Tag: forest ecosystems
Does Community-Based Forest Management in Indonesia Devolve Social Justice or Social Costs?
Global deforestation, its causes and suggested remedies
Man’s use of land – forested land, land that borders forest, and land that long ago ceased to be forest – is the subject of this contribution. The point made is that in most developing countries, the economic potential of forestry and the ecological importance of forest ecosystems are very low priority issues. If we are concerned with the survival and perpetual utilization of tropical forest, we have to analyze the question: why do forests disappear in an alarming increasingly rate Not because there is an evil conspiracy aiming at clearing the world of tropical forests. There are two main reasons: people and nations need new land for food production, and they need wood for a variety of different purposes. Forests, where the exist, can provide both; in many cases forests are the only reserves of land and wood
Land Use Planning and Impacts on the Sustainable Management of Forest Ecosystems in Central Africa
Land use planning (LUP) is, generally speaking, a policy that tends to organize human activities in a predetermined geographical area, based on a long-term objective. The aim of this policy is to strengthen the social cohesion of that area at different levels. On a finer scale, the way the territory is organized establishes zones and subterritories, and for each of these it allocates objectives in line with the overall long-term objective of the LUP.
Forests, water and land health are the natural capital of African montane forest ecosystems
Key messages
- This brief explains the impacts of conversion of indigenous forest to small- and large-scale agriculture on water, carbon and nutrient cycles, and the implications for forest, water and land health.
- Our long-term research in the Mau forest of Kenya quantified the negative effect of forest encroachment and poor agricultural practices on the natural capital of the communities living on the edges of the forest and the livelihoods of those downstream in the river basin, threatened by soil loss and nutrient pollution of water resources.
- We propose practical solutions that tackle the root cause of the problem and increase community resilience aligned with the implementation of existing national and sub-national policies designed to protect natural resources.
- Solutions include the promotion of regenerative, holistic agricultural practices that preserve natural capital. In addition, enhanced governance of natural resources at the local level through joint activities between forest and water associations will contribute to the effectiveness of initiatives to improve simultaneously forest, water and land health.
Three interrelated forest pathways could contribute to green recovery and a transition to sustainable economies
Forests are resources of global significance. They cover nearly one-third of the Earth’s land surface and contain the majority of terrestrial biodiversity. The forest area continues to shrink, however, despite efforts to halt deforestation and restore degraded lands.
Willingness to Pay for Conservation of the Asian Elephant in Nakai Nam Theun National Protected Area in Laos
The Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) is an ecologically important species in the forest ecosystem of Laos. The species is endangered and on the edge of extinction owing to illegal hunting, destruction of elephant habitat, and forest degradation. Payment for conservation could be one of the potential mechanisms to enhance Asian Elephant conservation efforts. This paper aims to estimate local residents’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) for conservation of the Asian elephant in Nakai-Nam Theun National Park (NNT NP) in Laos, which is a recognised “Key Biodiversity Area” within the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot. The data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire survey, with a total of 490 respondents living adjacent to the NNT NP, covering seven villages in two districts in Khammouane Province, Laos. The study employed the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) to identify the factors affecting WTP. The results showed that respondents were willing to pay a significant amount of money in the form of increasing activities for conservation and protection of NNT NP. Mean WTP for the conservation of the Asian elephant was $8 per household per year. Approximately 62% (303 local people) of the respondents were willing to pay for the conservation of the Asian elephant. The research findings will be helpful for planners and decision makers to formulate better future strategies for conservation of Asian elephants in Laos and in similar developing countries in the Southeast Asia region.
Estimating Long-Term Average Carbon Emissions from Fires in Non-Forest Ecosystems in the Temperate Belt
Research into pyrogenic carbon emissions in the temperate belt of the Russian Federation has traditionally focused on the impact of forest fires. Nevertheless, ecosystems in which wildfires also make a significant contribution to anthropogenic CO2 emissions are poorly studied. We evaluated the carbon emissions of fires in the non-forest ecosystems of the Middle Amur Lowland, in the Khabarovsk Territory of the Russian Federation. Our study is based on long-term Earth remote sensing data of medium spatial resolution (Landsat 5, 7, and 8) and expeditionary studies (2018–2021). The assessment of carbon directly emitted from wildfires in meadow and meadow–mire temperate ecosystems in the Middle Amur lowland shows that specific emissions from such ecosystems vary, from 1.09 t/ha in dwarf shrub–sphagnum and sphagnum–ledum and sedge–reed fens to 6.01 t/ha in reed–forb, forb, reed, and sedge meadows. Meanwhile, carbon emissions specifically from fires in meadow and meadow–mire ecosystems are less significant—often an order of magnitude less than carbon emissions from forest fires (which reach 37 tC/ha). However, due to their high frequency and the large areas of land burned annually, the total carbon emissions from such fires are comparable to annual emissions from fires in forested areas. The results obtained show that the inadequacy of the methods used in the automatic mapping of burns leads to a significant underestimation of the area of grassland fires and carbon emissions from non-forest fires.
The number of tree species on Earth
One of the most fundamental questions in ecology is how many species inhabit the Earth. However, due to massive logistical and financial challenges and taxonomic difficulties connected to the species concept definition, the global numbers of species, including those of important and well-studied life forms such as trees, still remain largely unknown. Here, based on global ground-sourced data, we estimate the total tree species richness at global, continental, and biome levels. Our results indicate that there are ∼73,000 tree species globally, among which ∼9,000 tree species are yet to be discovered. Roughly 40% of undiscovered tree species are in South America. Moreover, almost one-third of all tree species to be discovered may be rare, with very low populations and limited spatial distribution (likely in remote tropical lowlands and mountains). These findings highlight the vulnerability of global forest biodiversity to anthropogenic changes in land use and climate, which disproportionately threaten rare species and thus, global tree richness.
Multidimensional tropical forest recovery
Tropical forests disappear rapidly because of deforestation, yet they have the potential to regrow naturally on abandoned lands. We analyze how 12 forest attributes recover during secondary succession and how their recovery is interrelated using 77 sites across the tropics. Tropical forests are highly resilient to low-intensity land use; after 20 years, forest attributes attain 78% (33 to 100%) of their old-growth values. Recovery to 90% of old-growth values is fastest for soil (<1 decade) and plant functioning (12 decades). Network analysis shows three independent clusters of attribute recovery, related to structure, species diversity, and species composition. Secondary forests should be embraced as a low-cost, natural solution for ecosystem restoration, climate change mitigation, and biodiversity conservation. © 2021 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved.