Land Use

Taungya in the Philippines

background

This book chapter provides a description of the ecological effects of deforestation in the Philippines and a history of the failed social forestry programs that began in the 1970s.

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One Century of Forest Rehabilitation in the Philippines: Approaches, Outcomes, and Lessons

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This chapter provides a review of reforestation efforts in the Philippines, beginning with small-scale forest rehabilitation efforts since 1910. Reforestation was traditionally implemented by government and private companies. Since the mid-1970s, international funders have driven these efforts.

Open access copy available

Uses, Management and Economic Potential of Garcinia kola and Ricinodendron heudelotii in the humid lowlands of Cameroon

Background

This article describes two common fruit and medicinal trees (non-timber) that grow in secondary forests in the lowlands of Cameroon. The trees are found to have a mixed effect in an agroforestry environment; sometimes they improve crop production, sometimes they do not. Fruit are consumed by families and sold in markets.

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Effects of forest clearing and succession on the carbon and nitrogen content of soils in Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands

Background

Conversion of tropical forest lands to agriculture or pasture affects soil organic matter, moisture, and nutrients. This study examines the effects on soil carbon, nitrogen, and moisture at depths up to 100 cm of conversion from forest to agriculture and pasture.

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Reforestation project using native species in Maringa-Lopori-Wamba region (Democratic Republic of Congo): establishment of the Bonobo Peace Forest.CDM-AR-PDD

Background

Bonobos are endemic to the forests of the Democratic Republic of Congo and are at a high risk of extinction. Specifically, the UN has drawn attention to the speed at which infrustructure growth is infringing on bonobo habitat. Thus, it developed a program to halt these trends and conserve the bonobos. 

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Tree species effects on soil properties in experimental plantations in tropical moist forest

Background

Forest soil properties are influenced by the complex interactions of vegetation, soil type, geology, management, and climactic patterns. Tree species can differ in their long-term effects on soils. This study resamples one of the earliest replicated experimental sites at La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica, used to examine the effects of native tropical tree species on soil properties, to examine longer term effects on soil properties.

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Restauração florestal: do diagnóstico de degradação ao uso de indicadores ecológicos para o monitoramento das ações (Forest restoration: from the diagnostics of degradation to the use of ecological indicators in the monitoring of actions)

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Tropical Reforestation in the Asia-Pacific Region

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This chapter reviews the meaning and implementation of landscape scale restoration in the Asia-Pacific region.  The authors define landscape as a spatial mosaic with differing land use patterns across a gradient, usually involving natural and human-intervened areas which changes through time.

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Manual de recuperação de matas ciliares para produtores rurais (Manual of riparian forests recovery for rural producers)

This technical manual targets farmers and “all those that perceive that the life of people is connected to the life of the forests, the animals, the earth and the rivers”. The guide contemplates many themes related to recovery of degraded areas,  such as: the importance of riparian forests and other types of natural vegetation, technical aspects of the development and implementation of forest restoration activities, and useful tips for the implantation and maintenance of planted riparian areas.

Open access copy available

Seeing the fruit for the trees in Borneo

Background

Lowland dipterocarp tropical rainforests reproduce during infrequent community-wide events known as ‘general flowering.’ These unpredictable cycles, thought to be influenced by El Niño cycles, are the primary reproductive driver across this forest type. During a time of rapid deforestation across the highly diverse, but highly sensitive, dipterocarp-dominated landscape of Borneo, capitalizing on general flowering is critical for seed collection for restoration efforts and for species preservation.

Open access copy available
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