Forest Conservation Issues Research Articles

DYNAMICS OF TENURE CONFLICT IN AMMATOA KAJANG CUSTOMARY FOREST AREA, BULUKUMBA REGENCY

Certainty of tenure rights has been a problem related to disputes over the use, control, management, and use of forest areas that lead to the neglect of the rights of local indigenous peoples. This study aims to identify the existence and recognition of the indigenous "Ammatoa" Kajang community and analyze tenure rights that ignore the rights of the indigenous "Ammatoa " people against customary forests. The method used in this study is a qualitative method with descriptive analysis to provide a systematic, factual and accurate picture of tenure rights in management customary forest "Ammatoa". The results showed that the indigenous community of "Ammatoa" is still strong with customary institutions and customary values that are maintained, such as Pasang ri Kajang as The values that govern all aspects of the life of the "Ammatoa" Kajang Customary Law Community relate to social, cultural, governance, trust, environmental and forest conservation issues. Tenure rights carried out by PT. Lonsum who accesses and manages, excludes, and transfers the tenure rights of the Kajang "Ammatoa" customary forest which has received state recognition based on a Constitutional Court Decision Decree Number 35/PUU-X/2012 and Regional Regulation of Bulukumba Regency Number 09 of 2015 concerning Confirmation, Recognition of Rights, and Protection of the Rights of Customary Law Peoples Ammatoa Kajang. Along with the birth of these two legal bases, there was also a conflict/dispute over the control and management system of the customary forest "Ammatoa" between indigenous community "Ammatoa" with the existence of a rubber plantation company (PT Lonsum, Tbk) occupying the Ammatoa customary forest area with Business Use Rights (HGU).

Metabarcoding analysis of the soil fungal community to aid the conservation of underexplored church forests in Ethiopia

Most of the Dry Afromontane forests in the northern part of Ethiopia are located around church territories and, hence, are called church forests. These forests are biodiversity islands and provide key ecosystem services to local communities. A previous study of church forest fungal species was based on sporocarp collections. However, to obtain a complete picture of the fungal community, the total fungal community present in the soil needs to be analyzed. This information is important to integrate church forests into global biodiversity conservation strategies and to understand what actions are required to conserve church forests and their biological components, including fungi, which are known for their exceptionally high diversity levels. We assessed soil fungal communities in three church forests using ITS2 rDNA metabarcoding. In total, 5152 fungal operational taxonomic units representing 16 fungal phyla were identified. Saprotrophs followed by ectomycorrhizal fungi and animal pathogens dominated fungal communities. Significant differences in diversity and richness were observed between forests. Non-metric multidimensional scaling confirmed that fungal community composition differed in each forest. The composition was influenced by climatic, edaphic, vegetation, and spatial variables. Linear relationships were found between tree basal area and the abundance of total fungi and trophic groups. Forest management strategies that consider cover, tree density, enrichment plantations of indigenous host tree species, and environmental factors would offer suitable habitats for fungal diversity, production, and function in these forest systems. The application of the baseline information obtained in this study could assist other countries with similar forest conservation issues due to deforestation and forest fragmentation.

Rationale, experience and ethical considerations underpinning integrated actions to further global goals for health and land biodiversity in Papua New Guinea

The SURFACES project is integrating action on good health and wellbeing [Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3] and conservation of life on land (SDG 15) in the threatened rainforests of Papua New Guinea (PNG), and mapping evidence of similar projects worldwide. Our approach is framed by Planetary Health, aiming to safeguard both human health and the natural systems that underpin it. Our rationale is demonstrated through a summary of health needs and forest conservation issues across PNG, and how these play out locally. We outline differing types of integrated conservation and health interventions worldwide, providing examples from Borneo, Uganda, India and elsewhere. We then describe what we are doing on-the-ground in PNG, which includes expansion of a rainforest conservation area alongside the establishment of a nurse-staffed aid post, and an educational intervention conceptually linking forest conservation and health. Importantly, we explore some ethical considerations on the conditionality of medical provision and identify key challenges to the successful implementation of such projects. The latter include: avoiding cross-sectoral blindness and achieving genuine interdisciplinary working; the weak evidence base justifying projects; and temporal-spatial issues. We conclude by suggesting how projects integrating actions on health and conservation SDGs can benefit from (and contribute to) the energy of the emerging Planetary Health movement.

