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• Land use policies have had a strong bearing on landscape patterns. • Rapid expansion of plantation forest due to tax benefits for MIS forestry. • Reforestation policies are vulnerable to legislative changes of tax rulings. • Tax-effective schemes should be grounded in sound market principles to avoid failure. Land use policies interact with biophysical and socioeconomic characteristics to determine land use and land cover (LULC) changes. This paper presents a method for assessing the determinants of plantation land use transitions from 1979 to 2014 from Landsat data for the Warren River Catchment (4,416 km2) in Western Australia. This catchment is intrinsically interesting because it is a frontier between agriculture, high biodiversity native forests and commercial forest plantations. Further land use policies have had a strong bearing on LULC. Initial forest clearing in the catchment was the result of agricultural development policy. It was followed by the ban on clearing native vegetation on private land in 1978. The Management Investment Scheme introduced in the 1990s led to a rapid increase in the area of plantation forest on agricultural land. The catchment has two significant environmental problems: first dryland salinity leading to land degradation and the salinization of rivers and streams; and second the protection of high levels of endemic biodiversity. LULC changes from 1979 to 2014 reveal that soil depth, distance to urban centres, surrounding land use, and private land are positively correlated with transitions to plantation forest. The Management Investment Scheme brought the largest changes in LULC as land transitioned into Eucalyptus plantations in the 1990s when the tax incentives were introduced and then gradually out of plantations by clear-felling and conversion to agriculture as tax benefits for the scheme were reformulated and uncertainty about the policy increased. Other evidence on policy effects are that the Forest Management Plans have sustained the area of native forest and the ban on clearing has been effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An urgent need to stop degradation is frequently cited as support for climate mitigation efforts involving forests. However, lessons learnt from social science research on degradation narratives are not taken into consideration. This creates a risk of problematic degradation narratives being used to legitimise forest carbon projects. This study examined a Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) forest plantation in Uganda, where incomplete and partly contradictory evidence on land use change was interpreted in a way that overemphasised degradation. This interpretation was in line with the interests of the forestry company proposing the CDM activity and with national interests in Uganda, and was stimulated by CDM guidelines and regulations. Our investigation revealed a more complex picture of land cover change in the area that did not support the narrative of an area undergoing continuous degradation. We therefore recommend that close scrutiny of the degradation narrative presented be included in every type of forest carbon project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This study investigates the development of forestry Clean Development Mechanism projects on the Loess Plateau in China and analyzes its feasibility using Zhifanggou Valley as an example. The study considers the unique ecological environment and socio-economic situation of the project site, and applies the tree-shrub-grass model with the purpose of maximizing carbon sequestration in the area without compromising the quality of its environment. Income generation analysis and GIS analysis were applied in the research. Possible social and economic impacts of these projects are also discussed. Additional income opportunities for backward rural areas are explored, also in order to find new perspectives for conflicts between limited compensation periods to farmers involved in CDM projects and sustainable agro-forestry development. In particular, the study focuses on the impacts of forestry projects in rural areas on the Loess Plateau, from the perspectives of poverty reduction and, at the same time, ecological conservation policies. Results reveal that forestry CDM projects could generate CNY 140,000 annually for local residents or CNY 1240 per household when carbon sequestration of grasslands can be credited. Therefore, revenues generated by forestry CDM could make a significant contribution to vegetation conservation in these rural areas. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Joint Forest Management (JFM), embracing the philosophy of forest conservation and livelihood improvement through cooperation between state and civil society, has emerged over the past decades both as a specific paradigm of forest governance in India and as India''s largest community forestry program. The JFM program, evolved during early 1970s covering a few forest villages as a model for reversing the trend of degraded forest ecosystem through the active protection by local villagers. The JFM program is implemented currently by 106,482 Joint Forest Management Committees (JFMC) and it covers 22 million ha of forests spread across 28 constituent states of India and union territories. JFM emerged against a backdrop of two centuries of centralised bureaucratic control over forest management in India. Centralized control during the 19th and 20th centuries failed either to conserve resources or to contribute substantially to the well-being of local populations. However, inconsistent persuasions from decentralization policies in India under present forest policy (1988) have prompted people to analyse the theoretical basis for accepting that decentralization would