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Although developing countries have established scores of new protected areas over the past three decades, they often amount to little more than “paper parks” that are chronically short of the financial, human, and technical resources needed for effective management. It is not clear whether and how severely under-resourced parks affect deforestation. In principle, they could either stem it by, for example, creating an expectation of future enforcement, or they could spur it by, for example, creating open access regimes. We examine the effect of Mexico's natural protected areas (NPAs) on deforestation from 1993 to 2000, a period when forest clearing was rampant and the vast majority of protected areas had negligible resources or management. We use high-resolution satellite data to measure deforestation and (covariate and propensity score) matching to control for NPAs’ nonrandom siting and for spillovers. Our broad finding is that Mexico's paper parks had heterogeneous effects both inside and outside their borders. More specifically, at the national-level, we cannot reject the null hypothesis that NPAs had zero average effect on clearing inside their borders, nor can we reject a similar hypothesis for spillover clearing outside their borders. However, we can detect statistically and economically significant inside- and outside-NPA effects for certain geographic regions. Moreover, these effects have different signs depending on the region. Finally, we find that NPAs with certain characteristics were more effective at stemming deforestation inside their borders, namely, those that were large, new, mixed use, and relatively well-funded. Taken together, these results suggest that paper parks have the potential to either reduce or exacerbate tropical deforestation and highlight the need for further research on the conditions that lead to each outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

Abstract Due to rapid deforestation, the paper industry is facing problems like shortage of forest based raw materials, cost increment and negative effects on the environment including increasing air, water and soil pollution. In India, agro residues utilized in stubble burning could be used as a sustainable fiber resource for papermaking, but the paper made from these possesses poor strength properties. Considering the multiple advantages of using agro residues and weak strength properties of the paper made from these, this study was conducted. The effect of blending hardwood pulp and agro pulp with cationic starch or chitosan at wet-end of papermaking with and without subsequent surface sizing using oxidized starch was explored. As a wet-end additive, chitosan dose of 0.5 kg/t was more promising than cationic starch dose of 5 kg/t with all pulps. Paper was produced from 85% agro and 15% hardwood pulp and 0.5 kg/t of chitosan at wet-end after surface sizing with oxidized starch. It improved the tear index, Taber stiffness, double fold and air permeance by 2.7%, 6.5%, 170%, and 300%, respectively with 18.4% decrease in Cobb 60 as compared to paper made with 100% hardwood pulp. FTIR analysis was further done to evaluate the effect on crystallinity ratio and energy changes in hydrogen bonds in the papers of differently blended pulps after surface sizing. The study signifies the enhancement in strength and surface properties of paper made using agro pulp after addition of biopolymers at wet-end with and without surface sizing. Highlights • Mixing hardwood (HW) pulp with agro (AG) pulp to improve its paper properties. • Use of wet-end additives improved the strength and surface properties of paper. • Chitosan is a more efficient wet-end additive than starch. • Paper from 15% HW and 85% AG pulp after surface sizing was comparable to hardwood. • With surface sizing using chitosan agro pulp can be used to produce good quality paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the political and performative function of the deforestation 'reference level' within Guyana's Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) agreement with Norway. It argues that the establishment of, and continual negotiations around, the reference level rate illustrate how the Guyana-Norway REDD+ agreement was always more about ensuring the programme's 'success' than materially reducing deforestation in Guyana. By setting the 'reference level' at 0.275% per year in 2010, far above Guyana's historical rate of 0.02%, Guyana's successful performance in terms of 'avoiding deforestation' against this inflated level was all but guaranteed – even as 'business as usual' forest use continued on the ground. The fact that the reference level was high moreover allowed Norway to claim that it had 'contributed' (through its REDD+ payments) to higher 'avoided emissions', even though there was never a clear relationship between its payments and Guyana's deforestation rate throughout the programme. The 'performative' nature of the programme was meanwhile confirmed in 2019, when Norway disbursed the entire remaining balance from the US$250 million originally pledged to Guyana, despite the fact that Guyana had infringed the adjusted reference level 'floor' of 0.056% in several years of the programme. The article concludes that if meaningful solutions for 'avoiding deforestation' are to be developed, especially in the context of a new centrality for offsetting within the global 'net zero' agenda, 'success' must mean more than achieving results on paper and resources must be committed that are commensurate with the scale of the stated policy challenge. • Guyana's REDD+ programme with Norway is examined. • The REDD+ deforestation 'reference level' is central to ensuing programme 'success'. • The ultimately 'performative' nature of the programme is underlined. • 'Avoiding deforestation' must mean more than merely achieving results on paper. • Resources must be commensurate with the scale of the stated policy challenge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the potential implications of the proposed European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and the recently adopted United Kingdom (UK) legislation on deforestation-free supply chains (henceforth 'the legislation') for different stakeholders in Brazil. These regulations intend to address global commodity-driven deforestation and forest degradation by ensuring that targeted commodities and products placed on (or exported from) markets are of minimal risk of being associated with - in the EU - deforestation and forest degradation or - in the UK - illegal deforestation. The paper examines potential compliance readiness in cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, soybean and tropical timber supply chains in Brazil, indicating specific challenges that may arise. Through the construction of a "Compliance Likelihood Index", our research provides comparable indications to policymakers on sectors and stakeholders that may need stronger support to meet the requirements, in order to maintain Brazil's access to EU and UK markets. The paper indicates that coffee is the sector with the highest level of incentivization and smallest hurdles for compliance, while the cattle sector may face stronger challenges to rapidly adjust its production system towards a deforestation-free value chain and prove compliance. Results of our analysis also highlight the need for collaboration between the EU/UK and Brazil in order to promote alignment between domestic and demand-side legislations so that they are mutually reinforcing. Results of this exercise, which has a focus on the producer-country view of demand-side legislation, will contribute to discussions on the merits of different approaches to strengthen the governance of deforestation-risk commodity trade. [Display omitted] • Brazil's coffee sector may currently have the greatest likelihood of ready compliance. • Cattle may be the sector to which the regulations may pose the greatest challenges. • The EU and UK should focus on providing financial means and technical assistance for smallholders. • The EU and UK legislation will need to be accompanied by domestic policies and regulations in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• High scores for forest governance were frequently related to reduced tropical deforestation. • Revision of governance frameworks would be beneficial as some indicators were hardly applied, others were interrelated. • The structure – agency concept can help to structure the numerous governance indicators. • Governance was moderated by context factors like corruption, population and technology. • Results are based on a content analysis of 28 most frequently cited papers. In view of a continuing global decrease of forest cover, many authors mention forest governance as a basic concept contributing to reduced deforestation, specifically in the tropics. There are numerous definitions for forest governance. The concept is commonly understood as a broad approach and assessment tools comprise dozens of indicators. However, there is no information about relations between single indicators, their individual importance and whether contextual factors modify their effects. This article aims to analyze if the hypothesized relation between governance leading to reduced tropical deforestation in general holds true, to identify the most decisive governance components and to explore if the wider socio-economic and political context influences potential governance effects. The structure - agency concept is used as theoretical basis to identify underlying mechanisms and as conceptual basis for discussing individual indicators. We employ a quantitative literature review based on scientific articles on governance and deforestation. From a total of 810 articles we select the most frequently cited publications related to the subject. From the resulting 198 papers only those are studied that contain empirical relations between governance and deforestation. The remaining 28 studies are analyzed by applying the governance indicators of the World Resource Institute as categories for content analysis. Likert scores are used to quantify governance effects as input for subsequent principal component analysis and multiple linear regressions. Results show that