Globally, planted forests are increasing, providing increased resources to forest industries and ecosystem services (ES) to local and wider communities. However, assessment of the impacts of plantations on ES has been limited. Planted forests have expanded rapidly in Vietnam over the last 20 years, with much of the planting undertaken by smallholder growers using exotic Acacia and Eucalyptus species. This study aimed to test a framework to assess changes in four ES due to an increase in Acacia plantations from 2005–2015 in central Vietnam: carbon sequestration, sediment retention, water yield and habitat. Quantitative and qualitative indicators for each service were derived from the literature. Results showed that the area of planted forests in Quảng Trị and Thừa Thiên-Huế Provinces increased from 130,930 hectares (ha) to 182,508 ha, mostly replacing non-forest areas (degraded lands, grasslands and agricultural lands) and poor forests. The framework demonstrated capacity to assess the effect of planted forests on wood flow, carbon stocks, sediment retention, streamflow and the extent of wildlife habitat. Apart from the wood supply and carbon sequestration, more research is required to translate biophysical indicators to benefit relevant indicators related to human welfare. The study also revealed that the area of rich forests decreased by 20% over the ten years, mostly through degradation to poorer quality natural forests. Therefore, at the landscape scale, improvement in ES due to conversion of non-forests to planted forests was offset by a reduction in some services as a result of degradation of native forest from rich to poorer condition. Assessment of changes in ES due to planted forests also needs to consider other landscape changes. These analyses can inform policymakers, forest owners and managers, environmental organizations and local communities of the benefits and impacts of planted forests and provide an improved basis for payments for ES and potential additional income for smallholder tree growers.
Tag: assessment
Concepts for the design and evaluation of change-oriented research
Research funding bodies, and society in general, have high expectations for research to contribute solutions that have positive societal and environmental impact. This desire to increase societal benefits has prompted an evolution in how research is conducted, and a corresponding need for appropriate research evaluation tools and approaches. The Sustainability Research Effectiveness Program, led by Professor Brian Belcher at Royal Roads University, has responded to this need by developing a Transdisciplinary Research Quality Assessment Framework to evaluate research design and implementation and a theory-based evaluation approach to assess research contributions to outcomes and impacts.
Assessing Transitions to Sustainable Agricultural and Food Systems: A Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE)
There is increasing interest in agroecology as a way to move toward more sustainable agriculture and food systems. However, the evidence of agroecology’s contribution to sustainability remains fragmented because of heterogeneous methods and data, differing scales and timeframes, and knowledge gaps. Facing these challenges, 70 representatives of agroecology-related organizations worldwide participated in the development of the Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE), to produce and consolidate evidence on the multidimensional performances of agroecological systems. TAPE is composed of: Step 0, the preliminary step that includes a description of the main socio-economic and demographic characteristics of the agricultural and food systems and an analysis of the enabling environment in terms of relevant policy, market, technology, socio-cultural and/or historical drivers; Step 1, the Characterization of Agroecological Transitions (CAET), based on the 10 Elements of Agroecology adopted by FAO and its member countries, using descriptive scales to establish scores and assessing the degree of transition, with information from the farm/household and community/territory scale; Step 2, the Core Criteria of Performance listing the key dimensions considered relevant to address the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Environment & climate change; Health & nutrition; Society & culture; Economy and Governance. Finally Step 3, a participatory validation of the results obtained from the previous steps with the producers and relevant stakeholders. TAPE can be used (i) to assess the extent of agroecological transition among agricultural producers in a community or a territory, (ii) to monitor and evaluate projects by characterizing the initial and subsequent steps in an agroecological transition, and/or (iii) to evaluate widely diverse agricultural systems against agroecological elements and how they contribute to the achievement of the SDGs. Its application can support the transition of all forms of agricultural systems toward more sustainable practices and the formulation of adequate policies to enable this transformation. Preliminary results from pilot applications show that TAPE can perform in a variety of geographic regions and agroecosystems and that it allows assessment of performances of various criteria that move beyond classic indicators to begin to build a global evidence base for agroecology and support transformation to sustainable agricultural production and food systems. © Copyright © 2020 Mottet, Bicksler, Lucantoni, De Rosa, Scherf, Scopel, López-Ridaura, Gemmil-Herren, Bezner Kerr, Sourisseau, Petersen, Chotte, Loconto and Tittonell.
The 10 Elements of Agroecology: enabling transitions towards sustainable agriculture and food systems through visual narratives
Provision of Adequate Tree Seed Portfolios (PATSPO). Mid-Term Review Report
The purpose of this Mid-Term Review (MTR) of the Project is to assess the project’s progress and provide recommendations on how performance issues and challenges encountered so far could be addressed to deliver the desired outcomes and for the continuation of implementation of the project. The review also looksinto the complementarity of the PATSPO project with other NICFI funded programs/projects, particularly the REDD+ Investment Program, and provides recommendations on how to create synergies with those projects/programs. The scope of the MTR mission focuses on the subjects of relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, potential impact, sustainability, and risk management, including cross-cutting issues.
