Policies
A Case Study Assessment of Agroforestry: The Panama Canal WatershedbackgroundThis article provides a qualitative assessment of three agroforestry sites in the Panama Canal watershed based on management objectives, project life span, incentives, technology, economic feasibility, community involvement, and extension. It seeks to guide sustainable forest management options for the Panamanian government. conclusions & takeawaysEnvironmental managers should view agroforestry as a production system and consider this in its social and biophysical context. Available with subscription or purchase |
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 |
Farm Forestry: An Alternative to Government-Driven Reforestation in the PhilippinesBackgroundThis study reviews literature and various case studies about growing trees at the farm level by rural farmers. In the Philippines, millions of dollars have gone to employ people to plant trees as part of reforestation programs while only about 10% of those planted areas are successful. The authors assert that paying people to plant trees is unsustainable and often hindered by the lack of prompt release of funding. Available with subscription or purchase |
Rehabilitation of Degraded Forest Ecosystems in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam: An OverviewbackgroundThis document describes reforestation policies and actions in the four countries of the lower Mekong river: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, and Vietnam. Open access copy available |
Paying for Environmental Services: An Analysis of Participation in Costa Rica's PSA ProgrambackgroundThis study evaluates demographic and other factors that played a role in the participation of households in Costa Rica's Payment for Environmental Services program. Research Goals & MethodsThe authors rely on economic analysis of technology adoption and farm and forestry program participation to assign variables and draw conclusions. Available with subscription or purchase |
Reforestation: Conclusions and ImplicationsBackgroundAs the final chapter of the Reforesting Landscapes: Linking Pattern and Process (2010), this paper evaluates and reflects on the major research findings of the volume. It utilizes the case studies in preceeding chapters to evaluate commonalities in reforestation and to develop an interdisciplinary framework for future studies on reforestation. Available with subscription or purchase |
Implications of Country-Level Decisions on the Specification of Crown Cover in the Definition of Forests for Land Area Eligible for Afforestation and Reforestation Activities in the CDMbackgroundAccording to the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) with the Kyoto Protocol, reforestation may only occur on land that was not forested in 1990. This article evaluates how afforestation and reforestation (A/R) through the ENCOFOR project in four countries have approached the issue of "what is forest?" The authors highlight the uncertainty in the qualifications to be forest by presenting many different national or organizational definitions of forestland. Differences in the minimum crown cover needed to be classified as forest can affect the area available for reforestation under CDM. Open access copy available |
The Evolution of Reforestation in BrazilbackgroundThis article describes the history of incentives for reforestation in Brazil from the 1970s through 2001. Open access copy available |
On the Restoration of High Diversity Forests: 30 years of Experience in the Brazilian Atlantic ForestbackgroundThis review evaluates the restoration of Brazil's Atlantic forest by drawing from published and unpublished sources. Reforestation in Atlantic Brazil took place in phases: government-sponsored plantations predominated until 1982; a focus on native species plantations from 1982-1985; higher diversity of species used from 1985 to 2000; a focus on restoring process rather than copying the structure of natural forests from 2000-2003; and finally a conscious effort to improve intraspecific genetic diversity and seed acquisition from 2003 to today. Open access copy available |
The Fate of the Tropical Forest: Carbon or Cattle?backgroundThe Clean Development Mechanism, established by the Kyoto Protocol, includes small-scale afforestation and reforestation projects as a means for participating developed countries to receive credit for emission redcutions. Available with subscription or purchase |
