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Abstract: The Ecuadorian Amazon, one of the richest reserves of biodiversity in the world, has faced one of the highest rates of deforestation of any Amazonian nation. Most of this forest elimination has been caused by agricultural colonization that followed the discovery of oil fields in 1967. Since the 1990s, an increasing process of urbanization has also engendered new patterns of population mobility within the Amazon, along with traditional ways by which rural settlers make their living. However, while very significant in its effects on deforestation, urbanization and regional development, population mobility within the Amazon has hardly been studied at all, as well as the distinct migration patterns between men and women. This paper uses a longitudinal dataset of 250 farm households in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon to understand differentials between men and women migrants to urban and rural destinations and between men and women non-migrants. First, we use hazard analysis based on the Kaplan–Meier (KM) estimator to obtain the cumulative probability that an individual living in the study area in 1990 or at time t, will out-migrated at some time, t+n, before 1999. Results indicate that out-migration to other rural areas in the Amazon, especially pristine areas is considerably greater than out-migration to the growing, but still incipient, Amazonian urban areas. Furthermore, men are more likely to out-migrate to rural areas than women, while the reverse occurs for urban areas. Difference-of-means tests were employed to examine potential factors accounting for differentials between male and female out-migration to urban and rural areas. Among the key results, relative to men younger women are more likely to out-migrate to urban areas; more difficult access from farms to towns and roads constrains women''s migration; and access to new lands in the Amazon–an important cause of further deforestation–is more associated with male out-migration. Economic factors such as engagement in on-farm work, increasing resource scarcity–measured by higher population density at the farm and reduction in farm land on forest and crops–and increase in pasture land are more associated with male out-migration to rural areas. On the other hand, increasing resource scarcity, higher population density and weaker migration networks are more associated with female out-migration to urban areas. Thus, a “vicious cycle” is created: Pressure over land leads to deforestation in most or all farm forest areas and reduces the possibilities for further agricultural extensification (deforestation); out-migration, especially male out-migration, occurs to other rural or forest areas in the Amazon (with women being more likely to choose urban destinations); and, giving continuing population growth and pressures in the new settled areas, new pressures promote further out-migration to rural destinations and unabated deforestation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Soil degradation caused by deforestation is one of main environmental problems all over the world. The objective of this paper was to quantitatively evaluate the effects of erosion patterns on organic matter, nitrogen and phosphorus (P) losses, by monitoring soil erosion and nutrient loss in newly deforested lands in the Ziwuling region on the Loess Plateau of China from 1986 to 1996. Eight field runoff plots, with various sizes to enable documentation different combinations of dominant erosion processes, were established on a hillslope. Results showed that the nutrient loss was dramatically affected by erosion patterns and erosion intensity. Seven years after deforestation, organic matter, total nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen and available P reduced by 69, 46.7, 65.6 and 86.6%, respectively. The most severe soil erosion and nutrient loss occurred in the ephemeral gully channels. Organic matter, total nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen and available P had different nutrient enrichment ratios in eroded sediment. The available P had the highest enrichment ratios, followed by ammonium nitrogen. The nutrient enrichment ratios were closely related to sediment concentration and erosion patterns. In sheet erosion zone, the nutrient enrichment ratios in eroded sediment decreased with an increase of sediment concentration; in the combined erosion zones of sheet, rill and shallow gully, the nutrient enrichment ratios in sediment initially decreased and then increased with an increase of sediment concentration. The nutrient enrichment in eroded sediment also greatly affects by rainfall characteristics such as rainfall amount and intensity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper investigates the poverty-environment nexus at the provincial and district levels in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Vietnam. The analysis focuses on spatial associations between poverty populations and five environmental problems: deforestation, fragile soils, indoor air pollution, contaminated water, and outdoor air pollution. The results suggest that the nexus is quite different in each country. We conclude that the nexus concept can provide a useful catalyst for country-specific work, but not a general formula for program design. Joint implementation of poverty and environment strategies may be cost effective for some environmental problems, but independent implementation may be preferable in many cases as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Central Rondônia is one of the most deforested regions in the Brazilian Amazon and contains areas at different stages of degradation forming a gradient from mature forest to highly urbanized and built-up areas. Regional data from satellite imagery are available from the 1980s, but apart from studies that quantify deforestation, the broad-scale landscape dynamics of Rondônia have not been examined well. This paper assesses the landscape changes between 1984 and 2002 in a watershed located in the central region of the state of Rondônia, Brazil, which has undergone systematic and rapid deforestation due to introduction of pasture that began in the 1970s. Bi-annual Landsat TM/ETM+ images from 1984 to 2002 were classified into three broad land cover types: mature forest, secondary forest, and pasture, resulting in a time series of land-use/land-cover maps. Landscape changes were evaluated by computing a cross tabulation between years, transition rates, and landscape metrics related to size, density, connectivity, configuration, and deforested patches distribution related to patch size and spatial proximity to roads and old pastures. Transition probability functions were fitted to the temporal series to predict land-use changes for the next 10 years, for three different scenarios: (1) continued land-use change; (2) eliminating clear-cutting and selective logging; and (3) eliminating clear-cutting, selective logging, and secondary vegetation clearing. Current land-use transitions cannot be sustained beyond the next 10–15 years. A more sustainable scenario for the region requires a major reduction of deforestation activities, implementing the “permanent preservation area” policy along riversides, and controlling land-use transitions at balanced levels. We recommend that forest managers in regions facing similar deforestation pressures should strive to maintain at least 35% mature or primary forest, because landscape fragmentation proceeds rapidly below this critical threshold. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In the last few years serious flood events occurred at the watershed of the river Tisza (both in Hungary and in Ukraine). One of the reasons of these floods is heavy precipitation at the region, which may result in severe runoff consequences because of the significant change in land-use/land-cover. In this paper land-use/land cover change occurred during the last decade have been analysed for the subcatchments of the upper river basin of Tisza. Remotely sensed datasets observed by NOAA and NASA satellites are available for this period. According to the results forest area on the upper subcatchments of the river has decreased by about 5% on average, while about 10–20% less forest area has been detected in case of the Eastern subcatchments from 1992/1993 to 2000/2001. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Research per se is a highly heterogeneous activity with a variety of objectives, actors and stakeholders, and a range of mechanisms to enhance collaboration while minimizing cost and unnecessary duplication. There is an urgent need to disseminate the results of research in forms that can be understood by policy-makers, administrators, the media and the public as well as by resource managers and peer scientists.To be effective, research itself needs to be restored. It must be both proactive and reactive to policy and public issues and use modern techniques of information technology and networking. Current human demands on forests for social, environmental and economic benefits require new, interdisciplinary approaches to research and rapid implementation of relevant results by appropriate stakeholders.In this paper, the extents, rates and causes of deforestation are identified together with the criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management that have specific relevance to restoration of site productivity. The changes in forest policies and management objectives over the second half of the 20th century are described and it is recognized that the role of forests as global resources may conflict with national sovereignty. