogue between the state, conservationists, and the local people. Unlike the forceful and displacive conservation projects and discourse that harbors dissent and protests, straining relationships between state and people, the paper shifts the paradigm emphasizing the healing of relationship among human agencies as of utmost importance, and a vital step in restoring our relationship with nature. It opines that if conservation is to be deeply successful and sustainable, the minimization of casualty and cases of displacement must be part of the equation. Furthermore, it seeks to explain such a possibility through the traditional forest forts in which the local people engaged in the traditional practices of conservation themselves based on their long-standing and time-tested traditional ecological knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food systems of indigenous people across the world have developed within the confluence of forests, biodiversity, and seasonal crops. However, due to multiple socio-economic, cultural, ecological and political changes, this relationship has evolved over time. This has not only impacted traditional food systems; we hypothesize that it has also shifted communities’ social connectedness, stability and sense of purpose, thus profoundly impacting their sense of health and well-being or ‘flourishing’. Taking the case of the Solega tribe in South Indian forests as an example, this paper attempts to assess the status of the community’s flourishing in the context of the multitude of socio-ecological challenges they face. Household socio-economic survey and dietary recall were used to gather information on parameters that influence flourishing. The study reveals an interesting pattern of Solega’s sense of flourishing based on forest types and ecology, availability of diverse foods from the forest and crop choices. While traditional diets were determined by food produce collected from the forest and grown on their farms, dietary patterns today are determined by state sponsored food distribution programs and markets; and influenced by exposure to mainstream society. Data also show that flourishing scores are higher in forest types where traditional food continues to be grown or collected from forests as compared to those that have greater exposure to external exchanges. Apart from this, the data also indicate that the financial burden of having to purchase food, and the associated anxiety negatively influence perceptions of flourishing. While measures of flourishing can be complex, the study uses a parsimonious set of indicators to generate insights into the factors underlying Solega perceptions of flourishing, and their implications for food and nutrition policies and programs. We recommend that careful attention should be paid to the multiple roles that forests, and traditional farming practices play in shaping the perception of flourishing of indigenous communities, and more active support be integrated into food and nutrition policy and programs to ensure the sustainability of traditional food systems, including sources of food and dietary practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mitigating and avoiding social unrest caused by ecological forest restoration is a key factor in the coordinated development of forests and society. Forests, which are intricately linked with society, serve as a vital source of timber, non-timber forest products, and ecosystem services. Ecological forest restoration projects must carefully consider the relationship between forests and society to promote their coordinated development. As a key implementation area for the Natural Forest Resource Protection Project, the state-owned forest regions in Northeast China have experienced a crisis regarding harvestable resources and social unrest caused by protection policies and are currently innovating in policies and practices to mitigate social unrest. This study focuses on the history of natural forest resource conservation projects in China's state-owned forest areas as a case study for empirical research, aiming to provide insights into ecological restoration models that foster harmony between forests and society. The empirical analyses reveal the following findings: (1) As a result of strict protection, natural forest resources on state-owned land have transitioned from providing timber to ecosystem services and non-timber products. (2) The strict logging ban policy has led to severe resource shortages; from 2000 to 2020, for every 10,000 cubic meter decrease in timber harvest, the per capita output in state-owned forest areas has dropped by more than CNY 500 (approximately USD 70). (3) Proactive ecological restoration can effectively alleviate social unrest; from 2000 to 2020, for every additional 10,000 hectares of forest tending, the average wage increased by more than CNY 900 (approximately USD 127). (4) Regional transformation can effectively generate a buffer effect to mitigate social unrest caused by strict forest protection policies and leverage the beneficial resources produced by ecological forest restoration to develop new drivers of economic growth. By systematically reviewing the comprehensive implementation of the NFPP, this paper's findings provide insights into ecological restoration strategies that promote the harmonious development of forests and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current context of climate change, this paper provides a brief overview of climate-vegetation interactions in the Mediterranean basin, where global warming and aridification trends are predicted to intensify. Rising temperatures coupled with extreme drought events have notable impacts on forest ecosystems, triggering dieback and mortality phenomena worldwide. The health status of forest vegetation may be assessed by either ground surveys or remote sensing. Several investigations of declining oak forests in the Apennine region have shown that the drought vulnerability of Mediterranean oaks is dependent on differences in access to deep soil water pools, which can be related to differences in rooting depth, tree size and growth rate. Forest dieback is widely reported in Italy, but the extent and overall distribution of this phenomenon have not yet been well defined. Thus, understanding the future dynamics of forest stands has several key objectives: inventorying declining forest stands to gain insight into the phenomenon and create a nationallevel database; locating these stands to allow monitoring of their evolution over time; and monitoring to allow planning of mitigation measures, as well as recovery and adaptation strategies. This background led to the implementation of SilvaCuore, the first web application designed in Italy to report forest health status. Silvacuore is a web application developed with the aim of improving the link between citizens and the scientific community by contributing to the development of a valuable scientific database. The direct involvement of citizens in forest preservation offers an interesting perspective because the innovative use of technology can tap into citizens' growing enthusiasm for environmental topics. Thus, SilvaCuore may be viewed from a dual perspective as a resource for the scientific community and as a unique opportunity for citizens to take an active role in research activities (Citizen Science project). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]