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The bronze bug is an important pest of Eucalyptus trees. Originally restricted to Australia, it has become an important pest of Eucalyptus plantations, colonizing in 15 years the major production areas worldwide. The aim of this thesis was to investigate the factors affecting the oviposition behavior of the bronze bug within a multitrophic system comprised of its host plant (Eucalyptus spp.), a common co-occurring sap-feeder (Glycaspis brimblecombei) and a specialist egg parasitoid (Cleruchoides noackae). I assessed the life parameters of this species in a newly developed rearing. Based on the preference-performance hypothesis, I tested the effects of host-plant quality, conspecifics, or the infestation by a potential competitor on preference-performance correlations of the bronze bug. The egg parasitoid (C. noackae) was introduced, reared, and released. Finally, I assessed host-selection behavior of the parasitoid, testing its responses towards different contact cues. The findings of this investigation provided new insights on the oviposition behavior by true bugs, and towards the development of management strategies for T. peregrinus.

Het proefproject van het tien hectare gebruiksklaar parkbos. De integrale beplantingsmethode is er op gericht om met minimale ingrepen het wensbeeld binnen enkele jaren na de aanleg te realiseren

Advies voor het verjongingsbeheer van het bomenbestand in Park Randenbroek en de oude boskern van Vosheuvel in de periode 2010-2020

Advies voor het verjongingsbeheer van het bomenbestand in Park Randenbroek en de oude boskern van Vosheuvel in de periode 2010-2020

This is the first book to examine explicitly the non-timber goods and services provided by plantation forests, including soil, water and biodiversity conservation, as well as carbon sequestration and the provision of local livelihoods. The authors show that, if we require a higher provision of ecosystem goods and services from both temperate and tropical plantations, new approaches to their management are required. These include policies, methods for valuing the services, the practices of small landholders, landscape approaches to optimise delivery of goods and services, and technical issues about how to achieve suitable solutions at the scale of forest stands. While providing original theoretical insights, the book also gives guidance for plantation managers, policy-makers, conservation practitioners and community advocates, who seek to promote or strengthen the multiple-use of forest plantations for improved benefits for society.

This report provides an independent review that clarifies current confusion on carbon dioxide emissions resulting from oil palm cultivation on tropical peatlands in Malaysia, that was brought about by two recent publications. It describes the processes of carbon flow in forests, degraded forests and oil palm plantations on peat and depicts uncertainties in existing datasets. The report identifies the gaps of knowledge and offers recommendations for further research to be commissioned by the Joint Committee on Carbon Emissions (JCCE), Malaysia-The Netherlands

This report provides an independent review that clarifies current confusion on carbon dioxide emissions resulting from oil palm cultivation on tropical peatlands in Malaysia, that was brought about by two recent publications. It describes the processes of carbon flow in forests, degraded forests and oil palm plantations on peat and depicts uncertainties in existing datasets. The report identifies the gaps of knowledge and offers recommendations for further research to be commissioned by the Joint Committee on Carbon Emissions (JCCE), Malaysia-The Netherlands

This report presents a “second” opinion of the drainage plan for the teak plantation Farm 70, in Costa Rica. The Dutch Foundation Terra Vitalis has requested this second opinion on the drainage plan prepared by the BARCA Company for Farm 70, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. This teak farm is located in the southwest region of Costa Rica, a region characterized by high rainfall, especially in the period May to November. The BARCA Company is developing the area as a teak reforestation plantation. Because of the heavy rainfall intensity, flat topography, soils with low hydraulic conductivity and impermeable layers close to the soil surface, an intensive drainage system is required. The report discusses options to reduce the risk of high water tables in this teak plantation (71.56 ha)

Resultaten van onderzoek, waarbij de boomteelt van biologisch materiaal vergeleken wordt met de gangbare teeltvorm. Hoofdlijnen uit Alterra rapport

Alterra heeft samen met de Kultuurgroep voor Bos- en Haagplantsoenkwekers, Staatsbosbeheer en het Bosschap een onderzoek opgezet waarbij de boomteelt van biologisch en niet-biologisch materiaal met elkaar vergeleken worden

Het proefproject van het tien hectare gebruiksklaar parkbos. De integrale beplantingsmethode is er op gericht om met minimale ingrepen het wensbeeld binnen enkele jaren na de aanleg te realiseren

