Forest Policy Changes Research Articles

Late-Successional and Old-Growth Forests in the Northeastern United States: Structure, Dynamics, and Prospects for Restoration

Restoration of old-growth forest structure is an emerging silvicultural goal, especially in those regions where old-growth abundance falls below the historic range of variability. However, longitudinal studies of old-growth dynamics that can inform silvicultural and policy options are few. We analyzed the change in structure, including stand density, diameter distribution, and the abundance of large live, standing dead, and downed dead trees on 58 late-successional and old-growth plots in Maine, USA, and compared these to regional data from the U.S. Forest Inventory and Analysis program. Structural dynamics on the late-successional plots reflected orderly change associated with density-dependent growth and mortality, but dynamics on the old-growth plots were more variable. Some plots experienced heavy mortality associated with beech bark disease. Diameter distributions conformed poorly to a classic exponential distribution, and did not converge toward such a distribution at the plot scale. Although large live trees showed a broad trend of increasing density in regional forests, recent harvesting patterns offset a considerable fraction of those gains, while mean diameter was static and the number of large dead trees was weakly declining. Even though forests of the northeast are aging, changes in silviculture and forest policy are necessary to accelerate restoration of old-growth structure.

Effects of a policy-induced income shock on forest-dependent households in the Peruvian Amazon

This paper describes how forest-dependent communities in the Peruvian Amazon responded to forest policy changes meant to improve sustainability. These new laws emphasized block-based, collectivized extraction — a strategy incompatible with local communities' logging traditions and technical capacity. Field surveys before and after the policy change revealed a drastic reduction in local logging activities for households at all income levels. Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) subsequently became more important to household cash incomes. However, only some households were able to shift to a more intensive and far-ranging pattern of NTFP harvest, particularly households with boats and motors. Others lost income from both logging and NTFP extraction because for many households, these income sources were interdependent. An increasing Gini coefficient signals potentially escalating household income inequality. Key lessons for biodiversity and forest–carbon interventions in tropical forests include 1) regulations designed to control large-scale extraction can lead to unnecessarily restricted access for small-scale extractors, and 2) potential shifts in extractive pressure should be taken into account when access to forest resources is curtailed.

The Alternative Test in forestry

The Faustmann theory of discounted cash flow analysis remains relevant in our modern dynamic environment in which periodic reassessment of various alternatives to ongoing forest investments is necessary. The periodic reassessment can be done using the Alternative Test (ALT) approach, which simply compares the net present value of forest investments with new price and cost data and abandonment values. This monitoring approach ignores sunk costs but accounts for the new stream of benefits, the most likely future expenditures, and especially abandonment values, and is useful to readjust forest investment and management decisions any time after the initial investments are made. This approach is used here to explain recent changes in forest policy and investment decisions in America, Asia, and Europe.

Can Print Media Discourse Drive Forest Policy Change in Bangladesh?

Forest issues are widely discussed in Bangladeshi print media. Different policy actors (both central and peripheral) participate in the media discussion to express their opinions on and interests in forest issues. The media play an important role in the construction of the social, environmental and economic context of the Bangladeshi forest sector where forest policies are formulated and modified. Nevertheless, while extensive research has been carried out to explain the formation of the environmental discourse, very little research has been done on the specific relationship between the policy outcomes and media discourses. This study tries to determine the influence of media discourse on forest policy changes in Bangladesh. It analyses the media discourse from 1989 to 2009 in the “The Daily Ittefaq”, a reputed Bangladeshi print medium of Bangladesh, along with Bangladeshi forest policy documents from 1989 to 2010. A quantitative, qualitative content analysis, followed by expert interviews of forest policy decision makers was the chosen methodology. The empirical findings of the study reveal that media discourses do not drive the forest policy change in Bangladesh; rather the international concurrent forest discourses trigger symbolic forest policy changes in Bangladesh.

