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The forest industry is a significant contributor to the development of roads and most are constructed on Aboriginal territories. Many Aboriginal communities are isolated both socially and economically and Aboriginal cultures are often described as having inherent socio-environmental relationships. Aboriginal communities, therefore, may be the most likely to benefit and be most vulnerable to the impacts of road development. We use a case study approach to explore how an Aboriginal community interprets and responds to the increasing development of roads in its territory. The results are interpreted using the theory of access in order to frame the interactions between people and nature within a cohesive system which includes elements which are spatially located, flow, interact, and can be disturbed. The dominant themes discussed as being affected by the influence of roads on access included issues of the following nature: Aboriginal, hunting, foreign, territorial and environmental. Issues pertaining to Aboriginal actors as opposed to foreign actors such as the industry or non-aboriginal hunters and fishers dominated discussions. Although the positive effects provided by roads were alluded to, focus tended towards the affected relationships and ties between the territory, the environment and Aboriginal members. Roads are associated with changes in traditional roles and practices which benefit individualistic behaviors. The access mechanisms mediating and controlling the use of resources through traditional norms and roles such as sharing, asking permission, and helping in the practice of traditional activities no longer apply effectively. Changes in the traditional spatial organization of the territory have minimized the influence of knowledge, identity, and negotiation in mediating access among communities. Results highlight that conflicts have thus resulted between and among Aboriginal communities. Also, perception of the role of the environment and ways in which traditional practices occur has altered important socio-environmental dynamics which are part of Aboriginal culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assisted migration (AM) is often presented as a strategy to save species that are imminently threatened by rapid climate change. This conception of AM, which has generated considerable controversy, typically proposes the movement of narrowly distributed, threatened species to suitable sites beyond their current range limits. However, existing North American forestry operations present an opportunity to practice AM on a larger scale, across millions of hectares, with a focus on moving populations of widely distributed, nonthreatened tree species within their current range limits. Despite these differences (and many others detailed herein), these two conceptions of AM have not been clearly distinguished in the literature, which has added confusion to recent dialogue and debate. Here, we aim to facilitate clearer communication on this topic by detailing this distinction and encouraging a more nuanced view of AM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this review paper is to provide a structured overview on the state-of-the-art of research on Swedish forest policy over the last two decades. An additional aim is to identify major trends and blind-spots within this research area. To achieve this aim, 34 peer-reviewed journal articles and Ph.D. theses on forest policy in Sweden published between 1990 and 2009 have been reviewed and analyzed. The categories used comprise the date of publication, the affiliation of the author, theories and methodologies used, as well as major conclusions drawn. One major result of the review is that there is a continuous increase in the studies on Swedish forest policy, not the least due to the fact that an increasing number of authors are affiliated with non-forest research organizations. The shift of authors from forest scientists to political scientists is also linked to the theories used in these studies, e.g. neo-institutionalism. The main focus of the reviewed studies is on small-scale forestry as well as on governance, in particular on certification. Analysis of the linkage between Swedish forest policy and political processes beyond the nation state are an exception in the reviewed papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The property rights and the type of ownership (private owners, public domain and commons) are two fundamental concepts in relationship to the local development and to the social and environmental sustainability. Common forests were established in Europe since the Middle Ages, but over the centuries the importance of commons changed in parallel with economic and social changes. In recent decades, the scientific debate focused on the forest management efficiency and sustainability of this type of ownership in comparison to the public and private property. In Italy common forests have a long tradition with substantial differences in the result of historical evolution in various regions. In Sardinia region the private forests are 377.297 ha, the public forests are 201.324 ha, while around 120.000 ha are commons. The respect of the common rights changed in the different historical periods. Today, the common lands are managed directly by municipalities or indirectly through third parties, in both cases the involvement of members of community is very low. The main objective of the paper is to analyse forest management differences in public institutions with and without common property rights. To achieve the objective of the research the forest management preferences of community members and managers were evaluated and compared. The analysis was realized through the use of the principal-agent model and it has been tested in a case study in Sardinia region (Arci-Grighine district). The analysis of the results showed that the categories of actors considered (members of community, municipalities and managers) have a marked productive profile, but municipalities manage forests perceiving a moderate multifunctionality. Moreover, the representatives of the municipalities pay more attention to the interests of the collectivity in comparison to the external managers. They also attribute high importance to environmental and social forest functions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon sequestration and wood volume production will be major objectives of future forestry projects. Optimization of these two objectives will require a better understanding of how management regimes affect stand average wood density and carbon fraction. Two contrasting coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) sites were chosen for analysis of volume growth rates and tree stem carbon sequestration rates under two management systems—even-aged and multiaged—each with various treatments. A young plantation showed high volume increment and stem carbon sequestration rates in all treatments with the highest in the control plots. Control plots in the plantation had peak periodic volume increment of 75.6 m3 ha−1 year−1 and a maximum stem carbon sequestration rate of 16.08 tonnes C ha−1 year−1. The multiaged stand in contrast had the lowest volume and carbon increment in the control plots at 11.97 m3 ha−1 year−1 and 2.40 tonnes C ha−1 year−1, respectively. In both the management systems, significant differences were observed in the carbon fraction (mass carbon per unit mass dry wood) of heartwood (HW) and sapwood (SW) at 0.5385 and 0.5293, respectively, implying that increasing the ratio of HW to SW will result in higher average carbon fractions. Carbon density varied between management regimes with the highest values occurring in the multiaged stand indicating the potential for enhancement of carbon sequestration through silvicultural prescriptions. Utilization of standard carbon accounting practices resulted in a systematic underestimate of stand-level carbon stocks for both systems studied of 26 per cent in the even-aged stand and 27 per cent in the multiaged stand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies of the history and current status of forest resources in Northeast China have become important in discussions of sustainable forest management in the region. Prior to 1998, excessive logging and neglected cultivation led to a series of problems that left exploitable forest reserves in the region almost exhausted. A substantial decrease in the area of natural forests was accompanied by severe disruption of stand structure and serious degradation of overall forest quality and function. In 1998, China shifted the primary focus of forest management in the country from wood production to ecological sustainability, adopting ecological restoration and protection as key foci of management. In the process, China launched the Natural Forest Conversion Program and implemented a new system of Classification-based Forest Management. Since then, timber harvesting levels in Northeast China have decreased, and forest area and stocking levels have slowly increased. At present, the large area of low quality secondary forest lands, along with high levels of timber production, present researchers and government agencies in China with major challenges in deciding on management models and strategies that will best protect, restore and manage so large an area of secondary forest lands. This paper synthesizes information from a number of sources on forest area, stand characteristics and stocking levels, and forest policy changes in Northeastern China. Following a brief historical overview of forest harvesting and ecological research in Northeast China, the paper discusses the current state of forest resources and related problems in forest management in the region, concluding with key challenges in need of attention in order to meet the demands for multi-purpose forest sustainability and management in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BSTRACT In this article, I analyze the encounter between the Field Museum of Natural History and Amazonian Ecuador's Cofán people to question the concept of 'environmentality': the idea that environmentalist programs and movements operate as forms of governmentality in Michel Foucault's sense. I argue that, although the Field Museum's community conservation projects constitute a regulatory rationale and technique, they do not transform Cofán subjectivity according to plan. By exploring Cofán people's critical consciousness of environmentalist interventions, I aim to cast doubt on the governmentality paradigm's utility for analyzing the complexities of cultural difference, intercultural encounter, and directed change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landscape-level assessments, particularly the quantification of forest fragmentation, often involve calculating landscape metrics from classified remotely sensed images. The utility of these derived metrics is often assumed to be dependent on the quality of the classified images. We compared conventional, pixel-based classification and a newer method of object-based classification to determine the effects of these two methods on fragmentation analysis of Cockpit Country, Jamaica, West Indies. Both methods showed similar trends in fragmentation metrics; however, there were significant differences between the methods for the metrics that quantified landscape configuration. The object-based classification allowed for the easy inclusion of roads into the analysis, which produced more accurate maps that showed a significant difference in the size of the largest forest patch. The object-based method also allowed classification of forests to show the location and extent of core forest areas; we were therefore able to identify an area of core forest that had remained consistent over the study period as a significant area for conservation focus. We recommend that the object-based method be the method chosen for landscape analyses, particularly forest-fragmentation studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiscal policies are used by the Nigerian government to address economic development. However, these policies experienced sudden changes and created havoc to forestry development. The study evaluated how failed policies exerted negative impacts on sustainable forest management in Nigeria. Data were derived through a questionnaire survey and discussions held with major stakeholders. Results of data analyses revealed that various policy failures collectively contributed in: (i) high rate of dereservation of forests for alternative uses, (ii) massive encroachment into the forest reserves for food production, (iii) fragmentation of forest reserves which has hampered in situ conservation, and (iv) increased illegal activities in constituted forest reserves: logging, hunting and farming. Policy reforms should be anchored on full participation of all stakeholders in forest management and harmonization of various policies in the country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the relation between discourse and value in the production of a carbon forestry offset project among indigenous smallholders in Costa Rica. By analyzing a pivotal cost-benefit calculation that changed the trajectory of the project, this article makes two principal claims. First, the intelligibility of the calculation is grounded in a discursive formation that is emergent from a history of development projects in the region, where particular ways of speaking about the relation between indigenous bodies and agriculture have allowed carbon's commodification to emerge as a desirable project. Second, the calculations resulted in quantified representations of space that were necessary for the offset to become useful within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol. In this case, the forestry offset's use value derived from quantified representations of agricultural space; a process that opened some forms of land use for receiving carbon while foreclosing on others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous survey research into screening for environmental impact assessment (EIA) in England has found that few local authorities have very much experience of dealing with EIA projects. This research examined actual case files of projects that fall within the ambit of the UK's EIA Regulations and found an explanation for this lack of experience. In the majority of the cases examined they were not even screened to see if an EIA was required. This suggests that there is widespread misunderstanding of the EIA regulatory requirements by English local planning authorities. It is also suggested that there may be a culture of resistance to EIA among planners and that this can undermine both EIA effectiveness and the theories used to justify its use. [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]

