Forest Law Research Articles

ASSESSMENT OF ENDANGERED ECONOMIC TREE SPECIES AND CONSERVATION TECHNIQUES IN JIGAWA STATE, NIGERIA

This study focused on assessment of endangered tree species and conservation strategies in Jigawa State, Nigeria. Multistage sample design was used, while four agricultural zones (Brinin-kudu , Gumel, Hadejia , Kazaure) were considered for the study. One hundred and sixty (320) questionnaires were administered and forty (80) structured questionnaires were distributed to each agricultural zone. Red list indicator was use as a guide to determine the conservation status. Tree species assessed include: Tamarindus indica, Adansonia digitata, Parkia biglobosa, Vitellaria paradoxa, Hyphaene thebaica, Faidherbia albida, Khaya senegalensis and Borassus aethiopica were the most commonly exploited and endangered economic tree species which were used either as fuel wood, timber, mortar and pestle, medicinal purpose, local house furniture, and thus, are considered to be a threat to sustainable environmental and ecosystem management in the study area. However, results show that deforestation had high rate, followed by overgrazing. low level of education, poverty, unemployment, bush clearing and bush burning are identified as the major factors that are responsible for the involvement of old and young people in the destruction of these endangered economic species tree in Dutse, Jigawa State, Nigeria. Environmental education was chosen the best conservation strategy followed by habitat protection. Law enforcement had least value on the protection of these endangered species. Therefore, it is recommended that forest science and environmental education should be taught at different levels of formal learning; also reliable and cheap sources of alternative energy must be provided, government should recruit forest guard officers, enforce the forest law and fine against the indiscriminate felling of trees and encourage tree planting campaign in the State.

On improvement of the Russian forest legislation

Paradigm of sustainable forest management should be the basis of forest policy strategy. Forestry is a branch of production industry in which the rules of a market economy apply. Within this framework, the Russian forest legislation and forest management should be adapted. The exhaustion of economic growth based on extensive exploitation of forest resources is the greatest challenge in the field of forestry from the viewpoint of scientific and technological development. To reform the Russian forest policy and forest legislation should be prompt response to this challenge should be. Scientific and technological conceptual foresight based on the analysis of global trends in forestry development is one of the key techniques for achieving an effective forest management system. At the same time, backcasting of the forest fund for the maximum possible time period is especially important, which makes it possible to identify trends in changes under the natural and anthropogenic factors. The novel forest legislation should be aimed at achieving sustainable use of the entirety of social, environmental and economic functions of forests to ensure meeting the various needs of society. The concept of the draft Basic Forest Law of the Russian Federation are proposed. The new Forest Code should handle forest relations in all forests, not only in the forest fund, and should extend over all forest owners and forest users.

Between a rock and a hard place: Negotiating gender, forest laws and capabilities for fuelwood access in Zimbabwe

Despite wide coverage on the topic of fuelwood scarcity and its implications for gender in sub-Saharan Africa, there is little understanding of the relationship between gender, environmental legislation and capabilities. Through a qualitative study of Buhera district, I draw on feminist political ecology and its scalar relations to analyse how environmental legislation acts as a tool of enclosure, and dispossession. I extend the argument by applying Nussbaum’s capabilities approach in order to identify the unintended consequences of environmental legislation. Further, I demonstrate how fuelwood [in] access is a multidimensional and relational phenomenon contingent upon the legislation, capabilities, gender and its intersectionalities. I conclude that fuelwood [in] access does not only serve material concerns, but also capabilities that allow people to frame and adapt coping strategies.

Comparison of illegal logging crimes and penalties in forest laws in some selected countries

Illegal logging, one of the crimes that damage the forests most, may cost human life as well as tax losses in the world. Only even with commercial concerns, 908 people were killed in 35 countries between 2002 and 2013 due to environmental conflicts. However, the absence of comprehensive international legal norms on forest crimes indicates that domestic law is primarily responsible for determining the nature, scope and consequences of these crimes. In this study, Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which are among the top countries that suffer the most from forest crimes, and Türkiye, which experienced a significant increase in forest crimes after 2015, were examined in terms of illegal logging crime, forest law and the fine balances related to this crime. It is aimed to discover if there is a relationship between punishment/fine and the number of crimes.