The progress and challenges in sustainable forestry development in China

Forestry development in China has undergone a series of reforms over the past six decades. This article examines temporal changes in forest resources and policies, the current status of forestry, and future challenges toward sustainable forest management in China. Excessive logging in the 1950s to 1980s badly damaged the nation’s forests, but the adoption of enlightened forest policies in the late 1990s has led to increases in China’s total forest area and growing stock. Forest degradation was ecologically and economically costly, and rehabilitation processes have become increasingly more expensive. The low quality and young age of forest resources, loss of natural forests, and more difficulties in afforestation and reforestation pose severe challenges for China’s sustainable forestry. It is critically important for China to enhance forest productivity through intensive management, strengthen enforcement, and educational programs for protecting and restoring natural forests, narrow the gap between domestic timber supply and rapidly expanding consumption, improve coordinating networks for management, finance, and technology transfer, and accelerate efforts to clarify and stabilize tenure arrangements for non-state forests. China’s experience and lessons in forestry may be helpful for other developing countries that are seeking to achieve the goal of sustainable forest management.

Exploring the social dimensions and complexity of cumulative impacts: a case study of forest policy changes in Western Australia

Social impacts resulting from policy changes and other interventions interact and aggregate, and are influenced by additional interventions and exogenous factors, leading to cumulative social impacts. We explored these complex impacts through a case study of forest policy changes introduced in the state of Western Australia between 1999 and 2004. In this process, we both drew on and modified the recently-proposed Cumulative Effects Assessment and Management (CEAM) framework, to improve its utility as an analytical tool for exploring cumulative social impacts that arise from policy changes in natural resource sectors. Our findings highlight the complexity of the pathways that lead to social impacts and the significant influence of individuals' responses. The findings also demonstrate the importance of considering cumulative impacts - negative and positive, and intended and unintended – when designing and implementing mitigation strategies, emphasizing the value of adaptive management approaches. Our results suggest that the CEAM framework, appropriately contextualized and adapted, is relevant to the assessment of social impacts associated with interventions in complex natural resource management cases, and probably more widely.

Wildlife conservation planning under the United States Forest Service's 2012 planning rule

AbstractIn 2012, the United States Forest Service (USFS) promulgated new planning regulations in accordance with the National Forest Management Act (NFMA). These regulations represent the most significant change in federal forest policy in decades and have sweeping implications for wildlife populations. We provide a brief overview of the history of the NFMA planning regulations and their wildlife provisions and review the current science on planning for effective wildlife conservation at the landscape scale. We then discuss the approach to wildlife conservation planning in the 2012 rule and compare it to alternatives that were not selected and previous iterations of the planning rule. The new planning rule is of concern because of its highly discretionary nature and the inconsistency between its intent on the one hand and operational requirements on the other. Therefore, we recommend that the USFS include in the Directives for implementing the rule commitments to directly monitor populations of selected species of conservation concern and focal species and to maintain the viability of both categories of species. Additional guidance must be included to ensure the effective selection of species of conservation concern and focal species, and these categories should overlap when possible. If the USFS determines that the planning unit is not inherently capable of maintaining viable populations of a species, this finding should be made available for scientific review and public comment, and in such cases the USFS should commit to doing nothing that would further impair the viability of such species. In cases where extrinsic factors decrease the viability of species, the USFS has an increased, not lessened, responsibility to protect those species. Monitoring plans must include trigger points that will initiate a review of management actions, and plans must include provisions to ensure monitoring takes place as planned. If wildlife provisions in forest plans are implemented so that they are enforceable and ensure consistency between intent and operational requirements, this will help to prevent the need for additional listings under the Endangered Species Act and facilitate delisting. Although the discretionary nature of the wildlife provisions in the planning rule gives cause for concern, forward‐thinking USFS officials have the opportunity under the 2012 rule to create a robust and effective framework for wildlife conservation planning. © 2013 The Wildlife Society.