indeed high governance scores frequently relate to lower rates of deforestation and we thus recommend continued political support for the concept. But the reviewed studies mostly focus on a smaller number of classical governance indicators, which suggests that the governance concept might benefit from streamlining into a more targeted approach. In this respect, several indicators were related to underlying principal components reflecting the agency and structure concept. Even though we cannot claim a statistically significant stronger effect of one or the other component, single structural indicators were more strongly and more consistently linked to reduced deforestation in comparison to agency related indicators. The concept can thus be helpful to guide policy design and implementation. We show this by applying it to the ongoing discussion on results based payments under REDD+ as a prominent example for agency related measures. The reviewed literature in addition suggests that governance effects are moderated by deforestation drivers such as corruption, illegal logging and population growth and by interventions like technology transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Global supply chains remain a challenge to deforestation and land use conversion. • We qualitatively study Brazil's Amazon Soy Moratorium (ASM) design and longevity. • The ASM's success relies on a policy mix and other enabling factors for its formation. • A sticky alliance, yet vulnerable due to exclusiveness, leakage, and other policies. • There are limitations to the replication of the ASM's form of hybrid governance. This paper analyses the unique hybrid governance of Brazil's Amazon Soy Moratorium (ASM) in regulating soybean production in the Amazon, where private actors have created a state-like ban on commodity production to reduce deforestation that goes beyond national law. Despite existing research regarding impact assessment, the study aims to fill knowledge gaps in explaining the ASM's alliance-building processes, its longstanding maintenance, and its potential for regulatory replicability. Informed by the application of the Baptist and Bootlegger political economic theory of regulation and empirical data from qualitative interviews and document analysis, we provide an actor-centered explanation of the design, adoption, and maintenance of the ASM over a 19-year timeframe. Our results show how NGOs and businesses had opposite motivations and negotiated their roles to form a successful strategic alliance, reinforced by the inclusion of third parties (e.g., technical and governmental actors) to assist in its monitoring and transparency. Developed as an exclusive private market regulation, the ASM agreement, however, relies on a policy mix: private and public actors play a role in implementation, which includes assisting and relying on existing public policies, instruments, and official data. This policy mix was necessary for the ASM's noteworthy hybrid and long-term governance. Its successful formation in 2006 was enabled by factors including an economic crisis, foreign pressure linked with national enforcement failure, and, most importantly, the Amazon scope. Our analysis shows who gains or loses from the regulatory design. Furthermore, we shed light on the biggest regulatory spillover, to the Cerrado, where the failed attempt at replicability emphasizes the regulatory uniqueness of the ASM. The study concludes with a discussion of what will help or hinder the ASM's longevity, providing lessons for similar regulatory mechanisms on forest-risk agricultural production, such as EU's recent Regulation on Deforestation-free Products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a rapidly developing country, Indonesia faces a challenge in improving air quality that is made more difficult by frequent forest fires linked to deforestation and volcanic eruptions. This paper analyses the link between development and air pollution in 30 Indonesian cities from 2002 to 2019. Air quality is measured using two novel regional air quality indicators (AQIs) for PM 2.5 and PM 10 estimated from weather observations and NASA satellite data on Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD). Results from an Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) analysis, based on a dynamic panel data model, show that forest fires and volcanic activity have significantly worsened regional air quality in Indonesia. The model also shows that the EKC hypothesis is rejected for Indonesia as cities have followed a monotonically increasing trend in air pollution with respect to economic growth. An additional 1% of economic growth increased long run pollution as measured by AQI PM 2.5 and PM 10 by 0.35% and 0.46%, and forest fire events by 0.11% and 0.06%. A partial Benefit-Cost Analysis (BCA) of forest fires shows that particulate matter pollution is excessive. Decreasing the frequency of forest fires by 1% would generate a net benefit of between US$17 million to 145 million. The lower estimate of the health benefits exceeds the agricultural benefits of forest fire without accounting for other non-market costs due to forest fires. Our results imply that, as Indonesia grows economically, air quality is likely to continue deteriorating. Further, regions affected by regular volcanic activity and wildfires should apply tighter emission standards to controllable point source emissions from industry and non-point source emissions such as agricultural forest fires. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important initiative of climate action, REDD+ has been increasingly discussed in global policy arena. But delay in wider scale yet full-fledged implementation and its poor performance have raised suspects and pushed REDD+ toward in a long line of "conservation fad". In this paper, we have discussed the following ten questions to REDD+: (1) Does REDD+ address major causes of deforestation? (2) Does REDD+ contribute to global emissions reduction? (3) Does REDD+ recognize the inherent capacity of local people to manage their forests? (4) Does REDD+ respect the rights of indigenous people and local communities? (5) Does REDD+ justify the local governance and countries' sovereignty? (6) Does REDD+ ensure the transparency in program design and architecture? (7) Does REDD+ give credits to the carbon sequestering communities? (8) Does REDD+ supply sufficient reasons to justify the current carbon price? (9) Does REDD+ achieve climate goals through the voluntary carbon markets? and (10) Does REDD+ ensure sustainability of the ongoing projects? While discussing the questions, we have referred to global environmental issues of deforestation, emissions, transparency, decentralized governance, indigenous and local communities, voluntary carbon market, price effect, and other various contemporary sustainability issues. We argue that REDD+ could be a low-hanging fruit and act as a complimentary action to achieve its climate goal if it can address the issues raised under those ten questions. • We have raised and discussed ten important issues for REDD+ to be successful • REDD+ is popularly discussed yet highly debated conservation initiative • Forest centric activities would be inadequate for achieve climate goals through REDD+ • Voluntary carbon market is a challenge for successful REDD+ institutions • REDD+ should secure resource ownership and management authorship of locals [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deforestation is cutting trees of forests on a huge scale, often resulting in loss of habitat of millions of wild animals. About 30% of earths land is still covered with forests but due to deforestation we are losing them at the rate of about half the size of England per year. In forests, tree cutting activities are illegal but due to shortage of manpower and other resources, governments are not very successful in curbing this menace. One way to stop this is to detect the tree cutting process in an early stage so that timely measures can be taken to stop the same. The simplest method of early detection of tree cutting is to regularly monitor the forest area either manually or using some automatic techniques. As tree cutting generates lot of noise, it can be detected by regularly monitoring the acoustic signals inside the forest. An acoustic signature can provide valuable information about the activities of any intruder inside the forest. This paper proposes an algorithm for automatic detection of tree cutting in forest. The proposed algorithm is based on distance between parameters, along with K-means clustering, GMM and PCA for comparison. The efficiency of proposed algorithm is 92%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

About three billion people worldwide use solid fuels for cooking and space heating. This fueling practice contributes to global forest depletion and disease prevalence. To abate the environmental and health threats caused by the inefficient burning of biomass fuels, large-scale initiatives were undertaken globally for the dissemination of fuel-saving and energy-efficient stoves, known as improved cookstoves (ICS). This paper examines the adoption of ICS in northwest Pakistan by using a logit analysis. The results show that the education of the respondent, number of working household members, and total income of the household had significant effects on the adoption of ICS. Conversely, the age of the respondent and possession of land did not exhibit any significant influence on adoption. The overall model was significant with p < 0.001 which reveals that the selected socioeconomic variables have a statistically significant relationship with the adoption of ICS. The paper concludes that the efforts to improve health and environmental conditions may be more successful if ICS programs take the socioeconomic, contextual, and market related factors into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An incentive mechanism is key to succeed the investments in Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation programs. However, the diversification of determinants makes it difficult to establish one mode to best incentive stakeholders. This paper compares various incentive modes in benefiting stakeholders by simulating dynamic game models. It analyzes the