Nontimber forest product (NTFP) certification has potential to promote sustainable harvest and to bolster rural livelihoods. This research compares environmental and socioeconomic benefits of Brazil nut certification for 231 producers in 17 communities in the trinational border region of Bolivia, Brazil, and Peru during the 2006-2007 harvest. Specific objectives were: (1) to analyze differences in “best management practices” between certified and noncertified producers; (2) to identify socioeconomic benefits associated with certified nuts; and (3) to explore producer perceptions of nut certification. Organic and Fairtrade certification were associated with better postharvest practices and higher prices, while Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification was related to preharvest planning. Certification was viewed most positively in Bolivia, where producers gleaned financial and social benefits, moderately in Peru, and least positively in Brazil, where benefits were lower or nonexistent. Partnerships with cooperatives, donors, government, and nongovernmental organizations were essential to maximize conservation and development objectives.
Tag: trade
Functional diversity and composition of Caatinga woody flora are negatively impacted by chronic anthropogenic disturbance
Tropical plant assemblages can be taxonomically and phylogenetically impoverished by chronic anthropogenic disturbance (CAD), such as firewood collection and extensive grazing. However, to what extent the functional dimension responds to CAD is still unclear. Such knowledge is urgently required for predicting, preventing or even reversing the impacts of CAD. Chronic anthropogenic disturbance may operate as an ecological filter by selecting functional trait values (e.g. low wood density), thereby altering the functional composition and diversity of plant assemblages. We tested this hypothesis using 29 woody plant assemblages across three ontogenetic stages (seedlings, saplings and adults) in a 220‐km2 landscape of the Caatinga, northeast Brazil. We adopted a CAD index consisting of four indicators (proximity to urban centre and houses and the density of both people and livestock) and tested how well it explained the functional diversity and effect sizes (richness, evenness and dispersion) and composition (community‐weighted mean). Chronic anthropogenic disturbance affected several functional metrics across the three ontogenetic stages. However, CAD effects were stronger in adult communities by negatively affecting functional richness, dispersion and their effect sizes. CAD also altered the functional composition of leaf mass per area, woody density and leaf area of adult assemblages. Sapling communities were affected in terms of functional composition (leaf area, leaf dry matter and wood density), with positive and negative effects, while seedling assemblages responded positively to CAD only in terms of functional evenness and its effect size. Some changes in functional metrics were influenced by dominant Euphorbiaceae species across ontogenetic stages, especially in terms of leaf area and woody density. Synthesis. Chronic anthropogenic disturbance is an important driver of plant‐community functional organization across ontogenetic stages in the Caatinga. Adult assemblages are particularly sensitive and tend to lose functional niche space and support more acquisitive rather than conservative strategies as chronic anthropogenic disturbance increases. The proliferation of Euphorbiaceae disturbance‐adapted species can explain part of the community responses to chronic anthropogenic disturbance. Our findings highlight the ecological effects of chronic anthropogenic disturbance and show that it is a key influence on tropical biotas. Changes in plant functional traits associated with plant resource use are likely to affect ecosystem functioning and services provided by Caatinga.
Assessment of browsed plants in a sub-tropical forest frontier by means of fuzzy inference
Browsing of forest frontiers by cattle in sub-tropical landscapes is detrimental to ecosystem health, but essential to smallholder livelihoods. We described a silvopastoral landscape, searching for browsed plants to assess how much of the forest is actually used for this end, and also searching for potential new useful species for silvopastoral purposes. The first objective was accomplished through a floristic description, making observations of individuals with browsing marks. Information from interviews, bromatological analyses and vegetative propagation tests further complemented this information to achieve the second objective. We classified the results using Fuzzy Inference Systems (FISs). A great variety of nutritious browsed plants was found, distributed across various types of vegetation, growth habits and taxonomic groups: forest frontiers already are like silvopastoral systems. Various plants like Acalypha leptopoda, Montanoa tomentosa and Verbesina perymenioides are interesting prospects for further intensification of silvopastoral systems.
