Search

Collective action and capacity building locally are key elements in overcoming poverty through agroforestry and community silviculture. Starting from extreme poverty, degraded soils and a reluctance to plant trees, the communities of Zambrana Abajo in the Dominican Republic were able to confront and change repressive forestry policies, obtaining the first legal right amongst smallholders to harvest timber and establish new livelihoods related to forestry and agroforestry. This study was carried out in order to identify the success factors and the lessons learned in this process. Qualitative research methods were used, including participant observation, review of literature, in-depth interviews with key informants, and semi-structured interviews guided by the Community Capitals Framework. It was found that community participation, local knowledge and the authorities' recognition of it had an impact on forestry policy and overcoming poverty through livelihood diversification thanks to harvesting the species Acacia mangium Willd. The level of understanding about the benefits of trees influenced farmers' decisions to participate in agroforestry and community silviculture projects. The possibility of harvesting timber also influenced farmers' decision to participate and in the diffusion of this initiative to other parts of the country. These findings demonstrate that human capital and its recognition are relevant in improving quality of life for families and improving the natural environment.

International audience; Agroforestry systems (AFS) are presented as systems likely to meet a variety of interests from diverse stakeholders embodied in sectoral policies such as forestry or environment policies. However, they are in a process of being institutionalized in Europe through specific policy instruments mostly within agricultural policies. In this context, we investigated the agroforestry policyscape, meaning the social and spatial articulation between multiple policies impacting agroforestry along a Mediterranean landscape gradient from agricultural intensification to land abandonment. We focused on the necessary conditions to promote socio-political synergies between practices, actors and instruments to tackle agroforestry, from preexisting to emerging systems and issues in these landscapes. We worked in two Mediterranean protected areas, the Ventoux Biosphere Reserve and the Verdon Regional Nature Park, and conducted in-depth interviews with 50 practitioners and sectoral representatives from diverse policies directly affecting AFS. We identified five categories of AFS, some of them being traditional declining practices while other ‘modern’ forms are currently emerging with the ongoing agro-ecological transition. We highlighted that while stakeholders and policies from multiple social groups are interested in some AFS such as silvopastures, others AFS such as silvoarable systems are confined to a single social and political field, the agricultural one, or even ignored by policies such as grazed orchards. Regarding this agroforestry policyscape, we discuss opportunities for agroforestry development with issues of policies coordination, lack of instruments, and need for synergies with environmental or land-use planning policies.

La deforestazione è dovuta alla crescente domanda di prodotti agricoli e di biocarburanti: 10 miliardi di ettari l'anno secondo la Fao. Gli strumenti messi in atto dai Paesi del Nord e del Sud del mondo per fermarla entro il 2030, come previsto da Cop26.

The rich forests of Indonesian New Guinea are understudied and threatened. We used satellite data to examine annual forest loss, road development and plantation expansion from 2001 to 2019, then developed a model to predict future deforestation. No previous studies have attempted such a detailed assessment of past and future deforestation. In 2019, 34.29 million hectares (Mha), or 83% of Indonesian New Guinea, supported old-growth forest. Over nineteen years, 2% (0.75 Mha) were cleared: 45% (0.34 Mha) converted to industrial plantations, roads, mine tailings, or other uses near cities; 55% (0.41 Mha) cleared by transient processes including selective natural timber extraction, inland water bodies-related processes, fires, and shifting agriculture. Industrial plantations expanded by 0.23 Mha, with the majority (0.21 Mha; 28% of forest loss) replacing forests and reaching 0.28 Mha in 2019 (97% oil palm; 3% pulpwood). The Trans-Papua Highway, a ~4000 km national investment project, increased by 1554 km. Positive correlations between highway and plantations expansion indicate these are linked processes. Plantations and roads expanded rapidly after 2011, peaked in 2015/16, and declined thereafter. Indonesian government allocated 2.62 Mha of land for the development of industrial plantations (90% oil palm 10% pulpwood) of which 74% (1.95 Mha) remained forest in 2019. A spatial model predicts that an additional 4.5 Mha of forest could be cleared by 2036 if Indonesian New Guinea follows similar relationships to Indonesian Borneo. We highlight the opportunities for policy reform and the importance of working with indigenous communities, local leaders, and provincial government to protect the biological and cultural richness still embodied in this remarkable region.

