General

Site and species selection — Changing perspectives

Background

Plantation forestry in the tropics today is characterized by increasing refinement of matching species with site and increasing emphasis on non-industrial purposes for growing trees. This perspective comments on the increased number of objectives that a tropical forester or scientist is called upon to fulfill.

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Rationale and Methods for Conserving Biodiversity in Plantation Forests

background

When compared to degraded lands, developed lands, or areas of intensive industrial agriculture, forest plantations can positively contribute to biodiversity conservation. However, when monoculture stands of exotic trees, or native trees not typically found in single-species stands are used for plantations, they have been found to have impoverished flora and fauna compared with natural forest.

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Application of Assisted Natural Regeneration to Restore Degraded Tropical Forestlands

background

Assisted natural regeneration (ANR) has been proposed as an alternative restoration method that reduces the costs and scalability barriers of other restoration alternatives. This article describes the steps to applying ANR to disturbed ecosystems where forest succession processes have been halted by dominant grass or fern monocultures. 

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Tropical forest recovery: Legacies of human impact and natural disturbances

Background

Land-use history interacts with natural forces to influence the severity of disturbance events and the rate and nature of recovery processes in tropical forests. This perspective article highlights several trends in tropical forest recovery processes emerging from recent literature.

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Beyond Deforestation: Restoring Forests and Ecosystem Services on Degraded Lands

Background

In this review, the author presents the various stages of topical forest restoration. She describes a spectrum of reforestation approaches varying by time, cost, and biodiversity conservation value.

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When and Where to Actively Restore Ecosystems?

Background

While conservation efforts around the world have focused on restoring degraded ecosystems to provide ecosystem services and benefit biodiversity, yet there has been an increasing recognition that certain ecosystems can rapidly recover without human intervention. This paper examines the question: what cases and to what extent should humans actively facilitate ecosystem recovery?

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Paying for Environmental Services: An Analysis of Participation in Costa Rica's PSA Program

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This study evaluates demographic and other factors that played a role in the participation of households in Costa Rica's Payment for Environmental Services program.

Research Goals & Methods

The authors rely on economic analysis of technology adoption and farm and forestry program participation to assign variables and draw conclusions.

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UNFCCC Negotiations (pre-Kyoto to COP-9): What the Process Says about the Politics of CDM-Sinks

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Institutional Dimensions of Payments for Ecosystem Services: An Analysis of Mexico's carbon Forestry Programme

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In recent years, Mexico has established a payment for environmental service (PES) program where governments pay rural communities and farmers for environmental service provisions: water quality, carbon fixation, biodiversity, etc. These PES programs have been more effective when designed by both providers and users collaboratively. In 2004, the Mexican government developed the program Payments for Carbon, Biodiversity and Agro-forestry Services (PSA-CABSA).

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Value and Risks of Expiring Carbon Credits from Afforestation and Reforestation Projects under the CDM

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One of the main concerns with afforestation and reforestation being part of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is the issue of liability about the length and quality of the project (the risk of the forest or plantation being harvested or otherwise destroyed). To account for the non-permanent carbon storage of afforestation and reforestation projects, Credits for Emissions Reductions (CERs) can expire.

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