Revisiting the forest transition theory with historical records and geospatial data: A case study from Mississippi (USA)

This study examines forest change processes, within the framework of forest transition theory (FTT), using Mississippi (USA) as a case study. The aim is to evaluate the assumption and theoretical basis of FTT with quantitative data, and to propose changes in forest management policy as a potential driver for reforestation. We compiled a number of historical records, geospatial data, and time series forest mapping products to reconstruct the last 100 years of forest trajectory. Forest changes are studied in relation to changes in society, over a range of temporal and spatial scales. Details of forest dynamics (e.g., the rate and extent of forest gain and loss) were quantified, while considering the ecological properties of the secondary forests. Mississippi forests are intensively managed and fragmented secondary forests, while regenerated entirely through plantation. The quantified forest transition (FT) curve indicated that forest dynamics have been nonlinear and have involved multiple reversals, resulting in multiple periods of forest expansion. The spatial and temporal analysis with time series remote sensing data over the last 30 years reveals that Mississippi forests have experienced very frequent changes and disturbance, even during the period of forest expansion. These change patterns are not apparent when considering total forest area estimates. The result illustrates that the “forest scarcity pathway” of FTT (Rudel et al., Global Environmental Change Part A 15(1) (2005) 23–31) worked to reverse the deforestation trend for the initial FT period. However, regenerated forests have experienced another episode of FT and expansion, and this cannot be explained by the forest scarcity pathway. Rather, the case of Mississippi suggests an alternative pathway (Mather, International Forestry Review 9(1) (2007) 491–502; Lambin and Meyfroidt, Land Use Policy 27 (2010) 108–118), distinct from the previous work, and highlights the importance of changes in policy incentives to account for forest recovery. The conceptual basis of FTT proposed by Mather (Area 24(4) (1992) 367–379) and Grainger (Area 27(3) (1995) 242–251) is revisited, showing how two alternative views are complementary, providing explanation for the repeated patterns of FT. This study presents empirical evidence to understand the theoretical basis and assumptions of FTT and suggests a new path for FT, “forest management policy pathway”.

The Role of True Fir Species in the Silviculture of British Forests: past, present and future

There are no true fir species (Abies spp.) native to the British Isles: the first to be introduced was Abies alba in the 1600s which was planted on some scale until the late 1800s when it proved vulnerable to an insect pest. Thereafter interest switched to North American species, particularly grand (Abies grandis) and noble (Abies procera) firs. Provenance tests were established for A. alba, A. amabilis, A. grandis, and A. procera. Other silver fir species were trialled in forest plots with varying success. Although species such as grand fir have proved highly productive on favourable sites, their initial slow growth on new planting sites and limited tolerance of the moist nutrient-poor soils characteristic of upland Britain restricted their use in the afforestation programmes of the last century. As a consequence, in 2010, there were about 8000 ha of Abies species in Britain, comprising less than one per cent of the forest area. Recent species trials have confirmed that best growth is on mineral soils and that, in open ground conditions, establishment takes longer than for other conifers. However, changes in forest policies increasingly favour the use of Continuous Cover Forestry and the shade tolerant nature of many fir species makes them candidates for use with selection or shelterwood silvicultural systems. Supporting evidence is provided by analysis of the regeneration in a long term study of transformation of first rotation conifer plantations. The need to adapt forests to climate change has identified some other silver fir species from southern Europe and Asia as having potential to help increase the resilience of British forests against the impacts of a warmer climate. This paper is the first review of experiments, operational experience with, and the potential role of silver firs in British forestry for more than 20 years. It suggests that previous reviews of the potential role of Abies species have been unduly pessimistic and that there should be an expanded place for silver fir species in British forestry in the future.

Fifteen Years of Forest Community Management in Niger: from a Technician’s Dream to Social Reality

Forest management policies in tropical countries have undergone a paradigm shift in the 1980s. International environmental policies have recommended redirecting natural resource management from state control to approaches giving responsibilities to local people. In Niger, forest cooperatives and firewood rural markets characterized the transition in forest policies toward the integration of rural people in forest management. Forest management principles have been progressively adapted to the social and ecological context, since the establishment of the first cooperatives in 1986. Changes in forest policies concerned two fronts: forest management governance and forest management technical instruments. In this paper, the impact of governance and technical instruments on forest management is studied in two types of firewood rural markets found in Niger. Both rural markets have been designed to bring about a governance shift in favour of rural people. In one type of rural market, rigorous technical instruments were added, consisting in a rotational system among several plots to be harvested in the forest. This paper shows that in the implementation of rural markets, the shift is mainly on governance of forest management, and not so much on technical instruments. The general management principles remain based on scientific knowledge and are not enforced by rural people. These principles have been shown to be inappropriate with regard to Sahelian people’s representation of space, but because they are scientific, they cannot be questioned. The study suggests that sustainable forest management will be better served by interesting rural people in the rural markets, and thereby promoting their appropriation of forest resources, than by defining rigorous technical rules.