A stitch in time: general lessons from specific cases
We can adapt to climate change and limit the harm, or we can fail to adapt andrisk much more severe consequences. How we respond to this challenge will shape the future in important ways.The climate is already hazardous; indeed it always has been so. Variations and extremes of climate disrupt production of food and supplies of water,reduce incomes, damage homes and property, impact health and even take lives. Humans, in an unintended revenge, are getting back at the climate byadding to heat-trapping gases in the Earth’s atmosphere that are changing the climate. But the changes are amplifying the hazards. And we cannot in short order stop this. The physical and social processes of climate change have a momentum that will continue for decades and well beyond.This undeniable momentum does not imply, however, that efforts to mitigateclimate change, meaning to reduce or capture the emissions of greenhouse gases that drive climate change, are wasted. Nor is a call for adaptation a fatalistic surrender to this truth. The magnitude and pace of climate change will determine the severity of the stresses to which the world will be exposed.Slowing the pace of human caused climate change, with the aim of ultimately 3232 J&J Climate Change 31/10/07 11:31 am Page 1stopping it, will enable current and future generations to better cope with and adapt to the resulting hazards, thereby reducing the damages and danger.Mitigating climate change is necessary. Adapting to climate change is necessary too.
A review of pasture and fodder production and productivity for small ruminants in the Sahel
The focus of this review is on feed scarcity, prompting a series of studies on woody fodder species used in sheep feeding. Despite the human pressure on land and climate change, restoration experiences of rangelands (direct sowing, water harvesting techniques, livestock density control, etc.) proved to be successful, both environmentally and economically. Smallholder households increase their use of trees in agricultural landscapes to improve food security, nutrition, income, health, shelter, social cohesion, energy resources and environmental sustainability.
A tale of transaction costs and forest law compliance: Trade permits for Non Timber Forests Products in Cameroon
There are growing concerns about illegal activities in the forestry sector and some work is in progress to understand the causes and consequences of noncompliance to forestry laws. However, most research on illegal forest activities deals with illegal timber harvesting with little efforts on other activities like Non Timber Forest Products (NTFP). In Cameroon, commercial exploitation of most NTFP is regulated by a permit system. However a majority of traders who sell these products do not have the necessary permits. The objective of this paper is to assess and use transactions costs economics (TCs) to explain why traders in Cameroon do not comply with regulations on permits. Results show that the process to obtain permits may require more than 26,000 USD and may require regular monitoring during a time span of more than 4 years. Analyses of traders’ perceptions illustrate that the major sources of high TCs in the forest sector are the perceived complex administrative procedures and information asymmetry on procedures and the requirements to obtain permits. The study concludes that it is the impracticality to abide to high TCs rather than the inclination to disobey the law that pushes traders to operate without permits.
Factors inflncing wildmeat trade in Guyana and expected changes in the context of the oil-related development prospects
The recent offshore oil discovery in the Guiana Shield is expected to bring about significant changes to the area, such as increased GDP per capita, infrastructure development, and urbanization. The potential impact on the wild meat trade depends on factors influencing its demand and provision. Through interviews and group discussions with trade chain stakeholders in all towns of Guyana, we evaluate wildmeat trade sector and explored predicted changes on it in 2033 with the prospects for short term oil-related development. The most traded species in Guyana included paca, white-lipped peccary, deer, tapir and capybara and a total of 38.46% (5 out of 13) of the taxa being traded is classified as threatened of extinction. Regions with higher population size and GDP per capita, are the main trade hubs for wildmeat. Access to improved preservation methods (e.g. freezers) and motorized transportation options (eg.: boat with engines and vehicles) significantly influence higher volumes of wildmeat traded. The economic growth anticipated in Guyana is expected to boost population growth and, by the same time, wildmeat demand in urban areas. Concomitantly, with improved infrastructure and increased access to electricity, wildmeat provision will be facilitated across a wider catchment area. Based on the assumption that cultural patterns shaping wildmeat demand and environmental regulations will likely not change at the same rapid path as economic growth in the next ten years, we predict wildmeat trade volumes to increase to 10,280 tons/year by 2033. We identify three main opportunities to ensure a sustainable wildmeat sector in the context of the economic boom: First, the sector requires to be well regulated through a licensing and a quota system that can be adequately enforced. Second, efforts to curve demand on the Coast need to be strengthened based on well designed and culturally adapted behaviour change campaigns. Third, local communities and indigenous people need to be empowered to protect and conserve their territories and wildlife resources, in particular with the authority to exclude illegal hunters.