Key drivers of LULCC in co-managed and governmentmanaged forest reserves in Malawi (1999–2018)

Interventions through co-management (CM) and government-management (GM) for forest reserves can mitigate degradation and deforestation. Few studies have investigated the driving forces of Land Use/Cover Change (LULCC) using Remote sensing and socioeconomic data to assess the impact of management strategies on woodlands. This study investigated factors influencing LULCC in two co-managed and two governmentmanaged forest reserves (FR) between 1999 and 2018 in Malawi. Images from the Environment for Analysing Images and data from respondents representing 30% of the communities surrounding four FR were analysed in SPSS. Woodland loss to grassland, agriculture was observed in Liwonde CM, Kaning'ina and Thambani GM FR. Communities' perceptions confirmed woodland conversion. Population increases and poverty exacerbated agriculture and wood energy use. Up-scaling CM requires improved empowerment processes and capacity building. There is a need to curb corruption, monitor licensing, and develop forest plans and law enforcement in GM FR. Promoting geospatial and socioeconomic analysis tools will enhance forest monitoring.

What drives forest rule compliance behaviour in the Congo Basin? A study of local communities in Cameroon

Forest law compliance can play an important role in enhancing natural resource governance and advancing sustainable development. The role of compliance and the factors that affect it require better consideration in the planning and implementation of international forest policies. This study presents an analysis of factors that influence forest law compliance behaviour among local communities in Cameroon. The analysis is based on forest communities’ self-reported compliance with two forest rules in Cameroon, both of which are part of formal state forestry law. Original field data from 151 individual respondents in 6 villages located in easter and south-eastern Cameroon are analysed using logistic regression analysis. We find that several instrumental, normative, legitimacy and contextual factors affect the forest law compliance behaviour of local communities. A number of factors, including the perceived probability of detection and sanctions (instrumental), tradition/religion (normative), participatory rule making (procedural legitimacy) and property rights (contextual and governance related factors) are found to significantly influence local communities’ forest rule compliance behaviour. Our findings carry implications for the design and implementation of existing and future forest policies and interventions to manage forest resources sustainably in many parts of the world.

Talking about trees: the territorial classification of native forests in the Argentinian Chaco

Deforestation represents an important contributor to climate change. For this reason, identifying conditions that enable the adoption of policies halting or reversing this process is crucial to avoid catastrophic climate change. The Argentinian Gran Chaco is a hotspot of deforestation, mainly due to the expansion of capital-intensive agriculture. In Argentina, the introduction of the national forest law (NFL) represents an important step to protect the remaining forests. However, in the Chaco ecoregion, the implementation of the NFL by the different provinces is extremely heterogeneous. Previous research has provided rich descriptions of the dynamics behind the implementation of the NFL. Yet this research, mainly based on qualitative approaches, does not allow for a systematic analysis of the conditions leading to more or less stringent implementations of the NFL. To address this gap, we first combine the socio-ecological systems framework with historical materialism to generate a plausible hypothesis for the heterogeneous implementation of the NFL across the 12 different provinces of the Argentinian Chaco. Specifically, we hypothesise that it is the differences in contextual factors (i.e. differences in forest cover), material/economic conditions (i.e. presence and extent of capital-intensive agriculture) and the strength of pro- and anti-deforestation coalitions, which lead to a heterogeneous territorial classification of native forests across the various provinces. Subsequently, we test the hypothesis by developing thorough case studies via qualitative comparative analysis. This approach allows us to study in a more systematic way the reasons for the observed institutional heterogeneity. The results show that the proportion of native forests characterised as of low conservation value reflects both the environmental context (i.e. the extent of native forests) as well as the material/economic conditions (i.e. the extent of capital-intensive agriculture) and the presence of strong pro-deforestation cultures, expressed via pro-deforestation coalitions.