International audience

Recognizing the potential interactions and synergies between adaptation and mitigation in land-use policies in general and forest policies in particular, research on climate change policy has increasingly focused on integrating both objectives simultaneously (hereafter “interaction model”). However, while support exists for the integration of adaptation and mitigation, very few policies have successfully integrated both objectives in practice (hereafter “separation model”). In addition to the interaction and separation models, we introduce the “adaptation-first model”—an approach to climate policy integration that centers adaptation at the core of forest management, with mitigation as one benefit amongst others—and assess whether it more effectively characterizes the practical realities of forest management than the separation or interaction models. Drawing on a review of policy documents, a survey (n = 48) and interviews (n = 22) with government managers in British Columbia (BC), Canada, we analyze which of the three models have been used for integrating climate objectives into BC’s forest policy and explore views of government managers on the relationships and trade-offs between adaptation and mitigation and which model should be prioritized for their integration into forest management. Our analysis of climate-focused forest policy documents indicates that a possible shift from the separation to the interaction model is taking place in BC. However, our results also indicate that while government managers support the interaction model in principle, they perceive numerous barriers to policy integration that may prevent the shift towards the interaction model to materialize in practice. Because of the fundamental perceived differences in the levels at which adaptation and mitigation intervene in decision-making, government managers in our study were generally more comfortable with the adaptation-first model, which ultimately suggests the need to rethink how we frame climate integration into forest management and policies.

We are living in a time of crisis on planet Earth. Urgent calls for transformational change are getting louder. Technical solutions have an important role to play in addressing pressing global challenges, but alone they are not enough. After all, who decides what kind of transformation is needed, of what, and for whom? What principles guide those decisions, and how are decision-makers held accountable? This commentary article argues that these governance questions are central in any solution, in order to simultaneously address the planetary crises of forest and biodiversity loss and degradation and growing inequality. To this end, we examine governance in forests and around trees, in landscapes and on farms, through the lens of power and social justice. For applied research aimed at actionable solutions to these global problems, we propose a governance research agenda for the next decade that is both transformative and just.

After more than 20 years and substantial investments of time and money, Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification of tropical forest management is due for a stringent impact evaluation. For any social, ecological, and economic outcomes to be attributed to FSC certification, rival explanations need to be ruled out. We recognize that different types of knowledge about FSC impacts derived from information gathered through a range of methods can satisfy the evidence-needs of different stakeholders. But this paper describes a roadmap based on rigorous methods to assess whether FSC certification delivers on its expected outcomes and the underlying mechanisms through which changes can be attributable to FSC. To this end, background studies that provide contextual knowledge related to implementation of FSC certification are proposed to account for any positive self-selection biases and to capture the temporal dynamics of certification including changes in the sociopolitical and economic contexts that influence certification decisions. (Resume d'auteur)

In 2014 Decree 14/018 laying down the rules for granting forest concessions to local communities, followed by Ministerial Order 0/25 on the same issue was published in the DRC. This paper aims to analyse the abovementioned legislation with respect to participatory ma nagement of forests. The explicit recognition of the duality of a customary de facto local community forest and a modern legal entity (concession) is an innovation. However, viewed from the perspective of the long-established habits within the country, the question remains whethe r these legal measures can be sufficient for ensuring the sustainable development of these community-held forested areas. Allowing community concessions up to 50,000 ha demonstrated a shift in the government policy away from the industrial timber cultivation model. However, an ar ea this size is much larger than the communities can monitor, particularly in the case of artisanal charcoal or wood exploitation. (Resume d'auteur)

