Effects of carbon policies on disadvantaged forest communities in the United States

Projecting impacts of global climate change on the US forest and agriculture sectors and carbon budgets

Atmospheric greenhouse gases (GHGs) must be reduced to avoid an unsustainable climate. Because carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere and sequestered in forests and wood products, mitigation strategies to sustain and increase forest carbon sequestration are being developed. These strategies require full accounting of forest sector GHG budgets. Here, we describe a rigorous approach using over one million observations from forest inventory data and a regionally calibrated life-cycle assessment for calculating cradle-to-grave forest sector emissions and sequestration. We find that Western US forests are net sinks because there is a positive net balance of forest carbon uptake exceeding losses due to harvesting, wood product use, and combustion by wildfire. However, over 100 years of wood product usage is reducing the potential annual sink by an average of 21%, suggesting forest carbon storage can become more effective in climate mitigation through reduction in harvest, longer rotations, or more efficient wood product usage. Of the ∼10 700 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents removed from west coast forests since 1900, 81% of it has been returned to the atmosphere or deposited in landfills. Moreover, state and federal reporting have erroneously excluded some product-related emissions, resulting in 25%–55% underestimation of state total CO2 emissions. For states seeking to reach GHG reduction mandates by 2030, it is important that state CO2 budgets are effectively determined or claimed reductions will be insufficient to mitigate climate change.

IntroductionRestoring the degraded sites with vegetation cover is an optimal solution to mitigate environmental disasters. Starting from the 1980s, donor-assisted land rehabilitation activities were taking place in Tehulederi District, South Wollo, Ethiopia. Meanwhile, majority of the forests were destroyed; part of the problem was associated with the top-down approach of forest management. The challenge is, therefore, to find a system of management that can enhance the combined effect of both the community and the state. The community forestry (i.e. a forest development activity which is practiced and managed collectively by the community members on their communal land) is one such alternative. The objectives of the study were to (1) examine the views and attitudes of local people towards community versus state forests governance and (2) evaluate the management practices implemented in the community versus state forestry and their implications on the forest status and the livelihood of local people.MethodsA structured questionnaire consisting of closed- and open-ended questions was developed to collect quantitative data from randomly selected households. Moreover, key informant interviews and focus group discussions were conducted to gather qualitative data. Descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression were used to analyze and interpret the quantitative data. The data obtained through key informant interviews and focus group discussions were synthesized and narrated using a qualitative method.ResultsSeveral socioeconomic variables significantly affected the views and attitudes of local people towards community versus state forests governance. Generally, local people had positive views and attitudes towards the community forestry. Over 83% of the respondents agreed to accept and practice community forestry. In contrast, about 70% of the respondents had negative views and attitudes towards the state forestry. The positive views and attitudes of local people towards the community forestry may be connected with the perceived benefits (e.g. infrastructure development, source of medicinal plants, wood products, and source of fodder) and the values (e.g. aesthetic and recreational) that local people expect from the community forest. However, the negative views and attitudes of local people towards the state forestry could be attributed to the fact that the community may have limited access to forests when they are exclusively managed by the government. Moreover, such forest management may aggravate antagonistic relationship between the government and local people and be manifested as forest use conflicts. The results obtained from key informant interviews and focus group discussions suggested that the community forest had a better status than the state forest. This may have resulted from the relative advantage of the community forestry to make better use of the community forest, manage it more sustainability, and contribute more equitably to satisfy local livelihoods than does the state forestry. The respondents also illustrated the dependence of local people on forests, utilization, protection, management, and silvicultural schemes implemented in the community versus state forests.ConclusionsThe findings emphasize the importance of collective decisions in forest management and governance. The intervention for a legal framework and institutional development particularly through formal recognition of local people’s ownership and right over the use of forests is indispensable towards sustainable forestry.