The three Rio Conventions-the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification-face the challenge to create synergies at different levels. The objective of this article is to describe how we have assessed synergies between the Rio Conventions at the project level in the forest sector. Since the complexity of the decision problem is high, we adopted the Multicriteria Decision Aid approach, which can provide a broad insight into the decision problem and find a compromise solution to a problem with multidimensional and conflicting criteria including social, economic and environmental features. The ELECTRE TRI model was used for assessing synergies at the project level, and has been a useful tool to quantify the performance of afforestation and reforestation projects into three categories (synergistic, reasonably synergistic, and not synergistic). For the first time, afforestation and reforestation projects have been assessed in a comprehensive way through decision criteria that reflect global and local interests using a non-compensatory multicriteria method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical deforestation has become an integral part of climate change policy negotiations. Carbon forestry offset projects present the international community a new mechanism to protect forest cover and improve local livelihoods while simultaneously mitigating climate change. In the Peruvian Amazon agriculture is the dominant cause of deforestation. This study identifies the factors that influence farmers' land-use practices and consequently, the implications for carbon forestry projects. Importantly, this study finds that before these projects can be developed successfully the key drivers of deforestation, namely insecure land tenure, weak forest governance, and the opportunity-costs associated with alternative land management systems must be addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers updates related to the forests and forestry in Europe. It highlights the inauguration of the new building for Copenhagen University's national centre Forest & Landscape Denmark. It notes the appointment of Jorgen Bo Larsen as chairman of the European Forest Institute. It also highlights the activities of the Operations Systems Centre of Advanced Research (OSCAR) conference sponsored by the Norweigan Forest and Landscape Institute in October 2010.