Framing forest conservation in the global media: An interest-based approach

The aim of this paper is to understand if analytical theory as used in forest policy analysis can contribute to explaining how global media reports about a contested issue like forest conservation are framed. It therefore takes an actor and interest-based approach on framing. The empirical study is based on 129 media articles on forest conservation published in international print media, TIME and International Herald Tribune between 1990 and 2004. The results indicate that journalists are in a prime position: on the one hand, dominantly framing problems and, on the other hand, acting like a gatekeeper deciding on the visibility and standing of other actors. In their framing, journalists have assigned the role of causers mainly to the political-administrative system (PAS) and enterprises and the role of the helper as well to the PAS but furthermore to NGOs and individuals. Attention paid to media stars addressing forest conservation issues appears as a strategy to increase the news value of the articles. Except for journalists, actors with standing use the chance to present themselves in the role of helper only to a limited extend and they make even more seldom use of the speaker position to point towards a specific causer.

Analysis of South Korean English-language media's reporting pattern on North Korea's forests: focused on type, tone, and frame of articles

This study analyzed how North Korea's deforestation issues are reported in South Korea, through the lens of English-language newspapers. “Valid” articles from the period January 2001 to August 2012 were thoroughly researched and verified. Framing theory and cultivation theory were adopted to analyze articles based on their frames, perspectives, and tones with regard to deforestation issues. The majority of valid articles were found to be positive, factual, and relating to economics; a phenomenon that likely derives from forest conservation issues being associated with economic costs and benefits. Other topics included the impact of climate change on the environment, increasing flood damage to local communities south of the 38th parallel caused by worsening deforestation, interest around forest resources in relation to greenhouse gas emissions trading, and ecological conservation on the Korean Peninsula.

The Forest Conservation in India and the Role of Indian Supreme Court: A Critical Analysis.

The current process of industrialization, urbanization and globalization are adversely influencing on the natural resources like land, water, forests etc. There is utmost need to conserve and utilize these resources in a sustainable manner since they are the very basic components of human development. In a developing country like India, the thrust for economic development has put more pressure on the natural resources, particularly the forest resources. The present paper deals with the issue of forest conservation in India with special role of the Supreme Court of India. In India the conservation of forest has been ensured through legislative acts, judicial pronouncements and executive orders. It is a fact that there are number of legislative steps taken to ensure forest conservation in India but the contribution of Indian Supreme Court in this context is unparallel. Since last two decades the Supreme Court of India has been performing the stellar role by taking a Herculean task of comprehensive conservation and protection of forest across the country. It has added a new dimension to environmental scenario in a country. With the help of some cases, it has covered almost all aspects related to forest conservation and other related issues like conservation of biodiversity, national parks etc. The Court has emerged as a lawmaker on forest conservation issues. How far it is correct? What would be the consequences if the same trend persists? This is the focal point of the present paper.

Landscape-level Forest Ecosystem Conservation on Changbai Mountain, China and North Korea (DPRK)

Changbai Mountain, the highest mountain in the east of the Eurasian Continent, is covered with a wide range of distinct altitudinal vegetation types featuring the Earth's richest biodiversity in the cool temperate zone. However, some development trends on Changbai Mountain urgently require the launching of innovative policies and actions for sustainable forest conservation on Changbai Mountain. This paper provides an overview of forest conservation issues in the area: it summarizes the ecological significance of forest vegetation on Changbai Mountain, reviews historic forest utilization and protection in the region, and discusses forest conservation measures that exist on Changbai Mountain. The paper also describes specific civilization-based economic developments, including deforestation, logging, non-wood product collection, and tourism, which threaten forest sustainability inside and around protected areas on Changbai Mountain. We propose that forest ecosystem management should be implemented outside the designated protected areas and human pressure should be reduced inside nature reserves on Changbai Mountain. Landscape and ecosystem approaches should be used to promote forest conservation at the mountain level. In addition, China and North Korea (DPRK) need to engage in multiscale, multidisciplinary, and multistakeholder transboundary conservation efforts.