Abstract. Wannasingha W, Gomontean B, Uttaruk Y. 2023. Forest structures and carbon stocks of community forests with different forest management in Maha Sarakham Province, Thailand. Biodiversitas 24: 799-809. Forest management comprises strategies and practices to regulate human activities and the utilization of forest products. Management and regulations have various effects on forest structure, tree diversity and carbon accumulation. This study was conducted in three community forests with different levels of rule regulations and managed duration in the northeast of Thailand. Thirty of 20×20 m plots were placed for recording all trees with diameter at breast height (dbh) ?4.5 cm and >1.3 m height. One hundred and fifty plots of soil samples at 0-25 cm and 25-50 cm depths were also collected for organic carbon analysis. Forest carbon stocks were calculated from the sum of carbon in aboveground biomass (AGB) and soil organic carbon (SOC). The results showed that tree density, basal area, Shannon diversity index and evenness index of the best practices (BP) plots were higher than the plots in which moderate (MP) and slight practices (SP) were applied. Tree heights of the BP and MP forests were higher than the SP forest. The L-shape of dbh class distribution in all community forests means they were secondary forests; tree density was highest in the small dbh class and declined in the bigger size class. The bigger dbh class tree showed higher aboveground carbon (AGC) despite the lower tree density in all community forests. Most of the BP forest plots had the highest carbon stock (93.89, 80.52 and 54.96 Mg C ha-1) and CO2 absorption (344.25, 295.23 and 201.53 Mg CO2equiv.) compared with the others. Our results demonstrate the importance of forest management in affecting forest structures, carbon sequestration and carbon dioxide absorption from the atmosphere to reduce and mitigate climate change.

Carbon stocks and sequestration potential of community forests in Bhutan

Disturbance and the carbon balance of US forests: A quantitative review of impacts from harvests, fires, insects, and droughts

Hurricane impacts on US forest carbon sequestration

A questionnaire survey was conducted to examine the attitudes of the key forest companies in USA that will be required to implement forest certification management rules and the views of the broader (manufacturing) sector whose demands (or lack of demand) for certified wood products and their willingness to act as a link in product-tracking processes (chain of custody) will most certainly play a key role in the future direction of forest certification. Among the 214 usable responses, 168 operated lumber and wood products manufacturing facilities, while 46 represented companies manufacturing paper and allied products. Both respondents, the owners and broad forest sector, indicated the highest familiarity with the Forest Stewardship Council and Sustainable Forestry Initiative programmes, while international programmes and the recently developed Green Tag programme seemed poorly understood. Both groups reported similar views on the anticipated advantages, while overall, the owners seemed more optimistic that benefits will be forthcoming. Indirect and direct costs of certification were the top two disadvantages deemed likely to occur, and autonomy also arose as an issue of concern. Inspite of the pressures of becoming certified, companies were still taking part in these programmes.

What does autonomy mean for forest communities? The politics of transnational community forestry networks in Mesoamerica and the Congo Basin

This study conducted an economic analysis of future US forest mitigation potential using a detailed economic model of the global forestry sector. The scenario design included a wide range of possible future carbon price incentives and climate policy structures (unilateral and global mitigation). Results across all scenarios show US forest sector mitigation potential ranging from 54 to 292 MtCO2e between 2015 and 2030 (5 to 47 percent of the additional mitigation needed to achieve the 26 to 28 percent emissions reduction target). The results from this study suggest that the US forest sector can play an important role in global greenhouse gas mitigation efforts, including efforts to meet any potential future US mitigation targets.