Protecting Western Australia's old-growth forests: the impact of 2001 policy changes

Summary In 1999, the signing of a Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) between the Western Australian and Commonwealth governments generated a storm of political protest which subsequently contributed to a change in government in Western Australia and the implementation of a new policy known as ‘Protecting our Old-Growth Forests’. This not only increased the area of native forest set aside for conservation but also significantly reduced the amount of native hardwood available for harvesting. This paper outlines the background to these changes in forest management policy in Western Australia; the impact the new policy has had on the local timber industry; the cost of compensating businesses and workers affected by down-sizing; and the broader environmental implications of the changes. It is concluded that, while the ‘Protecting our Old-Growth Forests’ policy succeeded in defusing a longstanding political conflict, the economic costs have been much greater than they would have been under the proposed RFA. The environmental benefits of the new policy also appear to be less clear-cut than is commonly assumed.

Spatiotemporal Variations in Biomass Carbon Storage for Three Forest Management Regimes in Northeast China

Forests, which account for 76~98% of terrestrial plant carbon and 2/3 of terrestrial carbon sequestration in the world every year, can store or release large amounts of carbon as a result of natural environmental variability and human activities. Quantifying the spatiotemporal dynamics of forest biomass carbon storage is important not only for understanding the role of forests in global warming but also in supporting decision-making processes in forest management. We established biomass-volume models utilizing investigation data of sample plots in the Luishuihe forest area of Northeast China. Based on the models and a forest resource inventory database, forest biomass carbon storage at Lushuihe in 1987, 1995, and 2003 was estimated and mapped in a geographic information system (GIS). The forest biomass carbon storage in areas with 3 different management regimes during different time periods was also obtained based on area maps and maps of carbon storage in the GIS. The results showed that both carbon storage and density first decreased between 1987 and 1995, and then increased between 1995 and 2003. Such temporal dynamics of forest biomass carbon storage corresponded well to changes in Chinese forest policies. Forest biomass carbon storage and density of natural forests in key ecological welfare forest (EWF) areas, where harvesting is prohibited, steadily increased between 1987 and 2003 due to the prohibition of timber harvesting. Decreases in forest biomass carbon storage and density of natural forests in ordinary EWF areas, where harvesting is allowed under certain presumably beneficial conditions, were much less from 1995 to 2003 than from 1987 to 1995 due to decreased timber harvesting. In commodity forest (CoF) areas these decreases in natural forests were also less from 1995~2003 than 1987~1995 due to decreased timber harvesting. The area and biomass carbon storage of plantations in the 3 areas steadily increased between 1987 and 2003. The rate of decrease of carbon density in CoF areas was even less than that in local EWF areas because the area and carbon storage of fast-growing plantations in CoF areas were much greater than these in local EWF areas from 1995 to 2003.

Forest Management in Northeast China: History, Problems, and Challenges

Studies of the history and current status of forest resources in Northeast China have become important in discussions of sustainable forest management in the region. Prior to 1998, excessive logging and neglected cultivation led to a series of problems that left exploitable forest reserves in the region almost exhausted. A substantial decrease in the area of natural forests was accompanied by severe disruption of stand structure and serious degradation of overall forest quality and function. In 1998, China shifted the primary focus of forest management in the country from wood production to ecological sustainability, adopting ecological restoration and protection as key foci of management. In the process, China launched the Natural Forest Conversion Program and implemented a new system of Classification-based Forest Management. Since then, timber harvesting levels in Northeast China have decreased, and forest area and stocking levels have slowly increased. At present, the large area of low quality secondary forest lands, along with high levels of timber production, present researchers and government agencies in China with major challenges in deciding on management models and strategies that will best protect, restore and manage so large an area of secondary forest lands. This paper synthesizes information from a number of sources on forest area, stand characteristics and stocking levels, and forest policy changes in Northeastern China. Following a brief historical overview of forest harvesting and ecological research in Northeast China, the paper discusses the current state of forest resources and related problems in forest management in the region, concluding with key challenges in need of attention in order to meet the demands for multi-purpose forest sustainability and management in the future.

