Sustainability agendas increasingly recognize that attaining conservation and development outcomes demands greater integration across sectors. Integrated landscape initiatives (ILIs) are a leading approach to reconciling multiple objectives. However, a characterization of the diversity of approaches under the ILI umbrella and the comparative performance of different types of approach is lacking. Here, we analyze questionnaire data obtained from project proponents to delimit four particular types of ILI: one type was dominated by agricultural interventions and another by conservation interventions, and these partially integrated ILIs engage local scales of governance; the remaining two types exhibit strong integration, with aims and actions across multiple sectors and scales of governance. We show that integrated projects were deemed to be more successful by project proponents. The typology offers the practitioner and research community an explicit set of strategies for selection, evaluation, and support and attests to the need for integration to achieve sustainable outcomes.
Tag: conservation
Mapping tree species vulnerability to multiple threats as a guide to restoration and conservation of tropical dry forests
Understanding the vulnerability of tree species to anthropogenic threats is important for the efficient planning of restoration and conservation efforts. We quantified and compared the effects of future climate change and four current threats (fire, habitat conversion, overgrazing, and overexploitation) on the 50 most common tree species of the tropical dry forests of northwestern Peru and southern Ecuador. We used an ensemble modelling approach to predict species distribution ranges, employed freely accessible spatial datasets to map threat exposures, and developed a trait‐based scoring approach to estimate species‐specific sensitivities, using differentiated trait weights in accordance with their expected importance in determining species sensitivities to specific threats. Species‐specific vulnerability maps were constructed from the product of the exposure maps and the sensitivity estimates. We found that all 50 species face considerable threats, with an average of 46% of species’ distribution ranges displaying high or very high vulnerability to at least one of the five threats. Our results suggest that current levels of habitat conversion, overexploitation, and overgrazing pose larger threats to most of the studied species than climate change. We present a spatially explicit planning strategy for species‐specific restoration and conservation actions, proposing management interventions to focus on (i) in‐situ conservation of tree populations and seed collection for tree planting activities in areas with low vulnerability to climate change and current threats, (ii) ex‐situ conservation or translocation of populations in areas with high climate change vulnerability, and (iii) active planting or assisted regeneration in areas under high current threat vulnerability but low climate change vulnerability, provided that interventions are in place to lower threat pressure. We provide an online, user‐friendly tool to visualize both the vulnerability maps and the maps indicating priority restoration and conservation actions.
Biodiversity offsets and payments for environmental services
Biodiversity Offsets (BO) and Payments for Environmental Services (PES) are sometimes used interchangeably to characterize innovative economic tools to conserve or restore biodiversity, ecosystems, or their services. We assume that a confusion between PES and BO can have negative implications for biodiversity conservation. In this paper, we argue that these two tools follow different targets and have different founding principles, and thus, their basic mode of functioning would only coincide under special circumstances and institutional contexts. Here, we propose a new definition of BO, delimiting them more clearly from PES, and use practical examples to underscore conceptual differences. Both tools require specific policy framework conditions, in terms of rights, responsibilities, and enforcement. If unmet, however, the implications for biodiversity conservation outcomes are stronger for BO than for PES since BO are explicitly linked to biodiversity losses, while PES typically are not. PES experiences can certainly inform BO implementation vis-à-vis contract design and enforcement, but these PES lessons need to be enacted vis-à-vis BO specific requirements, in order not to underestimate generic risks in their implementation: if a PES scheme fails, payments can be stopped; if a BO fails, biodiversity losses remain.
Sustainable Palm Oil: Dissecting a Global Debate
Palm oil expansion in tropical forest margins captures headlines, primarily out of concern that encroachment to tropical forest causes environmental problem and ignites social issues [1]. Sustainability has to be understood in the wider context of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), rather than as primarily a plot-level ecological concern about persistence of production, to make sense of the debate that has become a very polarized and find ways forward. Cascading ecological and social issues have caused a loss of trust, (threats of) consumer boycotts and multiple standards and certification responses. Diverse sustainability issues have come up as part of a public issue-attention cycle with five recognisable stages [2]: A) Agenda setting, B) Better and widely shared understanding of what is at stake, C) Commitment to common principles, D) Details of devils derailing operations, devolved to (newly created or existing) formal institutions that handle implementation and associated budgets, and E) Efforts to monitor and evaluate effects. In Indonesia two phases of new establishment of palm oil coexist within a forest transition gradient: (i) (industry-led) expansion into new forest margins with many social and ecological consequences; and (ii) (often farmer-led) conversion of existing agroforestry and tree crop (often rubber-based) or pasture economies in mosaic landscapes. External consumer concerns refer to the expansion phase, rather than to production sustainability or issues of smallholder concern. However, certification standards are only partially adjusted to the latter. After a ‘voluntary industry standards’ phase of differentiation with and shifting blame to non-certified others [3], government involvement in Malaysia and Indonesia suggests that standards and certification can trickle down to enforceable good practice standards for all. This can learn from past ineffective policies that did not address the real issues in local context [4]. On the other hand, subnational jurisdictional entities are the scale at which oil palm production can be balanced with other goals, such as forest conservation and smallholder welfare. This needs a supportive and clear national policy support that combines clarity on forest protection (as in the now permanent moratorium), with support for risk-reducing diversified smallholder oil palm production systems [5,6] and international communication that acknowledges past problems but shows Indonesia is ready to move on, connecting all the dots of sustainable development goals.