The impact of trade and macroeconomic policies on frontier deforestation
The purpose of this lecture note is to summarise different research results about the impact of macro-level factors and “extra-sectoral” policies on tropical forest cover. Specifically, we are interested in the forest margins – i.e. the spatial transition zone between tropical forests and converted land uses. What are the policy factors that accelerate frontier expansion, and which ones tend to slow it down? The main objectives are: a. To learn how different changes related to trade and macroeconomic policies affect the loss of frontier forests, i.e. to understand both the likely direction and weight of these factors in influencing the speed of forest conversion; b. To comprehend trade-offs and synergies between policies for natural-forest conservation and those designed to promote economic development; c. To appreciate these linkages in the light of a few micro- and macro-level examples. A key finding is that what happens to tropical forests is more determined by events outside the forest arena than by what happens inside the forest sector. In other words, the extra-sectoral impacts will often be more important than, for instance, the new forest law, the participatory tree planting project or the environmental education programme that is implemented at the forest margins. That does not necessarily mean that forestry interventions are not effective. What it does mean is that some macroeconomic and extra-forestry factors tend to set the scene for success or failure of the projects and strategies of forest margin stabilisation, so that the promoters of these strategies need to have a realistic vision about the direction and proportions of impacts. In some cases, the macro decision makers should also explicitly take into account how forests are affected before they make their “extra-sectoral”, macro-level choices.
Exposing illegal hunting and wildlife depletion in the world’s largest tropical country through social media data
Globally, illegal sport hunting can threaten prey populations when unregulated. Due to its covert nature, illegal sport hunting poses challenges for data collection, hindering efforts to understand the full extent of its impacts. We gathered social media data to analyze patterns of illegal sport hunting and wildlife depletion across Brazil. We collected data for 2 years (2018–2020) across 5 Facebook groups containing posts depicting pictures of illegal sport hunting events of native fauna. We described and mapped these hunting events by detailing the number of hunters involved, the number of species, the mean body mass of individuals, and the number and biomass of individuals hunted per unit area, stratified by Brazilian biome. We also examined the effects of defaunation on hunting yield and composition via regression models, rank–abundance curves, and spatial interpolation. We detected 2046 illegal sport hunting posts portraying the hunting of 4658 animals (∼29 t of undressed meat) across all 27 states and 6 natural biomes of Brazil. Of 157 native species targeted by hunters, 19 are currently threatened with extinction. We estimated that 1414 hunters extracted 3251 kg/million km2. Some areas exhibited more pronounced wildlife depletion, in particular the Atlantic Forest and Caatinga biomes. In these areas, there was a shift from large mammals and reptiles to small birds as the main targeted taxa, and biomass extracted per hunting event and mean body mass across all taxonomic groups were lower than in other areas. Our results highlight that illegal sport hunting adds to the pressures of subsistence hunting and the wild meat trade on Brazil’s wildlife populations. Enhanced surveillance efforts are needed to reduce illegal sport hunting levels and to develop well-managed sustainable sport hunting programs. These can support wildlife conservation and offer incentives for local communities to oversee designated sport hunting areas.
Resilient Landscapes for Sustainable Trade and Development [Special Issue]
Increasing globalization of the economy has triggered development opportunities but has also had widespread negative effects on the environment and landscapes. The increasing global demand for agro- and tree-based commodities has caused clearing of forests, grasslands and wetlands and associated biodiversity; deterioration of watersheds; and soil and land degradation in agricultural and forest production areas. Furthermore, it is often accompanied with strong geographic inequalities (whether people are close or distant to value hubs), including uncontrolled and poorly designed urban settlements.