bring improvements in forest ecosystem management. Still others have contested the de facto rationale for decentralization (i.e., improved forest management) and have suggested that decentralization may be a manipulation by elites to serve their own interests or to shift power, for example from national to international agencies that have funded decentralization. Thirty years from its inception, there are now concerns for the recent effectiveness of JFM (over the past 20 years) because it is a group action that is getting old and is perhaps losing some of its pioneering drive and innovativeness. Although JFM has been administered nationally, decisions on implementation detail have been left to the individual states, resulting in different strategies. The long history of JFM has also provided scope for experiences with it to change over time as well as between places. Given the range of experiences with and perceptions of JFM, as well as the importance of the objectives JFM ostensibly serves, the time is ripe therefore for a retrospective evaluation to take stock of its actual achievements, its status and ways forward. The current paper seeks to provide such a review and analysis. The paper highlights design and implementation issues related to government resolutions, benefits-sharing and forest offences. It also assesses the critical design factors and key drivers responsible for institutional reforms. The paper evaluates impacts of protection on forest productivity and on the livelihoods of local communities. It highlights that the JFM program, by virtue of the diversity of its implementation, provides an ideal laboratory for exploring why similar reforms can lead to different outcomes. The paper argued that though there are supporting government policy and guideline and massive fund support, why there has been a low down of enthusiasm for JFM in the last two decades. From experiences, it suggests strategies for its revival and JFM can further contribute effective toward forest conservation and enhanced livelihood opportunities in the future. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs) have been a pervasive, although widely criticized, approach to tropical conservation for more than 20 years. More recently, international conservation discourse has shifted away from project-based approaches and towards reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD). While REDD is based upon experience with payment for environmental services (PES) initiatives and forest-related discussions in the United Nations (UN), REDD implementation will still require sub-national projects. Issues of equity will likely pit these sub-national projects against some of the same challenges that have dogged ICDPs. This suggests that REDD project developers stand to learn a great deal from the lessons generated by experience with ICDPs. This paper provides a list of best practices for ICDPs and applies their lessons as principles to guide the development and implementation of sub-national REDD projects. The intent of this approach is to encourage the design and implementation of sub-national REDD projects in a way that avoids the past pitfalls and mistakes, while building upon some successes, of the ICDP conservation approach. By doing so, REDD will be more likely to be implemented in a way that is effective, efficient and equitable. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Since pristine Atlantic Forest remnants are vanishing, and biological reserves are in short, conservation of biodiversity will largely depend on proper management of the anthropogenic matrix. Here, we test (1) the effectiveness of ecologically-managed tree monocultures in maintaining Araucaria Forest biodiversity, (2) how this effectiveness change among taxa, and (3) we discuss management principles that can be used by the forestry industry in order to contribute positively to biodiversity conservation. The study was conducted in the São Francisco de Paula National Forest, southern Brazil, an environmental mosaic composed mostly of patches of Araucaria Forest and ecologically-managed monocultures of Araucaria, Pinus and Eucalyptus. Using standardized sampling methods in these four main habitats, we have recorded the richness and species composition of small mammals, birds, leaf-litter frogs, butterflies, galling insects, spiders, opiliones, flatworms, woody plants, epiphytic angiosperms, epiphytic ferns, lichens, and fruit-body producing fungi. Overall, we recorded 506 species in Araucaria Forest, 181 (36%) of which were exclusive of this habitat while 325 (64%) could be found in at least one monoculture. Distribution patterns of species richness and number of records across taxonomic groups showed that a large biodiversity can be found inside ecologically-managed plantations of Araucaria, Pinus, and Eucalyptus. For all studied taxa, except for epiphytic angiosperms and fruit-body producing fungi, more than half of the Araucaria Forest species could be found living on monocultures. We discuss how the actual management practices of the forest industry can be improved to contribute positively to the conservation of the Atlantic Forest biodiversity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Summary: This paper analyzes institutional design, organizational capacity, and interplay in markets for ecosystem services. It examines the development of a market-based mechanism to commercialize forest carbon in Mexico through the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). This is compared with a State-run carbon forestry program aiming to provide emission rights to voluntary, retail-based, carbon markets. Marketing forest carbon is hampered by lack of organizational capacity in government and civil society, uncertainties in the international policy process, and the interplay with existing common property institutions in rural Mexico. The paper identifies theoretical and practical barriers to implementing institutional arrangements for forest carbon trading. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Scientific uncertainty plays a significant role in forest policy and planning. Ecological complexity, the gap between science and policy, and public perceptions of science all contribute to the challenge of dealing with scientific uncertainty. This paper provides an overview of the role of scientific uncertainty in U.S. forest policy and an analysis of the requirements for responding to uncertainty under the National Forest Management Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and Endangered Species Act. The analysis includes a review of a broad range of literature and relevant statutory and regulatory language, along with several illustrative examples of case law. Findings include that all three laws allow for considerable agency discretion in cases of scientific uncertainty, and none prescribes a particular response to uncertainty. Approaches such as adaptive management may provide a way to proceed despite uncertainty, and while this approach represents something of a new paradigm in public land management, it is not incompatible with the current legal framework. The article concludes with recommendations, such as increased transparency and changes in the norms of judicial review, for increasing the accountability of decisions when uncertainty is involved. Also considered are other suggestions, such as peer-review, Daubert standards, and Bayesian inference techniques. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Sample-based large area forest inventories are carried out in many countries specifically to provide information for forest policy and related decision making. In addition, ecologically meaningful information can be derived from the inventory data, including tree species richness. However, sample-based estimation of the total number of species is notoriously difficult. This study explores the strengths and weaknesses of large area forest inventory data in species richness estimation with a focus on the corresponding higher order jackknife estimators. Our test data set comes from a regional forest inventory in Northern Costa Rica. In our study, none of the kth order jackknife estimators reaches an asymptote and most have standard errors increasing with sample size. Inexplicably, the 4th and 5th order jackknives fail as estimators for our data—the estimates are almost identical to and even lower than the observed number of species. Additionally, higher order jackknives show large sampling variation. The 1st and 2nd order jackknives have small variation and thus are more reliable than higher order jackknives. The failure of the higher order jackknives suggests that the bias reduction theories underpinning the generalized jackknives are possibly not suited to the problem of species richness estimation. Care is, therefore, needed when interpreting a jackknife estimate of species richness. Various relevant practical issues in large area forest inventory implementation, particularly in the tropics, are discussed, including the accuracy of tree species identification and the presence of a certain percentage of unidentified tree individuals. These issues, obviously, pose an additional challenge in species richness estimation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Throughout the world forestry programmes are often promoted for their environmental, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, bio-fuel, timber production, amenity and social benefits. Not always are the water resource costs taken into account. This paper discusses the need for an improved forest impact assessment framework to assist policymakers and planners in making evidence-based decisions on forest and land use policy. Although forest hydrology has made major advances in recent years science findings have not always reached the policy domain. Examples of the need for the improved connection of science and policy are given for China, India, Panama, UK and Japan. New tools and approaches are suggested for helping to bridge the research to policy gap and to ensure that forest programmes are set in the context of long-term sustainable land and water management. The paper echoes the call by the International Union of Forest Research Organisations for a task force on forest and water interactions to address these issues. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Given the decision to include small-scale sinks projects implemented by low-income communities in the clean development mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol, the paper explores some of the basic governance conditions that such carbon forestry projects will have to meet if they are to be successfully put in practice. To date there are no validated small-scale sinks projects and investors have shown little interest in financing such projects, possibly to due to the risks and uncertainties associated with sinks projects. Some suggest however, that carbon has the potential to become a serious commodity on the world market, thus governance over ownership, rights and responsibilities merit discussion. Drawing on the interdisciplinary development, as well as from the literature on livelihoods and democratic decentralization in forestry, the paper explores how to adapt forest carbon projects to the realities encountered in the local context. It also highlights the importance of capitalizing on synergies with other rural development strategies, ensuring stakeholder participation by working with accountable, representative local organizations, and creating flexible and adaptive project designs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The stated forest policies of