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper provides a brief background to Mongolia’s forest condition in 1994. Over recent years, since the introduction of a market economy and decentralization, there has been a rapid change in the forest sector. In 1994, the total designated forest area of Mongolia was 17.5 million ha, including 12.7 million ha of closed forest or 8.1% of the total land area. The forests are subdivided into (i) special forests; (ii) protection forests; (iii) industrial forests, based on their basic functions. The main causes of deforestation in Mongolia are (i) increasing livestock numbers; (ii) increasing demand for fuel and industrial wood; (iii) the impact of forest fires. Grazing and browsing in forest areas are most destructive to plantations and tree growth, causing deformities and stunting growth. Livestock breeding without adequate management system has major negative impacts on remnant forest growth. According to some statistics, the forest area has decreased by 1.2 million ha over the last 20 years. At present, production and supply of sawn timber boards for the domestic market is carried out without any regard to the actual quantity required. Major wood-based products in Mongolia are railway sleepers, windows and doors, wooden boxes for packing and school and office furniture. Products are also made for the frames of the traditional Mongolian “Ger” and specialized furniture for the interior. By 1996, Mongolia’s forest industry had total sales of US$ 2.1 million, which was 13% more than the previous year.Between 1992 and 1995, the incidence of fires in forest areas increased because a sharp rise in the number of people using the forest and steppe areas to cut trees, pick berries and nuts, collect firewood and deer horns, and to hunt. Mismanagement and negligence of the relevant authorities also contributed to this situation. It is necessary to take strong measures in order to identify the social and economic causes of fire outbreaks. Since 1970, forestry and timber harvesting companies have begun to harvest wild seeds, breed seedlings and conduct reforestation activities. Between 1980 and 1990, on nationwide level, over 20 million standard seedlings were planted in over 40 permanent nurseries to supply the reforestation work. At that time the scope of reforestation expanded. The total area planted over some 30 years has been very small compared to the deforestation. Even if just the area harvested during that period is considered, the reforestation rate is still lower than 15%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Differing perceptions of the impacts on hydrological functions of tropical forest clearance and conversion to other land uses have given rise to growing and often heated debate about directions of public environmental policy in southeast Asia. In order to help bring more balance and clarity to such debate, this paper reviews a wide range of available scientific evidence with respect to the influence exerted by the presence or absence of a good forest cover on regional climate (rainfall), total and seasonal water yield (floods, low flows), as well as on different forms of erosion and catchment sediment yield under humid tropical conditions in general and in southeast Asia in particular. It is concluded that effects of forest disturbance and conversion on rainfall will be smaller than the average decrease of 8% predicted for a complete conversion to grassland in southeast Asia because the radiative properties of secondary regrowth quickly resemble those of the original forest again. In addition, under the prevailing ‘maritime’ climatic conditions, effects of land-cover change on climate can be expected to be less pronounced than those of changes in sea-surface temperatures. Total annual water yield is seen to increase with the percentage of forest biomass removed, with maximum gains in water yield upon total clearing. Actual amounts differ between sites and years due to differences in rainfall and degree of surface disturbance. As long as surface disturbance remains limited, the bulk of the annual increase in water yield occurs as baseflow (low flows), but often rainfall infiltration opportunities are reduced to the extent that groundwater reserves are replenished insufficiently during the rainy season, with strong declines in dry season flows as a result. Although reforestation and soil conservation measures are capable of reducing the enhanced peak flows and stormflows associated with soil degradation, no well-documented case exists where this has also produced a corresponding increase in low flows. To some extent this will reflect the higher water use of the newly planted trees but it cannot be ruled out that soil water storage opportunities may have declined too much as a result of soil erosion during the post-clearing phase for remediation to have a net positive effect. A good plant cover is generally capable of preventing surface erosion and, in the case of a well-developed tree cover, shallow landsliding as well, but more deep-seated (>3 m) slides are determined rather by geological and climatic factors. A survey of over 60 catchment sediment yield studies from southeast Asia demonstrates the very considerable effects of such common forest disturbances as selective logging and clearing for agriculture or plantations, and, above all, urbanisation, mining and road construction. The ‘low flow problem’ is identified as the single most important ‘watershed’ issue requiring further research, along with the evaluation of the time lag between upland soil conservation measures and any resulting changes in sediment yield at increasingly large distances downstream. It is recommended to conduct such future work within the context of the traditional paired catchment approach, complemented with process-based measuring and modelling techniques. Finally, more attention should be paid to the underlying geological controls of catchment hydrological behaviour when analysing the effect of land use change on (low) flows or sediment production. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper introduces the theoretical arguments for and against trade liberalization of forest products considering forest sustainability, and reports on the recent circumstances of three countries in Southeast Asia—the Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia. Trade liberalization raises concerns about the negative effects on forest sustainability, both in log-importing countries that have already cut a large portion of their natural forests by commercial logging and now face a pressing need for reforestation, and in forest product-exporting countries that still have large areas of natural forest and enjoy export competitiveness in forest products. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The potential impacts of deforestation on hydrological response are of significant importance in highland regions of northern Thailand and other parts of southern Asia. In these regions, where climate exhibits strong seasonality, the availability of water in the dry season determines the feasibility of multiple crop rotations. Based on the IHACRES rainfall-runoff model, a simple scaling procedure and landcover data, this paper presents a simple hydrologic approach to predict hydrologic response to land use changes, and to predict streamflow in ungauged catchments. The latter is a major hurdle in water resource analyses in regions like northern Thailand where there is a lack of stream gauge instrumentation, or where assessment of water availability is required at locations between gauging sites as input to agricultural production models. A simple regionalisation of streamflow response was tested for three gauged subcatchments of the Mae Chaem catchment in northern Thailand. Overall performance was superior when calibrated parameters from the largest catchment were used to infer parameters for the regionalisation. Most importantly, the procedure was able to predict the relative pattern of annual and seasonal flows, whatever the reference catchment on which the regionalisation was based. Investigations of the impacts of forest cover changes on modelled hydrological response are presented and the key model parameters to which model outputs are most sensitive are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper analyzes the possibility of producing bio-fuel in the Amazon degraded lands. The aim here is to combine environmental concerns with an improvement of local people well-being. Firstly, a historical analysis is conducted in order to figure out the major deforestation driving forces in Amazon and to help to arrive at a feasible energy choice.Secondly, the geographical area is chosen. It is the spatial boundaries of Caraja´s Iron Ore Program in the southeastern Amazon where most of the deforestation has taken place in the last few decades. For this specific context, palm oil is chosen as a technological energy alternative due to its social production structure, its environmental benefits and its productivity.A quantified analysis is realized in terms of income generation (2000–3000 US$/family/yr), job creation (200,000–300,000 families settled), land required and restored (2–3.2 million ha), and carbon emission from fossil fuel avoided (13.1 Mt C). Some recommendations related to institutional and economic barriers are proposed in order to encourage the technology penetration in the market. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Most estimates of deforestation are derived for areas that are not intrinsically related to the causes of deforestation, making it hard to link such estimates with strategies for improved land management. In this paper a method is presented to identify local areas of high rates of deforestation within larger areas, using remote sensing and geographic information systems (GIS). These deforestation hot spots are identified using a local analysis approach, considering for every location only land cover changes taking place in the immediate vicinity, and they thus reflect local deforestation. This method has potential application in improved land policy development, land management and it could supplement land use change modeling at the landscape level. Specifically, the method could be used to undertake a risk assessment of the effectiveness of ecological corridors. The method was applied to the province of Limo´n in Costa Rica, where commercial agriculture has caused large scale deforestation. The deforestation hot spots in the period 1986–1997 that were identified with this method represent a large proportion of the total deforestation having taken place in the province, and for each of the hot spots specific drivers of deforestation could be identified. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper deals with the issue of deforestation, one of the main global environmental problems. We consider two players having different utilities for forest conservation. The first one (call it North) represents a set of countries having as an objective to maximize the size of tropical forest at a certain time horizon. The (South) second player''s revenue function involves a trade-off between forest exploitation and agricultural activities. We study two scenarios. In the first one, the assumption is a laisser-faire policy, where the South solves an optimal control problem over a finite horizon. Revenue and optimal forest exploitation obtained represent a benchmark for the second scenario, where the North offers subsidies to the South to reduce the deforestation rate. The two scenarios are analyzed and compared in terms of strategies, outcomes and forest conservation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper analyzes the impact of national development policy on land cover change and associated carbon fluxes at a Peruvian Amazon frontier. Remote sensing and field transects reveal changes in forest carbon stocks and accumulation rates. Deforestation was most rapid along the Interoceanic Highway during 1986–91 when credit and guaranteed markets were available, resulting in emissions of 708,000 Mg C yr−1, of which 14% was offset by secondary regrowth. Despite continued population growth, deforestation slowed during 1991–97 when fiscal austerity measures were imposed, resulting in emissions of 389,000 Mg C yr−1, of which 41% was offset by regrowth. Strategies to conserve frontier forests are compared in terms of carbon, biodiversity and economic costs and benefits. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The paper analyses land use trajectories in savannah woodlands in the Central-West Region, Burkina Faso and the Upper East Region in northern Ghana by use of satellite images and historical archives. Observed trends differ in terms of spatial location and correlation with population pressure from normally accepted characterizations. Colonial forestry policies are proposed as key determinants of present-day land use patterns. However, these reinforced pre-colonial land use patterns inasmuch as land gazetted as forest reserves were tracts affected by vectors of human and livestock disease. It is suggested that the transformation of wooded agricultural landscapes in the Sudano-Sahelian region is the outcome of historically and culturally embedded interactions between complex social, economic and ecological processes which operate at widely varying scales and which change over time; the implications hereof for modelling of global environmental issues is discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