This literature review evaluates two programs that attempt to involve women in community-based forestry projects: the Green Belt Movement led by Wangari Maathai in Kenya, and Nepal's government-sponsored Community Forestry Program. To evaluate the extent to which each program is a successful community-based conservation venture, the recommendations developed at the Airlie House Community Based Conservation Workshop in 1993 are used. These recommendations stipulate that factors such as culture, participation, resource ownership, and skills and knowledge transfer must be taken into account for a community-based conservation venture to be successful. To evaluate the extent to which each program is successful in securing the active involvement of women, the study evaluates how well they overcome a set of four factors that commonly limit women's involvement in forestry projects, developed by Molnar in 1997; this list includes limited access to productive resources, limited decision-making roles, limited participation in the labor market and lack of incentives for project workers to incorporate women. By evaluating each program's strengths and weaknesses, the paper reveals certain characteristics, such as cultural awareness and the incorporation of civic education and skill development, that community forestry programs must have in order to successfully involve women in their efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In most populations of mountain goats (Oreamnos americanus), mineral lick use is an essential part of the ecology of the species. In many areas, the distribution and use of licks in the landscape is poorly known, rendering planning for resource development difficult. We examined lick use by 28 GPS radio-collared mountain goats in 2 study areas in southeastern British Columbia during 2004-2005. Viewing collar-location movements on digital orthophotos, we assumed goat use of 6 previously known and 10 suspected mineral licks. Field visits verified that 9 of the 10 suspected sites were mineral licks. Thirteen of the 15 licks used by collared goats were within forests with commercial harvesting potential. All but 3 of the licks were ⩽600 m from the closest logging block, and 5 licks were <100 m away. Number of annual visits to licks by individual goats ranged from 0 to 9. Goats often moved considerable distances (up to 17.3 km) to visit licks. Most visits by males occurred between early May and late June (median 9 June), and most visits by females occurred between early June and mid-July (median 21 June). Mean time spent at licks on each visit was 1.5 days for females and 1.6 days for males. Most of the licks were characterized by numerous cavities dug under trees (which we term "lick trees"). Using GPS collars, we were able to collect data on lower-elevation mineral licks not previously known to researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design methodologies require applying techniques in the phase of generating options, selecting methods to achieve the best of them, and thereby meeting the needs of the various requirements of the project. In the forest industry, the case of engineering glued laminated timber is not immune to these demands. Using the methodology of Integrated Environmental Design (IED) and the Muticriteria Technical Decision (MCTD) method, referred to the stage, it was possible to achieve the successful consolidation of design and conceptual development of a new constructive component of structural quality with technical innovation criteria based on the use of optional materials and new manufacturing processes. First, a total of 53 alternatives to the structural elements were generated with the creative brainstorming technique. Secondly, a selection technique was carried out according to the environmental, socio-economic and technological change, which came to define alternative 7. Using the Expert Choice 2000, it was chosen among the last 7, option number 39. This one met the requirements of the above factors in terms of cost, quality, resistance and Ecodesign principles, such as reduced energy consumption, use of alternative raw materials such as grass, recycling and reuse of raw materials, among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The University Green program of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) is an urban forestry partnership between four universities and their surrounding communities. The program offers excellent strategies for fostering improved collegecommunity relations and stewardship by students and residents alike. University Green aims to improve the quality of life in neighborhoods and enhance sustainable local urban forestry projects. The program also demonstrates the challenges and benefits inherent in creating lasting partnerships committed to urban greening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The federal government devolved responsibility formerly held by the Northern Affairs Program for public lands, water, forestry, mineral resources and environmental assessment to the Yukon Government on April 1, 2003 by way of the Devolution Transfer Agreement. Since then, self-government agreements have changed the face of governance in the Yukon and altered the relationship between the governments of First Nations, Yukon and Canada. Eleven of the fourteen First Nations in Yukon have settled their land claims. This article looks at recent developments in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