profit-making of developers and landholders based on four incentive modes. The modes are preferential tax for developers, incentive of carbon offsets for developers, investment incentive for developers, and incentive of reducing emissions for landholders. This paper compares the effects of incentive modes on benefit distribution of stakeholders and contributes to a new dynamic game framework. The results show that: (i) the effects of incentives of carbon offsets for developers and incentives of reducing emissions for landholders are almost same for the stakeholders; (ii) a preferential tax can only make developers unilaterally benefit, and will not change landholder welfare; (iii) investment incentives for developers can make landholders' profits be increased, while the effects of incentives on developers' profits are uncertain. Finally, the numerical simulation is used to verify these hypotheses. The core implication is that for the design of REDD+ incentives, the government should combine various incentive modes to fulfill different objectives in policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Environmental law enforcement and policies in Brazil are compromising deterrence. • High profitability of illegal activities is boosting environmental degradation. • Nash solution is compatible with full depletion of the Brazilian Amazônia's resources. • New economic alternatives seem to be a promising way to Amazônia's conservation. This paper aims to assess causes and the interactions between decision making, stakeholders and individuals, law and public policies to build a more precise overview of the relations, the possible results, and the factors which can interfere with environmental conditions and dynamics in Brazilian Amazônia. To better elucidate the issue, rational choice and deterrence theories were used, and a model based on game theory was built. It shows that the noncooperative Nash solution is compatible with the full depletion of the Brazilian Amazônia's resources and the tragedy of the commons could be certain. The lack of incentive for greener practices and deficiencies in the Brazilian law system can be pointed out as two of the main causes for the current noncollaborative interactions between the agents that lead to environmental degradation in the region. However, other aspects and circumstances are being disregarded in Brazilian environmental law and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Amazon forest is host for a large number of deforestation activities caused by artisanal mining and mainly by agriculture and livestock businesses. In order to regulate these activities and relieve the environmental impacts, local authorities have been trying to guide them towards more responsible operations. This paper describes the initiative of monitoring forest areas located near deforestation regions since fundamental elements such as biomass and carbon accumulation of trees may be adequately controlled and monitored against occasional disturbances brought by these activities. The current standard approach in the Amazon is to monitor all trees in the forest within an area called transecto , in order to keep a rigorous record of their behavior and growth. However, these control activities are restricted to controlling portions that are located in strategic areas, therefore they do not represent the entire region to be monitored. This research exploits a new methodology based on geostatistics, aimed at optimizing sampling, and allowing the extension of the study to much larger forest areas, while keeping unitary utilization of human resources unchanged and at the same time, increasing the studied areas footprint and the precision of the results. The proposed methodology also allows the selection of the Legal Reserve (RL) area to be made according to the actual carbon-accumulation distribution on the property's contained forest, allowing the determination of a location target for the RL, what is not possible with the current used methodologies that rely simply on a percentage area utilization for the RL, inside the property. This methodology was applied using the available data set in this paper in order to optimize the samples and to monitor the capacity of the forest to store carbon at Tapajós National Forest, in Pará, Brazil. It is expected that this methodology will contribute to an overall cost decrease per unit area of the monitoring activities, increase the precision for the RL location and simplify the needed procedures through the application of a user friendly toolkit, that can be developed using the proposed methodology, whose complexity is totally transparent to the land and business owners, regulators, environmental scientists and workers involved. This, if correctly applied could ultimately contribute to the sustainable development of the affected regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper exhibits the multiple dimensions of the cost of stopping the main driver of deforestation in Madagascar, slash-and-burn agriculture (tavy). As well as being a major component of the economic livelihoods of most local households living at the edge of forests, tavy has been described by anthropologists as an important cultural practice. In this paper, we show that stopping tavy does not only entail an economic cost for local households. The loss of the cultural dimension of tavy would come at an additional “cultural cost” for some. Our results suggest that a viable cessation of deforestation in Madagascar would require going beyond simple compensation of the opportunity costs of avoiding deforestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deforestation and degradation are tied to a complex array of socioeconomic and political factors. Many assume that among the most important of these are the particular bundles of rights regulating who can benefit from land (tenure form) and the overall assurance that those rights will be upheld (tenure security). This paper reviews literature that connects forest outcomes and land tenure to better understand broad interactions between tenure form, security and forest change. Papers from economic theory suggest tenure is embedded in a broader socioeconomic context, with the potential for either a positive or negative conservation impact on forested land. Empirically, we find 36 publications that link land cover change to tenure conditions while also controlling for other plausibly confounding variables. Publications often investigate more than one site and more than one form of tenure, so from these we derive 118 cases linking forest change with a specific tenure form in a particular location. From these cases, we find evidence that protected areas are associated with positive forest outcomes and that land tenure security is associated with less deforestation, regardless of the form of tenure. We conclude with a call for more robust identification of this relationship in future research, as well as set of recommendations for policymakers, particularly as forest carbon incentive programs such as REDD integrate further into national policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The scale and pace of land tenure change for agricultural development, often known as 'land grabbing' or 'global land rush,' are historically unprecedented. Control over millions of hectares of land has shifted over the past decade for the production of food, fiber, and biofuel. However, the rapidly growing body of research on land tenure change provides few rigorous assessments of deforestation across multiple countries with distinct biophyisical and socioeconomic characteristics. In this paper, based on spatial boundaries of land transactions (LTs) in Cambodia, Ethiopia, Liberia, and Peru, we investigate their association with deforestation using a pixel-based matching approach. Our findings suggest that the context, size, and distribution of LTs and the associated deforestation patterns vary substantially across the four countries. Land tenure change significantly accelerates deforestation in Cambodia and Liberia, but such acceleration is insignificant in Ethiopia. In Peru, we observe the opposite trend, where areas adjacent to LTs experience higher deforestation than areas within. Our analysis reveals how patterns and outcomes of LTs are linked to country characteristics and contexts, and suggests that sweeping generalizations about positive or negative consequences of LTs on deforestation and possibly other socioenvironmental outcomes need to attend more closely to specific patterns and drivers of LTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Deforestation-induced rainfall changes negatively impact soybean and maize yields in Brazil. • Soybean and maize yields could have been 6.6 % and 9.9 % higher per year if rainfall patterns hadn't been altered by deforestation. • Agricultural efficiency improvements insufficient to counteract rainfall-changes effects on yields. • Study underscores the vital role of forest preservation for agricultural resilience and food security. • Forests' critical role in regulating the water cycle highlighted in the face of climate change. Whereas the global demand for food, fiber and energy is increasing, the capacity of ecosystems services to sustain agricultural production is being compromised worldwide. Brazil is a global food supplier that has benefitted from agricultural intensification in the past decades. At the same time, expansion of cropland has led to deforestation that, in turn, is increasingly affecting rainfall patterns thereby influencing crop yields. This study examines how loss in forest cover has impacted agricultural yields through change in rainfall. To do so, we use modelled data on changes in rainfall patterns due to deforestation as input to a crop model. We assess yield changes within the soybean-maize double cropping system, the country's most relevant agricultural system, in five states within the Amazon and Cerrado biomes. Findings revealed that soybean and maize yields would have been respectively 6.6 % and 9.9 % higher per year in the last decade if rainfall patterns hadn't been altered by deforestation from 1982 onwards. Although agricultural efficiency improved between 2011 and 2020, it was insufficient to offset the negative effect of altered rainfall