As cropland and pasture have replaced forest and cerrado in Brazilian Amazoˆnia, concern has mounted over the effects of changing the biogeochemical and hydrological properties of one of the world's great storehouses of biomass and biodiversity. Although much recent effort has focused on the location, effects, and causes of deforestation and cerrado conversion, much less is known about the basin-wide spatial distribution and density of the land use following conversion for crops or pasture.In this paper, we use census and satellite records to develop maps of the distribution and abundance of major agricultural land uses across 4.5×108 ha of Brazilian Amazoˆnia in 1980 and 1995. Results indicate an overall expansion of 7.0×106 ha in total agricultural area in Brazilian Amazoˆnia between 1980 and 1995. The net change during this period is estimated for three different land-use types: croplands (an increase of 0.8×106 ha), natural pastures (a decrease of 8.4×106 ha), and planted pastures (an increase of 14.7×106 ha). These estimates, the first spatially explicit quantifications of agricultural land-use activities in 1980 and 1995 across Brazilian Amazoˆnia, are shown to be consistent with the results of applying a land use change and secondary regrowth model to published deforestation rates for the period.The resulting time slices, presented for each land-use category at 5-min (∼9 km) spatial resolution, allow for the quantification of land-use changes in this region for biogeochemical, demographic and economic models. Several foci of agricultural change existed within Brazilian Amazoˆnia during this period: in the state of Para´, cropland was lost and planted pasture increased markedly; in Mato Grosso, both cropland and planted pasture increased; in Rondoˆnia, planted pasture replacing forest was the primary route to agricultural expansion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Accurate mapping of land cover at continental to global scales is currently limited by our ability to exploit the spatial, temporal, and radiometric characteristics of the available satellite data. Many ecologically and biogeochemically important landscape features are spatially extensive, but occur at scales much smaller than the ∼1-km footprint of wide-swath, polar orbiting radiometers. This is especially true for land cover changes associated with human activities. Satellite instruments that offer the appropriate spatial detail have much smaller swaths and longer repeat times, resulting in compositing intervals that are too large to resolve the time scales of these changes. In addition, the cost and effort associated with acquisition and processing of high-resolution data for large areas is often prohibitive. Methods for taking advantage of information contained in multiple-scale observations by combining data from high-resolution and moderate resolution sensors are thus of great current interest.In this paper, we retrieve land cover distributions in two different parts of the Brazilian Amazon region by estimating relationships between land cover fractions derived from 30-m resolution ETM+ and reflectance data from ∼1-km resolution MODIS and MISR. The scaling relationships are derived using a Bayesian-regularized artificial neural network (ANN) and compared to results using linear unmixing (LU). We explore the simultaneous use of two significant independent variables in terrestrial optical remote sensing, wavelength, and sun-sensor geometry, by combining nadir-adjusted MODIS reflectances in seven bands (VIS-SWIR) with multiangular (−71° to +71°) bidirectional reflectance data from MISR. This research was motivated by evidence from modeling and field studies demonstrating that: (a) the angular dependence of reflectance (e.g., from MISR) contains information about the structural composition of canopies that is complementary to the wavelength dependence; and (b) the SWIR portion of the spectrum (e.g., from MODIS) is sensitive to canopy moisture and shading conditions and, therefore, to the successional status of the ecosystem. This case study, using the Bayesian artificial neural network with combined MODIS-MISR data to estimate sub-pixel land cover fractions, yielded a quantitative improvement over spectral linear unmixing of single-angle, multispectral data. Our results suggest potential for broad-scale applicability despite a number of challenges related to tropical atmospheric conditions. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Canopy gaps induced by tree falls have an important ecological role in forest communities since they act on forest sylvigenesis, dynamics and specific composition, mainly through modifications of the light context they involve. Some factors responsible for tree fall occurrences become more influent on sloping areas, particularly crown asymmetry. We have already shown in previous work (Robert, 2001) that slope also acts on the dynamics and structure of forests through the anisotropy of light it induces. In this paper we aim at investigating the consequences of tree falls of asymmetrical trees, and of canopy openness they create, combined with the increase of slope on tropical forest stands. We were particularly interested in the effects of slope and tree falls on tree growth, stand basal area, stand density and spatial structure of trees.This study was achieved by means of an individual-based and distance-dependent model, taking into account competition for light and morphological constraints between trees. Inter-tree competitive relationships occurred at crown level and were illustrated by a synthetical index that partially depends on their elevation. Recruitment, growth and mortality of trees of the virtual stand were computed on the basis of yearly time. The mortality process consists of standing death and tree falls caused by the asymmetry of crowns.The model shows that the effect of tree falls and of canopy gaps is more important than the effect of light anisotropy induced by slope. The presence of tree falls diminishes, and even inhibits, the positive effect of slope on competition for light. Furthermore, it totally prevents any slope effect on spatial structure of trees by maintaining it very regular. Finally, the occurrence of tree falls inverts slope effect on stand density and results in an impoverishment of trees on steep slopes.Simulation results allow us to understand how the presence of canopy gaps on sloping areas participates in maintaining the phytosanitary quality of tropical stands. They also permit us to put forward the role of the presence of asymmetrical trees as a key parameter that conditions the effects of light anisotropy on forests on slopes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper discusses the use of rattan plantations in the margins of the remaining natural forest in Hainan as a way to reverse deforestation. It is argued that the early success of this project is due to a number of features: the local indigenous knowledge of working with rattan; the still existing resources of rattan and the strong demand for rattan cane from basket and furniture industry. A unique feature of this project is, however, the way it has tackled the land tenure issue by granting government-issued licences to manage and utilise the rattan resources from a finite patch of secondary forest to individual farming families. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) simulations predict that a complete deforestation of the Amazon basin would lead to a significant climate change; however, it is more difficult to determine the amount of deforestation that would lead to a detectable climate change. This paper examines whether cloudiness has already changed locally in the Brazilian arc of deforestation, one of the most deforested regions of the Amazon basin, where over 15% of the primary forest has been converted to pasture and agriculture. Three pairs of deforested/forested areas have been selected at a scale compatible with that of climate model grids to compare changes in land cover with changes in cloudiness observed in satellite data over a 10-year period from 1984 to 1993. Analysis of cloud cover trends suggests that a regional climate change may already be underway in the most deforested part of the arc of deforestation. Although changes in cloud cover over deforested areas are not significant for interannual variations, they are for the seasonal and diurnal distributions. During the dry season, observations show more low-level clouds in early afternoon and less convection at night and in early morning over deforested areas. During the wet season, convective cloudiness is enhanced in the early night over deforested areas. Generally speaking, the results suggest that deforestation may lead to increased seasonality; however, some of the differences observed between deforested and forested areas may be related to their different geographical locations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Forest resource trade between Southeast Asia and Japan has been noteworthy because of its documented effects on the deforestation of Southeast Asia''s environment. This paper expands the focus of this issue to include an examination of the effects of this trade on Japanese domestic forests. Our goal is to redefine the scope of discussions of trade-environment issues. We assert that the environmental problems of the importer and the exporter can be understood as a set of structurally connected phenomena, which we refer to as ‘dual decay.’ We examine the underlying dynamics of renewable resource trade and the effects of trade liberalization on both importers'' and exporters'' environments. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