Sungkai ( Peronema canescens Jack.), Verbenaceae, is one among the fancy woods of Indonesia. Sungkai belongs to a small number of species recommended by The Ministry of Forestry for use in the development of industrial forest plantations (IFP). The IFPs are carried out in response to an increasing wood demand and aim at reducing pressure on the natural forests, thereby contributing to national land conservation objectives, as well as to the supply of industrial raw materials.The wood of Sungkai is used in various ways from roof trusses in the village more specific purposes (veneers). The attractive grain makes Sungkai suitable for veneer, furniture and cabinetwork (Martawijaya et al.1981). Hence, Sungkai has the potential to be planted by local people on their own land for their own use and as a cash crop, in addition to IFPs for industrial purposes. Among indigenous pioneers tested on grasslands in South Kalimantan, Sungkai has a survival rate close to 100%. Usually, Sungkai is regenerated by cuttings rather than by seeds, because this is easy and does not depend on the fruiting season.Although Sungkai is used in IFPs in Indonesia, no efforts have been made yet to develop the quality of Sungkai planting stock. Generally, availability rather than quality of Sungkai cuttings in a site is considered. Not all vegetative propagation nurseries or seed sources are managed professionally by the private sector. Genetic variation in wild populations is virtually unknown, and few attempts, if any, have been made at genetic improvement. Wild Sungkai can be found in many sites in Kalimantan and Sumatera.Only a few successful plantations exist, so most timber continues to be harvested non-sustainably. Domestication of Sungkai is crucial for the development of a sustainable, high-quality timber resource.A first field trial of Sungkai ( P. canescens) provenances from various sites in the Province of South Kalimantan (Hatta, 1992) showed growth differences among the provenances. More genetic diversity may be expected over the broad ecological and geographical range of P. canescens in Kalimantan and Sumatera.Clearly, provenance research on Sungkai ( P. canescens) will lead to genetic improvement and so provide silviculturally optimized P. canescens populations in the field. Wood industries require industrial forest plantations to produce long, straight stems, suitable for end-uses such as plywood and sawn timber. Tree conformity to these specifications depends on tree architecture and trunk formation in particular.Tree architecture codetermines the 'ecological profile' of the species. The architectural strategy of Sungkai, particularly its plasticity and flexibility is basic information for the optimization of the species for wood production. Such knowledge helps predict the tree's capacity to adjust.The present study pinpoints the best provenances of Sungkai, the tree architecture of Sungkai, and specifications for highly productive and low-risk plantations. This is useful especially for industrial forest plantations which have to meet high requirements. Using good quality Sungkai cuttings makes for good quality and quantity of Sungkai timber production, and successful reafforestation. For the Government successful reafforestation means reducing deforested land, raising wood supply, creating job opportunities, and increasing incomes.The original site and vegetation of each provenance are described in Chapter 2. The architecture of Sungkai and the ecological base of the silviculture of the tree are also presented.Site characteristics are latitude, longitude, altitude, topography, annual rainfall and rainy days per month, mean monthly temperature, maximum and minimum day temperature,.and soil characteristics. The name of the location where the cuttings were collected is also mentioned, including the name of the village and the district.The original vegetation surrounding each provenance was studied on the basis of a rapid diagnostic forest line profile of the direct forest environment. In addition, a diagnosis of trees was also made in order to distinguish a 'good phenotype'. Such trees were used to collect our cuttings. Seedling, sapling, pole and mature tree of Sungkai were sketched to assess its architecture.Sungkai architecture is part of the architectural models (Hallé and Oldeman, 1970; Hallé et al. 1978). It represents the model of Scarrone, converging when older to Leeuwenberg's model. In young Sungkai trees the architecture conforms to Scarrone's model, and in adult trees, fragmentation and reduction make it resemble Leeuwenberg's model.The original vegetation of ten provenances varies from old secondary forest (Samarinda provenance) and young secondary forest (Jambi provenance) to home gardens/farmyards (Padang provenance) and vegetation strips or river banks (Pontianak and Lampung provenances). There were also a natural stand dominated by Sungkai (Palangka Raya provenance), a mixed species stand (Samarinda and Jambi provenances), and artificially mixed species stands or gardens (Padang provenance).Only general statements about the geographic distribution of Sungkai in Sumatera and Kalimantan were published. Sungkai was known to occur naturally in the western Indonesian archipelago, especially in a large part of Sumatera and in the whole of Kalimantan. The latitudinal limits within the natural range were from 7 o20' South to 4 o10' North. In Kalimantan Sungkai occurs especially in the centre.Based on observations in the field and local information during the collection of the cuttings, we may now assume that the distribution of Sungkai in Sumatera and Kalimantan tends to be dense below the equator and sparse above it. Chapter 2 shows the distribution centres of Sungkai in Kalimantan and Sumatera.Tree architecture is the strategic pattern of the tree to meet ecological factors. The particular state of the original vegetation surrounding each provenance influences the tree architecture. In healthy ecosystems the tree architecture is inclined to conform to the specifications for quality timber.Chapter 3 shows the initial performance of each provenance in the nursery. Among ten provenances, four show a complete survival (100%), i.e., Pontianak, Banjarmasin, Riau and Jambi. The rest varies between 50% and 95% (Table 3.1). Only the Padang and Lampung provenances show significantly poorer survival rates than the others, i.e., an unusually low survival rate for nurseries, which usually achieve at least 80%.The main determinants of shoot survival of the provenances are certainly the time it takes to transport the cuttings from their original site in Sumatera to the Banjarbaru nursery in South Kalimantan, and the source of the cuttings.The Palembang provenance was the first to show shoot initiation on its cuttings on the third day after the insertion of the cutting in the medium. The Riau and Lampung provenances took second and third position.Root formation started fastest in the Riau provenance, on the eighteenth day, followed by the Pontianak and Palangka Raya provenances.For the overall parameters the performances of the provenances rank as follow : Riau, Pontianak, Palembang, Banjarmasin, Jambi, Bengkulu, Palangka Raya, Samarinda, Padang and Lampung.Chapter 4 presents the performance of each provenance in the field. Individual characteristics from twenty-six-months old, planted Sungkai stands are shown, i.e., survival, height, diameter above root and at breast height, crown diameter, multistem reiteration, and h/d (height/diameter) ratio. Disturbances in the trial plots, e.g. fire, made it possible to discuss the survival strategy of Sungkai under fire. Attempts to optimize the mutual adaptability of provenance and new site are described.The plantation trial plot was laid out in alang-alang ( Imperata cylindrica (L.) Pal. Gramineae) grassland in Riam Kiwa, South Kalimantan. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications was used. Each provenance was represented by one 25 tree plot (5 x 5 trees), replicated three times. The spacing was 3x3m. The 25-tree plots were separated from each other by a 5 meter wide fire break (unplanted border) which was manually weeded at regular intervals. As the area was dominated by alang-alang grassland, it was mechanically cultivated prior to planting, twice with a disc-plough and once with a rotovator. No fertilizers were used in the field. Manual weeding was carried out every four months, until the age of the plantation was about 18 months. The statistical computation followed the GLM-Anova procedure of the SPSS version 8.0 software.Statistically, two out of six parameters showed significant differences, i.e., survival rate and multistem reiteration. The survival rate was higher in provenances from Kalimantan than in those from Sumatera. The average survival rate of most provenances was above 69%, except for the Lampung, Padang and Bengkulu provenances. The upper group of five ranged from 73% to 92%. It is assumed that, without drought or fires in 1997, and without cattle disturbances, the figure would have been higher.At the original counts, the Kalimantan provenances once more dominated the upper group of five in mean tree height, but less so than in survival rates. First and third position were now taken by provenances from Sumatera (Padang and Riau provenances). The mean height of twenty-six-months-old Sungkai plantations varied from 195 to 280 cm for all provenances and from 255 to 280 cm for the upper group of five.The Kalimantan provenances once more ranked highest if judged by their diameter, both in diameter above root and diameter at breast height. The mean diameter at breast height varied from 2.5 to 4.3 cm for all provenances and from 3.8 to 4.3 cm for the upper group of five.The h/d (height/diameter above root) ratio of twenty-six months old, planted Sungkai trees has not yet shown any obvious tendency towards either h > 100d or h < 100d. This relationship still oscillated around h = 100d. In other words, the model-conform trees still showed a height-diameter ratio of h100d. This indicates a balanced metabolism with endogeneously and mutually adjusted cambial and height growths.This ratio is related to the architecture of the tree. Several authors found that nearly all model-conforming trees in French Guyana and elsewhere showed the ratio of h = 100 d. In the field, if a young tree breaks off, the ensuing regenerative reiteration pushes this ratio upward (h > 100 d); and when a tree expands its crown by abundant reiteration, the ratio become h < 100 dAll Sungkai provenances can form multistems. However, statistically they are significantly different. Most Kalimantan provenances have a high share of multistemmed trees (above 48%), except Samarinda (19%). Four provenances have fewer multistems, i.e. Lampung (5%), Bengkulu (5%), Jambi (17%) and Samarinda (19%). They may be considered "the best group" for timber quality. However, other factors must be considered for that purpose, i.e. survival, height and diameter growth. The formation of a multistem architecture should be counteracted if good timber is the production objective.Generally, at 26 months the provenances achieved a mean crown diameter above 132 cm, except Jambi (119 cm). As with other parameters, the Pontianak provenance maintained its highest rank (176 cm), in the group with the Palangka Raya (174 cm) and Padang (175 cm) provenances. If the results are related to the plantation with a 3x3 m spacing, only 3 or perhaps 5 provenances may have achieved fast canopy closure within 26 months, i.e. Pontianak, Palangka Raya, Padang, Banjarmasin and Palembang. Their capacity to suppress the grass may have increased by narrower spacing in plantation, e.g 3 x 2 m., so grass suppression and an acceptable rate of timber production may both have been achieved.Several facts emerge. First, the Kalimantan provenances show a faster growth than the Sumatera provenances, as proved by their high values of almost all parameters. Second, based on their individual characteristics, the Kalimantan provenances rank in decreasing order as follows : Pontianak, Palangka Raya, Banjarmasin and Samarinda. For the Sumatera provenances this is : Riau, Padang, Palembang, Bengkulu, Jambi and Lampung. And overall : Pontianak, Palangka Raya, Banjarmasin, Riau, Padang, Samarinda, Palembang, Bengkulu, Jambi and Lampung. Third, as to its better growth performance, the Pontianak, Palangka Raya and Banjarmasin provenances are promising provenances for Industrial Forest Plantations (IFPs). Fourth, for experiments outside Sumatera, the Riau, Padang and Palembang provenances may be satisfactory as long as the transport time of the propagation material is short and cuttings are well packaged.In optimizing the mutual adaptability of provenance and a new site, at least two features are important, i.e., climate and soil of the site. A more detailed climatic analysis is needed, both for the original and the new site of the provenance in order to assess climatic stress. The climatically suitable region, the upper and lower limit of tolerance for a particular provenance, and the optimum time for planting, i.e., planting early in the rainy season, avoiding severe stress for young seedlings (pluriannual drought periods) have to be known. For large areas such as Kalimantan and Sumatera, site maps should be produced per provenance.The second feature is soil. There are at least three factors to be considered, i.e., physical soil structure including depth, nutritional soil status including organic matter content, and acidity of the soil (pH). Soil factors should be included in site maps, so, soil surveys of the new site are necessary.The combination (overlay) of climatic and edaphic factors of the home site and the new site will show the degree of hospitality of a new site towards a particular provenance. So, we will be able to deploy each provenance in each suitable region. The optimum mutual adaptability of provenance and site then is achieved.In Chapter 5 the optimization of the wood production and the design of the silvicultural system of Sungkai are discussed. Wood production is the usual aim in plantation forestry. A tree must grow well where it is planted. Healthy, vigorously growing trees are desired, which are highly productive in the given environment.Three points are essential in order to optimize Sungkai wood production : (1) to use the 'best' provenances, (2) to achieve provenance-site harmony and (3) to tend plantations well, including prevention of and protection against pests and diseases.Based on this present study five items should be paid attention to if a certain provenance is to grow well : (1) the home site of the provenance, (2) transport from the home site to the new site, (3) behaviour in the nursery, (4) transport from the nursery to the planting site, and (5) behaviour in the planting site. These five factors determine the performance of provenances.In designing a silvicultural system for Sungkai, there are four essential points : health of the plantation including the ecological profile of the tree, end use of the wood, secondary management aims, and cost of silvicultural measures.The 'ecological profile' or temperament of an organism is the strategy pattern of the organism as a response to environmental dynamics in order to meet its outside world. This profile is very important for the production of timber according to specifications. The ecological profile becomes visible as an architectural strategy in response to site dynamics.Different end uses need different characteristics. Sawn timber, pulpwood and plywood each have their specifications. Most users of sawn timber prefer long trunk lengths with straight, even grain; large width and depth, uniformity throughout the piece; branch knots absent or few, well scaterred, small; free of inclusions such as calcite, silica and resin pockets (Palmer, 1994).The design of a plantation often focuses on maximum yields, the volume of the investments, and the life-span of the tree. Meanwhile, secondary management aims are being neglected. Emphasizing the first objective without caring for ecosystem capacity will lead to the destruction of the producing system itself and to economic instability.Silvicultural measures serve to yield healthy, vigorous trees so as to obtain the desired products. Certainly, those measures cost money. As long as silvicultural measures may increase the profits, their implementation should be considered. However, low cost is always desirable. The choice of cheap and adequate measures may well be a better guarantee for management success than a 'quantitative' yield forecast.Indeed, as shown by the present study, such forecasts are proved worthless by unexpected and unforseen events (fire, cattle, insects). Statistical forecasts, therefore, are to be treated with caution, because forecasts are only virtual reality. It is always safer to optimize the cost-benefit ratio in the present.In a complex situation the statistical approach may lose touch with reality. Therefore, statistical methods should be used carefully, otherwise, they may easily disappoint.The Local inhabitants should be involved in the plantation programme, if possible in all phases (identification, design, management, monitoring). Their involvement will be beneficial to both plantations and local inhabitants.

