Availability Of Forest Resources Research Articles

Historical analysis of timber exploitation in the Central Pacific Mountains of Costa Rica

Abstract [Introduction] The mountainous region of the Central Pacific of Costa Rica, currently made up mostly of the cantons of Turrubares, Puriscal and Mora, and to a lesser extent by the southwest of Acosta, was one of the most deforested areas since colonial times. [Objective] To comprehensively analyze the historical, socioeconomic, geo-climatic and ecological factors that possibly favored the logging exploitation of the forests of that region. [Methodology] The historical documents, and the geo-climatic, ecological and socioeconomic factors of the region were reviewed. In addition, a census was carried out among forestry professionals and industrialists to determine the timber species possibly extracted from the forests based on the floristic composition of protected forest areas in the region. [Results] The mountainous region was a transit and settlement site for Spanish colonists since the 16th century, which facilitated the development of access roads. Its proximity to the Central Valley, which needed forest and agricultural products for the growing urban area, together with the existence of an ecological convergence zone extraordinarily rich in trees of commercial importance, greatly facilitated the extraction of forest products. [Conclusion] The early colonization of the region, the existence of infrastructure, high demand for forest products at the national and international level, and the availability of forest resources in an area where the tropical dry forest, the cloud forest and the humid forest converge, and the edaphoclimatic conditions that also facilitated the development of agricultural crops, favored the change in land use and therefore the forestry exploitation of the region.

UTILISATION AND CONTRIBUTION OF FOREST RESOURCES TO IMPROVE FOOD SECURITY IN DRY REGIONS OF AFRICA

The unsustainable harvest of forest resources in dry regions of Africa has contributed to forest degradation and increased the prices of forest resources in local markets. Many people in dry regions, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, have been harvesting forest resources to supplement food sources due to poor crop production as a result of erratic rainfall. This review seeks to explore the utilisation and contribution of forest resources to improving food security in the dry regions of Africa. Forest resources are highly utilised by poor resource farmers in rural areas as a means of poverty alleviation, income generation and to improve human livelihoods. Resources such as non-timber forest products (NTFPs) contribute to human nutrition, income generation, food sources and to improve living standards. NTFPs, such as honey, waxes and medicines, have been reported to contribute income in countries, such as Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, creating more opportunities for rural people to improve their living standards and reduce food insecurity. These resources contribute to hidden hunger though the utilisation of fruit, vegetables, honey, wild meat and edible worms, especially to the children under five years of age. Climate change has also created variability in the availability of forest resources in dry regions, and this has altered their contribution to human livelihoods and food security.

Role of Panchayati Raj Institution and Tribal Rights in Forest Resources Management: A Study of Mayurbhanj District of Odisha

Most tribal people have been living in forest areas but do not officially permit rights to their homes, lands and livelihoods. India is the land of tribes, constituting 8.6% of its population. Tribes have been closely related to the forest, and their life and livelihood depend on the availability of forest resources in India. Forest ecosystems are crucial for biodiversity, watershed protection and the livelihood of indigenous communities. In Odisha, the forest has become and is considered a potential natural resource. Forests have been interdependent and interrelated for the tribal people in Odisha for generations. According to the well-being of the tribal people, they have depended on their habits, culture and style of life in the forests through separable entities like forest and tribal culture. Everything in the forest has been fulfilled, including social, economic, cultural, religious and medicinal needs, which the forest dwellers require. Aside from the aspects mentioned above, the study investigates the role of Panchayati Raj institutions in managing forest resources for the benefit of tribal people. It focuses on the tribe members’ level of awareness following the passage of the Panchayat Extension to the Scheduled Area Act.

Pathways to win-wins or trade-offs? How certified community forests impact forest restoration and human wellbeing.

Certified community forests combine local governance with forest certification and aim to serve multiple objectives including forest protection, restoration, human wellbeing and equitable governance. However, the causal pathways by which they impact these objectives remain poorly understood. The ability of protected area impact evaluations to identify complex pathways is limited by a narrow focus on top-down theoretical, quantitative perspectives and inadequate consideration of local context. We used a novel mixed-methods research design that integrates the perspectives of multiple actors to develop a generalized conceptual model of the causal pathways for certified community forests. We tested the model using a combination of statistical matching, structural equation modelling and qualitative analyses for an agroforestry landscape in Tanzania. We found certified community forests positively impacted human wellbeing, equitable governance and forest restoration. Equitable governance had the largest impact on wellbeing, followed by crop yield and forest resource availability. Timber revenues varied widely between villages and the average effect of financial benefits did not impact wellbeing due to the immature stage of the certified timber market. We identified positive interactions and trade-offs between conservation and agriculture. Our findings suggest that no simple solution exists for meeting multiple objectives. However, developing understanding of the pathways linking social and conservation outcomes can help identify opportunities to promote synergies and mitigate negative impacts to reconcile competing objectives. This article is part of the theme issue 'Understanding forest landscaperestoration: reinforcing scientific foundations for the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration'.

Forest Resource Availability After Nuclear War or Other Sun‐Blocking Catastrophes

AbstractA global, sun‐blocking catastrophe like nuclear war, an asteroid strike, or a super volcano eruption spells disaster for most aspects of life as we know it. There have been many studies on how differing magnitudes of sun‐blocking catastrophes would affect the global climate, and many mention the effects of this cold, dark climate on forests and cropping systems. However, few studies have solely focused on the effects of nuclear winter on forests in terms of food, resources, and decomposition. Forests already provide over a billion people with food and fuel for their livelihoods. In this review, we connect how prehistoric catastrophes affected the world's forests to how a current‐day catastrophe may affect forest health, forest resource availability, and wood decomposition rates. We briefly discuss how forest resources may be used in this post‐catastrophe climate for food and fuel in an energy and fuel‐depleted world. We use this information to make policy and education suggestions to prepare for future catastrophes, build resilience from smaller local disasters, prepare for the many effects of climate change, and discourage nuclear weapon stockpiles.

Investment encouragement mechanisms in forestry sector: Analysis of global experience and its viability in Russia

Undoubtedly, a forestry sector is an integral element in the economy of Russia. A forestry sector is defined to be a set of industries, including forest industry and forestry, and its relevant tasks today are to improve the competitiveness of the forest industry and to provide the advanced growth for the sector on the whole. One of the barriers preventing the Russian forestry sector from development is a low recycling degree of raw wood, which, in its turn, is determined by a deficit of wood processing enterprises and underdeveloped investment encouragement mechanisms. Efficient investment strategy should account for the national and international practices, which supports the relevance of this research. The purpose of the study is to systematize the best global practices in investment encouragement in the forestry sector to reason their application in national context with regard to the institutional and natural climatic features of the development in the forest industry and forestry in Russia. Methodology of the research includes general scientific methods, as well as a comprehensive approach aimed to analyze the most relevant national and international materials and reports from the specialized institutions dealing with the issues concerning the forest and forest resources management. The scientific novelty of the research focuses on the classification of the best global practices in investment encouragement in the forestry sector of economy, the classification summarizes the experiences of the leading countries in forestry. The study identifies the most popular investment encouragement methods, including administrative and economic measures, in the leading countries in the respective forest resource reserves. The programs of non-financial support for the forest land users, consultations, and educational programs, R&D encouragement are among the administrative measures. Economic measures cover the fiscal and monetary policy tools, including concessional taxation, public subsidies, joint investment of the projects, and soft loans. The paper proves that direct transfer from the international practices will not give any significant positive effect and development in the forestry sector of Russia and will not improve the competitiveness of the national forest processing companies as the investment encouragement measures should account for the natural climatic, social economic and institutional features of the forestry sector. One should take into account that the forest land property rights belong to the state in the Russian Federation. With these features in mind and the classification of the best global practices in investment encouragement in the forestry sector of economy in hand, it has been found that the support measures which work in Canada are likely to be the most efficient ones under the national conditions because Canada runs similar forest land property rights. Canada practises R&D encouragement and public subsidies which could be implemented in Russia as a type of public-private partnership or other types of joint investment of the projects in the forestry sector. Therefore, the research carefully looks at the public measure started back in 2007 and aimed at large-scale investment projects in forest exploration and identifies a number of associated problems. The most burning issues are as follows: national investors are not sufficiently interested in the project completion, the products from the forest processing enterprises have low profitability, which is determined by high electricity and railway tariffs, there is no spatial distribution scheme for particular types of production with regard to the availability of forest resources and the needs of the domestic market in timber and paper products, wood is harvested illegally on the rented plots designed to be used for the priority investment projects, the forest resources are not sufficiently applied and recovered, the deadlines and other project’s parameters are violated, and the feedback links between the enterprises and the authorities monitoring the projects are underdeveloped. Along with that, the practices of public subsidy programs show that acquiring the status of a priority investment project in forest exploration is seen to be one of the most efficient measures in investment encouragement in the forestry sector. Further research should focus on the development of a comprehensive approach to the analysis of the efficiency of the priority investment projects to justify the offers in investment encouragement mechanism improvement in the forestry sector in Russia. This approach should be based on the analysis of the econometric factors which determine the success of the projects.

The role of legal protection in forest conservation in an urban matrix

Establishing forest protection standards is essential for biodiversity conservation and for ensuring the public water supply. This study evaluated whether compliance with environmental legislation aimed at protecting the Atlantic Forest is sufficient to minimize the negative effects of urban pressure on the conservation of biodiversity in the water source area of the Billings reservoir in the municipality of Diadema. To assess the effectiveness of environmental legislation, we created a current land use and land cover map as well as maps for an expected legal scenario and evaluated both using landscape metrics. Our findings indicate that forest resource availability in the area is critical but can be improved by compliance with legal obligations, which have complementary effects and the potential to promote less fragmented landscapes. On the other hand, they do not prevent the tendency of fragmentation caused by the surrounding urban matrix, which can reduce the positive effect of the legal compliance on forest conservation in cases of consolidated urban areas.

Оценка доступности лесных ресурсов с использованием современных методик на базе географических информационно-аналитических систем

The article contains the results of the research, the purpose of which was to create an optimal methodology for assessing the availability of forest resources. The analysis of various aspects of the investigated issue (ecological, economic, technological, technical) is carried out, its key positions are defined. The main factors that can influence the level of availability of forest resources are identified. The experience of creating a software product on the basis of geographical information and analytical systems intended for a detailed assessment of the whole set of factors determining the level of availability of forest resources is presented

POTENTIAL FOR RECREATIONAL-COMMERCIAL TOURISM IN PERM KRAI

The article discusses resource opportunities for the development of recreational-сommercial tourism inPermkrai. This direction of tourism has the form of travels based on collecting activity, which includes mainly the forest collecting wild edible mushrooms, berries, medicinal plants. The prospectivity of development of this type of tourism in the krai is determined by the presence of the respective biological resources and landscape features. In this regard, the regional research was conducted, the purpose of which was the assessment and geographical analysis of the resource capabilities ofPermkrai for the development of recreational-сommercial tourism. The proposed method of assessing the capacity is based on the application of mathematical-statistical methods of information processing. It is based on the rating assessment and typology of municipal districts ofPermkrai according to resource tourist opportunities using mathematical statistics methods – factor and cluster analysis. The study used an integrated approach based on such signifi cant evaluation criteria for this type of tourism as the availability of forest resources, landscape diversity, transport availability and accessibility, limiting factors of the natural environment. The results of a rating estimation of districts of Perm Krai are presented. The geographical analysis of territories ofPermkrai according to the resource potential is conducted based on typology of districts of the krai, which allows combining districts into groups (types) with similar opportunities for the development of recreational-сommercial tourism. Areas ofPermkrai with different potentials are determined that to a certain extent affect the priority and sequence of development of this direction of tourism in different areas of the krai.

Changing decisions in a changing landscape: How might forest owners in an urbanizing region respond to emerging bioenergy markets?

The global bioenergy market has considerable impacts on local land use patterns, including landscapes in the Southeastern United States where increased demand for bioenergy feedstocks in the form of woody biomass is likely to affect the management and availability of forest resources. Despite extensive research investigating the productivity and impacts of different bioenergy feedstocks, relatively few studies have assessed the preferences of private landowners, who control the majority of forests in the eastern U.S., to harvest biomass for the bioenergy market. To better understand contingent behaviors given emerging biomass markets, we administered a stated preference experiment to private forest owners in the rapidly urbanizing Charlotte Metropolitan region. Respondents indicated their preferences for harvesting woody biomass under a set of hypothetical market-based scenarios with varying forest management plans and levels of economic return. Our analytical framework also incorporated data from a previously-administered revealed preference survey and spatially-explicit remote sensing data, enabling us to analyze how individuals’ ownership characteristics, their emotional connection the forests they manage, and the spatial patterns of nearby land uses, influence willingness to grow bioenergy feedstocks. We found conditional support for feedstock production, even among woodland owners with no history of active management. Landowners preferred higher economic returns for each management plan. However low-intensity harvest options were always preferred to more intensive management alternatives regardless of economic return, suggesting that these landowners may be more strongly motivated by aesthetic or quality-of-life concerns than feedstock revenues. Our analysis indicated preferences were dependent upon individual and environmental characteristics, with younger, more rural landowners significantly more interested in growing feedstocks relative to their older and more urban counterparts. While this study focuses on one small sample of urban forest owners, our results do suggest that policy makers and resource managers can better inform stand-level decision-making by understanding how feedstock production preferences vary across populations.

Non-timber forest products income from forest landscapes of Cameroon, Ghana and Nigeria – an incidental or integral contribution to sustaining rural livelihoods?

This paper discusses the relative importance of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for rural households in Cameroon, Nigeria and Ghana. It aims to compare and contrast the significance of NTFPs for income generation in rainforest areas, both within and across these countries to draw out regional patterns in a wider ecological, social and political context. In doing so, we bring the added value of highlighting the different roles which NTFPs currently play, or might likely begin to play out, in wider landscapes. The contribution NTFPs make to rural livelihoods depends largely on the availability of forest resources and access to markets, as well as socio-economic variables including wealth, gender and migration status. The findings indicate that remote communities and poorer households rely more on NTFP-based income compared to more accessible communities and wealthier households. NTFPs are relatively unimportant as an income source for households in more accessible rural areas, where farm-related income dominates. These findings support the theory that NTFPs are an important component to rural livelihoods and make significant and timely income contributions to poor households. Furthermore, in times of economic and climatic uncertainty, NTFPs and the forest and agricultural landscapes within which they are found, make a significant contribution to the resilience of rural forest dwellers' livelihoods.

Local people's perceptions of forest biodiversity in the walnut fruit forests of Kyrgyzstan

The biodiversity of the walnut fruit forests in Kyrgyzstan is under huge pressure due to various socio-economic challenges and anthropogenic factors. In this context, the participation of local people plays a significant role in the conservation of biodiversity. This study assessed local people's understanding of forest biodiversity and evaluated their knowledge of the wildlife at three different locations. The research was conducted between May and September in 2008 with randomly selected households (n = 142). The results indicated that the local people were aware of the concept of forest biodiversity. This concept is perceived in different ways depending on the benefits gained from the forest and due to a bias which is strongly related to profession. Regarding the current conditions of biodiversity in general, people have clear and positive intentions for conservation. However, it seems that people will be unable to reduce their impact on forest resources in the future due to the current socio-economic challenges. Further, people's expectations for the future of forest biodiversity varied significantly (6–52%) between the sites due to the differences in the pressure exerted by humans on the forests and the availability of forest resources. Concerning the people's knowledge of wildlife this was limited to few species (28–35% of the species occurring in this area). This study highlights the fact that increasing awareness of wildlife is essential for the maintenance of biodiversity. Local people and the forestry sector need to stress the importance of biodiversity in establishing a sound conservation strategy, as well as income-generating activities.

Current trends in the Russian Far East forest sector

Having vast areas of high-quality forests, Russia tries to attract more investments in the forest sector for domestic timber processing in order to fill in regional and federal budgets to have more funds available for forest protection and rehabilitation. Comprising over 70% of total forestlands in Russia, forests of the Russian Far East (RFE) are distributed unevenly across provinces. Larch, pine and spruce are the dominant conifer tree species in this vast region, while substantial amounts of forest area and timber volumes can be attributed to oak and ash species. Forest area and tree species distribution are mainly a result of long-lasting natural and anthropogenic impacts, such as forest fires, pest outbreaks, territory development, land-use change, timber harvesting and forestry activities. Mature conifer stands are the most important source of timber both in Russia and in the RFE. Over decades, a predominance of mature conifer species in forest composition became a key strategic factor of timber industry development including domestic consumption and export, mainly roundwood (logs). During the last few decades, the RFE and Siberia forests have been a significant source of timber for domestic use and export to the Asia-Pacific region, mainly, the People's Republic of China, Japan and the Republic of Korea. Current administrative and legislative reforms, introduction of a new Forest Code of the Russian Federation (2006), governmental decisions on the forest sector including an increase of export tariffs on raw timber, a decrease of import tariffs on wood-processing equipment and some other measures have initiated changes in the forest sector of the RFE. New Russian Forest Code empowered provincial authorities for more practical actions, including initiation of investment projects in major forested provinces of Russia. The article examines major challenges occurring in the Russian forest sector from the following positions: forest resources and impacts on them, timber available for harvesting and availability of forest resources in the RFE to meet growing demands in the future, efforts to increase volumes of wood products of higher value added via the export-import policy, and a reaction of the wood products market to these changes. The conclusion is that the steps undertaken by the Russian Government in order to increase revenue from forest sector are beginning to bring their first results.

Dealing with reducing trends in forest ecosystem services through a vulnerability assessment and planned adaptation actions

Vulnerability of forest ecosystems in West Africa is likely to be aggravated with current and projected climate and human stresses with implications for adaptation and REDD regimes. This is because vulnerability of the forest ecosystems affects economic sectors and millions of people that depend on their services. This study investigated vulnerability of forest ecosystems through land use land cover (LULC) changes and the availability of economically useful forest ecosystem provisioning services in Ghana and Burkina Faso in the face of different stresses using landsat imageries and Participatory Rural Appraisal. Our analysis indicates that current and projected land cover changes and local perception on availability of forest resources in the different ecological zones are facing a decreasing trend due to various climatic and anthropogenic drivers. Ghana shows a transition in the order of high forest, forest-savanna transition, savanna to widely open cultivated savanna, while study areas in Burkina Faso is experiencing a gradual reduction of dense natural forests reserves towards a more sparse vegetation. Local knowledge in addition to observed changes in LULC can be a useful resource in preparing communities and ecosystems for adaptation as well as contribute to the input based adoption of appropriate policies in REDD schemes. Key words: Adaptation, forest ecosystem, land use land cover change, REDD, vulnerability, West Africa.

Use of forest resources, traditional forest-related knowledge and livelihood of forest dependent communities: Cases in South Korea

The patterns of forest resource use in South Korea have been overviewed along with the forest resource availability to the forest users and in relation to the socio-economic conditions of local people. In South Korea, forest income arises more from non-timber forest products (NTFPs) and forest ecosystems services than from timber. The relationship between availability of forest resources and income of residents in mountainous villages was addressed with statistical analysis of results of household surveys conducted in Gangwon-do Province. The result indicates that the mere existence of forest resources and related cultural heritages is not enough for local communities to obtain income from forest land. Proper arrangements for local communities in accessing the forest resources and knowledge of making use of the resources is required to make the relationship constructive for people's livelihood. Joint management agreement between forest communities and the forest owner serves both parties for sustainable forest management in Korea as seen in the case of maple sap collection within Seoul National University Forests. The traditional knowledge held by local residents is of value for income generation for forest dependent communities and is considered as an integral part of sustainable forest management as seen in the case of native honey bee keeping near protected forest areas managed by the national forest authority. However, traditional cultural values may be positive or negative for ecologically sound forest management as seen in the pest management policy of the Korean government formulated based on cultural value rather than considerations of ecosystem health.

