Alberta Research Council: Providing innovation from the forest to the finishing line

Forest fuel production is a growing industry in Canada and elsewhere, as governments strive to increase energy security and find alternatives to the use of fossil fuels. While forest bioenergy can provide environmental benefits such as renewability and carbon emissions reductions, the industry can also pose environmental risks through increasing pressure on forest resources. Because large-scale forest bioenergy production is relatively new to Canada, much is still unknown about how such an industry might evolve and impact forest ecosystems. These unknowns, along with the cross-sectoral, multistakeholder nature of the industry, make planning for sustainable forest bioenergy systems quite challenging. In this paper, we introduce some of the challenges to creating sustainable systems, and we discuss how sustainable forest management frameworks like Adaptive Forest Management and Sustainable Forest Management Certification can help to meet these challenges. We also discuss the importance of technology transfer to ensuring that the best available knowledge forms the basis for effective standards and management plans. Sustainable forest management frameworks can help to organize, distil and communicate the growing body of research on forest bioenergy production, link policy to practice through the creation of standards, and incorporate provisions for continual learning and system adaptation, all of which are key to the long-term sustainability of the rapidly evolving forest bioenergy sector. Key words: bioenergy, sustainable forest management frameworks, adaptive forest management, certification, standards, technology transfer

This chapter defines and classifies various types of partnerships such as public-private, company-community, non-governmental organisation (NGO)-community, multi-sector or intersectoral, research and political partnerships. It analyzes how partnerships for sustainable forest and tree resource management fit in with mainstream forest management thinking, general development paradigms, Latin American forest policies and the broader academic debate on social movements and multi-spatial interactions. The goals of the partnerships are related to forest conservation, responsible forest use and/or the sustainable production of forest and tree resource products. The chapter also summarizes the lessons learned from the cases in Latin America with regard to the conditions under which partnerships for sustainable forest and resource management can reconcile multiple interests and contribute to pro-poor, socially just and environmentally-friendly forest governance.Keywords: company-community partnerships; environmentally-friendly forest governance; intersectoral partnerships; Latin American forest policies; non-governmental organization (NGO)-community partnerships; political partnerships; public-private partnerships; research partnerships; sustainable forest management; tree resource management

Post forest reversal discussion: Restructuring public subsidy system for private forests under the differences of topographic conditions in Norway

In spite of its impressive reforestation record which ranks China first in the world, China's forestry development program is still far from meeting the country's national economic and social development needs. With a total forest area of about 134 million hectares and a standing volume of 11.8 billion cubic meters, total forest resources are insufficient, and the natural forest resources available for harvesting are almost exhausted. Furthermore, forest management is too extensive and forest infrastructure development inadequate to meet the needs of modern forestry development. The heavy tax burden and complexity of the tax system remain major impediments to the full participation of farmers in sustainable forestry development and forest conservation activities. Property rights issues continue to be problematic as farmers are still uncomfortable with the often inconsistent and volatile policy changes. Furthermore, the structure, scale and pattern of forest industries are somewhat irrational, and enterprises still depend upon state support and are requested to take on heavy social burdens. The secondary and tertiary forest industries are seriously stagnant with low levels of processing efficiency. All these factors have seriously damaged the structure and ecological functions of natural forests. Over the last 50 years,China's ecological environment has deteriorated at high speed and ecological disasters have occurred more frequently as all over China, the ability of forests to prevent erosion and conserve water has greatly decreased. Prompted by the floods in the reaches of the Yangtze River in August 1998, the Chinese goverment now clearly recognizes the importance of protecting natural forests. The reduction of natural forest resources and the deterioration of the ecological environment in the major watersheds are now both restricting the country's social and economic development. Consequently, conserving natural forests, banning the harvesting of natural forests in the upper and middle reaches of the main rivers, afforesting mountains and returning converted forestland to forestry are now listed as priorities for the government which launched the Natural Forest Conservation Program (NFCP), and as urgent tasks for the forest sector. However, in a country with a population of 1.3 billion,improving the eco-environment and resolving the disparity between conservation and development will not be an easy task. Due to the implementation of the NFCP, China's timber supply deficit is expected to increase from 5 million m3 in 1997 to about 25 million m3 in 2003, thus further affecting domestic wood-processing enterprises as well as the availability of fuelwood and non-timber forest products in areas already prone to poverty. As a result, many State-owned forest enterprises may not survive in a competitive environment, which will be further boosted by trade liberalization induced by China's admission to the WTO. The current shortage of timber alongside further trade liberalization measures should, however, provide a competitive opportunity for those enterprises investing in technologies which make use of the wood waste and engineered wood products that reduce the dependency on timber from natural forests. As a result, more research is needed to reshape China's forest product industry. It is essential to assess the conditions under which sustainable forestry, in tandem with adequate management and good business practices, can contribute to both the competitiveness of state forest enterprises and environmental conservation through lower production costs, product enhancement, environmental accountability (ethical standards),business redefinition and the ability to ensure longterm reliable, high quality sources of wood.

