Open access copy available
Tropical Forest Transitions and Globalization: Neo-Liberalism, Migration, Tourism, and International Conservation AgendasBackgroundDeforestation is giving way to forest regeneration in some tropical regions. This paper uses two case studies to investigate such ‘forest transitions’ in two biodiversity-rich countries, Costa Rica and Madagascar. Open access copy available |
Implications of Country-Level Decisions on the Specification of Crown Cover in the Definition of Forests for Land Area Eligible for Afforestation and Reforestation Activities in the CDMbackgroundAccording to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) with the Kyoto Protocol, reforestation may only occur on land that was not forested in 1990. This article evaluates how afforestation and reforestation (A/R) through the ENCOFOR project in four countries have approached the issue of "what is forest?" The authors highlight the uncertainty in the qualifications to be forest by presenting many different national or organizational definitions of forestland. Differences in the minimum crown cover needed to be classified as forest can affect the area available for reforestation under CDM. Open access copy available |
Integration of Hyperion Satellite Data and A Household Social Survey to Characterize the Causes and Consequences of Reforestation Patterns in the Northern Ecuadorian AmazonbackgroundThis paper describes reforestation in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon (NEA) using 2002 remotely sensed Hyperion images and 2001 Ikonos images. Open access copy available |
Reforestation, coffee and carbon in Sierra Piura, Peru: can carbon financing promote sustainable agriculture?BackgroundPrevious research has suggested that certain agricultural practices can protect, enhance, and reverse environmental degradation. One way to achieve this beneficial connection can be encouraged is through financial mechanisms, such as payment for ecosystem services. This document examines a similar approach in which carbon revenues drive sustainable coffee agriculture in the Sierra Piura region of Peru. Open access copy available |
What is the State of Tropical Montane Cloud Forest Restoration?backgroundThis article reviews barriers and opportunities to recovery of deforested tropical montane cloud forest ecosystems. In recent years, agricultural and grazing lands in Latin America have been abandoned due to low productivity as well as rural to urban migration. However, land has not grown back with cloud forest species, but rather has remained dominated by non-forest vegetation (such as the grass Melinus minutiflora and fern Pteridium arachnoideum). Open access copy available |
The Evolution of Reforestation in BrazilbackgroundThis article describes the history of incentives for reforestation in Brazil from the 1970s through 2001. Open access copy available |
Reforestation of an Indonesian Tropical Forest: The Win-Win Approach of a Private Japanese FirmBackgroundAs one of Japan's largest forestry firms, Sumitomo Forestry Company, Ltd. provides a unique approach to a sector that is increasingly faced with pressures due to population and economic growth. This resource examines on initiative by the firm, the Sebulu experimental forest project in the eastern part of Kalimantan, Indonesia. Open access copy available |
The Reforestation Value Chain for the PhilippinesbackgroundThis paper describes the reasons for the failure of reforestation projects in the Philippines and the potential actions to improve success. When reforestation is focused narrowly on tree plantings, they can last for a few years (mostly 3) but then are easily cut by farmers who want to resume farming, by people in need of wood, or by people feeling that the reforestation was unjust. Most reforestation projects do not have plans beyond tree establishment. Open access copy available |
On the Restoration of High Diversity Forests: 30 years of Experience in the Brazilian Atlantic ForestbackgroundThis review evaluates the restoration of Brazil's Atlantic forest by drawing from published and unpublished sources. Reforestation in Atlantic Brazil took place in phases: government-sponsored plantations predominated until 1982; a focus on native species plantations from 1982-1985; higher diversity of species used from 1985 to 2000; a focus on restoring process rather than copying the structure of natural forests from 2000-2003; and finally a conscious effort to improve intraspecific genetic diversity and seed acquisition from 2003 to today. Open access copy available |
Tree planting by small producers in the tropics: A comparative study of Brazil and PanamaBackgroundForest regrowth is a widespread phenomenon across the tropical forest latitudes. Such reforestation takes place in the wake of land abandonment, occurs cyclically in a rotational agricultural system, and may result from the deliberate planting of trees by farmers. Although less extensive than successional forest regeneration, tree planting by small farmers can have potentially important environmental impacts at both the site and global scale. Open access copy available |
