Tag: natural forests
The future of teak – what policy makers and managers need to consider
The report “State of the World’s Forest Genetic Resources” published by FAO in 2014 lists tree species that are considered national priorities by the reporting countries for the conservation and management of forest genetic resources. Teak (Tectona grandis) takes the top rank in this list in more than 20 countries. Economic value (including value of timber, pulp, food, wood energy, and non-wood forest products) is one of the main reasons for nominating the species as a priority for conservation and management.
Call for a tree domestication strategy in Vietnam
The forestry sector has been successful in implementing forest restoration over the last 25 years, although forest quality remains limited and germplasm sources contain poor genus. Current tree domestication efforts focus on exotic fast growing species rather than indigenous trees and Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP). Development of a domestication strategy will enable the acceleration of tree domestication activities for selected indigenous tree species, supporting improvement of livelihood for forest growers and conservation efforts whilst complementing the role of exotic species in forest plantations across Vietnam.
Appropriate spacing of Natural Vegetative Filter Strips (NVS) as foundation for Agroforestry System.
Soil erosion from sloping farms exacerbated by inappropriate farming Practices ranged from 50-370 tons yr . (Mercado, et al. 2002) Upland crop yields declined 200-500 kg/ha (Fujisaka, et al. 1988) River systems in South East carry 10 times more sediment out to sea than any other river systems globally. Conventional spacing of vegetative buffer strips is at 1 meter vegetative drop. This entails crop area taken away from crop production which dramatically reduces farmers’ willingness to adopt
Finding the right institutional and legal framework for community-based natural forest management: the Tanzanian case
As community involvement in natural forest management expands and matures, the need to lodge the rights and obligations of both state and community in workable and legally binding institutional frameworks becomes more pressing. This is particularly so where power and authority are being redistributed. This publication looks specifically at Tanzania, where forest-local communities are beginning to be designated as the management authority of particular woodlands and, in some cases, even their owners. Positive results are giving considerable support to community-based management as the forest management strategy of choice. Implementation has of necessity also prompted a search for accessible mechanisms through which community authority may be embedded legally. The author argues that, in this respect, Tanzania has an advantage over many sub-Saharan African states in the unusual manner of legal identity granted to rural communities, and in supporting administrative and land laws which provide for village-based control over natural resource management. Specific elements explored include the fact that rural villages in Tanzania are recognised as a formal level of government, endowed thereby with certain rights and obligations; that the rural village may attain legal corporate status allowing it, inter alia, to own and manage property in ways accountable in a court of law; and that property law provides for a modern, statutory version of communal tenure, within the bounds and accountability of a private legal person. Wily provides a step-by-step guide to the ways in which a forest-adjacent community may secure custodianship over a local natural forest, whether it be an already gazetted Forest Reserve or public land forest, and be held accountable for sound conservationary management.