America’s Private Forests: Status and Stewardship

Review: America's Private Forests: Status and Stewardship By Constance Best and Lauire A. Wayburn Reviewed by Kathy Piselli Vistronix, Inc., USA Constance Best, & Laurie A. Wayburn. America's Private Forests: Status and Stewardship. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2001. 268 pp. ISBN 1-55963- 900-8 (cloth); ISBN: 1-55963-901-6 (paper). US$50.00 cloth; US$27.50 paper. Forests are worth more standing than when cut down. This isn't always obvious to everyone. But it is to two co-founders of the Pacific Forest Trust, a nonprofit established in 1993 to promote good forest stewardship chiefly in private forests, and they have published a book that both outlines threats to forests and presents solutions. The book's interest is in the preservation of biodiversity. It was commissioned by a group of conservation foundations called The Consultative Group on Biological Diversity, and analyses United States government data released in summer 2001. So in addition to identifying the major threats to private forests in the United States, this book offers guidance for conservation efforts that will lead to preservation of native biodiversity. Best and Wayburn maintain that so-called nonindustrial private forestland owners (NIPFs) own 60% of America's forests and that most biological diversity resides in these forests. For this reason, they are not only concerned with preserving the kinds of large tracts found in Alaska, but also with defragmenting and protecting smaller tracts in the lower 48. Atlanta, Seattle, and Washington D.C. are named as containing smaller tracts that should be targeted as at risk. These are areas that have seen between 13% and a whopping 40% population increase in the ten-year period between censuses. Part One presents data analysis clear enough so that even those not familiar with forest conservation issues can make sense of it. Data limitations are pointed out, explaining how seemingly positive trends may mask underlying problems. For example, a statistic indicates an increase in total forest acreage but obscures the difference between acres of new pine on abandoned farmland and acres of hardwood lost to a new subdivision. Part Two, the Conservation Toolbox, focuses on potential solutions. The authors' strategy is two-pronged. Any ecologist knows that forests represent

An Introduction to the Conservation of the Eastern Arc Mountains

It is 19 years ago, that I, as the organiser for the 4th East African Wildlife Symposium, which was hosted in Arusha by the University of Dar es Salaam, dared to add a section on forest biology and forest conservation. The conservation agenda then was concerned with issues of managing elephants and lions and other large hairy wildlife. Conservation then was about National Parks not Forest Reserves, it was about savannah grassland not forests, it was about elephants not camphor trees or African violets. Conservation then still had not got to grips with the involvement of people. Conservation was centred on wilderness areas, not on the people resource interface! Whilst the 1978 conference also had 150 participants from all over the world, few of them cared about forests. It is a sobering thought that today we can host a major conference on the Eastern Arc Forests alone! (Has the world changed? And are we about to see an era of real conservation?). In 1978, most participants were from overseas. In today's workshop, Tanzanians make up over half the active audience! It is instructive to think back 20 years and consider forest conservation issues in Tanzania in 1978: • The word 'conservation' was not in the University Forest Curriculum (not once!). • Forest students did not go to natural forests for training (not once in three years!). Logging and on-farm agro-forestry were the focus topics then. • Intense mechanical logging was underway in the East Usambara Forests, supported by government and foreign aid. • The word biodiversity did not exist. • The human population of Tanzania was half that of today, and the demand for forest products was less than half. Woodland resources were still available to meet much of that fuel wood need. • There were conservation arguments in the Usambara Forests. Much of the canopy had a cardamom understorey. We noted that Kenya with no cardamom growing areas exported twice our national output! • The Forest Department had money and capability-but little conservation concern. But now, there is much greater concern, but lost capacity and no money!