on yields. Our paper reveals the link between deforestation and crop yields, emphasizing the need to preserve forest cover for agricultural resilience and food security. It reinforces the critical role of forests in regulating the water cycle, particularly in the face of climate change-induced warmer and drier conditions that can impact agricultural production and other human activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is receiving increasing political and scientific attention as a climate change mitigation approach. The government of Cameroon has expressed an interest in participating in REDD+, and national deliberation on a policy strategy has attracted interest from different actors in the forest sector. This paper analyses the challenges of designing a governance structure for a REDD+ strategy in Cameroon. Theoretically, the paper builds on the literature on governance structures for resource management, focusing analytically on the interactions between actor constellations (state and non-state) and institutions (formal and informal) to produce policy outcomes. The paper draws on documentation of REDD+ policy events, policy texts and 23 in-depth interviews with members from government, civil society, research organizations, development partners and the private sector. It argues that although the actors involved in REDD+ are, to an extent, polarized around different issues and priorities, they are nonetheless increasingly distributing roles and responsibilities among themselves. The institutional arrangements within the policy process include: (1) rule-making systems for engagement; (2) expanding existing coordination mechanisms; (3) national safeguard standards; and (4) building on existing forest governance initiatives. The paper concludes that the multiple benefits promised by REDD+, such as poverty alleviation, biodiversity conservation and economic development, are critical for the legitimacy of the mechanism. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The new climate change mitigation scheme for developing countries known as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) has been proposed as a way of reducing carbon emissions in the forest sector, whilst also protecting and improving the livelihoods and wellbeing of communities. This paper argues that it is important to resolve tenure ambiguity and ensure that communities participate in the REDD+ process by engaging them in project development and implementation. Drawing on data collected in six villages under two REDD+ projects targeted in Cameroon, this paper addresses four questions: (1) What are the tenure conditions at the two study sites? (2) How have the project proponents perceived the tenure and other challenges and how do they plan to address those challenges? (3) What have the proponents done to engage communities in the process of establishing REDD+? (4) Are communities informed about and satisfied with the process of establishing REDD+? The paper shows that while the proponents have worked to resolve tenure issues and engage communities, there is still frustration among project participants because of a lack of progress toward implementing compensation and benefit sharing system. The paper concludes that it is crucial to safeguard the rights, access and participation of local communities, and benefits to them, throughout the design and implementation of REDD+ projects. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

There is evidence that suggests that both the creation of Protected Areas (PAs) and indigenous Reserves (IRs) has helped to reduce deforestation. Nevertheless, there are some overlapping zones between these institutions in the Colombian Amazon that have not been studied. Are these overlaps affecting the deforestation in the IRs? How are the indigenous communities responding to these overlaps? In this paper I estimate the impacts of these overlaps on the deforestation inside the IRs using a Propensity Score Matching (PSM) methodology. I use important determinants of the location of PAs and deforestation to create a valid counterfactual within the IRs. My results suggest that the overlap significantly reduces the deforestation, but that there is a differential effect depending on the IR's size. These results suggest that the extra legal restriction imposed by the central government favor the territorial control inside the IRs. This paper provides a starting point to analyze the current relationship between the central government, the indigenous communities and how it affects deforestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Greenhouse gas emissions GHG have a significant impact on the environment. Their dramatic increase is being led by changes in land use patterns, deforestation, land clearing, agriculture, and other human activities UNWTO, 2003, inducing one of the main challenges humankind is facing nowadays, i.e. climate change. The concentration of GHG in the atmosphere has been growing at an unprecedented rate and magnitude. They have increased since the beginning of the industrial era and accelerated worldwide, particularly since 1945. Global emissions of GHG grew 70% from 1970 to 2004 IPPC, 2008. Countries most contributing to this are the developed nations and, more recently, the BRIC countries, which are going through a rapid economic growth process. Solely, the United States accounts for around one fourth of the world''s GHG emissions. This paper will investigate the impact of changes in the final demand for tourism sector on the carbon dioxide CO2 emissions, using the environmental input-output IO approach. The empirical analysis is developed for Romania, using economic and environmental data. The shocks in tourism final demand will reveal the environmental burdens transmitted throughout the economy of an initial percentage change. The second finding of this paper concerns the decrease in CO2 emissions as a result of changes in CO2 intensity of various productive sectors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+) is regarded by its proponents as one of the more efficient and cost effective ways to mitigate climate change. There was further progress toward the implementation of this mechanism at the 16th Conference of Parties (COP) in Cancun in December 2010. Many countries in southern African, including South Africa, have not been integrated (do not participate) into the UN-REDD+ programme, probably due to their low forest cover and national rates of deforestation. This paper discusses the potential contribution of REDD+ activities to the South African Government''s pledge of reducing national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 34% below business as usual by 2020. A number of issues such as complex land tenure system, limited forest cover and other conflicting environmental issues present challenges for REDD+ in South Africa. Despite these genuine concerns, REDD+ remains a practical strategy to contribute to climate change mitigation for South Africa. The paper raises the need for development of a variety of emission reduction programmes – not only in the energy sector. The paper also assesses several national options and opportunities towards a working REDD+ mechanism. It concludes by identifying key mechanisms for moving forward to prepare for REDD+ actions in South Africa and raises the urgent need for national dialogue between stakeholders and institutions to evaluate the feasibility of making use of the mechanism in South Africa and the Southern African Development Cooperation (SADC) region. The paper further addresses possible synergies and conflicts between the national climate change and forestry policies towards REDD+ development. It suggests that REDD+ should be part of the national dialogue on policy to respond to climate change and should be integrated into the national flagship programmes that the national climate change white paper seeks to implement. A multiple-benefit REDD+ initiative for South Africa can benefit from these international financial initiatives. It is anticipated that this initiative will provide a platform to enhance policy, institutional and technical stakeholder capacities to access financial incentives that may lead to sound environmental practises. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper discusses the discourses on climate change adaptation and mitigation that are currently at the forefront in the Congo Basin. On mitigation, the forests have enormous opportunities to contribute to the reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) mechanism. But the forest itself and its multiple dependent societies and sectors need to adapt to potential climate risks. Hence, actors are debating the design of climate change policy in the forest sector. Theoretically, we combine the agency-focus of frame analysis and discourse theory to analyze how different agents hold frames on climate change adaptation and mitigation policies in the region. This paper draws upon interviews with 103 different actors from government, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, research institutions and private sector in three countries: Cameroon, Central African Republic (CAR) and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Three discourses were found on policy response to climate change in the forest sector: mitigation policy only, separated policy on adaptation and mitigation, and an integrated policy on adaptation and mitigation. The various frames articulated around each discourse by the coalitions include elements of: costs and benefits, scale of operation, effectiveness, financial resources and implementation mechanisms. Overall, the mitigation discourse, through its mix of actors, resources and interests seems to be stronger than the adaptation discourse. The paper finally outlines a number of implications of the discourses for policy design. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Soil organic carbon (SOC)-mediated ecosystem services (ES) had the highest sensitivity to SOC changes in Semiarid Chaco. • SOC-mediated ES had the lowest sensitivity to SOC changes in East Southern Pampa. • Semiarid Chaco sub-region have a highly fragile environment. • Agricultural production should be increased by increasing crop yields instead of planted surface. • It is fundamental to improve our knowledge regarding critical thresholds of SOC. The basis and essence of life on earth depends on soil health, and its main indicator is the soil organic carbon (SOC) content. Hence, SOC stock is a key component for the supply of many ecosystem services (SOC-mediated ES), such as erosion protection, nutrient cycling, water regulation, and climate regulation. Land use changes from natural ecosystems into agricultural systems generally deplete SOC stocks. Therefore, agricultural production usually involves trade-off relations with SOC-mediated ES supply. This paper assessed the trade-offs between agricultural production and SOC-mediated ES supply in six sub-regions of Argentina: East Southern Pampa, West Southern Pampa, Flooding Pampa, Central Pampa, Rolling Pampa and Semiarid Chaco. In the Semiarid Chaco, overall SOC-mediated ES supply had the highest sensitivity to SOC changes, and the lowest sensitivity to natural cover removal. In East Southern Pampa, overall SOC-mediated ES supply had the lowest sensitivity to SOC changes and the highest to natural cover removal. The differences in sensitivity of overall SOC-mediated ES supply to the changes in SOC could be explained by soil texture, which is finer at East Southern Pampa. The differences in sensitivity of overall SOC-mediated ES supply to natural cover removal could be associated with the initial SOC stocks, which is lower in the Semiarid Chaco. The high sensitivity of SOC-mediated ES to SOC change and the low levels of SOC-mediated ES supply found in the Semiarid Chaco sub-region suggests that it is a highly fragile environment. The agricultural expansion over natural areas led to trade-offs between production and SOC-mediated ES supply. However, increasing crop yields would lead to win-win situations, by positive effects on agricultural production and SOC-mediated ES supply. Hence, agricultural production should be increased by increasing crop yields rather than expanding cropland and/or pasture over natural areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, sustainability on the cosmetics industry has received growing interest from consumers, cosmetics industries and organizations, as well as academics from various disciplinary fields. Increasing concerns about cosmetics safety, environmental impacts as deforestation and social impacts as those resulting from unfair trade have intensified attention given to such topic. While sustainability impacts occur through all phases of the cosmetic product life cycle, selection of raw materials is deserving of greater attention as information on this topic remains scattered and diffuse. Formulating with alternative ingredients considered more sustainable can be quite challenging due to possible lack of performance, instability and aesthetic limitations normally associated with their use. This paper discusses the relation between sustainability and the cosmetics industry, the factors stimulating the developments on this field, the need to assess those and the available tools, alongside with the sustainability impacts produced during all the product life cycle. The analysis reveals cosmetics sustainability as a complex and multifaceted issue that cannot be evaluated considering single aspects, but using an integrated assessment about the environmental, social and economical dimensions and about the final product quality and performance. Image 10188 • Sustainability integrates an environmental, a social and an economical dimension. • To make a critical approach, it is crucial to take into account the life cycle of cosmetic products. • Sustainability metrics are essential to measure, monitor and evaluate the sustainable standards. • Selection of raw materials: a balance between sustainability and technological performance must be achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Deforestation in the Amazon with its vast consequences for the ecosystem and climate is largely related to subsequent land use for cattle ranching. In addition to conservation policies, proposals to reduce deforestation include measures to intensify cattle ranching. However, the effects of land-use intensification on deforestation are debated in the literature. This paper introduces the abacra model, a stylized agent-based model to study the interplay of deforestation and the intensification of cattle ranching in the Brazilian Amazon. The model combines social learning and ecological processes with market dynamics. In the model, agents adopt either an extensive or semi-intensive strategy of cattle ranching based on the success of their neighbors. They earn their income by selling cattle on a stylized market. We present a comprehensive analysis of the model with statistical methods and find that it produces highly non-linear transient outcomes in dependence on key parameters like the rate of social interaction and elasticity of the cattle price. We show that under many environmental and economic conditions, intensification does not reduce deforestation rates and sometimes even has a detrimental effect on deforestation. Anti-deforestation policies incentivizing fast intensification can only lower deforestation rates under conditions in which the local cattle market saturates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • REDD+ activities are fairly recognized in Uganda's policies and laws. • Local government Act is not comprehensive for the implementation of sub-national REDD+ projects. • The policies are skewed mostly towards direct drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. • The laws of Uganda mainly provide for reducing deforestation and conservation of forest stocks. • The Agriculture policy is silent on all the REDD+ activities. Abstract A supportive policy and legal framework is critical for the implementation of interventions to mitigate climate change such as REDD+. This paper analyses Uganda's policies and laws, with the purpose of determining whether the policy issue, objectives of policies and laws provide for a supportive environment for REDD+ activities. The policies and laws analyzed include those indicated in Uganda's Readiness preparedness proposal and any other relevant public policies. The following questions guided the analysis: Are the REDD+ activities as prescribed in proceedings of the 16th COP to UNFCCC recognized in the policy issue and characterized? Are the REDD+ activities reflected in the object and subsequent provisions of the laws reviewed? From the analysis, it was found that deforestation and forest degradation, loss of protected areas, failure to sustainably utilize natural forests, and limited implementation of forest enhancement activities are recognized as a policy issue in some but not all policies. The characterization of deforestation and forest degradation is mostly linked to proximate drivers while barriers to conservation of forest carbon stocks, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks is linked to underlying drivers. Reducing deforestation and forest degradation are the most provided for activities in the policy issue and characterization, while enhancement of forest carbon stocks and sustainable management of forests are the least considered. Reducing forest degradation and conservation of forest stocks are the most provided for in the object and subsequent provisions of the Laws, while enhancement of forest carbon stocks is the least. Conservation of forest carbon stocks and reducing forest degradation are reflected in both policy issue and laws. The current policy and legal framework is suitable mainly for addressing the drivers of deforestation and forest degradation as well as addressing the barriers to conservation of forest stocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The arrival of Europeans in the New World, and the rapid deforestation for agriculture and settlement that shortly followed, resulted in large and rapid increases in soil erosion and sediment aggradation. In Australia, as in parts of North America and other New World sites, this event dates to the last several centuries of the Common Era, a period for which we have surprisingly little historical or scientific data capable of informing debates on the impact of European colonisation on soils and erosion. These research themes and debates were central to the work of Karl Butzer, who undertook field and archival research in Australia to test existing ideas of the timing and magnitude of landscape response to colonisation. In this paper, the work and impact of Butzer in Australia is reviewed as part of ongoing scholarship on the impact of colonisation on landscapes to which Butzer contributed (Butzer and Helgren, 2005). Geomorphic records of soil erosion and historical accounts of land use and impact from eastern Australia show that European settlement, land clearing, and agriculture resulted in rapid, and often severe, increases in erosion in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, mirroring the experience of anthropogenic soil loss experienced in other parts of the world. It is postulated that the geomorphic response to European settlement in Australia is more complex than researchers have previously noted that, in some contexts, continues to influence catchment processes decades and centuries after colonisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Sweden's environmental policy aims to solve domestic environmental problems without increasing environmental and health impacts overseas. Realizing this aim requires an indicator system with a consumption-based (or "footprint") perspective that captures both local and global impacts and their development over time. In this paper, we present a set of novel footprint indicators to measure environmental pressures from Swedish food consumption. The indicators are calculated by combining data and statistics on agrochemicals and deforestation emissions with EXIOBASE3, a global Multi-Regional Input Output (MRIO) database with a unique and high level of product detail across countries. We estimate the use of pesticides and antimicrobial veterinary medicines associated with current Swedish food consumption and compare those footprint indicators with the EU-28. Carbon emissions from deforestation are calculated with a land balance model and included in