The Gran Chaco is the second largest ecosystem in the Plata basin of South America, after the Amazon rainforest. The high biological and cultural diversity offer diverse opportunities for conservation, despite development threatening both of them. The greatest concentration of biodiversity remain in areas of northern Argentina and southern Bolivia where levels of poverty are very high, and indigenous peoples and poor criollo cattle raisers coexist. By improving informed governance, it is possible to stabilize biodiversity levels and provide a basis for poor local people to collaborate, and to improve their situation in the face of threats from development. In this study we analyze the ongoing processes being applied in two Gran Chaco cases - from the Upper Parapeti Basin (upriver from Kaa Iya National Park) in Bolivia, and the Lower Pilcomayo in northern Argentina (a dynamic internal delta ecosystem where a tri-national biosphere reserve is being considered). Watershed management, when adapted to local ecological, cultural, social and political contexts, is shown to be an effective tactical strategy to activate moribund governmental institutions in response to local constituencies. In the two cases presented, NGO-facilitated processes enriched local people´s ability to take their own actions and to assess and frame their problems and goals for dialogue with their governments. The NGOs also offered technical assistance with land-use zoning, reforestation and alternative income-generation activities in collaborations that shifted government engagement. The methods used differ from the standard conservation and development projects, and their success offers lessons in building social network systems and civic science that improve conservation and reduce poverty. We close with a reflection on the framing of poverty alleviation and sustainability in conservation discourse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The "Forest Fire Project" on the National cartographic portal (http://www.pcn.minambiente.it) has been created by the Italian Ministry of Environment Territory and Sea (METS). The project is intended to support forest fire fighting plans in national protected areas as provided for by article 8 of the law November 21th 2000, no. 353 "Framework law on forest fires". The project brings out the results of previous projects carried out in collaboration with several research institutes. Cartographic information is made available as free and reliable knowledge base in order to facilitate the draw up and implementation of the "Forest Fire Plans", including the actual activity of forest fire extinction. Map information can be further implemented by various subjects such as researchers, land planning programmers or managers. The National cartographic portal gives the opportunity of overlaying various cartographic information and base maps supporting the "Forest Fire Project"; moreover it is possible to add other layers from other sources, through URL. Adequate "personalised" overlaps - which can be saved on one's own GIS - allow in depth analysis and deductions aimed at specific objectives of territorial planning and management and in particular of Forest Fire Fighting Plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The forest sector is perceived as being traditionally conservative and reluctant to adopt changes, even when these can be beneficial. This is a natural consequence of an industry that tends to operate over relatively long time periods. However, to compete successfully in a rapidly globalizing world, the forest sector will need to be much more innovative than it has been to date. Government policies could play an important role in encouraging innovation in the forest sector yet, despite many initiatives, they have had variable success in doing so. It is likely that transformative innovations will occur that involve different actors to those dominating the sector today, and there is already evidence of such innovations taking place. Transformative innovation may not, however, be in the short-term interest of governments that have used the forest sector to encourage rural development. Other innovations may be stimulated as the crises facing the forest sectors in individual countries deepen. However, it is uncertain whether these will ensure that forests fulfil their potential in enabling the development of a global bioeconomy. To do so, effective partnerships between all the interested parties are needed: government, industry, academia, and non-governmental organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