What social arrangements stop deforestation? This paper chronicles the sociological factors underlying the rapid establishment, in 14 months, of a community-owned protected forest in Ecuador. Methods developed by the International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) research program provide a stakeholder analysis related to trends in deforestation. Interviews, community meetings, and informal discussions provide data on attitudes of local people during and after establishment of the forest preserve. Knowledge and resources external to the community motivated local people to preserve a cloud forest, but local institutions and communal land tenure were critical for the rapid establishment of the protected area. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The transformation and degradation of tropical forest is thought to be the primary driving force in the loss of biodiversity worldwide. Developing countries are trying to counter act this massive lost of biodiversity by implementing national parks and biological reserves. Costa Rica is no exception to this rule. National development strategies in Costa Rica, since the early 1970s, have involved the creation of several National Parks and Biological Reserves. This has led to monitoring the integrity of and interactions between these protected areas. Key questions include: “Are these areas'' boundaries respected?”; “Do they create a functioning network?”; and “Are they effective conservation tools?”. This paper quantifies deforestation and secondary growth trends within and around protected areas between 1960 and 1997. We find that inside of national parks and biological reserves, deforestation rates were negligible. For areas outside of National Parks and Biological reserves we report that for 1-km buffer zones around such protected areas, there is a net forest gain for the 1987/1997 time period. Thus, it appears that to this point the boundaries of protected areas are respected. However, in the 10-km buffer zones we find significant forest loss for all study periods. This suggests that increasing isolation of protected areas may prevent them from functioning as an effective network. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Pete´n, Guatemala is a lowland tropical frontier that has experienced substantial in-migration and deforestation in recent decades. Efforts to curb deforestation in Pete´n must be based on a better understanding of farmer strategies and the factors that drive them. This paper outlines some key findings that emerged through a detailed study of these strategies and factors. In particular it discusses the important influence of food security concerns on household strategies, as well as farmers’ growing interest in agricultural intensification, mainly in response to the reduction in the area of forest land available for swidden agriculture. The types of intensification strategies being turned to vary considerably, both among communities/sub-regions, and among households, due to differences in factors that influence the economic feasibility of particular activities. Pete´n farmers are more concerned about conserving forest than is commonly recognized. However, their ability to reduce pressure on forested areas through adoption of more intensive practices is constrained by weak market conditions and prices, poor agricultural services, low levels of farmer organization, and poverty. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The objective of this paper is to examine the land-use dynamics between cattle production and forestry: when forest production takes place in a sustainable manner and cattle production is without the benefit of artificial production incentives. Data from the Lowlands of Bolivia are used in the empirical analysis and although the results directly reflect that situation, they are pertinent to much of Latin America and the continuing land-use conflict between forestry and cattle production. The results suggest that contrary to conventional wisdom, higher stumpage values do not always lead to a decrease in the land converted to pasture. In circumstances where per hectare stumpage values are very low, increases in stumpage values will provide the capital required to convert land to pasture and thus exacerbate land conversion. This will occur until a certain threshold value, after which further increases in stumpage values will decrease land conversion to pasture, as would be expected. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Widespread deforestation and increasingly intensive use of land to sustain a growing population has increased soil erosion, lowered soil fertility, and reduced agricultural productivity in the hills of Nepal. This has raised concern over sustainability of the hill farming system. There is growing evidence that agroforestry can be a potential solution to above problems. However, the development of agroforestry as a viable alternative for farmers in diverse ecological and socioeconomic conditions has become a very challenging issue. The objective of this paper was to identify factors influencing the adoption of agroforestry by subsistence farmers in the hills, with reference to an agroforestry project initiated by Nepal Agroforestry Foundation (NAF). Necessary information for this study came from a survey of 223 households (82 project and 141 non-project) from Kumpur, Nalang, and Salang villages in Dhading district in 1998. The results showed that male membership in local NGOs, female education level, livestock population, and farmer''s positive perception towards agroforestry have significantly positive effects, while the number of children below 5 years of age, number of males aged 10–59 years, male education, female''s Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) membership, and respondents'' age had significantly negative effects on adoption of agroforestry among project households. Among non-project households, those with more livestock and male membership to local NGOs were found more likely to adopt, while the households headed by males were less likely to adopt agroforestry. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Assessing land-use following deforestation is vital for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. In this paper, for the first time, we assess the potential of spatial, temporal and spatio-temporal deep learning methods for large-scale classification of land-use following tropical deforestation using dense satellite time series over six years on the pan-tropical scale (incl. Latin America, Africa, and Asia). Based on an extensive reference database of six forest to land-use conversion types, we find that the spatio-temporal models achieved a substantially higher F1-score accuracies than models that account only for spatial or temporal patterns. Although all models performed better when the scope of the problem was limited to a single continent, the spatial models were more competitive than the temporal ones in this setting. These results suggest that the spatial patterns of land-use within a continent share more commonalities than the temporal patterns and the spatial patterns across continents. This work explores the feasibility of extending and complementing previous efforts for characterizing follow-up land-use after deforestation at a small-scale via human visual interpretation of high resolution RGB imagery. It supports the usage of fast and automated large-scale land-use classification and showcases the value of deep learning methods combined with spatio-temporal satellite data to effectively address the complex tasks of identifying land-use following deforestation in a scalable and cost effective manner. • We classify land-use following deforestation at continental and pan-tropical scales. • Using reference data we test six different spatio-temporal deep learning methods. • Continental models performed better compared to the pan-tropical model. • Pan-tropical spatio-temporal models performed better than spatial or temporal ones • Our results suggest higher spatial than temporal homogeneity at the continental level [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical deforestation has typically been characterized as a process with persistent environmental costs (in the form of biodiversity and ecosystem services loss) and short-lived economic benefits (in the form of one-off timber harvests and agricultural fertility boosts). However, this characterization is largely based on agronomic study of tropical soils, and does not fully capture the long-term agricultural potential of cleared land. Landowners can make investments to improve fertility and raise productivity, extending the time horizons over which agriculture is profitable. Whether they choose to make these investments depends on available technologies, the relative prices of inputs and outputs, and the cost of the alternative strategy of clearing additional forest. There is little evidence on how agricultural productivity in the tropics changes over time for individual farmers, because regional development processes confound changes in land productivity when aggregate data are used. Understanding the trajectory of returns to land after tropical deforestation matters because the effectiveness of policies to limit deforestation, promote reforestation, and encourage agricultural intensification all depend on the values of forested and deforested land to farmers and the time horizons over which those values are maintained. This paper estimates the contributions of forested, newly-deforested, and long-deforested land to total property values reported by smallholders in established agrarian settlements in the western Brazilian Amazon. We find—during a decade in which the Brazilian government significantly strengthened its enforcement of forest laws—that deforested land retained its value, the value of forested land increased relative to cleared land, and the value of newly cleared land declined. • We estimate the trajectory of land values after land is converted from forest to agriculture in the Brazilian Amazon. • Deforested land has retained its value over periods of more than 15 years after deforestation. • The relative value of standing forest increased during a period of stronger forest protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Many firms buying forest-risk products made zero-deforestation commitments (ZDCs). • To achieve conservation goals, ZDCs may exclude vulnerable producers from markets. • Following 7 policy design principles can achieve effectiveness-access equity synergies. • We evaluate 28 ZDC implementation mechanisms in 4 leading forest-risk commodities. • Companies should better support vulnerable producers in achieving compliance. In response to the clearing of tropical forests for agricultural expansion, agri-food companies have adopted promises to eliminate deforestation from their supply chains in the form of 'zero-deforestation commitments' (ZDCs). While there is growing evidence about the environmental