the overall carbon footprint of food. We find that Sweden, with its large reliance of food imports, exert a significant agro-chemical and climate footprint overseas, mainly in the EU and Latin America. We point to a need for better data and statistics on the use of pesticides, veterinary medicines and agrochemicals residuals (especially in developing countries) as well as improved spatial data on agricultural activity to further reduce uncertainty in the environmental footprint of Swedish food consumption. Highlights • We present footprints for agrochemicals and climate from Swedish food consumption. • Due to large food imports, a significant share of Sweden's impact occur overseas. • Emissions from tropical deforestation represent roughly 10% of carbon footprint. • More than three quarters of Sweden's pesticide footprint is embedded in imports. • Data gaps on use of agrochemicals are significant, especially in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract By providing shade and through evapotranspiration, trees and forests moderate temperatures, and thus, can indirectly affect human health, an economic variable of interest. In this paper, we measure the temperature and temperature-induced health effects of quasi-random tree cover loss caused by an invasive species, the emerald ash borer (EAB). We use monthly temperature data on the near-universe of US counties containing the invasive over 1995–2014 to estimate a temperature dose-response relationship. Then, dose-response results are integrated into a bioeconomic-health model to study the mortality and morbidity consequences of temperature fluctuations. We find that highest and mean monthly temperatures are increased by 0.28 °F and 0.09 °F, respectively, after EAB detection. There is also a 2.1% higher probability of experiencing at least one ≥90 °F day per month after EAB. Bioeconomic model results suggest that an invasive-caused 10% loss of forest canopy leads to increases in mean temperature that result in a maximum of 0.12 per 100,000 additional annual deaths and a maximum of 10.0 per 100,000 additional annual emergency department visits. At peak impact, invasive-induced tree loss creates $1 million in annual mortality and morbidity temperature-related costs. Cumulative health costs of a 10% loss of tree canopy are $17.9 million over 25 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Land reform settlements (LRS) in the Brazilian Amazon have been suggested to hold promise for the successful implementation of incipient efforts to reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD). However, differences in forest cover, deforestation behaviour and settler welfare plus the inevitable overlap of upcoming REDD efforts with existing conservation policies, mean that scope and impact of REDD in LRS will not be uniform across settlements. Based on evidence from a case study of four LRS and a Brazilian Amazon regional analysis of opportunity costs, this paper explores the actual scope for targeting initial Brazilian REDD efforts to LRS and discusses potential welfare and equity implications based on scenario analysis. While our findings confirm considerable economic scope for compensation-based schemes for avoided degradation and deforestation, the pre-existence of legal use right limitations in combination with the distribution of forest cover among LRS means that less than half of settlements – poorer – will be able to derive economic gains. Exploring a mix between incentives and disincentives seems to offer the most promising future regarding efficiency and equity successful results. The paper concludes with the implications of the results in the international debate on the constraints ahead to implement the REDD principles. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper proposes a new approach of change detection that reduces seasonality in time series by using Photosynthetic Vegetation Time Series (PVTS) from satellite images. With this approach, each pixel value represents at the subpixel level a fraction of the photosynthetic forest’s activity. Our hypothesis is based on an assumption that photosynthetic vegetation fractions will remain constant until a disturbing agent (natural or anthropic) occurs. Using Landsat data, we compared our approach with the Carnegie Landsat Systems Analysis-Lite (CLASlite) approach and with the national reports of the Ministry of the Environment of Perú (MINAM). After reducing seasonal variations in Landsat data, we detected deforestation events with a new detection method. Our approach (which was called PVts-β) of detection is a simple method that does not model the seasonality and it only requires as inputs: i) the average and standard deviation of the time series of a pixel and ii) a threshold magnitude (β) that was calibrated to detect deforestation events in tropical forests. For the PVts-β approach, the results of calibration show that deforestation was optimally detected for β = (5,6), higher or lower than this range, the biases favor to false detections and favor the omission of deforestation too. On the other hand, the overall accuracy for the PVts-β approach was 91.1%, with an omission and commission of 8.3% and 0.5% respectively, while for CLASlite the overall accuracy was 79.2%, with an omission and commission of 20.8% and 0.0% respectively. The differences in the overall accuracy between the PVts-β and CLASlite approach were significant, being atmospheric noise a main problem which CLASlite usually does not work optimally. The strength of our PVts-β approach is the early detection at the subpixel level of deforestation events that, added to our new method of change detection explain the little omission obtained in the results. Therefore, the PVts-β approach -that we propose here- provides the opportunity to monitoring deforestation events in tropical forests at sub-annual scales using Landsat data, and it can be used for near-real-time change detection monitoring without a doubt. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The quality of governance is known to have effects on deforestation, together with other social and economic factors. However, assessing the impact of governance quality is a challenging task due to the complex and diverse mechanisms of deforestation as well as limited data availability. In this paper, interrelations between governance quality and deforestation rates are analysed on a global scale, using national data on governance quality and deforestation. Results indicate an increase in governance quality tends to be associated with a decrease in deforestation rates (i.e., a lower level of deforestation). The paper then discusses the limitations of the quantitative assessment, including data issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the debate on the links between poverty and forestry degradation; the view that due to poverty and the meeting of subsistence needs the poor use natural resources more intensively and hence cause them to degrade. Using the case of the forest rich Swat district, Pakistan, the paper addresses the issue empirically, historically, and institutionally. We do not find empirical support for the “poverty–environment nexus”, in that the poor and other income groups are equally resource dependent and also show that resource degradation is not associated with poverty. Our historical and institutional analyses provide alternative explanations for resource degradation. Selective and rotating ownership patterns, starting with the 17th century, provided limited incentive for resource conservation. It also created tension between de jure and de facto owners, that has persisted, and is one source of forest degradation. Ill-defined resource rights have also exacerbated the impacts of several other factors contributing to forest degradation which is compounded by poor management, corruption, and perverse incentives. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In recent years, several proposals for the design of a mechanism to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) within the United Nations Convention on Climate Change have been advanced. The essence of these proposals is to provide financial benefits to developing countries proportionally to the amount of avoided emissions they achieve, i.e. output based. A paper published in Ecological Economics [Combes Motel, P., Pirard, R., Combes, J.L. 2008. A methodology to estimate impacts of domestic policies on deforestation: Compensated Successful Efforts for ¿avoided deforestation¿ (REDD). Ecological Economics doi:10.1016/j.ecolecon.2008.06.001.] aims to provide an alternative termed Compensated Successful Efforts (CSE). It suggests that financial benefits should be provided on the basis of developing countries' successful ¿efforts¿ to reduce emissions from deforestation, i.e. input based. The CSE approach also differs from previous ones in relation to the definition of what should be counted as avoided deforestation and how to estimate avoided deforestation. The present paper discusses the CSE approach and points out several shortcomings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Although small-scale mining provides a wealth of socioeconomic benefits to the rural inhabitants of developing countries, there is often total disregard for the environment industry-wide. This paper focuses upon some of the key environmental issues in the Indian small-scale mining industry. The geo-environmental factors constraining the mining of the Himalayan limestone, magnetite, phosphate, and polymetallic sulphur ore deposits are discussed, and the environmental impacts of small-scale operations working prospective deposits are detailed. The paper further examines the schematics of the Environmental Management Plan (EMP) adopted for small-scale mines in India. It is concluded, however, that widespread environmental improvement can only be achieved industry-wide if additional mining cooperatives are formed, and the Indian Government, through their Department of Environment, oversees the implementation of effective mitigation practices for small scale-mines, particularly at the university level. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Forest certification, originally introduced to promote sustainable forest management and protect forests from threats such as deforestation, has become a large-scale market tool. There is no consensus in the literature on the impact of forest certification on exports. Few studies have analyzed the impact of forest management certification on exports, and none have analyzed this effect at the firm level, taking into account firm heterogeneity. The current paper aims to fill this gap by analyzing the impact of the difference in the level of forest management certification between an exporting country and importing or destination countries. In particular, we determine how this impact differs by firm size. Our study focuses on the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). We use a panel of exports of wood and wood products at the level of French firms. We find that when the level of forest management certification in the exporting country increases relative to that of the importing countries, exports increase; but this occurs to a lesser extent as firm size increases. This result is robust to the various additional analyses. For example, an increase in the difference in the share of PEFC-certified forests by 0.15 is associated with a 90% increase in the value of exports. We also find heterogeneity by product category, geographic area, and income level of destination countries. Our study highlights the role played by forest certification on exports and the need to develop forest certification in a market-driven manner. [Display omitted] • We analyze the impact of forest management certification on exports. • We use a panel of wood and wood product exports at the level of French firms. • We conduct an empirical analysis and find heterogeneous effects. • Exports are increasing with a higher share of certified forests. • Forest certification must be developed with market requirements in mind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deforestation in New Zealand has led to increased soil erosion and sediment loads in rivers, adversely affecting aquatic ecosystems. Soil conservation actions over large areas are expensive and need to be targeted to obtain maximum benefit for least cost. Medium-complexity models of soil erosion have been used to target soil conservation, but they involve long-term averages and do not involve time variation. In this paper, an event-based model of soil erosion and sediment transport is developed. It has moderate complexity and is able to be calibrated with a modicum of data. The spatial framework is based on small subcatchments and stream links. For each storm event, the sediment yield for each subcatchment is estimated from peak storm discharge with a power function and routed through the stream network. We run the model on the Manawatū catchment in New Zealand for which all the major tributaries are monitored for water and sediment discharge. Spatial maps of sediment yield are produced for each storm event in a 5-year period from model inputs of maximum storm discharge at the tributaries. To test the model, predicted sediment loads of the storm events in the main channel of the Manawatū, at Teachers College, Palmerston North, are compared with measured sediment loads. The strong agreement between predictions and measurements suggests that the method for converting maximum storm discharge to sediment load at tributaries is robust. Analysis of the sediment concentration and discharge records for storm events revealed that sediment from channel resuspension and bank erosion was much smaller (typically <5%) than total storm sediment loads and could thus be ignored when routing storm sediment loads. The demonstrably small channel resuspension and bank erosion, relative to storm sediment loads, enabled simple routing from subcatchments to construct an event-based model at the catchment scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Eco-labels and certifications for agricultural crops have yet to halt land use change. • Sparse and uneven market uptake only partially explain this outcome. • Loopholes in certification standards and enforcement mechanisms also play a role. • There is little evidence that eco-labels actually encourage land conversion for agriculture. Abstract In countries marked by the growing uptake of non-state market driven (NSMD) governance for agricultural commodities (i.e., eco-labels and certification systems), forested areas are steadily decreasing while crop lands are growing. This deforestation continues despite NSMD rules aimed at prohibiting the conversion of forested land to agriculture. In this paper, we ask why the growing presence of NSMD governance has coincided with ongoing deforestation. While the seeming inability of NSMD governance to halt broader patterns of land use change can be partially explained by a lack of market uptake, there are also a range of other variables that may contribute to this relationship. We probe the plausibility of five hypotheses through comparative case studies of sustainable soy certification in Brazil, palm oil in Indonesia, and cocoa in Côte d'Ivoire. Our findings indicate that NSMD governance has neither abetted, nor hindered, the conversion of forested land to agricultural production. We find strong evidence that a lack of broad market uptake limits the effectiveness of NSMD governance. However, we also find evidence that regulatory loopholes in NSMD systems may explain the inability of eco-labels and certification systems to halt broader patterns of land use change in countries with comparatively strong market uptake. Our results highlight critical problems related to expanding the reach and stringency of NSMD governance alongside the ongoing fragmentation of global environmental governance. The study contributes to scholarship on the impacts and effectiveness of transnational environmental governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the role of aspirational capacity, one cognitive dimension of well-being, as a driver of deforestation among rural smallholders living in or near Mozambique’s portion of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park. Integrating analyses of remote sensing, socio-economic, and semi-structured interview data within a theoretical framework drawn from Amartya Sen’s capability approach, we examine land use decisions in the context of the available options people have to choose from as well as the factors influencing their ultimate choice. Land change detection analysis indicates that more forest conversion occurs within the park, but rates show considerable variation at the community level. We find no association between economic deprivation and deforestation rates. Limited aspirational capacity, manifested in expressions of helplessness and despair, a lack of perceived choices, and fewer agentive pursuits, is one dimension of poverty that does contribute to cropland expansion. Qualitative findings indicate that a more limited capacity to set, pursue, and achieve aspirational goals perpetuates agricultural land use traps and, consequentially, higher deforestation rates. Higher levels of aspirational capacity also contribute to negative conservation outcomes as people adopt the risky but profitable activity of illegal rhino hunting as a means to obtain other valued capabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study welfare effects of environmental change, data from household surveys may be linked to remote sensing data. Using spatial aggregation to link risks ecological fallacy, since surveys are usually representative for areas larger than the spatial scale of decision-making units. This paper uses survey-to-census imputation to estimate welfare indicators for small areas to study the effect of deforestation on subsequent inequality in the rural Solomon Islands. This country depends on logging for almost half of foreign exchange and one-sixth of government revenue, and most forested land remains under customary ownership. A sharp increase in log exports, to seven times the sustainable yield, and a major shift in export destinations as other countries withdrew from the tropical log trade represents an exogenous shock that helps to identify effects of deforestation on inequality rather than the reverse relationship. A standard deviation increase in the rate of forest loss over 2000 to 2012 raises the Gini index of inequality in 2013 by one-third of a standard deviation. Mean incomes and poverty rates are also higher, implying that deforestation makes some households richer while others become poorer. These precisely estimated effects would be obscured using more spatially aggregated data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In agricultural commodity chains, companies with sizeable market shares are stepping up sustainability commitments through so-called ‘No Deforestation, No Peat, No Exploitation’ (NDPE) policies – yet the delivery is fraught with difficulties. Drawing on theories of hybrid public-private governance this paper explores how commodity chain actors themselves view the limitations of private regulation and the prospects for more effective supply-chain governance. As a case study, we present interview data from the palm oil commodity chains linking growers in Riau Province, Sumatra, Indonesia, with retailers in Europe. The findings demonstrate awareness of shortcomings in existing arrangements and the need for a stronger presence of both the Indonesian state and European governments. We discuss potential hybrid governance measures, highlighting the need for a pluralistic strategy that mobilizes the combined positive forces of civil society, business and government(s). We argue that, to advance such an agenda, hybrid governance must be conceptualized not simply as a matter of blending (and hence reifying) pre-existing and often highly problematic private and public institutions but as a question of how all such institutions may themselves be more thoroughly democratized in the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global efforts to protect biodiversity and slow deforestation rely heavily on the establishment of protected areas; land set aside that cannot be deforested or developed. This paper studies the macro-level relationship between rule of law and variation in avoided deforestation from protected areas. Using recent global satellite data from 2000 to 2012, I estimate