An important aspect in the linking of different emissions trading schemes is the degree to which these systems allow (or ban) external offset project categories. The EU Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) currently allows the use of credits from energy and industry projects developed under the Kyoto Protocol's Joint Implementation (JI) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) but excludes the use of carbon credits from forestry projects for compliance in the EU ETS. Forestry credits generated by the CDM have a limited lifetime and expire at the end of a project's crediting period, or earlier if the carbon stock for which the credits have been issued ceases to exist. According to the recently adopted amendment of the EU ETS Directive forestry credits will remain to be excluded until 2020. The present article reviews how the New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme (Australia), the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (US) and the voluntary scheme of the Chicago Climate Exchange integrate forestry offsets into the respective system and how they deal with the risk of losing stored and credited biomass. By comparing the results of different scenarios this article shows how differences in the treatment of forestry offsets could impact the efforts to link various emission trading systems in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using the latest forest inventory, this article provides a detailed analysis of China's changing forest sector by focusing on new forest trends, forest policy changes, and challenges to achieving a sustainable forest management. The authors analyze the dynamics of forest resources and provide an impact assessment of forest policies on China's forestry development during the past decades. Moreover, the analysis of the forest market highlights substantial disequilibria marked by a limited domestic supply potential and a growing demand for forest products satisfied by increasing imports. Internal and external solutions are explored, and their implications for China and supplying countries are assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article registers the most important aspects related to the project formulation under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol and, more specifically, the project called "Más bosques para Medellín: un ambiente sano para el presente y el futuro" (more forests for Medellín: A sane environment for the present and the future), which aims to get international resources, selling carbon credits by establishing forest plantations, silvopastoral systems and models of assisted natural regeneration, keeping in mind the social, economical and cultural traditions of the population that live in the surroundings of Medellín. The formulation of the forestry CDM project for Medellín was made via a strategic alliance between the Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá (Metropolitan Area of the Aburrá Valley), the Secretaría de Medio Ambiente del Municipio de Medellín (Environmental Secretary of the Medellín Municipality) and the Corporación Autónoma Regional de las Cuencas del río Negro y Nare - CORNARE (Autonomous Regional Corporation of the Negro and Nare Rivers, CORNARE) under the inter-administrative agreement No. 287, 2007. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper measures the benefits of the urban forest by examining its effect on housing prices. A Geographic Information System is used to develop a measure of the urban forest, the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index, from satellite imagery and to construct other variables from a variety of sources. Spatial hedonic housing price models for the Indianapolis/Marion County area are estimated. The models indicate that greener vegetation around a property has a positive, significant effect on housing price, holding everything else constant. This effect is dominated by measures at the neighborhood level. These findings indicate that property owners value the urban forest, at least in part, by the premium they pay to live in neighborhoods with greener, denser vegetation. These findings also indicate that public action to maintain and enhance the urban forest may be warranted. Planners and urban foresters can use these findings to inform public and policy debates over urban forestry programs and proposals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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]