Tropical forests are major providers of natural resources and ecosystem services but their ecological functions are at threat, due to increasing human pressure linked to economic development. The identification of priority areas for conservation is crucial for land use planning to ensure the protection of biodiversity and ecological function. Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs), as defined by Greenpeace and World Resources Institute (WRI), are areas of the forest ecosystems not subjected to human activities. They have been identified by mapping human disturbances through remote sensing. Contrary to similar global-scale concepts, IFLs have been integrated into the standards of the certification body Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and therefore have practical implications for forest management policies. The Motion 65, approved in the general assembly of FSC in 2014, mandates the protection of IFLs located in FSC certified logging concessions. Until the implementation of national standards, forestry operations are banished from 80% of the IFL area within each forest management unit. To trace the history and evaluate the suitability of IFLs in the Central African context, we searched for documents related to the IFL method, and related approaches focusing on the identification of areas devoid of human disturbances. The IFL method is simple and cost-effective and allows for a global assessment of the influence of human infrastructures and industrial exploitation on forests. However, the method does not consider the situation below the canopy and those forest components not visible by satellites. For example, hunting, one of the main threats faced by wildlife in Central African forests today, cannot be detected with satellite imagery. On the other hand, other anthropogenic activities which remote sensing may detect may be compatible with forest ecosystem conservation. To better tailor the IFL approach to Central African forests, we recommend (i) the consideration of wildlife communities in the intactness analysis, (ii) a thorough evaluation of the impacts of human activities on forest ecosystems, and (iii) the integration of local stakeholders and governments in the design of land management strategies to respond to social, economic and environmental needs.

This viewpoint paper presents a reaction to the article by Brandt et al. (2016). It highlights the complexities inherent to the attribution of deforestation impacts to policy interventions when using remote-sensing data. This critique argues that in the context of the Congo a suite of factors (i.e., population density in particular) other than those considered by Brandt et al. (e.g., type of forest, distance from roads and markets) play essential roles in determining the fates of forests. It also contends that care is needed when making decisions regarding which units will be included in the comparison group so that contextual factors and on-the-ground information are properly considered (e.g., when logging operations are inactive or when a concession is used for 'conservation' purposes). Finally, it proposes that a focus on an analysis of deforestation rates for a given level of timber production might be a metric that more accurately represents one aspect of the consequences of forest management, which should also consider the appraisal of trade-offs associated with a larger set of social, financial and ecological objectives.

By 2010, about 25% (180 million ha) of The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) producer countries’ permanent forest estate was being managed using an approved forest management plan (FMP). While the existence of a FMP is often used as evidence of sustainable forest management (SFM), State officials mandated to monitor and verify FMPs’ implementation often lack the technical knowledge and political incentives to assess the changes that have been introduced, notably in terms of harvested volumes and species. Among tropical timber producers, Cameroon is considered to be exemplary for its progressive forest regulatory framework. Here we aim to estimate for the first time in sub-Saharan Africa the causal impact of the implementation of FMPs on harvested volumes, species and carbon stocks. We do so by using a 12-year (1998–2009) unbalanced longitudinal data set of a detailed, official harvesting inventory of 81 concessions in Cameroon. Results provide evidence to the theoretical expectations that for many years many practitioners have had on the implementation of SFM, i.e. that FMPs show a substantial opportunity to reduce carbon emissions from forest while presenting logging companies with acceptable financial trade-offs. We explore the technical and political reasons for our findings and conclude that these analyses are important for countries that are underwriting carbon-related schemes in which they propose to reduce their emissions through the effective implementation of SFM. We also demonstrate that producer countries do record useful information that, when effectively used, can help them to inform their policies and improve their sustainable development strategies.