PurposeThis study aims to identify opportunities and constraints of community forestry in the context of forest decentralization in Cameroon and what can be capitalized on for sound REDD+ design and implementation.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach to data collection was used through content analysis of 1994 forestry law, reports and publications related to decentralized forest management, community forestry and REDD+ in Cameroon. Principles that govern community forest and REDD+ were highlighted and opportunities and constraints of community forestry for REDD+ projects were discussed.FindingsCommunity forestry was developed principally to protect forests in order to support the subsistence and income-generating extractive activities of forest-dependent communities. Community forestry governance arrangements were not designed with the objective of achieving verifiable emissions reductions or carbon stock values. Hence, existing community forestry institutions may not address all the specific demands of REDD+ programs. However, existing community institutions and practices can be strengthened or modified to align better with climate change mitigation goals and to achieve REDD+ objectives in community forestry sites. On the other hand, REDD+ was developed principally to mitigate climate change by reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation principally within developing countries where the livelihoods of forest-dependent people are a central component of all forest management policies. However, despite fundamental differences between community forestry and REDD+, there is substantial synergy between their objectives, and the dual forest conservation and livelihood development focus of both programs means that policies that strengthen and support existing community forestry institutions and sites will advance REDD+ objectives. As such, REDD+ will likely to be more successful if it builds on lessons learned from community forestry.Originality/valueThis paper demonstrates how REDD+ is more likely to succeed if it builds on the lessons learned from community forestry over the past 20-plus years in Cameroon. It also discusses how REDD+ can benefit from community forestry and how some of the many challenges related to community forestry can be directly addressed by the REDD+ mechanism. Further, this paper also argues how the congruence between community forestry and REDD+ can effectively facilitate the direct use of community forestry as a tool to achieve REDD+ goals.

Global forest carbon leakage and substitution effect potentials: The case of the Swedish forest sector.

The tropical wet evergreen, tropical semi evergreen and moist deciduous forest types are projected to be impacted by climate change. In the Western Ghats region, a biodiversity hotspot, evergreen forests including semi evergreen account for 30% of the forest area and according to climate change impact model projections, nearly a third of these forest types are likely to undergo vegetation type change. Similarly, tropical moist deciduous forests which account for about 28% of the forest area are likely to experience change in about 20% of the area. Thus climate change could adversely impact forest biodiversity and product flow to the forest dependent households and communities in Uttara Kannada district of the Western Ghats. This study analyses the distribution of non-timber forest product yielding tree species through a network of twelve 1-ha permanent plots established in the district. Further, the extent of dependence of communities on forests is ascertained through questionnaire surveys. On an average 21% and 28% of the tree species in evergreen and deciduous forest types, respectively are, non-timber forest product yielding tree species, indicating potential high levels of supply of products to communities. Community dependence on non-timber forest products is significant, and it contributes to Rs. 1199 and Rs. 3561/household in the evergreen and deciduous zones, respectively. Given that the bulk of the forest grids in Uttara Kannada district are projected to undergo change, bulk of the species which provide multiple forest products are projected to experience die back and even mortality. Incorporation of climate change projections and impacts in forest planning and management is necessary to enable forest ecosystems to enhance resilience.Key Words: climate change, non-timber forest products, yield, tropical forests, Western Ghats

Comparison of two forest-dependent communities in Alabama illustrates how prospects for sustainable development are shaped by history, social structure, prevailing pattern of resource ownership, and forest industrial sector structure. Opportunities appear stronger if a community's forest products industry is diversified and entrepreneurial spirit is strong. Conversely, simply recruiting forest industry will not lead to sustainable development and might, in the absence of sound policy, actually impede it. Truly sustainable development requires expanding people's opportunities and protecting and enhancing the natural resource base on which those opportunities are built.

Although communities have been living within forests and dependent on forest resources, in Mozambique, their role was not formally recognized until the late 1990s. The forest law of 1997 was the first to refer to communities as stakeholders in the forest sector, in line with the national Policy and Strategy for the Development of the Forestry and Wildlife Sector. As a new element, several pilot projects were established during the late 1990s and early 2000s to produce lessons that would inform policy and technical aspects. Community forestry received most of the attention until the first decade of this century, however, it seems that while communities have gained a role in the management of the forest sector, there are still challenges to fully implementing and securing community forestry initiatives. In this study, we document the advent and evolution of community forestry in Mozambique, discuss the conditions for success in community forestry, and discuss two cases of community forestry that have survived over beyond the end of external support. We conclude that devolution and training are the basic incentives, but additional incentives, including diversification of sources of revenue from non-destructive forestry activities, are required to maintain the stability of community forestry over time.