the country-level avoided deforestation of protected areas established in this period via nearest-neighbor matching. I then use weighted least-squares regressions to explain country-level variation in estimated avoided deforestation as a function of a country’s governance characteristics as well as other country-level controls. Across 71 countries in this study period, protected areas were more effective in countries with higher levels of corruption control and protection of property rights, protected areas were more effective in more democratic countries, and there appears to be no relationship between political stability and avoided deforestation from protected areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural ecosystems provide a variety of services on which humans, and other organisms, depend for survival and well-being. These ecosystem services can be categorized as provisioning (production of food, fiber, water and other resources), cultural (non-material benefits, such as recreation, spiritual and other aesthetic values), supporting (primary production, pollination, decomposition and soil formation necessary for resource production) and regulating (biological control and other feedback mechanisms that maintain relatively consistent delivery of services). Ecosystems also have been viewed as producing “disservices”, such as pests, litter, biological hazards such as diseases, animal attacks, allergenic and poisonous organisms, and geophysical hazards such as floods and storms. Many of these disservices are induced by management practices such as deforestation and concentration of agricultural crops. Insects affect ecosystem services in a variety of ways, positively and negatively. The papers in this special issue are focused on managing insects and ecosystems, and their interactions, in ways that ensure sustainability of ecosystem services and that minimize induction of disservices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After 2010, refugees through the World peaked at the highest level since WW II. Most of this increment was realized between 2011 and 2015 years in the effect of the Syrian conflict and the Arabic spring, and refugee problem that is an important problem for the world emerged. This problem was analyzed in the macroeconomic dimension, in the health dimension by different studies. However, the energy and environmental economy dimensions of this problem has not been adequately analyzed. This paper explored the cointegration and Granger causality between the refugee population, traditional energy consumption(firewood, charcoal, and coal), economic growth, environmental pollution, and deforestation by the tests of Fourier Bootstrapping ARDL (FBARDL) and Granger causality with the Fourier method in the period 1985–2020 in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Uganda. Firstly, whether the series is stationary was investigated by using Fourier unit root tests. Then, the FBARDL test determined the evidence of cointegration among the variables. Finally, by applying Granger causality with the Fourier method, the evidence of unidirectional causality running from the refugee population and traditional energy consumption to deforestation and evidence of unidirectional causality running from the refugee population and traditional energy consumption to environmental pollution were determined. The analysis results draw attention to the impacts of the increasing refugee population on deforestation, and environmental pollution. Governments must develop their long-term environmental policies in the context of the effects of refguee population on sustainability. • The impacts of refugees on deforestation and sustainable environment were explored. • BARDL and Granger causality tests developed with the Fourier method were employed. • Unidirectional causality from the refugee to deforestation and CO 2 emissions was determined. • The results draw attention to the impacts of the increasing refugee population on sustainable environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper probes the effects of deforestation on infant mortality in Indonesia. • Forest loss appears to reduce deaths of all infants, but results vary by gravidity. • Deforestation endangers infants born from first pregnancies, but not other infants. • Potential mechanisms like air pollution do not appear to be responsible. • The observed mortality pattern points to malaria's role in the observed deaths. Factors expected to change concurrently with forest loss—such as economic activity and air pollution—shape human health in different ways, making it difficult to ex ante predict the net impact of deforestation. This paper investigates the infant mortality effects of prenatal exposure to high biomass forest loss in Indonesia, a country with rich forest reserves increasingly being subjected to high levels of deforestation. Indonesia officially bans clearing in areas with high biomass natural forests (referred to henceforth as 'protected forests'), yet these forests face illegal logging. The analysis uses a fixed effects approach, essentially tracking how mortality responds to protected forest cover changes over time within districts. Results suggest that protected forest loss favors survival among all infants. However, there is variation in the protected forest loss-infant mortality relationship by pregnancy order or gravidity—while children born from women's higher order pregnancies are less likely to die when exposed to deforestation, children born from first pregnancies experience an increase in their risk of death. Potential mechanisms such as overall air pollution, economic activity and perinatal health care do not appear to explain the gravidity-specific effects of deforestation in protected areas. However, the observed pattern of results suggests that effects are being channeled through malaria—the disease, which is likely to increase with forest loss, tends to disproportionately infect women during their first pregnancy, thus causing greater harm to the children born from these pregnancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Countries are grappling with how to monitor and evaluate the social impacts of reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) at national and sub-national scales as they develop REDD+ safeguard information systems (SIS). Given limited resources for social safeguard measuring, reporting and verification (MRV), and the fact that REDD+ is a performance based mechanism requiring monitoring over the medium to long-run, there is a need to develop SIS that are low cost, rigorous, and sustainable over time. Of critical importance are approaches that adequately operationalize social safeguards, provide opportunities for ongoing MRV, and are feasible in terms of within country human and financial capital. In this paper we provide an illustration of how publicly available social and spatial data can be used for the quantitative evaluation of the social impacts of early REDD+ activities using the example of Kalimantan, Indonesia. Our analysis suggests that in the very early stages REDD+ projects are doing a reasonably good job of protecting rights (Safeguard #3), and are having a negative impact on human welfare (Safeguard #5). Other social safeguards could not be effectively evaluated due to lack of appropriate indicators in publicly available population representative datasets. Our experience suggests that there are several opportunities and challenges for countries as they move forward with REDD+ SIS. We find that for Indonesia there is sufficient data to estimate impacts for some, but not all, aspects of REDD+ social safeguards. More recently collected data have greater potential for the linking of social and spatial datasets, and fairly straight forward matching methods can be applied to construct appropriate treatment and comparison groups. Challenges include limited ability to operationalize some safeguards using existing data sources, lack of geo-referencing in several publicly available datasets, incompatibility of data layers in terms of their spatial and temporal resolution and frequency, and the complexity of generating appropriate counterfactual scenarios. Despite the limitations of existing data sources, we recommend against designing entirely new systems for REDD+ SIS. Strengthening ongoing national and sub-national data collection efforts to include appropriate geo-referenced indicators for the full range of REDD+ social safeguard indicators, and integration of carbon and social MRV systems are important avenues to explore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cattle ranching in Brazil is a key driver of deforestation and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The Brazilian government plans to reduce national GHG emissions by at least 36%, partly by reducing emissions in the livestock sector through strategies such as intensification, pasture improvement, and rotational grazing. In response, sustainability programs promoting these practices have begun operation. Though studies have previously investigated aspects of GHG emissions and sequestration in improved pastures, they have not linked improvements with programmatic interventions. We surveyed 40 cattle ranchers located in the Brazilian Amazon biome to investigate how GHG emissions differed between farms participating in livestock sustainability programs with intensified production and farms not participating in these programs. We found that participating farms produced 8.3 kg of CO 2 e/kg of carcass weight (CW) less than did non-participating farms, which represents 19% fewer emissions. Farms that had participated in a sustainability program for at least two years showed larger differences in emissions: 19.0 kg of CO 2 e/kg CW less for program farms compared with their counterparts, or 35.8% fewer emissions. Key drivers of the total CO 2 e/kg CW in all farms were enteric fermentation and manure management. This paper provides farm-level data supporting intensification as a possible strategy to reduce emissions per kilogram of beef produced, and suggests that future research efforts should focus on long-term impacts of intensification and expand metrics for success beyond GHG calculations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]