This study presents a mathematical model for a generic problem of staff allocation. A solution is implemented and evaluated by means of the Tabu Search metaheuristic. The proposed algorithm is used to solve a real case of forestry supervisors' allocation. The results show that the developed algorithm is efficient solving this kind of problems and that it has a wide range of application for other real situations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting in 1993, interactions between land use and precipitation have been investigated in three research areas of northeast Germany. The research based on continuous measurements of soil water tension and water content down to a depth of 5 m at 36 plots situated at diverse soils under different land use (arable land, forest, grass fallow). At arable sites, the main period of deep seepage occurred between February and April during the study period. With 175 mm a-1, the mean annual deep seepage rate under arable land was highest at sandy soils. At loamy soils, the mean seepage rate amounting to 122 mm a-1 appeared significantly less. Smallest seepage rates, however, were determined for forested plots (pine 15 mm a-1, beech 18 mm a-1). Differences were significant as compared to arable land at sandy and loamy soils and grass fallow. It is concluded that deep seepage and groundwater recharge under forest will tend to wane at annual precipitation rates of <550 mm a-1. This should be taken into account in decision making on land use planning and conversion of arable areas to forestry in regions characterised by negative values of the climatic water balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers world news briefs related to forestry. A campaign called "Time for forestry" has been initiated by the Norwegian forest owners' cooperative to increase forestry investments in Norwegian forests. The campaign called "Kraftsamling Skog," initiated by the Federation of Swedish Farmers (LRFs), was intended to raise the profitability, growth and attractiveness of green businesses. The Finnish forestry programme has set a target of 10-15 million cubic metres per year by 2015.

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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]

This article critically examines the effects of global development buzzwords on the local level. Familiar examples are: empowerment, participation, capacity building, good governance and sustainable development. The article presents the findings of a highly exceptional but therefore very suitable case: a community-based forestry project in the Mafungautsi State Forest in Zimbabwe. This project used the same buzzwords throughout its two phases from 1994 to 1999 and from 1999 to 2003, but with remarkably different outcomes per phase. Only when the first donor left in 1999, owing to Zimbabwe becoming an international pariah, was there space for another donor to reconceptualise the same buzzwords on different premises, leading to more positive outcomes. The article concludes that, although rare in today's donor driven target culture, locally appropriate and critical operationalisation of buzzwords is possible even if, or perhaps when, it takes place under unthinkable circumstances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers several news briefs related to forestry in Europe. The school forestry project in Norway titled "Learning with the Forest" is administered by the Forestry Extension Institute. The Global Forest Infomation Service (GFIS) is expanding its status as the main international gateway to forest information. A new website for forestry information has been launched by the European Forest Institute (EFI).

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]