Ecosystem service assessment of the Ili Delta, Kazakhstan
The Ramsar Site Ile River Delta and South Lake Balkhash Ramsar Site comprises wetlands and meadow vegetation (the modern delta), ancient river terraces that now harbour Saxaul and Tamarx shrub vegetation, and the southern coast line of the western part of Lake Balkhash.
Tracking the implementation of CFS policy recommendations on agroecological approaches
The global food system is characterized by a confluence of challenges, among which include demographic changes, climate change, land degradation, biodiversity loss, and competition over renewable resources. Agriculture accounts for 60 percent of terrestrial biodiversity loss, 33 percent of soil degradation, 61 percent of the depletion of commercial fish stocks (UNEP, 2016), and an estimated 34 percent of GHG emissions. Moreover, with an estimated 3.1 billion people unable to afford a healthy diet in 2020 nearly 670 million people projected to be hungry in 2030, and the growing concerns around equity and social justice, the global food system is moving in the wrong direction, and a profound transformation is needed at all scales.
Criteria and indicators for assessing the sustainability of forest management
The need for new criteria and indicators for the assessment of biodiversity conservation as part of sustainable forest management of tropical forests has been identified as a priority by many international organisations. Those biodiversity criteria and indicators which formed part of a much broader initial assessment by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) (Prabhu et al. 1996) were found to be deficient. This Working Paper contains specific proposals for biodiversity criteria and indicators. These proposals originated from a workshop of experts, and are intended to be adapted and refined for use in specific situations. Criteria and indicators need to be applied at the forest management unit level and those for biodiversity are just one part of a package that includes socio-economic and other categories. Biodiversity is an extraordinarily broad concept and, given the huge diversity of life in tropical forests, it is impossible to make rapid direct assessments of biodiversity in forests in anything other than a superficial manner. It is likely that there will be limited skilled human resources and time for biodiversity assessment in any system of criteria and indicators, so it is important that we design tools that do not require expert application and interpretation. The usefulness of “indicator groups”, “keystone” species and other concepts is still argued among biologists and their utility is questionable. This paper suggests that, in contrast to more traditional approaches to assessing taxonomic diversity, it may be possible to assess the effects of management practices on biodiversity by examining the state of those processes that generate or maintain biodiversity. The indicators and verifiers that we have suggested examine the state of these processes. We recommend that for each indicator, quick and easy verifiers, which we designate “Primary” verifiers are used first, and more sophisticated (“Secondary”) verifiers are used only if clear results are not obtained from Primary verifiers. This paper is merely a first step in creating a suitable framework for applying a proposed a set of forest biodiversity indicators and verifiers. The framework and the indicators and verifiers require field testing, and we fully expect there to be changes resulting from the field trials, which will be reflected in major improvements in their effectiveness. For the sake of brevity we have not discussed the advantages and disadvantages of the verifiers in full. While changes are expected, the approach taken is powerful in that it recognises the relationship between interventions and consequences, and it demonstrates that some indicators are more widely valuable than others.
Analysis for improvement of Indonesia FREL–2016
Indonesia submited its frst Forest Reference Emission Level (FREL) to the United Natons Framework Conventon on Climate Change in 2015, revising it in 2016 (FREL–2016). FREL–2016 was used to assess the impact of mitgaton actons post-2012 implemented through REDD+ (Reducing emissions from deforestaton, forest degradaton, enhancement of forest carbon stock, sustainable management of forests, and conservaton of forest carbon). While the UNFCCC considered FREL–2016 a laudable efort, its reviewers recommended technical improvements, such as including peatland fres and emissions of non-CO2 gases.
This study identfes actvites, pools, and gases absent from FREL–2016, and ofers recommendatons for its technical assessment. To that end, it combines Propagaton of Error and Monte Carlo Simulaton to assess the uncertainty of estmated emissions. The results reafrm the importance of considering previously unaccounted actvites, and additonal carbon pools and gases. They also underscore the need for uncertainty analysis to enhance the accuracy and reliability of emissions estmates within the context of REDD+ and FREL–2016.
Guidelines for assessing and developing the tree seed and seedling sector
Key messages
- Having effective tree seed and seedling delivery systems is key for enabling tree growers to plant trees to provide needed products and services.
- The situation of tree seed and seedling supply in most places is currently inadequate, however, with growers often using planting material of unknown history and poor performance.
- To make improvements, conducting a sectoral assessment of the current situation is the starting point. How to do this is explained in this brief, and we outline steps that build on the assessment.