Pay, talk or ‘whip’ to conserve forests: Framed field experiments in Zambia
Despite many efforts to conserve tropical forests, high rates of deforestation and forest degradation continue, threatening the products and environmental services they supply. We conducted framed field experiments (FFEs) in Zambia to test, ex-ante, the impacts of different conservation policies: community forest management (CFM), command and control (CAC), and two versions of payments for environmental services (PES). Our FFEs mimicked how local dwellers use forests in real life. Relative to open access (OA), PES to individuals reduced harvest by 15 percentage points (pp) while CFM reduced harvest rates by 8 pp. We conjecture that free and easy-riding, combined with uncertainty on how others will reciprocate, dampens the positive effects of group-based PES. Impatience and risk-loving among participants significantly increased harvest rates while pro-social behavior (altruism) was associated with more pro-conservation. We conclude that conservation outcomes might be achieved by combinations of CFM and individual PES, by which individual households receive clear material benefits that compensate for their reduced forest use.
Importance of Indigenous Peoples’ lands for the conservation of Intact Forest Landscapes
Intact Forest Landscapes (IFLs) are critical strongholds for the environmental services that they provide, not least for their role in climate protection. On the basis of information about the distributions of IFLs and Indigenous Peoples’ lands, we examined the importance of these areas for conserving the world’s remaining intact forests. We determined that at least 36% of IFLs are within Indigenous Peoples’ lands, making these areas crucial to the mitigation action needed to avoid catastrophic climate change. We also provide evidence that IFL loss rates have been considerably lower on Indigenous Peoples’ lands than on other lands, although these forests are still vulnerable to clearing and other threats. World governments must recognize Indigenous Peoples’ rights, including land tenure rights, to ensure that Indigenous Peoples play active roles in decision-making processes that affect IFLs on their lands. Such recognition is critical given the urgent need to reduce deforestation rates in the face of escalating climate change and global biodiversity loss.
CHIURI (Nepali butter tree)
The chiuri (Diploknema butyracea Roxb; syn. Bassia butyracea; syn. Madhuca butyracea; syn. Aesandra butyracea) — English common name: ‘Nepali butter tree’ — is one of the most important species of Nepal, providing a range of ecosystem goods and services: erosion control, medicinal ingredients, pollinators’ habitat, honey, fodder, butter for cooking and other uses (candles, soap), and pulp and timber for furniture.
Farmer’s socio-economic characteristics and financial feasibility analysis of three pepper (Piper nigrum L.) farming patterns in Southeast Sulawesi
This study aims to examine farmer’s socio-economic characteristics and pepper farming analysis on several pepper management patterns. This study was conducted in Lawonua Village, South Konawe District, and Simbune Village, East Kolaka District, Southeast Sulawesi Province, in June 2014 and November 2015. Data were collected through a survey method using open-ended and semi-structured questionnaire interviews, in-depth interviews, and Focus Group Discussion (FGD). Data were analyzed using qualitative descriptive and financial analysis, such as NPV, BCR, and IRR. The results showed that most income of the community in Simbune and Lawonua Village is from pepper farming activity. The respondents were dominated by men, where most of them are Tolaki Tribe, with average age ranges from 30-50 years old. Education level was dominated by junior and senior high school, and most of the respondents have more than ten years of pepper farming experience. The analysis showed that all pepper pattern management was feasible. The results indicated that the first pattern of monoculture pepper farming provided the highest NPV IDR 379,175,999 (IDR/rotation), and the second-highest was pepper farming with cocoa, which provided the highest BCR values (2.75). While the third was agroforestry pepper patterns with pepper, cocoa, durian, and langsat that had the highest IRR value of 33%. The pepper with the cocoa farming pattern was generally carried out by farmers who have enough capital. While pepper farming in the agroforestry pattern was mostly chosen due to its consideration to provide more security for family income. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.
Participation, anticipation effects and impact perceptions of two collective incentive-based conservation interventions in Ucayali, Peru
This study contributes to the relatively scarce literature evaluating household-level outcomes of collective agreements. We examine participation in and anticipation effects of two collective, incentive-based initiatives in Ucayali, Peru. The first initiative is a local REDD+ project, the second is Peru’s National Forest Conservation Program (NFCP). Both initiatives were evaluated at an early stage of implementation, thus any effects are characterized as anticipation effects. We first examine the determinants of participation in the initiatives and find that household participation is negatively associated with agricultural income and positively associated with market access and previous experiences with external initiatives. Next, we use quasi-experimental methods and self-reflexive evaluations to examine impacts on land use and livelihoods. The results show no evidence of anticipation effects on income or land use. Self-reflexive evaluations indicate, however, that a total of 82% of the NFCP participating households perceive a positive effect on wellbeing, while only 39% of participants in REDD+ perceive a positive effect. The differences in perceptions of the two initiatives is attributed to design and implementation factors, including delayed payments, lack of transparency, and limited local input. The study demonstrates the value of self-reflexive evaluations for identifying intangible effects on wellbeing of conservation initiatives.
Guidance for a Landscape Approach in Displacement Settings in Sub-Saharan Africa: Case Study on the Landscape of Garamba, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)
The report aims to provide guidance to support the implementation of a set of integrated interventions based on the landscape approach and to improve the living standards of refugee and host communities. It seeks at once to expand the opportunities available to refugee and host communities, to improve their socioeconomic context, and to conserve the biodiversity of the Garamba landscape where the refugee sites are located.