East Asia and Pacific

Leaders in Action: Success Stories from the Tropics

Background

The Environmental Leadership and Training Initiative (ELTI) seeks to seeks to train and support people to restore and conserve tropical forest landscapes. Since 2006, the organizations has engaged with thousands of people both through their in-person and online training platforms and through follow-up support and mentorship. This paper highlights select inspirational stories from ELTI alum. These stories come from the Neotropics, including Panama, Colombia, and Brazil, and Asia, including Indonesia, Singapore, and the Phillipines.  

Open access copy available

Business models for sustainable investments in the context of tropical forest restoration

Background

This paper outlines the context and approaches of effective business models for sustainable investments in Tropical Forests. Triple bottom line business opportunities are defined and identified through a review of literature and analysis of three case studies (InIkea, FCFR Project, and Sustain Project). The conceptual frameworks surrounding sustainable business models are examined. Challenges and opportunities into the future are also explored.

Open access copy available

Evaluation and Planning of Mangrove Restoration Programs in Sedari Village of Kerawang District, West Java: Contribution of PHE-ONWJ Coastal Development Programs

Background

The authors described a mangrove restoration project in Sedari Village of Kerawang District, West Java. According to the article, the main cause for mangrove degradation in this region is due to brackish water fish ponds called “tambak”. The authors described and evaluated the first four of six project phases through mangrove survivability and soil structure. 

Open access copy available

Reforesting for the climate of tomorrow: Recommendations for strengthening orangutan conservation and climate change resilience in Kutai National Park, Indonesia

Background

Kutai National Park in East Kalimantan, Indonesia has experienced extensive issues with human population expansion and encrouchment, which threatens both the parks immense biodiversity and the critically endangered Bornean Orangutan.  Moreover, due to climate change, the region is also undergoing severe drought conditions. This paper seeks to explore the vulnerability of the park's biodiversity to climate change and present potential strategies to minimize or even prevent the negative impacts. 

Open access copy available

Rainforestation Case Study: The Cienda-San Vicente Farmers Association Experience

Background

Open access copy available

Long-term changes in liana loads and tree dynamics in a Malaysian forest

Background

Increasingly lianas are recognized as one of the most important growth form in seasonal tropical forest, yet there has been limited research that has studied the effects in other forests. This study discusses the effect of lianas on tree growth, reproduction, and survivorship in a Southeast Asian Dipterocarp forest.

Available with subscription or purchase

Infuence of tree cover on diversity, carbon sequestration and productivity of cocoa systems in the Ecuadorian Amazon

Background

In this study, Jadan et al. objective was to evaluate the relationship between richness and floristic diversity, carbon storage, ecosystem services, agricultural productivity, and forest use potential under three land use systems in the Ecuadorian Amazon: cocoa-based agroforestry, cocoa monoculture and primary forest. In this region, one of the most important cultivation systems is the “Chakra”, a traditional organic farming production system, mainly practiced by indigenous peoples, that consists in the cultivation of staple crops in combination with commercial valuable species such as cocoa, obtaining multiple benefits.

Open access copy available

Patterns of local wood use and cutting of Philippine mangrove forests

Background

Harvesting for wood in mangroves is a common practice yet there has been limited studies. This paper takes a unique approach through integrating ecological and ethnographic methods in order to study local wood use and cutting of mangrove forests in two areas of the Philippines. 

Goals & Methods

The author conducted a series of 202 household interviews to determine how villagers used mangrove resources in North and South Bais Bay and Bindoy,  Negros Oriental, and on Banacon Island, Bohol.

Available with subscription or purchase

Growing biodiverse carbon-rich forests

Background

Carbon storage and biodiversity has long been viewed as completely separate restoration objectives, resulting in parceling tracts of restoration land for one objective or the other. This study shows that the relationship between plant functional diversity and carbon sequestration rate depends on climate and habitat factors. Knowing this relationship, a restoration site can be managed for both objectives.

Open access copy available

Case Study: Community Based Ecological Mangrove Rehabilitation (CBEMR) in Indonesia

Background

Mangrove plantings in Indonesia have typically failed for a number of reasons including inappropriate site selection, inappropriate species selection, and/or conflict over land tenure. The authors discussed ecological mangrove rehabilitation (EMR) and its use in Indonesia, which required a more socio-cultural-political apprach as compared with EMR in the United States.

Open access copy available
Subscribe to East Asia and Pacific