Negotiating expendability in crisis

ABSTRACTWhat do people rendered expendable through biopolitical categories do to survive them? When governments classify types of work according to ideologies of essentiality and excess, such as in response to crisis, they construct biopolitical categories that render some livelihoods untenable. Such a politics interacts with existing terrains of inequitable citizenship, pushing some to what feels like the precipice of expendability—a place from which they must skillfully negotiate permission to continue to make ends meet. On the borders of a protected forest in Tanzania, many sources of income have been outlawed in the name of biodiversity conservation. To cope, village residents navigate environmental regulations through their conversations with the enforcers of forest laws. In these conversations they co‐construct narratives in ways that manipulate the boundaries of regulatory categories. In doing so, village residents are creative legal and moral actors who can locate their prohibited activities—and themselves—in the realm of permissibility. [biopolitics, conservation, forests, rural, subsistence, enforcement, Tanzania]

The Concept of Forest Management Based on Customary Forest Law in North Aceh Regency

Aims: This study aims to analyze and assess the concept of forest management based on local wisdom and the implementation of the concept of forest management by Forest Commander based on local wisdom in North Aceh District. This activity is carried out by the Forest Institution's Customary Institution which has been confirmed in Aceh Regulation No.10 of 2008 concerning Customary Institutions.
 Study design: This research is an empirical legal research with a qualitative approach that uses primary data and secondary data. In obtaining primary data, respondents and informants were determined.
 Place and Duration of Study: North Aceh, between June 2020 until May 2021
 Methodology: This study uses empirical legal research with a qualitative approach using primary data and secondary data. In obtaining primary data, respondents and informants were determined.
 Results: Forest management is carried out based on customary law as local wisdom in North Aceh. management is carried out by the Forest Commander as the head of the customary institution. However, the existence of the Forest Commander has not been maximized in implementing customary law. Ironically, this sub-district has a large area of ​​forest, and various regulations in the Aceh Government Law and Aceh Regulation have confirmed the existence of the Forest Commander.
 Conclusion: The concept of forest management based on local wisdom existed in the people of North Aceh Regency in ancient times. Because, in customary forest law contains warnings such as which trees can be cut or not so that it does not cause disaster for the village.

Forest vert: the holly and the ivy

ABSTRACT Forests were precisely bounded areas devoted primarily to hunting ‘venison’, which mainly comprised deer. They covered large areas of the countryside and continued to exist through early modern times. The forest laws that facilitated hunting also protected, as ‘vert’, the vegetation through which deer were chased and in which they fed, bred and sheltered, but allowed the use of vert for many purposes unconnected with hunting, exercised by forest lords and their officers, land-holders, commoners, and outsiders. Forests were, therefore, typical of the common pool resource systems that existed before land was privatised for the pursuit of financial profit by individual owners, and remarkably complex arrangements governed the use of many items of vert: branches removed from timber trees to allow their transportation; trees and branches blown down by the wind; small branches that could be pulled down by hand; twigs and other dead wood that had fallen from trees and bushes; old hedges; tree bark, and browse wood cut by foresters to feed deer; were all used by different people in sequence, for house building and maintenance, hedges, household fuel, fodder for domestic animals, and financial income. Holly and ivy had special significance within these complex mélanges of rights over forest vert, and holly bore the crown because of its pivotal significance for ‘the running of the deer’.

Реформирование управления лесами в Российской империи в середине ХIХ века Первые шаги реформы (на примере Курской губернии)

Relevance. Serious transformations have been carried out in the forest law of Russia in recent decades. The State is currently testing a new concept of forest management and use of forest resources based on the priority of public law. In the history of Russia, there is an experience of evolutionary transformation of the concepts of private and public law in the field of forest legal relations. The Purpose – study the experience of the evolutionary transformation of private and public law in the field of forest management in Russia in the middle of the XIX century. Objectives. Within the framework of the article, the following tasks are solved: analysis of the legal foundations of forest management reform in the middle of the XIX century, features of the implementation of certain provisions at the first stage of the reform on the example of the Kursk province. The methodology of the research is based on the use of a dialectical approach, involving modern methods and methods of studying normative legal acts. Results. Despite the absence of any fundamental legislative act marking the beginning of the reform in the field of forest management in the European part of Russia in the middle of the XIX century, the reform was of a fundamental nature. The provisions of public law were extended to the sphere in which the norms of private law had previously dominated. Conclusion. By the middle of the XIX century, the state had good reasons to streamline and strictly regulate the use of forests, including those that were privately owned. In privately owned forests by the 50s of the XIX century, the problem of forest destruction in the European part of Russia became obvious. The state began the reform with the unprivileged estate – the peasantry. However, the reform was misunderstood not only by peasants, but also by government officials responsible for its implementation. The negative attitude of the officials of the Forestry Department of the Kursk Chamber of State Property to the transformation of the forestry management of the province led to a delay in the reform.