An attempt has been made in this paper to study the current and potential absorption of labour in different activities. Further, an assessment of the current and potential employment avenues in harvesting of forest products in the North-West Himalayan state of Himachal Pradesh in India has been made. Both primary and secondary data based on cross-sectional and time-series at micro and macro level have been used. Forest Department put forest area over 66% of the total geographical area in Himachal Pradesh as against the total agriculture land of only around 10%. About 70% of the total work force (2 million persons) is currently engaged in agriculture and around 0.9 million persons are unemployed in the state. We noted that some forest harvesting activities alone provide employment of about 14 million man-days as against the potential employment of over 23 million man-days. On the whole, wood products alone could enhance employment absorption to the extent of 250% of the current employment level. Similarly, non-wood forest products could provide additional employment of over 1 81% compared to its current employment level. Therefore, the aggregate unexploited employment potential attributes to over 70.6% in the forestry sector in this single state of western Himalaya. In the absence of actual data from forestry sector, our estimates of current employment can not be compared. However, the labour engaged in resin and timber extraction activities in the state were reported at 8,500 man- years or 2.6 million man-days by assuming 8 hours work per day for 300 days in a year as full employment. This accounts for only 19% of our estimated current employment in harvesting of all forest products. In this, our estimates of current and potential employment in harvesting activities of forest products accounts for 5 to 1 6 and 8 to 26%, respectively. This could be a significant contribution of the single harvesting activity of forest products in the state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Millions of hectares of future timber concessions are slated to be implemented within large public forests under the forest law passed in 2006 by the Brazilian Congress. Additional millions of hectares of large, privately owned forests and smaller areas of community forests are certified as well managed by the Forest Stewardship Council, based on certification standards that will be reviewed in 2007. Forest size and ownership are two key factors that influence management objectives and the capacity of forest managers to achieve them. Current best ecological practices for timber production from Brazil's native Amazon forests are limited to reduced-impact logging (RIL) systems that minimize the environmental impacts of harvest operations and that obey legal restrictions regarding minimum diameters, rare species, retention of seed trees, maximum logging intensity, preservation of riparian buffers, fire protection, and wildlife conservation. Compared with conventional, predatory harvesting that constitutes >90% of the region's timber production, RIL dramatically reduces logging damage and helps maintain forest cover and the presence of rare tree species, but current RIL guidelines do not assure that the volume of timber removed can be sustained in future harvests. We believe it is counterproductive to expect smallholders to subscribe to additional harvest limitations beyond RIL, that larger private forested landholdings managed for timber production should be sustainable with respect to the total volume of timber harvested per unit area per cutting cycle, and that large public forests should sustain volume production of individual harvested species. These additional requirements would improve the ecological sustainability of forest management and help create a stable forest-based sector of the region's economy, but would involve costs associated with lengthened cutting cycles, reduced harvest intensities, and/or postharvest silviculture to promote adequate growth and regeneration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the perceived importance of geospatial skills in the workforce and summarizes the geospatial education offered at the top 10 forestry programs in North America. It also investigates how one forestry curriculum provides geospatial instruction to undergraduate, professional certificate, and continuing education students. The potential challenges that geospatial education programs may encounter were identified as well as the technological developments that can make teaching activities more efficient for instructors and more accessible for students. According to the author, geospatial technology becomes a standard part of most forestry and natural resource operations with the use of global positioning systems, digital measurement instruments, and remote sensing platforms.

The article presents arboriculture and urban forestry research into the impact of forestry projects in various cities in Oregon under the Oregon Department of Forestry's Urban and Community Forestry Assistance Program (ODF/U&CF). A table details expenditures in maintenance, planting, education, pest control, administration, and removal in small, medium, and large cities.

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]

Australia is a federation in which the Constitution vested forest management to the states. A joint Commonwealth-state process was developed to implement a National Forest Policy, involving joint oversight of resource assessment and planning for each of eleven regions. Codes of forest practice and planning systems were greatly improved by incorporating available research on nonwood as well as wood uses. The 39% increase in the area of conservation reserves system necessitated major withdrawals from wood production. Despite the increases in reserves, conservation groups and allied interests were generally dissatisfied with the outcomes. Furthermore, resource security for the industry was not realised. Pre-election promises made by incoming governments, both state and Commonwealth, involved breaking the spirit, if not the letter of the agreements. Nevertheless, lower order processes of third-party audits and joint reviews of practices and planning should be continued to improve sustainability and the information made available in forms accessible to the community. The contribution of science, however, is limited by the inability to adequately evaluate the tradeoffs between uses. The higher level processes should identify the major options and leave the political process, he that state or Commonwealth, to resolve the choice between them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the lessons learned from the Coastal Landscape Assessment and Modeling Study (CLAMS) that was developed for the protection of the Coast Range Physiographic Province in Oregon. The study aims to develop a modeling system that will help policy makers, managers, and the public understand the implication of forest biological diversity policies, and to employ the modeling system in the development of tests for improving forest policies. The lessons learned from CLAMS suggest that regional ecosystem perspectives are difficult to achieve, that interest in environmental policy analysis is much from pursuit of power than understanding, and that the relationship of regional analysis to civic processes remains challenging and unsettled.

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]