effectiveness of these commitments (i.e., whether they meet their conservation goals), there is little information on how they influence producers' opportunity to access sustainable markets and related livelihood outcomes, or how design and implementation choices influence tradeoffs or potential synergies between effectiveness and equity in access. This paper explores these research gaps and makes three main contributions by: i) defining and justifying the importance of analyzing access equity and its relation to effectiveness when implementing forest-focused supply chain policies such as ZDCs, ii) identifying seven policy design principles that are likely to maximize synergies between effectiveness and access equity, and iii) assessing effectiveness-access equity tensions and synergies across common ZDC implementation mechanisms amongst the five largest firms in each of the leading agricultural forest-risk commodity sectors: palm oil, soybeans, beef cattle, and cocoa. To enhance forest conservation while avoiding harm to the most vulnerable farmers in the tropics, it is necessary to combine stringent rules with widespread capacity building, greater involvement of affected actors in the co-production of implementation mechanisms, and support for alternative rural development paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We explore stakeholders perceptions on REDD+ finance in Brazil, Indonesia and Vietnam. • Actors agree that the lack of finance is not the most significant challenge. • Addressing funding gaps alone will not help to advance REDD+ policies. • Effective REDD+ implementation requires improved forest governance. • Recognizing and addressing drivers of deforestation are essential for REDD+ success. Financing REDD+ is complex, due to the need to seek answers not only to the question of who should finance REDD+, but also who should benefit from it. This paper examines the perceptions of REDD+ stakeholders in Brazil, Indonesia and Vietnam on different aspects of financing: who should finance REDD+ and who should receive REDD+ benefits for what. Our findings show these issues are political, driven by economic considerations at national level and – despite the narrative of inclusive, participatory decision making – are largely determined by governments. Lack of finance was thereby not always considered by national policy actors to be the most significant challenge during 2010–2019; rather other issues – like lack of knowledge on REDD+ by relevant actors; ineffective coordination between state agencies, the private sector and civil society; unclear tenure rights; ineffectively addressing the main deforestation drivers; low law enforcement capacity; and unclear benefit-sharing mechanisms – have also been perceived to impede REDD+ implementation and payment distributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information on forest disturbance is crucial for tropical forest management and global carbon cycle analysis. The long-term collection of data from the Landsat missions provides some of the most valuable information for understanding the processes of global tropical forest disturbance. However, there are substantial uncertainties in the estimation of non-mechanized, small-scale (i.e., small area) clearings in tropical forests with Landsat series images. Because the appearance of small-scale openings in a tropical tree canopy are often ephemeral due to fast-growing vegetation, and because clouds are frequent in tropical regions, it is challenging for Landsat images to capture the logging signal. Moreover, the spatial resolution of Landsat images is typically too coarse to represent spatial details about small-scale clearings. In this paper, by fusing all available Landsat and Sentinel-2 images, we proposed a method to improve the tracking of small-scale tropical forest disturbance history with both fine spatial and temporal resolutions. First, yearly composited Landsat and Sentinel-2 self-referenced normalized burn ratio (r NBR) vegetation index images were calculated from all available Landsat-7/8 and Sentinel-2 scenes during 2016–2019. Second, a deep-learning based downscaling method was used to predict fine resolution (10 m) r NBR images from the annual coarse resolution (30 m) Landsat r NBR images. Third, given the baseline Landsat forest map in 2015, the generated fine-resolution Landsat r NBR images and original Sentinel-2 r NBR images were fused to produce the 10 m forest disturbance map for the period 2016–2019. From data comparison and evaluation, it was demonstrated that the deep-learning based downscaling method can produce fine-resolution Landsat r NBR images and forest disturbance maps that contain substantial spatial detail. In addition, by fusing downscaled fine-resolution Landsat r NBR images and original Sentinel-2 r NBR images, it was possible to produce state-of-the-art forest disturbance maps with OA values more than 87% and 96% for the small and large study areas, and detected 11% to 21% more disturbed areas than either the Sentinel-2 or Landsat-7/8 time-series alone. We found that 1.42% of the disturbed areas indentified during 2016–2019 experienced multiple forest disturbances. The method has great potential to enhance work undertaken in relation to major policies such as the reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) programmes. • Small-scale tropical forest disturbance cannot be detected well by Landsat images. • All Landsat and Sentinel-2 images were fused to track tropical forest disturbances. • Deep-learning was used to enhance the spatial resolution of Landsat r NBR images. • Forest disturbance occurred multiple times can be tracked by the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper assesses the effects of a bail out on deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon following a revision in the Forest Code. By providing a bail out to landowners with illegal deforestation, the New Forest Code has created incentives for law-abiding landowners to engage in deforestation activities as well, in the expectation of receiving future amnesties. To identify causal effects, we explore a rich dataset at the property level and use a difference-in-differences strategy, where former law-abiders are our treatment group. In our preferred econometric specification, the private rural properties in the treated group are associated with a rate of forest loss 0.457 p.p. higher than would prevail in the absence of the law revision. This amounts to an accumulated loss of nearly 1 million hectares of forest between 2012 and 2017. This is equivalent to a US$ 2.4 billion loss when no more than carbon emissions are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• UNESCO's Man and the Biosphere (MAB) zoning generates frontier regions that are fertile ground for Organized Crime. • Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve Program of Ecosystem Services incentivizes local patrols to fight Organized Crime. • Crime is associated with NAFTA's avocado market in the MAB area. • Acknowledging Traditional Ecological practices inside this reserve is necessary. The conservation of the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is rearranging the rural landscapes of Michoacán and Estado de México, Mexico. Based on ethnographic and historical data, and combining insights from the green security and neoliberal conservation literatures, this paper examines how monarch butterfly conservation unfolds in an area shaped by a recent designation as a UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Reserve as well as increasing violence associated with the Mexican Drug War. I argue that these processes are deeply interconnected. I show how the conservation program, and the broader neoliberal project of which it is part, have undermined social control of land by converting communally managed forests into a supposedly human-free reserve. This has transformed the region into a frontier zone that facilitates the increased presence of organized crime groups and devolves responsibility for forest security to local residents. I show how the monarch reserve's core and buffer land boundary, and the human and nonhuman divide underpinning it, reconfigures authority in ways that deepen the control of organized crime, facilitate the expansion of il/licit economies, and undermine sustainable community forest management. While international conservation actors view the reserve as the best strategy for preventing the disappearance of the monarch's migratory phenomenon, my analysis concludes that the MAB has increased the risk of disappearance of both its butterfly and human inhabitants. As an alternative to conventional conservation strategies designed to separate human and nonhuman nature, principles from nondualist traditional ecological ethics can inform better pathways for protecting both the region's humans and nonhumans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This manuscript presents a modified capitals framework for analyzing community forest enterprises. • Community forest enterprises operating in the Maya Biosphere Reserve face unique challenges related to their capitals. • All enterprises in the Maya Biosphere Reserve have leveraged their resources to improve their capitals over time. This paper introduces a modified community capitals framework for understanding the context in which community forest enterprises (CFEs) operate. The framework is applied to enterprises in the Maya Biosphere Reserve of Northern Guatemala through a comparative cross-case analysis. Data for the cross-case analysis were collected and triangulated via a variety of qualitative methods including document review supplemented by direct observation, and key informant interviews. The analysis details several differences in capitals between different enterprises in the reserve and details how enterprises have leveraged their resources to improve their capitals over time. This framework is of particular interest to sustainable development scholars and practitioners as it provides a means of analyzing local community-contexts focusing upon the resources that a community has at its disposal and how those resources can be used to develop their capital over time. These insights can be particularly helpful to development practitioners working to design interventions adapted to the unique challenges and opportunities faced by CFEs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to identify the enablers that play an important role in the uptake of energy efficient cookstoves (EECs) in Chitral, Pakistan. For this purpose, primary data were collected from 390 households distributed across 20 villages. The ordered logit model is used to analyze the factors affecting the uptake of EECs in the study area. The findings show that the education level of the household head, landholding by the household, presence of organizations working to promote EECs, and media campaigns promoting EECs have a statistically significant influence on the uptake