Economic issues
Are Mangroves Worth Replanting? The Direct Economic Benefits of a Community-Based Reforestation ProjectbackgroundThis study examines the socioeconomic impacts of a community-led reforestation project in the Philippines through a survey of the local fishers over 10 years after replanting. The wider objective of the study was to obtain greater data on the local economic value of mangroves and present it as a comparison to other land uses such as development and aquaculture. Open access copy available |
Evaluación técnica y financiera de la silvicultura desarrollada en un bosque natural de la Guayana venezolana (Technical and financial evaluation of silvicultural management in the Venezuelan Guayana)Los autores analizan el funcionamiento de una empresa forestal que ejecuta, desde 1996, un plan de ordenación y manejo forestal en un bosque seco tropical, El Dorado- Tumeremo, con una superficie productiva 66 000 ha (Estado Bolívar, Venezuela). Se aprovechan unas 30 especies según diámetros mínimos de corta, clasificadas según su potencial comercial: las comerciales (Hymenaea courbaril, Pouteria caimito, Spondias mombin, Cordia alliodora, Andira sp., Manilkara bidentata y Peltogyne pubescens), las potencialmente comerciales (Cordia bicolor, Fagara martinicense, Tetragastris panamensis, Ceiba pentandra, Brosi- mun alicastrum, Aspidosperma megalocarpum, Astronium lecontei) y las que no tienen valor com Open access copy available |
Florestas e Bioenergia (Forests and Bioenergy)This article is an overview of the present status and prospects for the use of planted forests for bioenergy in São Paulo state, Brazil. The author compiled data to estimate the state's land area suitable for forest biomass production. Sugarcane and eucalyptus plantations were compared in terms of energy production and costs, with eucalyptus being slightly more than half as expensive / unit energy / hectare as sugarcane. Finally, a series of policy recommendations necessary to facilitate the use of forests for energy production. Open access copy available |
Explaining Success on the Commons: Community Forest Governance in the Indian HimalayabackgroundThis study describes how a range of causal influences shape forest conditions in diverse ecological and institutional settings in the Indian Himalaya. Open access copy available |
Restauración de Bosques en territorios indígenas de Chiapas: modelos ecológicos y estrategias de acción (Restoration of forests in Indigenous territories of Chiapas: ecological models and action strategies)EspañolAntecedentesLos bosques montanos del sur de México se han fragmentado severamente y su estructura y composición florística se han visto alteradas debido a la agricultura tradicional y al crecimiento demográfico. En extensas áreas de Chiapas, la restauración forestal no solo es una necesidad urgente, sino que también representa una opción viable para la recuperación de productos y servicios que podrían ser utilizados en el futuro de manera sustentable. Open access copy available |
The Political Economy of Reforestation and Forest Restoration in Asia-Pacific: Critical Issues for REDD+backgroundThis study examines the political and economic factors that have commonly shaped reforestation and forest restoration initiatives in the greater Asia-Pacific region. Available with subscription or purchase |
Pacto pela restauração da mata atlântica: referencial dos conceitos e ações de restauração florestal (Pact for the Restoration of the Atlantic Forest: Reference for Concepts and Action of Forest Restoration)An overview of theory, rationale, and techniques for restoration and reforestation of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest. The chapters covered the following subjects: An explanation of the evolution of restoration techniques and methodologies as the practice of restoration has become more sophisticated; Environmental diagnostics of areas to be restored; Monitoring of areas as a tool to evaluate effectiveness of methodologies; Quantification and monitoring of biomass and carbon in planted areas; Restoration methods for economic benefits; and Description of operational actions for restoration.
Open access copy available |
Payments for Environmental Services in Latin America as a Tool for Restoration and Rural DevelopmentBackgroundTwo Payments for Environmental Services (PES) projects are assessed in this article: 1) a bundled PES system in forestry projects in Costa Rica, and 2) the Regional Integrated Silvopastoral Approaches to Ecosystem Management Project in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Colombia. The first project based PED on the provision of four different environmental services (carbon sequestration, biodiversity conservation, watershed protection, and aesthetic improvements and/or maintenance of the landscape) within the same plot of land. The second project implemented PES proportional to carbon sequestration and biodiversity outputs by participants. Open access copy available |
Tree Plantations in the Philippines and Thailand: Economic, Social, and Environmental EvaluationBackgroundTropical land area under plantations have dramatically increased in recent decades, largely as a result of natural forest depletion. Forest plantations cannot qualitatively substitute the timber or the habitat of natural forests, yet are growing in global importance both commercially and ecologically. However, the negative and positive social and environmental impacts must also be included in analysis of tropical forest plantations. Open access copy available |
Value and Risks of Expiring Carbon Credits from Afforestation and Reforestation Projects under the CDMbackgroundOne 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. Available with subscription or purchase |