The "variations of truth in plantation forestry" is a study on the Teakwood investment program. Teakwood offered the general public in The Netherlands the opportunity to directly invest in a teak plantation in Costa Rica. The program was pioneered in 1989 and truly gained momentum when it was joined by the world's largest environmental organization WWF and an insurance and banking company called OHRA in 1993. Thousands of people invested, many millions of Guilders were transferred and about a dozen teak investment programs in The Netherlands alone followed in its wake. Teakwood offered 'green gold' (OHRA, Summer 1993), it was heralded as 'modern development work' and it attracted broad media attention. The strong proposition of Teakwood attracted the involvement of the Government of The Netherlands (Romeijn, April 18, 1996). From November 1995 onward, the Teakwood investment program increasingly met with opposition. OHRA terminated its Teakwood investment program in the autumn of 1996.The Teakwood investment program was introduced to the market as being based on solid and conservative assumptions on timber yield and financial return. The present study presents a description of the erosion of the credibility of these assumptions by following key statements over time. These statements, or "variations of truth" come from the Teakwood contract partners themselves and from organizations and individuals which the Teakwood contract partners have recognized as authoritative, including the Rainforest Alliance and the Forest Stewardship Council, FSC. The Rainforest Alliance is based in the USA and it certified the Flor y Fauna forest operation as 'well managed' in 1995. The FSC is an organization which is based in Mexico. The FSC accredits forest certification organizations worldwide and it endorsed the Rainforest Alliance certificate for the Flor y Fauna plantation management in January 1998. However, the Flor y Fauna plantations management were found to show no evidence of complying with a several FSC Principles and Criteria.WWF proclaims that the FSC accreditation is the only credible initiative in the field of forest certification and forest products labeling and that the FSC label can help avoid confusion with consumers. Timber products that are derived from forests that are certified by FSC accredited organizations may carry the FSC label. This includes the products that may one day be derived from the Flor y Fauna plantations. According to WWF, the consumer is confused by a proliferation of dubious certification and labeling initiatives:"How do you know whether environmentally-friendly claims are true?The answer is, you don't unless the product bears the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Trademark. This confirms that the wood used to make the products comes from forests which have been independently inspected and certified as well-managed according to strict environmental, social and economic standards" (WWF, June 16, 1998).The assumptions for the projected rates of return to investors of the Teakwood investment program and key statements on its certification were scrutinized by a wide range of organizations and public bodies. These include - but are not limited to - the FSC, Rainforest Alliance and WWF. They were also examined by Courts of Law, The Ministry of Agriculture, the Advertising Standards Committee and the Consumer Organization in The Netherlands. Ranges of justifications were given for the assumptions that form the basis for the projected rates of return and for the forest management certificate. These justifications are analyzed in the present study as "variations of truth" and compared with the original statements upon which they rest.Credibility, transparency and accountability are as essential to forest certification as they are to building a 'civil society'. The "variations of truth" are examined in the light of these three properties. The author of the present study published a series of annotated Teakwood pronouncements, or 'variations of truth', as Treemail Internet circulars to professionals worldwide, between January and July of 1996. These Internet circulars were found to produce an increasing pressure on the Teakwood contract partners and their associated organizations, much in analogy to a feedback loop in sound reproduction. This feedback was found to generate pressure if additional statements and justifications from these organizations were published in new circulars and if these statements were in-consistent, un-transparent or non-accountable. One example of the pressure from the feedback process is found in a complaints procedure that the Rainforest Alliance felt compelled to invoke and execute, although no complaint was ever filed. This feedback process, including the Rainforest Alliance complaints procedure, is analyzed. The quality of the data provided in the Internet circulars was safeguarded by the peer pressure of the professional recipients worldwide.Independence is accepted as being a cornerstone to third party certification. This study raises grave concerns over the meaning, interpretations and perceptions that are attributed to the term 'independence' under the FSC accreditation umbrella. The study describes the elasticity of interpretations attributed to the term with respect to the WWF involvement in the case of Flor y Fauna. WWF's role was found to include - but not to be restricted to - a role as direct beneficiary of the timber proceeds, sales agent for the plantation's timber, as funder, founder and promotor of the FSC, and as holder of Board Membership within the FSC. Independence was indeed found to be proclaimed vital by the accrediting and certifying bodies alike and indeed by the very Teakwood contract partners, including WWF. This particular issue of independence thus makes the Flor y Fauna case one of fundamental - rather than scandalous, transpired or passing - relevance to the international forestry profession.The certification of forest management and the labeling of forest products count among today's top issues in the field of international forestry. In 1998, the World Bank and the WWF, an organization that describes itself as having played a key role in setting up the FSC, formed a global alliance for forest conservation and sustainable use, which includes the aim to bring the management of an additional 200 million hectares of the world's forests under independent certification by the year 2005. This aim of the current joint World Bank and WWF global initiative is a parameter of the relevance of the subject matter of the present study.Erosion of credibility of the justification for the projected rates of return and the forest management certificate is established in the course of this study. Of course, only key findings are presented in these paragraphs, accessory data being left out. It is established that, in contrast with earlier pronouncements and in contrast to the conditions for plantation management certification by the Rainforest Alliance, OHRA has stated in court that the Teakwood projections are higher than anything described in the scientific literature. It is proven that the justification by the Teakwood contract partners and the Rainforest Alliance of the projected proceeds on the basis of the sale of timber against 'imputed log values' is incongruent with sale of the standing timber as it is stipulated in the contract between OHRA and the Teakwood investors.It is established that the Rainforest Alliance, WWF and OHRA presented data on the production of biomass, rather than of wood, to corroborate the projected yield and returns of the Flor y Fauna plantations. This too, is not congruent with the text of the sales brochures, where the calculations and yield figures are based on the production and sale of wood, not of biomass. It is established that there are grounds to assume that there exists a sound legal basis upon which it may be possible to have the Teakwood investment contracts declared dissolved by courts in The Netherlands. It is established that, by untruthfully claiming that no agrochemicals are used at the Flor y Fauna plantation, the WWF joins the ranks of those that the WWF itself accuses of making false claims of environmental friendliness of their forest products.It is established that advertisements for Teakwood and a WWF booklet contained a false claim to an FSC certificate for the Flor y Fauna plantations. The advertisements were circulated millionfold. However, the FSC does not issue one single certificate, it is there to accredit certifying organizations. In this light, the research by the Rainforest Alliance and the WWF of January and February of 1996 that both proved incapable of detecting even one single advertisement that contained the false claim can be called most peculiar. OHRA submitted the WWF and Rainforest Alliance 'research' results in evidence at a court. The credibility of FSC's conclusion that the false claim to a certificate was 'unintentional' is found to be erosive. It is established that the FSC Director and the FSC Board Members are informed about all these matters.Collages of supposedly scientifically sound research were presented in court and in an FSC accredited complaints procedure and, without compliant by the Rainforest Alliance, these were accepted as evidence. These were accepted even if the entire reports remained confidential and inaccessible to the other party or parties in the dispute. The Rainforest Alliance conducted what it terms a complaints procedure in a case where no complaint was ever filed. It did so without notifying to the plaintiffs it had appointed that such a procedure was held. It did so on its own accord and without requesting any information from those who it had declared to be 'plaintiffs'. The Rainforest Alliance did specify neither the complaint, nor the full identity of the defendants. The Rainforest Alliance circulated the results of the complaints procedure over the Internet before it had sent out copies to all those it had named as 'plaintiffs'. The final outcome or 'ruling' of this obscure complaints procedure was found to be critically flawed in most key aspects. The FSC, which was itself "in almost daily contact" with the Rainforest Alliance over the Teakwood case, declared this handling of the non-existing complaint "acceptable" and thus firmly introduced the element of eroded credibility within the jurisprudence of FSC accredited complaints procedures.The present experimental study demonstrates that information infrastructure is profoundly affecting our perception of credibility, transparency and accountability. In the Flor y Fauna case, flat text Internet circulars that were distributed via e-mail provided the core of the communication technology. Professionals worldwide were informed and they could make their own judgement regarding the accountability of environmental and financial claims made in the Flor y Fauna case. Further proliferation of information technology, miniaturized video cameras and enhanced remote detection techniques can be expected to enhance the perceived need for activities that are economically and environmentally accountable on grounds of visual proof, even where these activities are located on the other side of the globe.This study shows that, and how, the Internet provided a novel instrument to enhance professional ethics worldwide. If properly employed it can help to extract accountability from organizations or individuals that may not naturally be so inclined. This study confirms that the Internet, with the ease of worldwide communication it provides, has a role to play in working towards a 'civil society'.Green Gold: on variarions of truth in plantation forestry.P. Romeijn, 1999. Treebook 2 (ca 220pp + CD-Rom)Treemail Publishers, Heelsum, the Netherlands.ISBN 90-804443-3-2 (soft cover)ISBN 90-804443-3-2 (hard cover)Available from:NHBS Mailorder Bookstore,http://www.nhbs.comPaperback stock code: #90134Hardback stock code: #90135Further information:http://www.treemail.nl