An obituary for national forest programmes? Analyzing and learning from the strategic use of “new modes of governance” in Germany and Bulgaria

National Forest Programmes (NFPs) have been widely discussed as being potential instruments for concretizing the abstract international consensus on sustainable forest management at a national level. Furthermore, they were expected to enhance governance principles such as public participation, holistic and inter-sectoral coordination, decentralisation and long-term iterative and adaptive planning. In our paper, we offer a slightly different perspective on NFPs: Drawing on two empirical case studies (Germany and Bulgaria), we first show that the NFPs in both countries met the aforementioned governance principles. However, when it comes to their potential to trigger forest policy change and to concretize sustainable forest management “on the ground”, NFPs turned out to be less effective in both countries. Moreover, our analysis, drawing on the Advocacy Coalition Framework, embeds the development of NFPs in long-lasting struggles between actor coalitions of diverging beliefs and allows for an interpretation in which the NFPs in both countries were used by powerful actors to serve certain strategic goals. We argue that in the case of Germany, an important motivation for the forestry coalition to develop the NFP was to occupy their counterpart, the nature conservation coalition, with a long-lasting negotiation process that had no substantial influence on the national forest policy. In Bulgaria, vital reasons for launching the NFP were, on one hand, to satisfy the demands of international donors and, on the other hand, to incorporate beliefs of powerful actors into the national forest policy. These findings, according to our conclusion, notably diminish expectations regarding the potential of NFPs as instruments for policy learning and policy change. Our paper concludes with recommendations for further research.

Forest Management Policies and Resource Balance in China

Using the latest forest inventory, this article provides a detailed analysis of China's changing forest sector by focusing on new forest trends, forest policy changes, and challenges to achieving a sustainable forest management. The authors analyze the dynamics of forest resources and provide an impact assessment of forest policies on China's forestry development during the past decades. Moreover, the analysis of the forest market highlights substantial disequilibria marked by a limited domestic supply potential and a growing demand for forest products satisfied by increasing imports. Internal and external solutions are explored, and their implications for China and supplying countries are assessed.

The evolution of the World Bank's policy towards forestry: push or pull?

SUMMARY The World Bank has historically funded, and thus heavily influenced, a significant amount of forestry activities in developing countries in recent decades. The Bank's approach towards investment in forestry has undergone major changes. Early projects financed industrial operations to the detriment of tropical native forests. In the early 1990s, the Bank's forestry strategy prioritized forest preservation. The Bank's strategy shifted again at the turn of the century, to focus on sustainable management and the role of forests in poverty alleviation. This paper examines the changes in policy direction undertaken by the Bank, in light of concurrent changes in international forest policy and the conservation community. The central question addressed is whether the Bank has led the way in bringing about change in the forestry paradigm, or were the different Bank strategies reactions to the policy environment and prevailing attitudes and pressures of the time?