O desmatamento na Amazônia parou de declinar a partir de 2013, questionando a comunidade científica quanto as causas dessa persistência. O artigo apresenta uma metodologia original de análise dos dados oficiais de desmatamento, com foco territorial e baseando-se no conceito sistêmico marcha pioneira. Os autores elaboram uma tipologia municipal, onde cada tipo corresponde a uma etapa na construção territorial, na qual o desmatamento assume papeis específicos. Os autores explicam a existências de territórios de persistência do desmatamento, e outros onde o desenvolvimento ocorre de forma livre de novos desmatamentos. Com base nessa análise, os autores formulam elementos de estratégias e suporte a políticas públicas para combater o desmatamento persistente e promover desenvolvimento sustentável em cada situação territorial. La très forte chute de la déforestation amazonienne est enrayée depuis 2013, questionnant la communauté scientifique sur les causes de cette persistance. Cet article présente une méthode originale d’analyse des données annuelles de déforestation, dans une approche territoriale basée sur le concept de marche pionnière. Les auteurs élaborent une typologie municipale, ou chaque type est une étape dans la construction territoriale, et où la déforestation assume des rôles spécifiques. Les auteurs démontrent l’existence de territoires où persiste la déforestation, et d’autres où le développement territorial a lieu sans nouvelles déforestations. Sur la base de cette analyse, les auteurs font des recommandations de politiques publiques et de stratégies pour combattre la déforestation et promouvoir le développement durable dans chaque situation territoriale. Deforestation rates in the Amazon achieve a floor rates in 2012, and are slow growing since 2013, questioning the scientific community about the causes of this persistence. The article presents an original methodology, analyzing the official annual data of deforestation, within a territorial focus and based on the systemic concepts of frontier margins dynamics. The authors elaborate a municipal typology, where each type is a step for territorial construction, and where deforestation assumes specific roles. The authors demonstrate the existence of deforestation territories, and others where development is not more based on new deforestations. Based on this analysis, the authors formulate suggestions for public policies and strategies to tackle persistent deforestations and to promote sustainable development in every territorial situation.

A rebours des autres regions du monde, l’Afrique pourrait devenir bientot le continent de la deforestation, avec la Republique democratique du Congo qui perd plus d’un million d’hectares de couvert arbore par an. En Afrique centrale, la deforestation est le fait d’une petite agriculture dont l’emprise geographique s’accroit avec la demographie et la volonte de se constituer des patrimoines fonciers. Le phenomene d’accaparement des terres boisees par l’agrobusiness reste limite, la plupart des annonces impressionnantes ayant tourne court du fait des resistances paysannes et des reticences des gouvernements. L’exploitation des forets se fait toujours tres largement sous le regime des concessions, mais les interets europeens sont devenus minoritaires face aux conglomerats asiatiques, notamment chinois. L’emergence d’une rivalite sino-indienne dans le secteur forestier se dessine au Gabon. Les initiatives internationales qui se succedent n’ont pas obtenu de resultats convaincants et le processus REDD + reste essentiellement une vitrine a destination des donateurs sans prise reelle sur le terrain. Le Gabon a su tirer parti d’une habile diplomatie climatique qui lui confere un leadership auparavant occupe par la RDC. La crise de 2020 pourrait entrainer une baisse de certaines pressions sur les forets (infrastructures et activites extractives) mais risque d’en renforcer d’autres, de nombreux neo-chomeurs devant se rabattre sur l’agriculture vivriere.