of EECs. Of these factors, the presence of NGO promoting EECs has the largest influence on EEC adoption as it increases the probability of switching from traditional cookstoves to EECs by 20.5% points. Media campaigns for promoting EECs increase the probability of switching to EECs by 14% points. The study concludes that socio-cultural and economic variables as well as efficient dissemination of information and promotion of EECs have a statistically significant relationship with the uptake of improved and clean cooking technology. Based on the findings, the study recommends that, to ensure successful dissemination, local needs and preferences of users of the area be taken into account when designing an EEC program. • Using biomass for cooking and heating is mainly responsible for global forest depletion and burden of diseases. • Large-scale initiatives were globally taken for the dissemination of energy efficient stoves. • The paper examines the adoption of energy efficient cookstoves in northwest Pakistan. • The study uses ordered logit model for analysis. • The results confirm that socio-economic variables have significant influence on adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on environmental protection and legislation in Brazil. We evaluate major legislative actions, environmental fines and deforestation since January 2019. We show that 57 legislative acts aimed at weakening environmental protection in Brazil during the current administration, almost half of which in the seven-month period of the pandemic in Brazil, with September 2020 as the month with the most legislative acts (n = 16). These acts either deregulated or weakened current environmental legislation, with a number of them aimed at dismantling the main federal institutions in charge of environmental protection. We also found a 72% reduction in environmental fines during the pandemic, despite an increase in Amazonian deforestation during this period. We conclude that the current administration is taking advantage of the COVID-19 pandemic to intensify a pattern of weakening environmental protection in Brazil. This has the potential to intensify ongoing loss of biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, and the likelihood of other zoonotic disease outbreaks, and inflict substantial harm to traditional and indigenous peoples. We highlight the key role of the scientific community, media and civil society, national and international levels, in order to reverse these harmful actions. • 57 legislative acts have aimed to weaken the environmental legislation during the current administration. • 49% of changes in environmental legislation occurred during the 7-months period of the pandemic. • A reduction of about 70% of environmental fines occurred from March to August 2020. • Protected areas were weakened through exoneration of chief staff during the pandemic. • The administration is pushing rules and simplifying norms, especially since the pandemic began. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Summarises 25 years of land clearing trends in south-eastern Australia and assesses the efficacy of policy interventions over that period. ○ Uses an information theoretic approach to compare and assess alternate hypotheses regarding the pro ximate drivers of land clearing. • Uses econometric modelling, including stationarity testing and investigation of Granger and Heckman causality to avoid spurious correlations. • Identifies market variables as key drivers of clearing in this context, and shows that outcomes from policy interventions are very limited. • Points to the need for better integration with agricultural policy. This paper aims to provide clarity around why land clearing occurs in a developed world context. We apply an information theoretic approach to discriminate amongst alternative hypotheses of the proximate drivers of land clearing, and test their capacity to explain historical rates of land clearing in New South Wales, a state in south-eastern Australia, between 1990 and 2017. We also assess the efficacy of policy interventions in NSW to date and discuss how lessons learned from the Australian experience might best be harnessed for effective policy design in Australia and beyond. Our results indicate that farmers in NSW clear land in response to economic opportunities presented by favourable market signals. We identify a particular focus on potential revenues, whereby high agricultural commodity prices encourage agricultural expansion and an associated loss of on-farm vegetation. Our results indicate that, to date, direct regulation is likely to have had an impact in only one of the three regions modelled. We conclude that better integration with agricultural policy, including careful examination the effects of agricultural subsidies, will be required to ensure that increasing global food demand does not drive further forest loss in major food exporting nations like Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Water balance partitioning is used to assess water-related ecosystem services. • We propose a set of indicators including both demand- and supply-side perspectives. • Water balance in forest and pasture areas of the Amazon is assessed with 3 models. • Rainforests are important green water suppliers compared to deforested lands. • Forests greatly support provisioning, regulating and supporting ecosystem services. Rainforests ensure fundamental water-related ecosystem services that are currently threatened by land-use change, in particular deforestation. Quantitative assessments of water-related ecosystem services have traditionally focused on the benefits linked to direct water availability for humans. Under this perspective, forests have been considered as water consumers, due to high interception and transpiration rates that reduce water flows available to downstream human activities. In contrast, their role as water suppliers through transpiration from tree canopies has often been neglected. Integrating this second perspective into assessments of water-related ecosystem services from forests and other land covers is key to providing a comprehensive support to decision-making processes on land-use change. In addition, specific indicators are necessary to incorporate the contribution of the different water balance components into ecosystem service assessment. In this paper, we investigate the use of water balance partitioning for the assessment of water-related ecosystem services. We use three water balance models (two existing ones and one developed in this study) and compare, via model simulations, water balance partitioning and water-related ecosystem services of a forested and a deforested area of the Brazilian State of Rondônia. Then, we propose a set of indicators that, based on the outputs of the models, provide a multidimensional characterization of different land-use types. Regardless of the model used, the values of these indicators for the selected case study consistently point out the key role of vegetation in regulating the water cycle. Forests act as effective indirect water suppliers for human activities and are key players in moisture recycling, thanks to high evapotranspiration rates (about 68% of total precipitation). Deforested areas, instead, act as direct suppliers of water flows for human activities due to higher drainage rates (about 50% of total precipitation). The proposed methodology helps highlight the importance of comprehensive water-related ecosystem services assessments. Moreover, the indicators quantitatively support the impact assessment of land-use change on the different processes involved in the water cycle and on human activities relying, directly or indirectly, on these processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• African ebony, traded since antiquity, is the only true ebony still traded globally. • Deforestation and bushmeat hunting pose long term threats to African ebony. • Exports from Cameroon have increased recently and China has become a major importer. • Logging in Cameroon is managed in response to demand rather than current stocks. • Examination of the interface between trade and ecology is crucial to its conservation. The Central African forest ebony, Diospyros crassiflora Hiern, is a small tree native to the moist forests of the Congo Basin. Its appealing black heartwood was one of the first products to be exported from the Gulf of Guinea in the 17th century and is today one of the main sources of ebony globally. Like for other ebony species, its commercial exploitation raises serious questions about the long-term sustainability of its trade and the viability of its populations, but the dots are yet to be joined. An examination of the interface between biology, trade, and ecology is crucial to identify the interrelated factors that could influence the potential success of its conservation. This paper reviews scientific and grey literature, forest inventories, herbarium and trade data to provide a critical assessment of the main threats to D. crassiflora populations and gaps in the current state of knowledge. It is shown here that the species is widespread but never abundant. In the longer term the species is threatened by forest conversion to agriculture and widespread hunting of large mammals on which the species rely for seed dispersal. It is currently selectively logged principally to make musical instruments and for the hongmu Chinese market, for which only one alternative black wood, the near-threatened Dalbergia melanoxylon Guill. et Perr., is commercially available. Trade statistics suggest that exports from source countries where the species is cut under the forest concession system are relatively low compared to countries like Cameroon which has seen a recent increase in exports, and where ebony is exploited without forest management plans. Logging remains a concern where the exploitation and trade of D. crassiflora are managed in response to demand rather than informed by current stock levels, growth rate and the particular reproductive biology of this species. The recent successes of private sector initiatives to ensure the long-term supply of ebony in Cameroon are promising, but would require long-term and large-scale commitments involving direct and indirect stakeholders to develop programs for the plantation and policies for the sustainable management of the species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Long-term forest cover and height changes on abandoned agricultural land were examined. • The period between 1963 and 2012 was analyzed. • A point cloud created from historical stereometric images was used. • The current state comes from LiDAR data. • A proposed differential curve standardizes the interpretation of long-term changes caused by agricultural land abandonment. The development of methods for identifying long-term land cover changes is important for many research domains that focus on environmental changes. Analyses of changes in forest vegetation