Submission to The 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission

Summary The Institute of Foresters of Australia (IFA) is an independent, national body representing forest scientists, technicians and managers with professional and practical expertise. Bushfires are a day-to-day preoccupation of many of the Institute's members either through their practical work in the forest, or through involvement in research or the administration of forest management agencies or companies. Most foresters have had personal responsibility for bushfire mitigation and suppression at some stage during their career. The IFA regards the current bushfire situation in Victoria as deeply unsatisfactory and believe this is reflected by the damage, devastation and cost of forest fires since 2003. We have for some time felt that the situation would not improve until there was a major stock-take of the current approach which has become skewed firmly in favour of ‘emergency bushfire response’ at the expense of traditional fire prevention activities. We sincerely hope that this Royal Commission will be the vehicle for a sensible revision of this approach. The IFA has long advocated the need for a national policy on bushfire mitigation and suppression in order for Australia to more satisfactorily manage bushfire risk2. This would cover bushfire prevention and fire management which then flows on into state jurisdictions. This approach should be directed at minimising the cost of bushfires in terms of human life and valuable assets (including environmental assets), must be based on science, experience and facts, and should allow for cooperation and coordination across states and across land tenures. In our view a primary objective should be to place responsibility for bushfire management in the hands of land managers, both public and private, not emergency services. A critical ingredient which is lacking is political leadership. We have observed major changes in forest management policies across Australia in recent years, and this has been magnified in Victoria where for at least the past decade there has been a political focus on expanding national parks and conservation reserves. The fact that 52% of Victoria's public lands are now contained in these tenures has led to a profound change in management focus away from active treatment to meet more passive conservation aims. With respect to bushfire management, this has led to a loss of fire management expertise, greater restrictions to public access due to track closures and declining levels of maintenance, and a demonstrable reduction in the broadscale use of prescribed fire as a management tool to mitigate the impact of summer bushfires. This combination of factors has allowed forest fuels to accumulate to an extent that has raised the intensity of summer bushfires and increasingly forced a greater reliance on emergency fire-fighting. This has occurred at a time when there has been an increasing development of housing in bushfire-prone areas, both making the use of prescribed burning more difficult on adjacent public lands and further entrenching the need for emergency capability to preserve life and property at the public-private land interface when it is inevitably threatened by fire. The IFA sees a requirement to develop building codes for homes in fire-prone areas along with providing adequate separation between homes and bushland fuels (both public and private) and to maintain gardens and surrounds in a condition of low flammability. Properly prepared homeowners can do much to reduce bushfire damage and we believe they should be given legislated rights to do what is required to best protect their own property in the event of fire. This submission reviews the background to the bushfire situation in Victoria and responds to the Royal Commission's terms of reference. In total, we have made 44 recommendations in responding to the terms of reference (TOR). These are contained in sections which separately address each TOR. In addition we offer nine over-arching recommendations. This submission is accompanied by copies of the Institute of Foresters of Australia's national policies on bushfire management and the ecological role of fire in Australian forests and woodlands (Appendices 1 and 2).

Contextualising the Advocacy Coalition Framework: theorising change in Swedish forest policy

The Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF) is assessed and elaborated by applying it to the Swedish forestry policy subsystem, a dynamic subsystem in which environmental interests have challenged a dominating production coalition. Forest policy has changed as new ecological values and modes of governing have been introduced through an incremental, pragmatic learning process mediated by a pre-established partnership culture. This policy change is not satisfactorily explained by conventional ACF mechanisms (shocks and brokered learning). Policy change may be better understood if the ACF is nuanced and contextualised by recognising that the learning process has evolved over a long time within the ideological-discursive context of ecological modernisation, and that the forest sector has been under constant pressure due to its strong dependence on world markets.

Pricing the social contract in the British Columbian forest sector

In this paper, we investigate the impact of various socioeconomic conditions on the value of timber tenures in the province of British Columbia. Two timber tenure models were created, one for short-term timber sale licenses and the other for longer term forest licenses. The short-term model revealed that timber sales that were awarded according to a combination of employment, revenue, and manufacturing criteria yielded $8.63/m3 less revenue than timber sales awarded based on revenue alone. Similarly, the long-term model indicates that manufacturing and employment conditions significantly reduce the bid on forest licenses. In both instances, we suggest that such conditions distort the use of timber, labour, and capital. Therefore, we conclude that recent forest policy changes in the province that removed several of these conditions greatly improved economic efficiency. Nevertheless, distribution impacts are likely to be important because resource rents have potentially been redistributed away from rural communities to the provincial government.

Indigenous Soil Fertility Maintenance and Pest Control Practices in Traditional Agriculture in the Indian Central Himalaya

In the Indian Central Himalaya, agriculture is the major source of livelihood for native societies as well as being a fundamental component of natural resource management. However, the system is traditional in nature, based on largely rainfed agriculture, which is dependent upon indigenous technologies and inputs for its continuity. Soil fertility and pest control, two major components of this traditional agriculture, are also maintained indigenously. A survey covering about 500 farm households in 12 villages spread across six districts in the Indian Central Himalaya revealed farmers' almost total dependency on a number of indigenous practices of soil fertility maintenance and insecticidal practices, which are documented in this paper. The majority of these indigenous practices are highly dependent on local resources, particularly on forests, whose depletion has posed a serious challenge. This challenge could be mitigated to a large extent by appropriate changes in forest policies and by integrating indigenous practices with appropriate technologies developed within the agricultural research system.