Assisted Natural Regeneration
Establishment of Tree Seedlings in the Understory of Restoration Plantations: Natural Regeneration and Enrichment PlantingsBackgroundThis study investigates how seedling establishment is affected in the understory of restoration sites of different ages (10,22 and 55 year-old) within the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. It also assesses some of the environmental microsite conditions that influenced the stand dynamics process. Available with subscription or purchase |
Restoration of degraded forest land in Thailand: the case of Khao KhoBackgroundIn the 1960s, the Khao Kho district in Thailand experienced extremely deforestation and destruction due to both armed conflict and an influx of migration to the area. In 1990, the UNDP began the project "Reforestation of Denuded Forest Lands in Khao Kho" in order to reverse these trends. Open access copy available |
Nature Conservation Foundation, GEF: Southern Western Ghats, IndiaBackgroundThis project, funded by the GEF small grants program, utilized restoration and conservation efforts in order to improve the degraded rainforests of western Ghats, India. The project occurred over a four-year span from 2004 to 2008. Open access copy available |
WeForest: Luanshya, ZambiaBackgroundWeForest works with local farmers in the Luanshya distric of the Zambian Copperbelt to provide training and tools that will help with the diversification of income while they plant and protect local forests. Goals & ApproachThe goals of the project is to restore native Miombo woodlots on smallhold farms, promote sustainable use of Miombo woodland and sustainable forest management, promote economic development, and build livelihood resilience. This is achieve through working closely with hundreds of farmers and promoting assisted natural regeneration (ANR) as a restoration approach. Open access copy available |
Fallow to Forest: Applying Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge of Swidden Cultivation to Tropical Forest RestorationBackgroundThis study analyzed vegetation at two sites of shifting cultivation by Lawa and Karen indigenous people in the Mae Chaem watershed in 1-year, 3-year and 6-year fallow fields, with an area of natural forest as a control comparison. Available with subscription or purchase |
Testing Applied Nucleation as a Strategy to Facilitate Tropical Forest RecoveryBackgroundThis study considers applied nucleation, or the intensive planting of small patches of a mixture of successional species, as a degraded tropical forest restoration strategy. This approach catalyzes the natural regeneration of the surrounding matrix and larger landscape and could provide a less expensive alternative to the more common, and expensive, plantation-style approach. This study claims to be the first to directly compare tree recruitment beneath these two restoration approaches. Open access copy available |
Management of the environmental restoration of degraded areasBackgroundThis study shares the results of an experimental method for restoration of degraded forest areas through the construction of small restoration ‘islands’ within a larger site as an impetus for further natural regeneration. The method has previously been used in Namibia and Spain and is trademarked as Revitec. This study tests the method in Brazil in a former rainforest area. Rainforest fragments remain in the area. Open access copy available |
Regeneration Status of Mangrove Forests in Mida Creek, Kenya: A Compromised or Secured Future?BackgroundThis study investigates natural regeneration and timber potential of the mangrove forests of Mida Creek for better management through the principle of sustained yields. Research Goals & MethodsA stratified sampling technique was used in two main study areas. Transects and quadrants were used to measure vegetation measurements, species density, and frequency. Open access copy available |
Seed rain under tree islands planted to restore degraded lands in a tropical agricultural landscapeBackgroundPlanting native tree seedlings is the predominant restoration strategy for accelerating forest succession on degraded lands. However, planting tree “islands” is less costly and labor intensive than establishing larger plantations and simulates the nucleation process of succession. Tree islands can attract seed dispersers to gradually spread restoration patterns from the islands. Restoration design can be informed by assessing the effect of potential planting arrangements on seed dispersal by birds and bats and determining the influence of surrounding forest cover. Open access copy available |
Restoration of the Cerros Orientales de Bogota - Jardin Botanico de BogotaThe Jose Celestino Mutis Botanic Garden of Bogota works with the Municipal government of Bogota in order to restore and rehabilitate various areas of forest habitat around the city of Bogota. The most extensive plantings are conducted in the Cerros Orientales, hills located on the outskirts of Bogota. This very steep mountain area had been cleared and was subject to severe erosion, and was planted with exotic pine and eucalyptus throughout the 19th and 20th century. Parts of this forest continue to be grazed for cattle, and many areas have also been invaded by the invasive European gorse (Ulex europaeus). Open access copy available |

