Monitoring
Lattice-Work Corridors for Climate Change: A Conceptual Framework for Biodiversity Conservation and Social-Ecological Resilience in a Tropical Elevational GradientbackgroundIn the region of Monteverde, communities rely on ecotourism, coffee farming, dairy cattle farming and sugarcane production to making their livings. The Pacific-slope forests are highly fragmented, and while a large biological corridor has already been proposed, it neglects certain key riparian corridors that would facilitate species migrations and range shifts, as well as protect the downstream water sources. Open access copy available |
Restoring forest landscapes for biodiversity conservation and rural livelihoods: a spatial optimisation modelBackgroundConserving nature in the presence of human settlements is especially challenging in areas where livelihoods are largely based on locally available natural resources. The restoration of forests in such contexts calls for the identification of sites and actions that improve biodiversity protection, and ensure the provision of and accessibility to other forest-related ecosystem services. This paper introduces an integer-linear programming (ILP) approach to identify reforestation priorities that achieve such goals. Available with subscription or purchase |
Does Tree Planting Change Minds? Assessing the Use of Community Participation in Reforestation to Address Illegal Logging in West KalimantanbackgroundGunung Palung National Park in West Kalimantan, Indonesia has experienced illegal logging and fires that led to degradation and conversion of forests to grasslands in a state of arrested succession. A local NGO named Alam Sehat Lestari (ASRI) began a restoration effort to restore degraded forest areas and provide jobs to local community members that might otherwise participate in illegal logging. Open access copy available |
In Equal Measure: A User Guide to Gender Analysis in AgroforestrybackgroundThis guide provides tools for practioners working with rural communities in tropical countries. It describes how gender roles and responsibiities play a significant role in adoption and development of agroforestry systems. Open access copy available |
Changes in vegetation structure and composition along a tropical forest chronosequence: implications for wildlifeBackgroundChanges in tropical forest structure and species composition that occur during regeneration following land abandonment may have important consequences for wildlife populations. Many animals rely on forest resources as sites for foraging, nesting, and protection that may vary in abundance in forests of different ages. This study examines aspects of forest composition and structure thought to be important to wildlife along a tropical moist forest chronosequence in the Barro Colorado Nature Monument of central Panama. Available with subscription or purchase |
Land Cover Change in Colombia: Surprising Forest Recovery Trends between 2001 and 2010backgroundThis 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. Research Goals & MethodsThe authors evaluated land cover change at four spatial scales: country, biome, ecoregion, and municipality. Open access copy available |
Designing Mixed Species Tree Plantations for the Tropics: Balancing Ecological Attributes of Species with Landholder Preferences in the PhilippinesbackgroundThis paper reports on the assessment of forest stands planted as part of the Rainforestation Farming Program and the management of plantations by local landowners regarding the original intent of planting. Research Goals & MethodsData was collected beginning 6-11 years after initial plot planting. Forest stands were evaluated for structure and floristic composition. Subsequent measurements were taken in 2008 and 2012. Open access copy available |
Methodology for Comparative Analysis of Sustainability in Agroforestry SystemsbackgroundThis paper analyses different forms of agroforestry systems, including political and institutional linkages in the Caí and Taquari river valleys of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul in an effort to determine their sustainability. Open access copy available |
Ecological Restoration of Red Sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus L.) Forests – An Adaptive Collaborative Modelling Supported ApproachBackgroundRed Sanders (Pterocarpus santalinus L.) is an endemic and endangered tree species in souther India that is highly valued for its timber uses. Both anthropogenic and abiotic factors have led to the fragmentation and degradation of the Red sanders habitat. This project, which took place in Eastern Ghats: Kadapa, Southern Andhra Pradesh in July 2011, seeks to understand Red Sanders forest and explore the possibility for restoration. Open access copy available |
Priority Setting for Scaling-Up Tropical Forest Restoration Projects: Early Lessons from the Atlantic Forest Restoration PactBackgroundThe Atlantic Forest Restoration Pact (AFRP) serves as a network of different stakeholders at all scales, from local farmers and landowners with a few hectares on local scales to environmental action groups and policy makers on an ecosystem scale. There are currently over 200 stakeholder partners involved in the network, though it is not an NGO yet as of the publication of this article. The AFRP seeks to restore 15M ha of deforested land by 2050, the majority of which is land that, compliant with the Brazilian Forest Code, should be forest land. Available with subscription or purchase |