The condition of natural resources of forests and agricultural land, especially in South Konawe Regency, is currently quite a concern. South Konawe Regency has a forest area with a total area of 475,953 hectares, consisting of natural reserve forests, protected forests, production forests, limited production forests, other use areas, water bodies, community plantation forests, urban forests, mangrove forests and conservation forests. Among the total current forest area, there are 31,874 hectares of critical land and 6,606 hectares of very critical land. The aim of the research is to inventory the potential and management problems as well as the economic value of natural forest and agricultural land resources in South Konawe Regency. The research approach uses 5 (five) approach models, namely the political approach, the technocratic approach, the integrated top-down policy bottom-up planning approach, the participatory approach, and the regional finance approach. The type of research used in this research is qualitative research with a case study method. Research data needs were collected using questionnaires and field surveys. The data analysis methods used include Natural Resource Potential Analysis, Identification of natural resources in forests and agricultural land, as well as total economic analysis or total economic value (TEV) obtained from the sum of values based on use and values based on indirect use. The research results show that the potential forest resources of South Konawe Regency with samples from Wolasi, Laeya, and Tinanggea subdistricts are divided into 4 forest area function classes, namely protected forests, permanent production forests, limited production forests, and national parks. Protected forests covering an area of 11,273.58 ha, limited production forests covering an area of 2,860.99 ha, permanent production forests covering an area of 14,931.17 ha, and national parks covering an area of 9,246.96 ha. Meanwhile, the agricultural potential of South Konawe Regency from the research sample consists of mixed dry land farming covering an area of 14,787.73 ha, dry land farming covering an area of 1,684.39 ha, rice fields covering an area of 17,014.23 ha, and plantations covering an area of 553.44 ha. The economic value of South Konawe district's forest resources is IDR 64,152,630,168.15 per year, while the economic value of agricultural land resources is IDR 9,342,541,716/year.

Proper harvesting of forest products is necessary for sustainable forest management, playing a pivotal role in minimizing damage and waste while ensuring the sustainability of forest resources. Sustainable community forest management greatly depends on the harvesting and fair distribution of various forest products (FP). The study's goals were to ascertain the methods, instruments, and strategies utilized in the harvesting process, forest products distribution pattern, and the common issues surrounding the distribution and harvesting of FP in Imo and Ashoje Community Forest (CF) located in Khotang District, Nepal. Operational Plan (OP), focus groups, key informant interviews, household surveys, and minute books were used for data collection. 25% of all households were chosen at random from each of the two CF. The study revealed that traditional methods and tools such as sickles, bill hooks, axes, and saws, were commonly used in the past; however, there has been a shift towards modern tools in recent years. Deviations were observed in forest products harvesting and distribution from that of OP in practice. Fuel wood were equally distributed, timbers were allocated based on priority and circular basis ensuring user satisfaction. The slope was the major constraint for harvesting, as most of the marked trees were not cut because of difficulty in extraction. To improve sustainable forest management, it is recommended that advanced tools and training be provided to users, with regular monitoring by forest officials to ensure adherence to best practices. These measures will help enhance user responsibility and ensure sustainable harvesting operations.

Annual Meeting, Ottawa, Ontario, 2004

ABSTRACTTrade barriers of forest products are often advocated in the name of protecting forest resources. Whether the promoting of trade of forest products will increase or decrease the global forest resources is still a matter of debate. We offer an assessment of how forest product trade helps shape observed forest change, by relating wood consumption change to trade of forest products based on cross-section data from 61 countries in 2010. The result shows that wood outputs have positive effects on wood consumption. Compared to domestic production, the result suggests that imports of forest products can help reduce wood consumption. This may indicate that trade liberalization can promote the allocation efficiency of timber resources across the global, which can improve the utilization efficiency and reduce the wood consumption in the world to protect the global forest resources. It is suggested that the high-efficient harvest and wood-processing technological transfer should be advocated in the international community to contribute to global forest conservation.

Forest resource monitoring of different forest types is of great importance in sustainable forest management and climate change mitigation. Monitoring the productivity of forest resources could be achieved by modeling the basic tree parameters necessary for forest growth and yield. This study was conducted to develop a height-diameter at breast height (h-d) model necessary for tree height (h) estimation since h measurement is difficult in the field, especially in dense forests, and to estimate the forest productivity of the Diguyo limestone forest within the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park (NSMNP). The diameter at breast height (d) and h of 124 trees were measured in seven 400-m2 plots as the basis for the model development. The h-d model was developed using different non-linear models such as the Chapman-Richards (CR), exponential (EX), Korf/Lundqvist (KL), modified logistic (ML), Schnute (SC), and Weibull (WE) models. The models were evaluated using the adjusted coefficient of determination (R2 adjusted), Akaike information criterion (AIC), Bayesian information criterion (BIC), mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), percentage root mean squared error (PRMSE), and root mean squared percentage error (RMSPE). The performance of the species-specific allometric models and the generic models were compared for the biomass productivity of the limestone forest. Results showed that the CR h-d model performed best with MAE, RMSE, PRMSE, RMSPE, R2 adjusted, AIC, and BIC values of 1.47 m, 1.74 m, 19.31%, 28.71%, 0.79, 32.46, and 36.00, respectively. The highest average predicted tree biomass and carbon stock of the Diguyo limestone forest was 112.52 ± 97.65 t/ha and 50.64 ± 43.94 tC/ha, respectively, which is lower than other karst forests in Asia. The low forest resource productivity is due to the physical condition of the forest aggravated by natural and anthropogenic disturbances, thereby needing immediate attention to achieve forest sustainability.