A land allocation model for sustainable industrial forest plantation (IFP) project establishment is developed in this research. The model provides the foundation for a spatial decision support system (DSS) that deals with analytical and practical problem solving in IFP land allocation in Indonesia. The model consists of three sub-models: social acceptability, economic viability and ecological soundness. To implement the model, GIS-based procedures were established and data from the case study area, Pulau Laut, South Kalimantan, Indonesia, were used. The development of the model aims to support decisions on land allocation for IFP project areas.IFP development has experienced many problems. Although IFP implementors are empowered by a formal decree from the Government to establish the IFP projects, in reality they are faced with problems such as claims from local people, conflicting uses with other sectors, and other factors. Problems in land allocation decision making have been perceived to be fundamentally the problem of the IFP implementor. To avoid failure of the IFP project, the implementor should find areas for his/her IFP project that give high profits within the constraints of ecological and social values.The concept of sustainability is widely discussed in this thesis and used as the guide for developing the IFP land allocation model. The measure of sustainability is in the range of manageable and simple variables and focuses on considered factors, i.e. social, economic and ecological. The Mintzberg et al. model of decision making phases is used as a tool to analyze the decision making process in IFP land allocation.Allocation of forest land for IFP project development is understood as finding an accommodation between the objectives of various stakeholder groups. The identified IFP stakeholders that should participate in the land allocation decision making are: the local people, the IFP company and the Government. The allocated land for IFP development is considered as a compromise between the determinants of economic viability, ecological soundness and social acceptability. From the IFP implementor's point of view, the problem can be described as how to render the implementor's objectives compatible with those of other stakeholders. This compatibility should satisfy and not violate the stakeholders' objectives.To implement the conceptual model of land allocation, three scenarios were developed, i.e. moderate, optimistic and pessimistic. These scenarios differ in terms of the use of growth factors, i.e. population, GDP and agricultural productivity. The implementation of the model starts with simulating allocation of land according to the objective of the social acceptability sub-model, i.e. projection of agricultural expansion. The information on the projected agricultural areas is used to run the economic viability and the ecological soundness sub-models. The sub-model of economic viability allocates the land for the new IFP project that gives maximal financial benefit to the company. The sub-model of ecological soundness explains the necessity of allocating the land for the benefit of the environment of the area.The identification of conflict areas and the resolution of the conflict are achieved through the integration of the sub-models. In the integration, a policy formulation for consensus building is established, to indicate land use priority when allocating the land for a certain use. The IFP manager can use the information on conflict areas and their conflict resolution as the platform for discussion with other IFP stakeholders in order to reach consensus on preferred and accepted land use planning. The IFP manager may run several iterative processes during the discussion to modify his/her proposal for IFP land allocation.The approaches used in the IFP land allocation model in this research may also be applied for supporting other land use planning, e.g. land use planning at provincial level. The information on projected agricultural expansion, projected area of other land uses, and protected area will help the provincial authorities to structure the problems encountered in land use planning.This research consists of building the model and testing it on field data. A next necessary step is to have the stakeholders actually work with the model in the case study area and other areas.