Legal liability for offenses in the field of nature protection in the first years Soviet authority and times of NEP

The article examines the process of establishing administrative responsibility, which was regulated in the Land Code of 1922, the Forest Law of 1923, the Administrative Code of 1927, the Mining Code 1928, in the first years of Soviet power and the times of the NEP. Measures of administrative responsibility in the form of fines, seizure of land plots and transfer to other users, and payment of fees were considered, depending on the type of infringement and the amount of damage caused. Based on the results of the research, the following conclusions can be drawn: 1. Administrative responsibility in the field of nature protection was reflected in the content of the Administrative Code of the Ukrainian SSR of 1927, which contained provisions regarding the protection of forests, parks, squares, the fight against damage to crops, meadows and pastures, and violation of hunting and fishing rules. At that historical period, the Administrative Code of the USSR was the only document adopted in Europe, except for Portugal, which was effective on the territory of a specific state. A characteristic feature of the codified act was the presence of a significant number of articles devoted to administrative violations in the field of forest protection. 2. It is shown that the development of administrative responsibility in the field of land protection took place according to a complex scenario, due to the fact that acts adopted in Soviet Russia and the USSR, which underwent transformation in connection with the transition to the NEP policy, were in force in this field. The foundations of responsibility in this area were laid by the Decree "On Land", adopted on October 25, 1917. The Land Code of the USSR of 1922 established such norms of administrative responsibility for offenses as the imposition of fines, the termination of the right to use land, and the seizure of land plots. 3. In that historical period, considerable attention was paid to the protection of subsoil on the basis of the Mining Code of 1928, which established the norms of administrative responsibility for violations of the established rules and instructions related to illegal development, livestock, prospecting, exploration, extraction and processing operations natural mines. 4. Administrative responsibility in the field of forest protection was regulated in the Law on Forests of the USSR of 1923, the content of which was influenced by the norms of pre-revolutionary law and the Forest Charters of the Russian Empire, which defined the composition of offenses and introduced a system of fees and fines. The law "On Forests of the Ukrainian SSR" established responsibility for illegal felling of forests, setting fire to forests, spoiling them with cattle and carrying out secondary forest use without permission, and provided for incentives for forest guards to apprehend offenders.

Complexity of Unsolved Forest Tenurial Conflict: A Case of Way Terusan Forest Management Unit, Lampung Province, Indonesia

Effective forest management is challenging to achieve when there is uncertainty about who controls forest areas. Land tenure issues can arise from local communities, immigrants, the private sector, or the government. Overlapping rights in forest areas are very likely to occur due to the licensing system's lack of integration and the inaccuracy with which the problem of forest land use claims. The Forest area of Register 47 is the case where the forest tenurial conflict resolution is theoretical and takes into account the existence of forest communities and conflict resolution programs that have been implemented by the Forest Management Unit (FMU). This study employed case study approach carried out with an in-depth study in the historical study about the conflicts and juridical review in Way Terusan FMU, Lampung Province. The collected data was then validated by triangulating scheme by the observation and documentation. The findings show that in terms of legal, FMU is the legal authority in forest area organizations, especially after regional regulation since 2019. However, the encroachment began in the 1990s when about 900 households were relocated to the area without the Forestry Ministry accord. Various legalization permits were submitted to the central government, but they were not deemed as a viable option. Since the regional regulation of forest area law's introduction in 2019, the FMU has been the primary actor in forest management. In order to resolve all conflicts, the FMU might apply for some effective forestry partnership cooperation programs.

Strengthening the Role of Forests in Climate Change Mitigation through the European Union Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan

Forests influence climate change by either increasing or decreasing the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases. When unsustainably managed, forests can release more greenhouse gases than they can absorb, intensifying their atmospheric concentration with adverse climate and human health outcomes. Several frameworks and institutional arrangements have been adopted globally to help strengthen political commitment and actions to promote the sustainable management of forests and enhance forests’ contribution to climate change mitigation. Nevertheless, the destruction of tropical forests is accelerating at an alarming rate, making it an uphill battle to stop forest sector carbon emissions, limit the global average temperature rise to well below 2°C, and build a sustainable and climate-resilient future for all. The continuous release of forest-related emissions indicates that humanity has fallen short of meeting global forest and climate-related goals and, hence, reiterates the need to develop and apply additional tools to support international cooperation on mitigating forest carbon emissions. Considering deforestation’s challenge for voluntary frameworks such as the UN Forest Instrument and REDD+, opportunities/actions beyond non-legally binding agreements and principles must be harnessed promptly. Trade-related measures, such as the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan, are relevant in addressing deforestation. Arguably, the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan provides the most appropriate framework for future regional/global forest law reform.

Violations of Forest Laws in the Bu Gia Map National Park, Vietnam

Serious violations of forest laws often provoke violent conflicts between managers of protected areas and local people. Understanding who commits serious violations may enable forest managers to create relevant intervention strategies based on violators’ profiles. Previous studies have not examined the profiles of violators to have a better picture of the impacts of people on natural forests within protected areas. In this study, we examined violation records within the Bu Gia Map National Park to illustrate the profiles of the violators of forest laws. We described and analyzed the profiles of violators in the Bu Gia Map National Park, and we found that indigeneity, group violations, residential locations, genders, and seasonal variations are statistically significant in explaining the serious violation committed by local people. We expect this analysis will enable park managers to have better intervention strategies to protect natural forests from human activities.

FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement implementation in Ghana: insights from a SWOT analysis

The European Union Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPA) is an important international forest governance initiative, yet various implementation challenges remain. The FLEGT VPA implementation challenges are well-documented in the scientific literature, where various methodologies and research approaches have been used. As the empirical case indicated various contradicting and overlapping claims, where different respondents framed the same situations as strengths as well as weaknesses, and/or as threats as well as opportunities, we used the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) approach to assess the associated governance changes in FLEGT VPA implementation in Ghana. This paper offers new insights derived from participant observation of the second independent technical evaluation of the Ghana Timber Legality Assurance System (GhTLAS) conducted in July 2019, and from semi-structured interviews with key informants and a document review. What are considered the greatest perceived strengths – namely multi-stakeholder engagement, clarification of regulatory frameworks, and access to information – are brought into question once the identified weaknesses and threats are explored in more detail. The identified weaknesses include the top-down nature of the multi-stakeholder process, fatigue related to additional legality principles, and bureaucracy of the GhTLAS, which negatively affect VPA implementation activities and processes in Ghana.

FOREST BASED ACTIVITY AND CONTRIBUTION OF WOMEN IN ENRICHING TASAR COCOON PRODUCTION IN CHHATTISGARH STATE – A CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Livelihood opportunities in Indian subcontinent for tribal and village population are very limited. NTFPs offers some amount of support for various tribal communities who thrive on procurement of non-timber forest products and marketing them to fulll their basic necessities of food and clothing. With environment lobbies becoming stronger and governments yielding to their inuences by making stricter forest laws thus are restricting the tribal population to explore other means for their survival. Tasar culture is one of the most suitable and highly specialized occupations which have been practiced in tribal and inaccessible area of Chhattisgarh with larger tribal population by producing tasar cocoons and marketing them. In the process, Chhattisgarh state has emerged as the second largest producer of Tasar silk or popularly known as Kosa Silk locally. The women populations engaged in or supporting the activities of tasar culture are of prime signicance by contributing substantial labour force in various activities of tasar culture. Women constitute about 33% of manual work force in various activities of production of cocoons and subsequent chain of reeling and spinning activities. The present paper deals with the various aspects of women empowerment engaged in tasarculture activities have been enumerated and subsequent contribution to rural economy have been assessed. The state of chhattisgarh is formed few decades ago has made signicant strides in production of tasar silk. Women's contribution in achieving milestones is highlighted.