governments of developing countries, published in official documents, often differ from their actual policies. The historical trend in actual forest policy in Sierra Leone is explained by changes in the balance of pressures on policy makers from internal exploitative and protectionist groups. The combined trend in actual and stated policies is episodic, passing from the exploitative phase to the sustainable management (1911), ambiguous (1922), exploitative (1929), sustainable management (1946) and ambiguous phases (1968). This contrasts with the progression through exploitative, ambiguous and sustainable management phases seen in other countries. Divergence in colonial times from a stated policy of sustainable management, justified by a narrative framed within a colonial environmental discourse, mainly resulted from external pressure stemming from an Imperial discourse of political and economic security. Divergence in the post-colonial era is explained by lack of domestic ownership of colonial, and later eco-imperialist, forest policies, and the peripherality of policy texts of the institutional state to the ‘shadow’ neo-patrimonial state, which was the real centre of power and added institutional ambiguity to policy ambiguity as a tool to contest overseas pressures and defend national autonomy. There is no apparent link between divergence and type of political system, probably because of the pervasiveness of the neo-patrimonial state, though ambiguity was less prevalent in colonial times. Indigenous democratization and pluralization should help domestic protectionist groups to become more powerful, but external attempts to impose political change might be counterproductive by prompting further instrumental use of ambiguity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: There are several contentious issues related to forestry mitigation projects. The special report of the IPCC and literature published so far have shown that permanence, leakage, baseline establishment, measurement, monitoring, etc., could be addressed satisfactorily using existing scientific methods and accounting rules. To understand the methodological issues of developing community forestry projects, a case study was conducted in Mancherial forest division of Adilabad district in Andhra Pradesh, India. This paper addresses: the setting of project boundaries, baseline selection, establishment of additionality and the calculation of carbon sequestration as a result of the project, prior to project implementation. The steps involved in development of the project and the different methods used for establishing baseline, estimating leakage and transaction cost of developing a community forestry project are presented. The stock is projected to increase by 1480×103 t C during 2000–2012 over the baseline scenario under the modeling approach and the cost of establishing a baseline and project formulation for a project extending over 32,956ha is estimated to be US$ 1.25ha−1 and US$ 4t C−1. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Land use, Land-use change and Forestry (LULUCF) has been a controversial subject in the climate negotiations. The inclusion of LULUCF in the clean development mechanism (CDM) and the rules and modalities for such an inclusion belong to the most complicated and technical negotiation issues in the history of the Kyoto Protocol. This paper examines in detail the implications of different policy decisions concerning the inclusion of CDM forestry projects in the first commitment period of the climate regime (2008–2012). The analysis is based on the development of marginal carbon sequestration cost curves which are implemented into the carbon market model CERT. The latter is a partial equilibrium model of the international market for emissions permits under the Kyoto Protocol. The scenario analysis sheds light on the role of CDM forestry projects in the climate regime, the effect of different policy scenarios on the permit price as well as the distribution of benefits and losses between countries. The results suggest that the role of forestry projects in the CDM in the first commitment period will be rather small. The countries mainly benefiting from the introduction of forestry in the CDM are the Annex B countries as a whole, as well as the Latin-American and African countries. In spite of the benefits to Annex B as a whole, the hot air holding countries lose, while in the group of the Non-Annex B countries, China is the biggest loser from an introduction of LULUCF in the CDM. The comparison of benefits and losses of countries with their respective negotiating position on the issue shows that economic reasons can explain country negotiating positions partly. In some cases, however, country positions are driven by reasons other than economic interest. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

On peut distinguer trois phases dans la politique de restauration des terrains en montagne, de l'ancien re´gime a` nos jours. La question de la se´curite´ des personnes et des biens reste centrale, mais se transforme au fil de l'e´volution des populations montagnardes. [Copyright 2002 Elsevier]

Presents a study which examined how seemingly participatory institutions can exclude significant sections, such as women, in community development projects. Discussion on the typology of participation in community development; Brief background on community forestry groups in South Asia; Analysis of participatory exclusions based on field visits and interviews among community forestry groups in India and Nepal in 1998 and 1999.

Investigates the links between conservation of natural resources and development in Cameroon. Exploration of local perceptions of integrated conservation and development projects; Improvement of incomes and livelihoods; Decrease in the pressure on the forest.