Sungkai ( Peronema canescens Jack.), Verbenaceae, is one among the fancy woods of Indonesia. Sungkai belongs to a small number of species recommended by The Ministry of Forestry for use in the development of industrial forest plantations (IFP). The IFPs are carried out in response to an increasing wood demand and aim at reducing pressure on the natural forests, thereby contributing to national land conservation objectives, as well as to the supply of industrial raw materials.The wood of Sungkai is used in various ways from roof trusses in the village more specific purposes (veneers). The attractive grain makes Sungkai suitable for veneer, furniture and cabinetwork (Martawijaya et al.1981). Hence, Sungkai has the potential to be planted by local people on their own land for their own use and as a cash crop, in addition to IFPs for industrial purposes. Among indigenous pioneers tested on grasslands in South Kalimantan, Sungkai has a survival rate close to 100%. Usually, Sungkai is regenerated by cuttings rather than by seeds, because this is easy and does not depend on the fruiting season.Although Sungkai is used in IFPs in Indonesia, no efforts have been made yet to develop the quality of Sungkai planting stock. Generally, availability rather than quality of Sungkai cuttings in a site is considered. Not all vegetative propagation nurseries or seed sources are managed professionally by the private sector. Genetic variation in wild populations is virtually unknown, and few attempts, if any, have been made at genetic improvement. Wild Sungkai can be found in many sites in Kalimantan and Sumatera.Only a few successful plantations exist, so most timber continues to be harvested non-sustainably. Domestication of Sungkai is crucial for the development of a sustainable, high-quality timber resource.A first field trial of Sungkai ( P. canescens) provenances from various sites in the Province of South Kalimantan (Hatta, 1992) showed growth differences among the provenances. More genetic diversity may be expected over the broad ecological and geographical range of P. canescens in Kalimantan and Sumatera.Clearly, provenance research on Sungkai ( P. canescens) will lead to genetic improvement and so provide silviculturally optimized P. canescens populations in the field. Wood industries require industrial forest plantations to produce long, straight stems, suitable for end-uses such as plywood and sawn timber. Tree conformity to these specifications depends on tree architecture and trunk formation in particular.Tree architecture codetermines the 'ecological profile' of the species. The architectural strategy of Sungkai, particularly its plasticity and flexibility is basic information for the optimization of the species for wood production. Such knowledge helps predict the tree's capacity to adjust.The present study pinpoints the best provenances of Sungkai, the tree architecture of Sungkai, and specifications for highly productive and low-risk plantations. This is useful especially for industrial forest plantations which have to meet high requirements. Using good quality Sungkai cuttings makes for good quality and quantity of Sungkai timber production, and successful reafforestation. For the Government successful reafforestation means reducing deforested land, raising wood supply, creating job opportunities, and increasing incomes.The original site and vegetation of each provenance are described in Chapter 2. The architecture of Sungkai and the ecological base of the silviculture of the tree are also presented.Site characteristics are latitude, longitude, altitude, topography, annual rainfall and rainy days per month, mean monthly temperature, maximum and minimum day temperature,.and soil characteristics. The name of the location where the cuttings were collected is also mentioned, including the name of the village and the district.The original vegetation surrounding each provenance was studied on the basis of a rapid diagnostic forest line profile of the direct forest environment. In addition, a diagnosis of trees was also made in order to distinguish a 'good phenotype'. Such trees were used to collect our cuttings. Seedling, sapling, pole and mature tree of Sungkai were sketched to assess its architecture.Sungkai architecture is part of the architectural models (Hallé and Oldeman, 1970; Hallé et al. 1978). It represents the model of Scarrone, converging when older to Leeuwenberg's model. In young Sungkai trees the architecture conforms to Scarrone's model, and in adult trees, fragmentation and reduction make it resemble Leeuwenberg's model.The original vegetation of ten provenances varies from old secondary forest (Samarinda provenance) and young secondary forest (Jambi provenance) to home gardens/farmyards (Padang provenance) and vegetation strips or river banks (Pontianak and Lampung provenances). There were also a natural stand dominated by Sungkai (Palangka Raya provenance), a mixed species stand (Samarinda and Jambi provenances), and artificially mixed species stands or gardens (Padang provenance).Only general statements about the geographic distribution of Sungkai in Sumatera and Kalimantan were published. Sungkai was known to occur naturally in the western Indonesian archipelago, especially in a large part of Sumatera and in the whole of Kalimantan. The latitudinal limits within the natural range were from 7 o20' South to 4 o10' North. In Kalimantan Sungkai occurs especially in the centre.Based on observations in the field and local information during the collection of the cuttings, we may now assume that the distribution of Sungkai in Sumatera and Kalimantan tends to be dense below the equator and sparse above it. Chapter 2 shows the distribution centres of Sungkai in Kalimantan and Sumatera.Tree architecture is the strategic pattern of the tree to meet ecological factors. The particular state of the original vegetation surrounding each provenance influences the tree architecture. In healthy ecosystems the tree architecture is inclined to conform to the specifications for quality timber.Chapter 3 shows the initial performance of each provenance in the nursery. Among ten provenances, four show a complete survival (100%), i.e., Pontianak, Banjarmasin, Riau and Jambi. The rest varies between 50% and 95% (Table 3.1). Only the Padang and Lampung provenances show significantly poorer survival rates than the others, i.e., an unusually low survival rate for nurseries, which usually achieve at least 80%.The main determinants of shoot survival of the provenances are certainly the time it takes to transport the cuttings from their original site in Sumatera to the Banjarbaru nursery in South Kalimantan, and the source of the cuttings.The Palembang provenance was the first to show shoot initiation on its cuttings on the third day after the insertion of the cutting in the medium. The Riau and Lampung provenances took second and third position.Root formation started fastest in the Riau provenance, on the eighteenth day, followed by the Pontianak and Palangka Raya provenances.For the overall parameters the performances of the provenances rank as follow : Riau, Pontianak, Palembang, Banjarmasin, Jambi, Bengkulu, Palangka Raya, Samarinda, Padang and Lampung.Chapter 4 presents the performance of each provenance in the field. Individual characteristics from twenty-six-months old, planted Sungkai stands are shown, i.e., survival, height, diameter above root and at breast height, crown diameter, multistem reiteration, and h/d (height/diameter) ratio. Disturbances in the trial plots, e.g. fire, made it possible to discuss the survival strategy of Sungkai under fire. Attempts to optimize the mutual adaptability of provenance and new site are described.The plantation trial plot was laid out in alang-alang ( Imperata cylindrica (L.) Pal. Gramineae) grassland in Riam Kiwa, South Kalimantan. A randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications was used. Each provenance was represented by one 25 tree plot (5 x 5 trees), replicated three times. The spacing was 3x3m. The 25-tree plots were separated from each other by a 5 meter wide fire break (unplanted border) which was manually weeded at regular intervals. As the area was dominated by alang-alang grassland, it was mechanically cultivated prior to planting, twice with a disc-plough and once with a rotovator. No fertilizers were used in the field. Manual weeding was carried out every four months, until the age of the plantation was about 18 months. The statistical computation followed the GLM-Anova procedure of the SPSS version 8.0 software.Statistically, two out of six parameters showed significant differences, i.e., survival