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Reforestation, coffee and carbon in Sierra Piura, Peru: can carbon financing promote sustainable agriculture?

Background

Previous 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. 

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Reforestation of Abandoned Pastures: Silvicultural Means to Accelerate Forest Recovery and Biodiversity

Background

Despite the 2736 native tree species in Ecuador, the majority of forestation activities in the country are based on exotic pines and eucalypts. In this book chapter, the authors describe the reason for this neglect being the lack of knowledge on the ecology and silvicultural treatment and the lack of nurseries growing these species.

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Postdispersal Seed Fate of Tropical Montane Trees in an Agricultural Landscape, Southern Costa Rica

background

This study seeks to understand postdispersal seed fate in Montane Costa Rica in order to better identify factors driving forest regeneration.

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Woody Plant Diversity and Structure of Shade-Grown-Coffee Plantations in Northern Chiapas, Mexico

background

This article presents research on coffee stand structure and diversity, with data collected from 61 coffee plots in Chiapas, Mexico.

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Tree species diversity and vegetation structure in shade coffee farms in Veracruz, Mexico

Background

While some studies have argued that shade coffee enables similar biodiversity to remnant forest fragments, others contest that the ecological functions of shade coffee can be assumed to be the same or that policies promoting shade coffee will also benefit remnant forest fragments. Not all taxa have been thoroughly studied in shade coffee. This study reports on tree species diversity and vegetation structure in shade coffee farms in Veracruz, Mexico.

Open access copy available

Caracterización del conocimiento local del componente arbóreo en fincas ganaderas (Characterization of the local knowledge of the tree component in cattle farms)

Español

antecedentes

La producción ganadera es una de las principales económicas en la Municipalidad de Pupiales en Colombia, donde participan alrededor de 950 productores. La información relacionada a los sistemas de producción no ha sido sistematizada con frecuencia, sin embargo es de gran importancia para los procesos de investigación y de toma de decisiones.

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Reserva Encenillo, Fundacion Natura, Colombia

This reserve is located in high montane forest of the Colombia Andes, designed to protect the locally important forest tree Weinmanniatomentosa (Encenillo in Spanish). The total size of the reserve is 135 ha of forest, and serves as a forest corridor in a matrix of pasture, potato, and remnant forest landscape.

Open access copy available

Clean Development Mechanism - Reforestation Projects, San Nicholas and Chinchina, Colombia

background

The CDM permits these projects to generate carbon credits based on the amount of carbon sequestered in trees that will be planted on private land currently used for agriculture.

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The Recovery of the Lower Montane Cloud Forest in the Mucujún Watershed, Mérida, Venezuela

Background

Given the recovery of degraded forests in some landscapes throughout the tropics, the authors analyze land use change and land cover change in a mountain region of the andes of venezuela during a period of 50 years.

Research Goals & Methods

The study relies on aerial photographs taken between 1952 and 2009 of a peri-urban watershed. 

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The Cultural Context of Forest Degradation in Adjacent Purépechan Communities, Michoacán, Mexico

Background

This study aims to understand the relationship between cultural and ecological drivers contributing to change in forest land use patterns by comparing two adjacent indigenous communities in the volcanic plateau region of Michoacán, Mexico. The study suggests that both cultural and ecological processes must be studied together to best understand the cultural causes of forest change and accurately assess ecological consequences.

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Increasing Drought Sensitivity and Decline of Atlas Cedar (Cedrus atlantica) in the Moroccan Middle Atlas Forests

background

Since the 1980s, severe droughts have influenced Atlas cedar mortality in Morocco. This study looked at relative contributions of tree characteristics and stand structure on the increment-growth and decline of Atlas cedar trees (Cedrus atlantica) in stands affected by past logging and heavy grazing.

Open access copy available

Identifying Hotspots of Deforestation and Reforestation in Colombia (2001–2010): Implications for Protected Areas

background

This article uses satellite imagery, MODIS MOD13Q1 Vegetation Indices 250 , the Virtual Interpretation of EarthWeb-Interface Tool (VIEW-IT) to conduct a land-use analysis of Colombia, mapping trends and "hotspot" areas of deforestation and of reforestation from 2001 to 2010.

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Land Cover Change in Colombia: Surprising Forest Recovery Trends between 2001 and 2010

background

This study mapped annual land-use and land-cover from 2001 to 2010 in Colombia using MODIS (250 m) products coupled with reference data from high spatial resolution imagery (QuickBird) in Google Earth.

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The Political, Social, and Ecological Transformation of a Landscape

Background

In 1951 the Chinese Government issued the Decision on Cultivating Rubber Trees, which resulted in the establishment of large-scale rubber plantations in the tropical regions of China, including Xishuangbanna in southern Yunnan. These rubber plantations, worked by relocated Han Chinese, were a manifestation of state power on the landscape.

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Using Lightweight Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to Monitor Tropical Forest Recovery

Background

Open access copy available

Bosques andinos del sur de Ecuador, clasificación, regeneración y uso (Andean Forests of Southern Ecuador, classification, regeneration and use)

Español

antecedentes

A pesar de la gran diversidad e importancia de los bosques montanos tropicales, existe muy poca información disponible sobre ellos, incluyendo inventarios y descripciones.

Open access copy available

Conserving Biodiversity in a Complex Biological and Social Setting: The Case of Colombia

Background 

Colombia is known for its immense biological diversity and complexity. This article examines three of the primary causes of these characteristics, including history, geogrpahy, and evolution along with the context of the country's conservation efforts. The auhors then identified threats based on trends that emerged from these themes.

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Forests in the Time of Violence: Conservation Implications of the Colombian War

Background

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Evaluation of a rural development project in Southwest Cochabamba, Bolivia, and its agroforestry activities involving Polylepis besseri and other native species – a decade of lessons learned

Background

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Adaptive value of participatory biodiversity monitoring in community forestry

Background

This paper looks at using a conceptual framework (values, diversity, stakeholders) for forest monitoring, communication and conservation by villagers in Baglung District, Nepal. The goal was to assist local foresters in developing monitoring programs.

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