cover are of particular relevance. The interpretation potential of results increases when, in addition to changes in an area occupied by forest cover, we are also able to identify the variability of the area's height over time. The paper presents a method for precise assessment of changes in forest cover and height over several decades in forests and areas affected by agricultural land abandonment. The data was sourced from two point clouds: one set was collected using airborne laser scanning and represents the current state; the other was obtained from processed monochromatic stereometric aerial images and represents the historical state. The study involved a dataset made up of nine test fields of 1.3 km2 each. The data processing which was used to obtain a family of universal curves that represents certain aspects of forest cover and height changes during the time interval is described. The proposed approach could standardize the presentation and interpretation of long-term changes caused by agricultural land abandonment, deforestation, regular forestry operations, fires, outbreaks of forest pests, and extreme events like heat waves or droughts. This method can also be used to estimate the approximate point in time when events took place that led to a loss of forest cover. This can improve the accuracy of long-term analyses of the dynamics of the extent of forest cover changes and land abandonment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To realize the highly controllable performance of fiber-reinforced composites (FRCs), many efforts have been made to tailor the fiber alignment. Researchers mainly focus on controlling the fibers arranged in one direction. However, there is a lack of work to build a densely packed fiber forest on a quasi 2D plane. Herein, we proposed a simple and efficient papermaking method to prepare a uniform long carbon fiber (LCF)/polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) ultrafine fiber hybrid paper, followed by a thermal-compression approach to achieve quasi 2D ordered alignment of LCFs via controlling the composite thickness and LCF length. The obtained PPS composite has a uniform dispersion of quasi 2D ordered LCF forests and low depletion of LCFs, endowing the composite with outstanding tensile and flexural properties superior to some reported ones. Besides, the as-prepared composite exhibits controllable conductive performance along the parallel direction. The strategy endows the PPS composites with a uniform dispersion of quasi 2D ordered LCF forests and low depletion of LCFs during manufacturing procedure, which promise the resistance to interlaminar fracture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the progress in sustainable development strategies, the role of the Amazon rainforest as a carbon sink faces increasing disturbances that may have a critical impact on global climate. Understanding the vulnerability of the Amazon rainforest to climate change is a major challenge, considering the complex interaction between human and natural systems. This paper aims, via an interdisciplinary approach, to assess the observed evolution and possible future of the Amazon rainforest, considering different global climate and socio-economic scenarios. By comparing historical with plausible future developments, we present key knowledge to inform mitigation and regional adaptation policy considerations. As an entry point, historical trends of annual mean temperature and precipitation were analysed. In a second step, the same assessment was made for the mean annual NDVI sum (a proxy of yearly plant productivity), representing vegetation strength. For these purposes, a 34-year period (1982–2015) was considered. Trends were analysed based on non-parametric Mann-Kendall and Sen's methods. With this representation of the past, the next step focused on future scenarios. The most plausible global emission pathways were evaluated via the comparison of ten assessments of the possible effects of the mitigation action plans of national governments, as stated in the National Determined Contributions (NDCs). Results indicate a strong consensus that if either current policies, unconditional or conditional NDCs are fulfilled, the limit of global warming by "well below 2 °C" will be exceeded. In this context, climate projections for the Amazon suggest, among other results, an increase in the range of 1.3 °C (lower limit under SSP1-2.6) to 6.5 °C (upper limit under SSP5-8.5). Unlike temperature, positive and negative anomalies are expected for precipitation depending on location. Despite the uncertainty regarding the projections, possible changes such as forest diebacks and savannization may take place, namely in southeastern Amazon, by the end of the century. Overall, this study highlights the importance of carefully considering the combination of different factors, such as deforestation, to guarantee rainforest resilience under climate-driven changes. • Annual trends for 1982-2015 suggest significant temperature increases of 0.2–0.3 °C/decade, generally spread over the Amazon • Strong consensus that if policies, or conditional NDCs are fulfilled, the limit of global warming by "well below 2 °C" will be exceeded • Projections indicate average increases for the Amazon of 4–6.5 °C (SSP5-8.5), 2.2–3.5 °C (SSP2-4.5), and 1.3–2.2 °C (SSP1-2.6) • Southeastern Amazon is the most vulnerable area with increasing temperature, decreasing precipitation, and heavy deforestation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• There is potential for land intensification in the Brazilian Amazon. • There is a "U-shaped" relationship between farm-size and land use efficiency. • Land use efficiency reaches its minimum level at approximately 16,600 ha. • The turning point is far above the typical size of farms in the Brazilian Amazon. • The current process of land concentration may decrease land use efficiency. This paper investigates the relationship between farm size and land use efficiency in the Brazilian Amazon. Based on data from the 2006 Brazilian Agricultural Census, we estimated a stochastic production frontier model which allowed us to quantify the excessive use of agricultural land. Our results suggest that there is plenty of room for land use intensification, which would allow agricultural expansion without further deforestation pressures. We also observed a "U-shaped" relationship between farm size and land use efficiency. However, the turning point of the relationship is far above the typical size of agricultural establishments in the Brazilian Amazon as land use efficiency reached its minimum level at approximately 8,000 ha. For practical purposes, our estimates are in line with previous results that found a negative relationship between farm size and land use efficiency. This means that the current process of land concentration observed in the region would result in increased land use inefficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artisanal Small-scale Mining (ASM) is a critical source of livelihoods for large areas of the Global South but it can bring with it many problems, including deforestation, water pollution and low worker safety. Timely and comprehensive management of ASM is crucial to ensure that it can take place safely and cleanly, supporting sustainable development. The informal nature of the sector presents challenges related to documenting the locations of ASM. Remote sensing methods have been used to detect ASM, although difficulties with accuracy, resolution and persistent cloud cover have been encountered. This paper proposes a method of ASM detection using a deep convolutional neural network model applied to open source Sentinel-2 multispectral satellite imagery. Firstly, the model is evaluated against both existing ASM detection methods and visual inspection of randomly sampled points. Secondly, the model is used to map mining and urban land use changes over a dataset spanning four years and 6 million hectares of southern Ghana, demonstrating the ability of this method to process very large areas. The omission and commission errors of less than 8% from the sampled points indicate that this model has achieved unprecedented levels of accuracy for the task of detecting ASM from satellite imagery. When applied to the case study area, the data on ASM trends over time demonstrate a correlation between the Ghanaian government's 2017 clampdown and ASM activities. The ASM land use category decreased by 6000 ha in 2017, despite a net increase of 15000 ha over the period 2015–2019. Additionally, the model was applied to quantify the extent of illegal mining related deforestation within Ghana's protected forests, measured at over 3500 ha, with 2400 of these lost since 2015. The results demonstrate that this methodology can detect ASM in Ghana with a high degree of accuracy at a minimal cost in terms of financial and human resources. The model shows strong generalisation abilities, offering exciting potential for using this methodology to further monitor and analyse ASM related land use changes worldwide. Unlabelled Image • Multispectral U-Net convolutional neural network to detect artisanal scale mining. • Uses open source Sentinel-2 MSI imagery. • Significant accuracy improvements over traditional machine learning methods. • Mining related deforestation increased by 15,000 ha over the study period. • Potential for low-cost monitoring system to process mining land use changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainability commitments by private sector actors are emerging as interventions to help reduce global deforestation. Much attention is placed on the forest conservation impact of these interventions in areas where commodity production constitutes a main driver of deforestation. It is, however, less clearly understood what role they could play in areas where the production of commodities is not evidently leading to the loss of forest and how they could contribute to other objectives including sustainable rural development and peacebuilding. In this paper, we examine the potential of the cocoa sector in Colombia in achieving deforestation reduction and peacebuilding simultaneously, as aimed by the country's Cocoa, Forests and Peace Initiative. Results from correlations and spatially explicit analyses show that regardless of its widespread production across Colombia, in the past fifteen years cocoa has not been an important driver of deforestation. This suggests that efforts to end deforestation in the Colombian cocoa sector emerged following global trends, and not because of an evident link between cocoa production and deforestation. Furthermore, results from spatial clustering analyses highlight areas where different types of value chain interventions may be appropriate to parallel forest conservation and peacebuilding, while interviews with key actors in the cocoa sector provide clues as to how these interventions should be developed and implemented. Specifically, our results show that narratives