rate and multistem reiteration. The survival rate was higher in provenances from Kalimantan than in those from Sumatera. The average survival rate of most provenances was above 69%, except for the Lampung, Padang and Bengkulu provenances. The upper group of five ranged from 73% to 92%. It is assumed that, without drought or fires in 1997, and without cattle disturbances, the figure would have been higher.At the original counts, the Kalimantan provenances once more dominated the upper group of five in mean tree height, but less so than in survival rates. First and third position were now taken by provenances from Sumatera (Padang and Riau provenances). The mean height of twenty-six-months-old Sungkai plantations varied from 195 to 280 cm for all provenances and from 255 to 280 cm for the upper group of five.The Kalimantan provenances once more ranked highest if judged by their diameter, both in diameter above root and diameter at breast height. The mean diameter at breast height varied from 2.5 to 4.3 cm for all provenances and from 3.8 to 4.3 cm for the upper group of five.The h/d (height/diameter above root) ratio of twenty-six months old, planted Sungkai trees has not yet shown any obvious tendency towards either h > 100d or h < 100d. This relationship still oscillated around h = 100d. In other words, the model-conform trees still showed a height-diameter ratio of h100d. This indicates a balanced metabolism with endogeneously and mutually adjusted cambial and height growths.This ratio is related to the architecture of the tree. Several authors found that nearly all model-conforming trees in French Guyana and elsewhere showed the ratio of h = 100 d. In the field, if a young tree breaks off, the ensuing regenerative reiteration pushes this ratio upward (h > 100 d); and when a tree expands its crown by abundant reiteration, the ratio become h < 100 dAll Sungkai provenances can form multistems. However, statistically they are significantly different. Most Kalimantan provenances have a high share of multistemmed trees (above 48%), except Samarinda (19%). Four provenances have fewer multistems, i.e. Lampung (5%), Bengkulu (5%), Jambi (17%) and Samarinda (19%). They may be considered "the best group" for timber quality. However, other factors must be considered for that purpose, i.e. survival, height and diameter growth. The formation of a multistem architecture should be counteracted if good timber is the production objective.Generally, at 26 months the provenances achieved a mean crown diameter above 132 cm, except Jambi (119 cm). As with other parameters, the Pontianak provenance maintained its highest rank (176 cm), in the group with the Palangka Raya (174 cm) and Padang (175 cm) provenances. If the results are related to the plantation with a 3x3 m spacing, only 3 or perhaps 5 provenances may have achieved fast canopy closure within 26 months, i.e. Pontianak, Palangka Raya, Padang, Banjarmasin and Palembang. Their capacity to suppress the grass may have increased by narrower spacing in plantation, e.g 3 x 2 m., so grass suppression and an acceptable rate of timber production may both have been achieved.Several facts emerge. First, the Kalimantan provenances show a faster growth than the Sumatera provenances, as proved by their high values of almost all parameters. Second, based on their individual characteristics, the Kalimantan provenances rank in decreasing order as follows : Pontianak, Palangka Raya, Banjarmasin and Samarinda. For the Sumatera provenances this is : Riau, Padang, Palembang, Bengkulu, Jambi and Lampung. And overall : Pontianak, Palangka Raya, Banjarmasin, Riau, Padang, Samarinda, Palembang, Bengkulu, Jambi and Lampung. Third, as to its better growth performance, the Pontianak, Palangka Raya and Banjarmasin provenances are promising provenances for Industrial Forest Plantations (IFPs). Fourth, for experiments outside Sumatera, the Riau, Padang and Palembang provenances may be satisfactory as long as the transport time of the propagation material is short and cuttings are well packaged.In optimizing the mutual adaptability of provenance and a new site, at least two features are important, i.e., climate and soil of the site. A more detailed climatic analysis is needed, both for the original and the new site of the provenance in order to assess climatic stress. The climatically suitable region, the upper and lower limit of tolerance for a particular provenance, and the optimum time for planting, i.e., planting early in the rainy season, avoiding severe stress for young seedlings (pluriannual drought periods) have to be known. For large areas such as Kalimantan and Sumatera, site maps should be produced per provenance.The second feature is soil. There are at least three factors to be considered, i.e., physical soil structure including depth, nutritional soil status including organic matter content, and acidity of the soil (pH). Soil factors should be included in site maps, so, soil surveys of the new site are necessary.The combination (overlay) of climatic and edaphic factors of the home site and the new site will show the degree of hospitality of a new site towards a particular provenance. So, we will be able to deploy each provenance in each suitable region. The optimum mutual adaptability of provenance and site then is achieved.In Chapter 5 the optimization of the wood production and the design of the silvicultural system of Sungkai are discussed. Wood production is the usual aim in plantation forestry. A tree must grow well where it is planted. Healthy, vigorously growing trees are desired, which are highly productive in the given environment.Three points are essential in order to optimize Sungkai wood production : (1) to use the 'best' provenances, (2) to achieve provenance-site harmony and (3) to tend plantations well, including prevention of and protection against pests and diseases.Based on this present study five items should be paid attention to if a certain provenance is to grow well : (1) the home site of the provenance, (2) transport from the home site to the new site, (3) behaviour in the nursery, (4) transport from the nursery to the planting site, and (5) behaviour in the planting site. These five factors determine the performance of provenances.In designing a silvicultural system for Sungkai, there are four essential points : health of the plantation including the ecological profile of the tree, end use of the wood, secondary management aims, and cost of silvicultural measures.The 'ecological profile' or temperament of an organism is the strategy pattern of the organism as a response to environmental dynamics in order to meet its outside world. This profile is very important for the production of timber according to specifications. The ecological profile becomes visible as an architectural strategy in response to site dynamics.Different end uses need different characteristics. Sawn timber, pulpwood and plywood each have their specifications. Most users of sawn timber prefer long trunk lengths with straight, even grain; large width and depth, uniformity throughout the piece; branch knots absent or few, well scaterred, small; free of inclusions such as calcite, silica and resin pockets (Palmer, 1994).The design of a plantation often focuses on maximum yields, the volume of the investments, and the life-span of the tree. Meanwhile, secondary management aims are being neglected. Emphasizing the first objective without caring for ecosystem capacity will lead to the destruction of the producing system itself and to economic instability.Silvicultural measures serve to yield healthy, vigorous trees so as to obtain the desired products. Certainly, those measures cost money. As long as silvicultural measures may increase the profits, their implementation should be considered. However, low cost is always desirable. The choice of cheap and adequate measures may well be a better guarantee for management success than a 'quantitative' yield forecast.Indeed, as shown by the present study, such forecasts are proved worthless by unexpected and unforseen events (fire, cattle, insects). Statistical forecasts, therefore, are to be treated with caution, because forecasts are only virtual reality. It is always safer to optimize the cost-benefit ratio in the present.In a complex situation the statistical approach may lose touch with reality. Therefore, statistical methods should be used carefully, otherwise, they may easily disappoint.The Local inhabitants should be involved in the plantation programme, if possible in all phases (identification, design, management, monitoring). Their involvement will be beneficial to both plantations and local inhabitants.