Ecotourism is an emerging regional development strategy that could foster economic growth, diversification of activities and regional autonomy in natural areas such as forest areas and protected areas. These territories are socio-economically marginalized in Tunisia as a consequence of a national policy that has inhibited the development of some regions in relation to others. Tunisian protected areas, for example, have the particularity of containing, in addition to endemic fauna and flora, a local population with know-how. Managed by the forest administration, protected areas are subject to protection and conservation legislation that has a negative impact on the socio-economic situation of the population. Following the emergence of a national desire for regional balance and subsequently an environmental policy, a social dimension has developed among managers concerned with deploying strategies that reconcile development and conservation. Ecotourism was a solution to develop an economic activity centered on the development of natural resources. Several ecotourism studies and projects have been developed for the occasion within protected areas, particularly in the Ichkeul and Cap Negro areas. Despite these efforts, this activity remains rudimentary and Tunisia has only been able to create a mono-product offer of mass tourism. This thesis attempts to provide some answers to this dysfunction. This diagnosis is made by an evaluation of the sustainability of the work identified in protected areas in order to detect their weaknesses. Then an evaluation of the ecotourism system was performed using a methodology of modelling by cognitive maps with MICMAC and MACTOR software. Indeed, based on the principle that ecotourism is a form of development based on interaction and collaboration between stakeholders in a participatory governance system. The first objective of this method is to make a structural analysis (MICMAC) in order to define the ecotourism concept in Tunisian protected areas and to determine, according to the perception of the stakeholders, the indicators that most influence Tunisian ecotourism activities. Secondly, to conduct a stakeholder analysis (MACTOR) in order to identify the disproportionate power relations that can destabilize the governance system of the current ecotourism model in Tunisia.; L’écotourisme se positionne comme une stratégie de développement régional qui pourrait assurer la croissance économique et l’autonomie régionale dans des zones naturelles telles que les espaces forestières. Ces territoires sont en Tunisie marginalisés suite à une politique nationale ayant freiné leurs développements. Les aires protégées tunisiennes, par exemple, ont la particularité d’abriter, outre une faune et une flore endémiques, une population locale avec un savoir-faire hérité des générations passées et actuelles. Gérées par l’administration forestière, les aires protégées sont soumises à une législation axée sur la protection et la conservation qui aggrave la situation socio-économique des habitants. Suite à l’émergence d’une volonté nationale d’équilibre régional et par la suite d’une politique environnementale, une préoccupation sociale s’est développée chez les gestionnaires soucieux de mettre en œuvre des stratégies qui concilient développement et conservation. L’écotourisme formait une solution pour développer une activité économique de valorisation de richesses naturelles. Lors d’un recensent établie au cadre de cette thèse, on a pu montrer que plusieurs travaux écotouristiques ont été élaborés aux parcs d’Ichkeul et Cap Negro. En dépit de ces efforts, cette activité reste rudimentaire et la Tunisie n’a pu créer qu’une offre touristique classique. Cette thèse vise à apporter des éléments de réponse face à ce dysfonctionnement. Ce diagnostic est fait par une évaluation de la durabilité des travaux recensés dans les aires protégées afin de déceler leurs défaillances. Ensuite, une évaluation systémique de l’état de l’écotourisme a été réalisée grâce à une méthodologie de modélisation par des cartes cognitives avec les logiciels MICMAC et MACTOR. Partant du principe que l’écotourisme est une forme de développement basée sur une interaction et une collaboration entre les intervenants dans un système de gouvernance participatif, nous cherchons à définir le concept de l’écotourisme dans les AP et à mener une analyse des acteurs afin de déceler le déséquilibre dans le système de gouvernance actuelle.

In the Brazilian Amazon, degraded forests dominate the landscapes on the agricultural frontiers. This region is now facing a major challenge: halting degradation and sustainably managing these forests. Today, degraded forests represent a class of forest in their own right. They can nevertheless play a key role in combating climate change, and can also help to improve the ecological functioning of the different territories. Implementing public policies with the twin objectives of reducing degradation and promoting these forests implies strong support from research. In this Perspective, we focus on four research priorities: developing methods to characterise and monitor degraded forests; drafting specific forest management plans; understanding the role played by all social actors; and supporting policies at the territorial level.