around approaches to achieve zero deforestation from agricultural commodities should (1) be adjusted to local contexts, (2) incorporate location-specific development needs, (3) complement existing rural development efforts, (4) enhance collaboration among actors that operate both within and beyond the value chain, and (5) apply high-resolution data to assess deforestation-commodity relations and verify zero-deforestation commitments. These considerations are particularly relevant in contexts where commodity production is not evidently leading to deforestation, as in the case of cocoa production in Colombia. • We explore the role of value chain interventions (VCI) in reducing deforestation. • We use quantitative analyses and interviews with key stakeholders in the cocoa sector. • Results suggest that cocoa production has not led to deforestation in Colombia. • VCI provide an opportunity to put private sector's zero-deforestation commitments into action. • There is no conceptual frameworks to integrate deforestation concerns into VCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To allow for the production of timber while preserving conservation values, forestry regulations in the Congo Basin have made Forest Management Plans (FMP) mandatory in logging concessions. This paper uses original high-resolution maps of forest-cover changes and official records on the activities of logging concessions to analyze the impact of FMP on deforestation in this region. We apply quasi-experimental and difference-in-difference approaches to evaluate the change in deforestation in concessions managed under an approved FMP. We find that between 2000 and 2010, deforestation was 74% lower in concessions with an FMP compared to others. Building on a theory of change, further analyses revealed that this decrease in deforestation takes time to occur and is highest around communities located in and nearby logging concessions, and in areas close to previous deforestation. These findings suggest that FMP help avoid deforestation by allowing logging companies to rotate cycles of timber extraction, thereby avoiding the overexploitation of areas that were previously logged, and by the better regulation of access to concessions by closing former logging roads to limit illegal activities such as shifting agriculture, hunting and the illegal harvest of timber or fuel-wood. • Logging concessions with an approved forest management plan have lower level of deforestation in the Congo Basin. • This lower deforestation is not immediate and takes time to come about in concessions with a forest management plan. • Deforestation avoided is more pronounced around communities located within or nearby to logging concessions and close to sites of previous deforestation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) no. 15 addresses the protection of terrestrial ecosystems and sustainable forest management, and Target 15.2 encourages countries to sustainably manage forests, and halt deforestation by 2020. SDG indicator 15.1.1 proposes tracking forest area as an indicator for achieving that SDG. Though mangrove forests represent only about 5% of Belize's overall forest cover, the critical ecosystem services they provide are recognized in the country's Forests Act, which regulates the modification of mangrove ecosystems. Preceding the SDGs, from 2008 to 2009, the Government of Belize piloted a complete moratorium on mangrove removal, building on the Forests Act. As Earth Observation (EO) systems provide a means to track effectiveness of Belize's management of its mangrove forests, this paper examines historic and recent changes in mangrove cover across all of Belize, applying statistical adjustments to rates of change derived from Landsat satellite data. Particular attention was paid to the country's only World Heritage Site, the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System (BBRRS), where mangrove clearing was prohibited since the site's designation in December 1996. The data indicate that within the BBRRS, approximately 89 ha of mangroves were lost from 1996 to 2017, compared to the estimated loss of 2703 ha outside the BBRRS during the same period, and nationwide loss of almost 4100 ha from 1980 to 2017. Thus, compared to the mangroves outside of the BBRRS, the annual rate of mangrove loss within the BBRRS over the period 1996–2017 was merely 4.24 ha per year, versus 129.11 ha per year outside the BBRRS. Furthermore, almost 75% of the 1996–2017 mangrove loss outside the BBRRS were concentrated in three particular geographic zones associated with tourism infrastructure. It was also estimated that Belize's overall mangrove cover declined 5.4% over 36 years, from 76,250 ha in 1980 to 72,169 ha in 2017. In terms of its implications, in addition to contributing to SDG 15, this work also addresses SDG Target 14.2 regarding sustainable management of marine and coastal ecosystems. This study serves as a use case of how EO data can contribute to monitoring changes in baseline data and thus tracking of progress toward SDG Targets. • Mangrove loss rates across Belize were examined for 1980–2017. • Remote sensing data were statistically adjusted. • The Belize Barrier Reef World Heritage Site lost 89 ha. of mangroves over 21 years. • Outside the World Heritage Site, 2703 ha of mangrove were lost. • Belize's overall mangrove area declined by 5.4% from 1980 to 2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• We study the relationship between agricultural land title, land use, and forest loss in Vietnam. • The household's share of agricultural land in title is associated with intensification and increased output. • The share of households with land in title and the share of land in title are associated with forest loss. • Weak evidence that increasing the average share of household titled ag land decreases forest loss. This paper studies the relationship between land tenure for smallholder agriculture and deforestation. We combine high resolution satellite data on deforestation with rich household and commune-level, biannual panel data from Vietnam. We study two margins of tenure security, whether a household has any land title (extensive) and the share of a household's land held in title (intensive). Using a household-fixed effects model, we find the increases in crop production and land investment associated with holding land title are driven by the intensive margin. We then aggregate the survey data to the commune-level and find evidence that marginal increases in extensive tenure (share of households with any land title) increase deforestation holding constant the average intensive tenure (average share of land held in tenure among those with land title). We find some evidence that increasing the intensive margin of tenure (holding constant the extensive tenure) decreases deforestation. These results present a more nuanced view of the tenure-deforestation relationship than is prevalent in the existing literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Models were developed to overcome shortcomings of traditional meta-analyses. • Models for smalls scales proposed around 1990 were not widely used. • Practical models focusing on specific contexts began to be developed around 2000. • Forest hydrologists should develop practical models for collective decision-making. There exist very few reviews of models that predict changes in evapotranspiration with forest management (e.g., clearcutting and thinning). This omission has potentially prevented forest hydrologists from effectively identifying critical research topics and collaborating with policymakers, practitioners, and researchers in related fields to assist policymaking. To remedy this omission, the current study elaborates why models were needed in the first place and how models were developed historically. Models were developed to overcome limitations of traditional meta-analyses of measurement studies (i.e., inability to explain between-site variations in evapotranspiration changes with forest management) that had been recognized since the 1960s. With the improvement of the understandings about evapotranspiration processes, forest hydrologists proposed models that could predict changes in evapotranspiration with forest management around 1990. Among the models proposed around 1990, models for large scales were widely used for practical purposes (e.g., assessing the impact of large-scale deforestation on the continental and global water cycle). However, models for small scales were not widely used for assessing the impacts of forest management on water resources and other practical purposes. One major reason for this was that models for small scales proposed around 1990 were primarily designed as research tools. To improve practical applicability, forest hydrologists then started developing simple, practical models for small scales that focused on applications to a particular area, species, and purpose around 2000. Considering the necessity of human society to adapt to emerging environmental challenges within a limited time frame, we conclude that the primary role of forest hydrologists in this era is to quickly detect emerging environmental challenges and then develop practical models for connecting different stakeholders for collective decision-making. This paper also suggests that the use of practical models can be a starting point to rearticulate the role of forest hydrologists in policymaking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Conflict may damage forests or help preserving them by dissuading economic activity. • We use satellite data to study the effect of Colombia's peace deal on forest cover. • Former conflict areas differentially lose forest cover after the FARC's ceasefire. • Loss in forest cover is offset by state capacity, but exacerbated by cattle ranching. • Findings highlight the importance of complementing peacemaking with state building. Armed conflict can endanger natural resources through several channels such as direct predation from fighting groups, but it may also help preserve ecosystems by dissuading extractive economic activities through the fear of extortion. The effect of conflict on deforestation is thus an empirical question. This paper studies the effect on forest cover of Colombia's recent peace negotiation between the government and the FARC insurgency. Using yearly deforestation data from satellite images and a difference-in-differences identification strategy, we show that areas controlled by FARC prior to the declaration of a permanent ceasefire experienced a differential increase in deforestation after the start of the ceasefire. The deforestation effect of peace is attenuated in municipalities with higher state presence and judicial capacity, and is exacerbated by land intensive economic activities. Our results highlight the importance of complementing peacemaking milestones with state building efforts to avoid environmental damage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]