Economic impacts of setting reference levels for the forest carbon sinks in the EU on the European forest sector

Increased use of forest resources to meet increasing world demand for wood and other forest products threatens forest sustainability and highlights the importance of conservation and sustainable management of these resources. Maintaining well-adapted and productive forests, and conserving natural forest genetic resources are important for sustainable forest management. Over exploitation of species can lead to excessive forest fragmentation and reduction of population sizes to a point that threatens population viability and species existence. In many cases, restoration of genetic resources of threatened species is needed. Molecular genetic markers, combined with population genetic principles and concepts, can greatly facilitate programs in conservation, restoration and sustainable management of forest genetic resources. We have used various biochemical and molecular genetic markers, such as allozymes, microsatellite DNA, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and sequence-tagged site markers, to examine effects of alternative silvicultural harvesting and regeneration systems, and forest fragmentation and small population size on genetic diversity, fine-scale population genetic structure, mating system and other population genetic parameters in white spruce (Picea glauca), eastern white pine (Pinus strobus), and red spruce (Picea rubens). The objectives of our studies are to provide genetic benchmarks and indicators for developing guidelines for genetically sustainable forest management practices and scientifically sound strategies for conservation and restoration of forest genetic resources. The results of these studies are discussed, particularly in the context of sustainable management, conservation and restoration of forest genetic resources.

Traditional communities living at forest margins use forest resources in various ways. Understanding the resource-use patterns of such communities provides a basis for seeking the participation of such communities in forest conservation. The present study undertaken in the Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary and the adjoining Sigur Plateau in the state of Tamil Nadu, India, addressed the importance of forests in the household economy of indigenous communities. Its main objective was to quantify the forest dependence of local people, and assess to what extent restrictive biodiversity conservation strategies would affect their livelihoods. These questions help in understanding the stake of the people in forest conservation strategies. Economic activities of the households were investigated in eight selected villages, four of which (proximal villages) had access to reserve forest areas where collection of forest products was allowed and were also located close to markets that provided opportunities to sell forest products. The remaining four villages (distal villages) were close to the Wildlife Sanctuary where the collection of forest products was not allowed and there was no access to organized markets. A total of 132 households were surveyed. The households both in proximal and distal villages were classified into three distinct income groups namely ‘low’, ‘medium’ and ‘high’, based on their gross annual income. Use of forest resources in Mudumalai was found to be influenced by multiple factors. In terms of livelihood of the traditional communities, livestock rearing and collection of non-wood forest products (NWFPs) were very important, the latter both for cash income and subsistence use. Peripheral communities used the forest resources in a varied fashion, with NWFPs contributing differently to different income groups. Where there was no restriction on forest use, higher income groups used the resources more heavily than lower income groups, and hence would suffer most from any restriction on forest use. People's reliance on forests evidently declined with increased level both of education and of opportunities in non-forestry vocations. Forests were still very important to the household economy of the local people both in terms of food security and cash income.

Forest co-management in the Sundarban mangrove forest: Impacts of women's participation on their livelihoods and sustainable forest resource conservation

Economy-wide and distributive impacts of: (1) an $80 million increase in pulp and paper exports; (2) a $10 million decrease in lumber exports; (3) a 25% increase in the costs of timber production; and (4) a 25% increase in the costs of pulp and paper production in Alberta's forest sector are examined. A social accounting matrix (SAM)-based quantity model is used to examine the first two shocks, while a SAM-based price model is used to analyze the last two shocks. The results of the quantity model suggest that higher income households get a larger share of the benefits than lower income households in response to an expansion in the pulp and paper industry. A contraction in the lumber sector will hurt higher income households more than lower income households. Larger shares of medium and higher income households in total labor income and capital rents are identified as reasons for this asymmetric response. The results of the price model suggest that additional costs associated with sustainable forest management and environmental regulations will hurt lower income households more than higher income households. The higher share of consumer expenditure in total income for lower income households when compared to that of high income households may be responsible for this result. For. Sci. 45(3):342-348.

Forest dependence is more than forest income: Development of a new index of forest product collection and livelihood resources