Diplomasi Indonesia Dalam Perdagangan Kayu Ke Uni Eropa

Indonesia is the first country that has successfully issued FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade) license, a market based international regulation system initiated by European Union to encourage sustainable forest management particularly in developing countries. This success story is considered as the achievement of Indonesia's economic diplomacy despite of the fact that Indonesia had previously postponed its policy to join the FLEGT mechanism during the negotiation process with European Union from 2015 to 2016. This article aims to analyze the factors contributing to Indonesia's changing position during the negotiation process by applying the qualitative research approach and single case study method. The theory of Economic Diplomacy from Stephen Woolcock (2016) is used as the analytical framework. This article argues that there are systemic, domestic and ideational factors affecting Indonesia's policy changes to respond to FLEGT license mechanism. The research finds that the factors consist of the asymmetric relation between Indonesia and the European Union in the implementation of FLEGT, the policy incoherence between Indonesia’s national agencies involved, and the distinguished perception between actors involved in the process. This study concludes that in the case of Indonesia, the three factors outlined by the Woolcock’s theory have concertedly contributed, however the critical linkages between interest and institution variables related to the decision-making process at domestic level have proven to significantly shape the final stance of Indonesia in economy diplomacy.

NGO-state relations in the monitoring of illegal forest logging and wildlife trafficking in Central Africa

Independent forest monitoring (IFM) by Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) emerged in the late 1990s as a forest governance mechanism in response to rising forest crime in Asia and Central Africa. IFM is the use of an independent third party that, by agreement or not with state authorities, provides an assessment of legal compliance, and observation of and guidance on official forest law enforcement systems. The success of IFM by NGOs is therefore, inextricably linked to the nature of the relationship with state authorities yet this relationship has neither been explored nor understood. There is scant empirical research on this mechanism globally. This paper addresses these gaps through participatory observation, documentary analysis and interviews with leaders of five NGOs at the forefront of forest and wildlife monitoring in Central Africa. Using Najam (2000) 4-C framework, we find complex and fluid relationships ranging from cooperation, complementarity, confrontation and instrumentalization. Complementarity and confrontation emerge as the most important relationship types while cooperation is the least prevalent relationship. In response to challenges in the relationships, NGOs use a repertoire of strategies and tactics to influence the state in pursuit of their goals. Unfortunately, significant dependence on a limited stream of intermittent external donor funding and lack of clearly articulated influence and advocacy strategies, limit the potential contribution of IFM to the fight against forest and wildlife crime in Central Africa. The implications for IFM organisations, national governments and donor agencies are discussed.

Bureaucratic politics in protected areas: The voided power projection efforts of conservation vis-à-vis forest bureaucracies in Patagonia, Argentina

The Protected Areas in Latin America, beyond the preservation of nature, have been central for government control over spatial resources. The weaknesses of the domestic bureaucracies in this region results in a gap between their formal rules and the expected outcomes. Forest management is an issue of competition between production and environmental bureaucracies all over the world. Bureaucracies search for new fields of responsibility, increased budgets and resources for assuring their positions, expanding their territory. The administrative bodies that regulate forests and protected areas can direct the behaviour of subordinate agencies as a power projection strategy to provide formal jurisdiction over forest reserve instruments. Hence, the aim of this study is to analyse the different strategies used by domestic bureaucracies to increase their power in light of a new forest law in the province of Rio Negro, Argentina. Data was obtained through semi-structured interviews with key actors and document analysis using process tracing and actor centred power methodologies. Our results show that, after the approval of the national forest law, the provincial environment administration increased rank and expanded into forest territories. The consolidated presence of a new outpost office gained power and resulted in a rivalry with its counterparts. However, the ongoing changes in the institution’ structure and the production bureaucracy's long-term presence affected the environmental bureaucracy's consolidation leading it to an instability. Moreover, our results strengthened the tourism and real market informal interests behind the weakness of the formal objectives of the environmental bureaucracy’ hypothesis.