The "variations of truth in plantation forestry" is a study on the Teakwood investment program. Teakwood offered the general public in The Netherlands the opportunity to directly invest in a teak plantation in Costa Rica. The program was pioneered in 1989 and truly gained momentum when it was joined by the world's largest environmental organization WWF and an insurance and banking company called OHRA in 1993. Thousands of people invested, many millions of Guilders were transferred and about a dozen teak investment programs in The Netherlands alone followed in its wake. Teakwood offered 'green gold' (OHRA, Summer 1993), it was heralded as 'modern development work' and it attracted broad media attention. The strong proposition of Teakwood attracted the involvement of the Government of The Netherlands (Romeijn, April 18, 1996). From November 1995 onward, the Teakwood investment program increasingly met with opposition. OHRA terminated its Teakwood investment program in the autumn of 1996.The Teakwood investment program was introduced to the market as being based on solid and conservative assumptions on timber yield and financial return. The present study presents a description of the erosion of the credibility of these assumptions by following key statements over time. These statements, or "variations of truth" come from the Teakwood contract partners themselves and from organizations and individuals which the Teakwood contract partners have recognized as authoritative, including the Rainforest Alliance and the Forest Stewardship Council, FSC. The Rainforest Alliance is based in the USA and it certified the Flor y Fauna forest operation as 'well managed' in 1995. The FSC is an organization which is based in Mexico. The FSC accredits forest certification organizations worldwide and it endorsed the Rainforest Alliance certificate for the Flor y Fauna plantation management in January 1998. However, the Flor y Fauna plantations management were found to show no evidence of complying with a several FSC Principles and Criteria.WWF proclaims that the FSC accreditation is the only credible initiative in the field of forest certification and forest products labeling and that the FSC label can help avoid confusion with consumers. Timber products that are derived from forests that are certified by FSC accredited organizations may carry the FSC label. This includes the products that may one day be derived from the Flor y Fauna plantations. According to WWF, the consumer is confused by a proliferation of dubious certification and labeling initiatives:"How do you know whether environmentally-friendly claims are true?The answer is, you don't unless the product bears the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Trademark. This confirms that the wood used to make the products comes from forests which have been independently inspected and certified as well-managed according to strict environmental, social and economic standards" (WWF, June 16, 1998).The assumptions for the projected rates of return to investors of the Teakwood investment program and key statements on its certification were scrutinized by a wide range of organizations and public bodies. These include - but are not limited to - the FSC, Rainforest Alliance and WWF. They were also examined by Courts of Law, The Ministry of Agriculture, the Advertising Standards Committee and the Consumer Organization in The Netherlands. Ranges of justifications were given for the assumptions that form the basis for the projected rates of return and for the forest management certificate. These justifications are analyzed in the present study as "variations of truth" and compared with the original statements upon which they rest.Credibility, transparency and accountability are as essential to forest certification as they are to building a 'civil society'. The "variations of truth" are examined in the light of these three properties. The author of the present study published a series of annotated Teakwood pronouncements, or 'variations of truth', as Treemail Internet circulars to professionals worldwide, between January and July of 1996. These Internet circulars were found to produce an increasing pressure on the Teakwood contract partners and their associated organizations, much in analogy to a feedback loop in sound reproduction. This feedback was found to generate pressure if additional statements and justifications from these organizations were published in new circulars and if these statements were in-consistent, un-transparent or non-accountable. One example of the pressure from the feedback process is found in a complaints procedure that the Rainforest Alliance felt compelled to invoke and execute, although no complaint was ever filed. This feedback process, including the Rainforest Alliance complaints procedure, is analyzed. The quality of the data provided in the Internet circulars was safeguarded by the peer pressure of the professional recipients worldwide.Independence is accepted as being a cornerstone to third party certification. This study raises grave concerns over the meaning, interpretations and perceptions that are attributed to the term 'independence' under the FSC accreditation umbrella. The study describes the elasticity of interpretations attributed to the term with respect to the WWF involvement in the case of Flor y Fauna. WWF's role was found to include - but not to be restricted to - a role as direct beneficiary of the timber proceeds, sales agent for the plantation's timber, as funder, founder and promotor of the FSC, and as holder of Board Membership within the FSC. Independence was indeed found to be proclaimed vital by the accrediting and certifying bodies alike and indeed by the very Teakwood contract partners, including WWF. This particular issue of independence thus makes the Flor y Fauna case one of fundamental - rather than scandalous, transpired or passing - relevance to the international forestry profession.The certification of forest management and the labeling of forest products count among today's top issues in the field of international forestry. In 1998, the World Bank and the WWF, an organization that describes itself as having played a key role in setting up the FSC, formed a global alliance for forest conservation and sustainable use, which includes the aim to bring the management of an additional 200 million hectares of the world's forests under independent certification by the year 2005. This aim of the current joint World Bank and WWF global initiative is a parameter of the relevance of the subject matter of the present study.Erosion of credibility of the justification for the projected rates of return and the forest management certificate is established in the course of this study. Of course, only key findings are presented in these paragraphs, accessory data being left out. It is established that, in contrast with earlier pronouncements and in contrast to the conditions for plantation management certification by the Rainforest Alliance, OHRA has stated in court that the Teakwood projections are higher than anything described in the scientific literature. It is proven that the justification by the Teakwood contract partners and the Rainforest Alliance of the projected proceeds on the basis of the sale of timber against 'imputed log values' is incongruent with sale of the standing timber as it is stipulated in the contract between OHRA and the Teakwood investors.It is established that the Rainforest Alliance, WWF and OHRA presented data on the production of biomass, rather than of wood, to corroborate the projected yield and returns of the Flor y Fauna plantations. This too, is not congruent with the text of the sales brochures, where the calculations and yield figures are based on the production and sale of wood, not of biomass. It is established that there are grounds to assume that there exists a sound legal basis upon which it may be possible to have the Teakwood investment contracts declared dissolved by courts in The Netherlands. It is established that, by untruthfully claiming that no agrochemicals are used at the Flor y Fauna plantation, the WWF joins the ranks of those that the WWF itself accuses of making false claims of environmental friendliness of their forest products.It is established that advertisements for Teakwood and a WWF booklet contained a false claim to an FSC certificate for the Flor y Fauna plantations. The advertisements were circulated millionfold. However, the FSC does not issue one single certificate, it is there to accredit certifying organizations. In this light, the research by the Rainforest Alliance and the WWF of January and February of 1996 that both proved incapable of detecting even one single advertisement that contained the false claim can be called most peculiar. OHRA submitted the WWF and Rainforest Alliance 'research' results in evidence at a court. The credibility of FSC's conclusion that the false claim to a certificate was 'unintentional' is found to be erosive. It is established that the FSC Director and the FSC Board Members are informed about all these matters.Collages of supposedly scientifically sound research were presented in court and in an FSC accredited complaints procedure and, without compliant by the Rainforest Alliance, these were accepted as evidence. These were accepted even if the entire reports remained confidential and inaccessible to the other party or parties in the dispute. The Rainforest Alliance conducted what it terms a complaints procedure in a case where no complaint was ever filed. It did so without notifying to the plaintiffs it had appointed that such a procedure was held. It did so on its own accord and without requesting any information from those who it had declared to be 'plaintiffs'. The Rainforest Alliance did specify neither the complaint, nor the full identity of the defendants. The Rainforest Alliance circulated the results of the complaints procedure over the Internet before it had sent out copies to all those it had named as 'plaintiffs'. The final outcome or 'ruling' of this obscure complaints procedure was found to be critically flawed in most key aspects. The FSC, which was itself "in almost daily contact" with the Rainforest Alliance over the Teakwood case, declared this handling of the non-existing complaint "acceptable" and thus firmly introduced the element of eroded credibility within the jurisprudence of FSC accredited complaints procedures.The present experimental study demonstrates that information infrastructure is profoundly affecting our perception of credibility, transparency and accountability. In the Flor y Fauna case, flat text Internet circulars that were distributed via e-mail provided the core of the communication technology. Professionals worldwide were informed and they could make their own judgement regarding the accountability of environmental and financial claims made in the Flor y Fauna case. Further proliferation of information technology, miniaturized video cameras and enhanced remote detection techniques can be expected to enhance the perceived need for activities that are economically and environmentally accountable on grounds of visual proof, even where these activities are located on the other side of the globe.This study shows that, and how, the Internet provided a novel instrument to enhance professional ethics worldwide. If properly employed it can help to extract accountability from organizations or individuals that may not naturally be so inclined. This study confirms that the Internet, with the ease of worldwide communication it provides, has a role to play in working towards a 'civil society'.Green Gold: on variarions of truth in plantation forestry.P. Romeijn, 1999. Treebook 2 (ca 220pp + CD-Rom)Treemail Publishers, Heelsum, the Netherlands.ISBN 90-804443-3-2 (soft cover)ISBN 90-804443-3-2 (hard cover)Available from:NHBS Mailorder Bookstore,http://www.nhbs.comPaperback stock code: #90134Hardback stock code: #90135Further information:http://www.treemail.nl