Na Amazônia brasileira, as florestas degradadas dominam as paisagens das frentes pioneiras. Atualmente, esta região enfrenta um grande desafio: parar a degradação e fazer a gestão sustentável dessas florestas. As florestas degradadas são atualmente parte integrante de uma categoria de florestas. No entanto, elas podem desempenhar um papel importante na luta contra as mudanças climáticas e podem contribuir para um melhor funcionamento ecológico dos territórios. Desenvolver políticas públicas com o duplo objetivo de reduzir a degradação e melhorar a condição dessas florestas implica um forte apoio da pesquisa. Neste Perspective, nós focalizamos em quatro prioridades de pesquisa: desenvolver os métodos de caracterização e monitoramento das florestas degradadas, elaborar planos específicos de ordenamento do território, compreender o papel desempenhado por todos os atores sociais e acompanhar as politicas em escala territorial. Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-15T13:11:14Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Persp40LBLancPORT.pdf: 1714897 bytes, checksum: f24e82f477c6ace3166f21d716f525c5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-06-14 Disponível também em inglês e francês.

Certification standard bodies in climate governance are assumed to function as independent third parties agencies in transactions, providing trust and transparency to ensure that the calculation of carbon credits is reliable. This article investigates the validity of this assumption for the voluntary forest carbon market by analysing the environmental credibility of baseline scenarios of two certified REDD+ projects, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (the Maï Ndombe REDD+ Project) and in Madagascar (The CAZ REDD+ Project). Authors show that these two certified REDD+ projects resemble 'virtual emission reduction machines' designed to inflate the production of carbon credits and that they do not structurally change the local economy characteristics which drive deforestation. The design of both REDD+ and certification standards business models leads almost inevitably to the decision to use a baseline scenario with high deforestation rates and to limited interventions in the field. The need to deal with the carbon market's price volatility and to cover the fixed costs of certification exacerbates this trend towards inflated baselines, which also assists in the reduction of land use conflicts with local populations.

Political action can reduce introductions of diseases caused by invasive forest pathogens (IPs) and public support is important for effective prevention. The public’s awareness of IP problems and the acceptability of policies aiming to combat these pathogens were surveyed in nine European countries ( N = 3469). Although awareness of specific diseases (e.g., ash dieback) varied, problem awareness and policy acceptability were similar across countries. The public was positive towards policies for informational measures and stricter standards for plant production, but less positive towards restricting public access to protected areas. Multilevel models, including individual and country level variables, revealed that media exposure was positively associated with awareness of IP problems, and strengthened the link between problem awareness and policy acceptability. Results suggest that learning about IPs through the media and recognizing the associated problems increase policy acceptability. Overall, the study elaborates on the anthropogenic dimension of diseases caused by IPs. Funding for this study was obtained through the European BiodivERsA project ‘‘RESIPATH: Responses of European Forests and Society to Invasive Pathogens’’ co-financed by national funds. In Portugal, this research was co-funded by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation Ref. BIODIVERSA/0002/2012.

International audience; In Central Africa, industrial investments in agriculture have been increasing for the last ten years, constituting one of the many drivers of deforestation. If these investments are to contribute to socioeconomic development without harming the environment,they need to be more effectively monitored.Analysing successes and failures in four Central African countries helps to identify ways to increase the chances of success for projects: carrying out independent impact assessments before projects are launched; obtaining the free, prior and informed consent of the communities concerned; and encouraging companies to meet certification criteria. The host governments should be able to take advantage of actions by people- and environment-friendly companies in order to create a virtuous circle, and should build agro-industrial projects around national land use plans.; En Afrique centrale, les investissements industriels dans l'agriculture augmentent depuis une décennie, constituant l'un des multiples vecteurs de la déforestation. Pour que ces investissements bénéficient au développement socio-économique sans nuire à l'environnement, il est nécessaire de mieux les encadrer. L'analyse des réussites et des échecs dans quatre pays d'Afrique centrale permet de dégager des pistes pour accroître les chances de succès des projets : réaliser des études d'impact indépendantes avant le début du projet ; obtenir le consentement libre, informé et préalable des populations concernées ; inciter les entreprises à répondre aux critères de certification. Les États pourront s'appuyer sur des entre-prises respectueuses des hommes et de l'environnement afin de créer une dynamique vertueuse, et pourront ancrer les projets agro-industriels dans des plans d'aménagement du territoire national.