The political ecology of Yukon forestry: managing the forest as if people mattered

SUMMARY Over the past several decades a growing interest has emerged in the relationship between forest dependent communities and their use of non-timber forest resources (NTFR—i.e. berries, roots, barks). Motivated in large part by international concerns over the loss of biological and cultural diversity, efforts are now being made to conserve the world's remaining forests by repositioning NTFR to the forefront of the forest management process. Together with the Little Salmon Carmacks First Nation, we have undertaken an assessment that: 1) addresses the role of NTFR in fulfilling basic human necessities and well-being of community members, and 2) identifies the perceptual differences that exist among First Nation and non-First Nation community members regarding the security and future availability of forest resources. Based on our findings, we argue that if the true value of the forest is to be understood, and thus sustained, those involved in management must consider the full array of products and services the forest provides. Thus the conventional and over-simplified view that the forest is to provide primarily for commercial timber must be challenged in light of the multiplicity of values community members gain from forest use.

Forest resource availability and its use by the migratory villages of Uttarkashi, Garhwal Himalaya (India)

Recognising the ecological importance of Himalayan forests in terms of their intrinsic values as life support system for the local people and as repository of regional biodiversity, the present study was conducted. It aimed at assessing the status of available forest resources, current levels of pressure on them and sustainability of current land use practices in a part of district Uttarkashi in Garhwal Himalaya. We quantified available standing biomass, regeneration and population of highly preferred species and their consumption patterns. The study revealed a spatio-temporal variation in resource extraction. The standing biomass of preferred woody species at low altitude permanent villages and high altitude summer camping sites ( Kharaks) were 140.68±26.91 and 477.46±31.8 t/ha, respectively. Average fuel wood consumption per household at permanent villages was 14.65±0.78 kg/day whereas consumption per temporary hut ( Chhans) at camping sites was 36.42±3.35 kg/day. Higher per capita consumption of fuel wood in the camping sites due to seasonal migration of local as well as transhumants locally known as Gujjars had put immense pressure on sub-alpine forests. An increase in the demands for natural resources was noticed due to an augmented influx of tourists, which would further lead to the degradation of already scarce resources in the sub-alpine areas. Thus increased resource extraction from the low as well as high altitude forests simultaneously, may not be sustainable in the long run. In near future this might affect the status of the undisturbed forest at middle elevation, which has relatively high available biomass and regeneration capacity.

Environmental breaches and resource losses in a Mexican biosphere reserve and development of a simple resource management model

SUMMARY The causes for environmental breaches producing losses to the forest resources in the biosphere reserve Mariposa Monarca in Mexico have been investigated, mainly using methods of spatial analysis. It was demonstrated that the availability of forest resources themselves does not affect the frequency of breaches but does have consequences on the amount of resource loss per breach. Furthermore, a strong dependency on the traffic ways was demonstrated. The larger the distance to the traffic ways, the lower is the frequency of breaches. This behaviour could be described mathematically and led to the result that 38% of the breaches can be considered as caused by traffic ways. A weak dependency on the number of inhabitants could be found but no dependency on socioeconomic parameters. Taking into account the results of this analysis, a simple resource management model was developed, using a differential equation. It estimates the future development of natural resources. The model is implemented in a Geographic Information System. Sample calculations underline the importance of the supervising actions and show the possibilities of the model with respect to the measures that have to be taken to preserve natural resources in a supervised national park.