A land allocation model for sustainable industrial forest plantation (IFP) project establishment is developed in this research. The model provides the foundation for a spatial decision support system (DSS) that deals with analytical and practical problem solving in IFP land allocation in Indonesia. The model consists of three sub-models: social acceptability, economic viability and ecological soundness. To implement the model, GIS-based procedures were established and data from the case study area, Pulau Laut, South Kalimantan, Indonesia, were used. The development of the model aims to support decisions on land allocation for IFP project areas.IFP development has experienced many problems. Although IFP implementors are empowered by a formal decree from the Government to establish the IFP projects, in reality they are faced with problems such as claims from local people, conflicting uses with other sectors, and other factors. Problems in land allocation decision making have been perceived to be fundamentally the problem of the IFP implementor. To avoid failure of the IFP project, the implementor should find areas for his/her IFP project that give high profits within the constraints of ecological and social values.The concept of sustainability is widely discussed in this thesis and used as the guide for developing the IFP land allocation model. The measure of sustainability is in the range of manageable and simple variables and focuses on considered factors, i.e. social, economic and ecological. The Mintzberg et al. model of decision making phases is used as a tool to analyze the decision making process in IFP land allocation.Allocation of forest land for IFP project development is understood as finding an accommodation between the objectives of various stakeholder groups. The identified IFP stakeholders that should participate in the land allocation decision making are: the local people, the IFP company and the Government. The allocated land for IFP development is considered as a compromise between the determinants of economic viability, ecological soundness and social acceptability. From the IFP implementor's point of view, the problem can be described as how to render the implementor's objectives compatible with those of other stakeholders. This compatibility should satisfy and not violate the stakeholders' objectives.To implement the conceptual model of land allocation, three scenarios were developed, i.e. moderate, optimistic and pessimistic. These scenarios differ in terms of the use of growth factors, i.e. population, GDP and agricultural productivity. The implementation of the model starts with simulating allocation of land according to the objective of the social acceptability sub-model, i.e. projection of agricultural expansion. The information on the projected agricultural areas is used to run the economic viability and the ecological soundness sub-models. The sub-model of economic viability allocates the land for the new IFP project that gives maximal financial benefit to the company. The sub-model of ecological soundness explains the necessity of allocating the land for the benefit of the environment of the area.The identification of conflict areas and the resolution of the conflict are achieved through the integration of the sub-models. In the integration, a policy formulation for consensus building is established, to indicate land use priority when allocating the land for a certain use. The IFP manager can use the information on conflict areas and their conflict resolution as the platform for discussion with other IFP stakeholders in order to reach consensus on preferred and accepted land use planning. The IFP manager may run several iterative processes during the discussion to modify his/her proposal for IFP land allocation.The approaches used in the IFP land allocation model in this research may also be applied for supporting other land use planning, e.g. land use planning at provincial level. The information on projected agricultural expansion, projected area of other land uses, and protected area will help the provincial authorities to structure the problems encountered in land use planning.This research consists of building the model and testing it on field data. A next necessary step is to have the stakeholders actually work with the model in the case study area and other areas.

Resultaten van onderzoek, waarbij de boomteelt van biologisch materiaal vergeleken wordt met de gangbare teeltvorm. Hoofdlijnen uit Alterra rapport

Alterra heeft samen met de Kultuurgroep voor Bos- en Haagplantsoenkwekers, Staatsbosbeheer en het Bosschap een onderzoek opgezet waarbij de boomteelt van biologisch en niet-biologisch materiaal met elkaar vergeleken worden

Onderzoek in landschappelijke beplantingen heeft aangetoond dat de wijze waarop de beplantingen worden aangelegd van grote invloed is op de latere onderhoudskosten. De gegevens van de Rottemeren zijn in de eerste plaats gebruikt om aan te geven op welk niveau de aanleg- en onderhoudskosten liggen voor dit type beplantingen. Daarnaast is getracht na te gaan wat de invloeden zijn van de soortensamenstelling en de ruimtelijke structuur van de beplantingen op het niveau van de onderhoudskosten. De aldus verkregen inzichten kunnen bijdragen tot verlaging van de exploitatiekosten van toekomstig aan te leggen recreatieve beplantingen. De uitkomsten van dit onderzoek zijn uitgebreider beschreven in Rapport nr. 231 van "De Dorschkamp"