Forestry Projects Research Articles

The Mechanism of Corporate Social Responsibility Fulfillment to Promote Forest Investment

Forestry investment is potentially effective way for enterprises to fulfill their social responsibility. Based on the analysis of connotation and realization mechanism of corporate social responsibility, the paper points out that the coupling of forestry investment and social responsibility is embodied in the comprehensive benefit and social responsibility connotation of forestry investment, and the consistency between forestry investment and social responsibility investment. The results show that the ecological and social benefits of forestry investment are far superior to economic benefits. It is proved that forestry investment is a feasible way for enterprises to fulfill their social responsibilities. The paper analyzes the forestry investment patterns of different enterprises under the social responsibility fulfillment, and points out that the forestry enterprises can participate in the investment projects matching their strategic social responsibility and forestry core social responsibility. Non-forestry enterprises can participate in the business based on the social responsibility investment idea forestry investment projects, and invest in public welfare forestry projects based on responsive social responsibility inputs. It is suggested that the government should improve the social responsibility system construction and strengthen public opinion propaganda to guide forestry and non-forestry enterprises to increase forestry investment by innovating forestry management mode.

Hypothesis testing in the presence of multiple samples under density ratio models

This paper presents a hypothesis testing method given independent samples from a number of connected populations. The method is motivated by a forestry project for monitoring change in the strength of lumber. Traditional practice has been built upon nonparametric methods which ignore the fact that these populations are connected. By pooling the information in multiple samples through a density ratio model, the proposed empirical likelihood method leads to a more efficient inference and therefore reduces the cost in applications. The new test has a classical chi-square null limiting distribution. Its power function is obtained under a class of local alternatives. The local power is found increased even when some underlying populations are unrelated to the hypothesis of interest. Simulation studies confirm that this test has better power properties than potential competitors, and is robust to model misspecification. An application example to lumber strength is included.

Probability mapping of iron pan presence in sandy podzols in South-West France, using digital soil mapping

This work evaluated two different digital soil mapping methods for mapping the presence of iron pans in South-West France. The presence of iron pans limit rooting depth, thereby affecting available water content for plants and increasing vulnerability of trees to storms. In some cases, it may also limit the water infiltration rate and cause anaerobic conditions limiting rooting depth, biological activity and plant growth. This work evaluates the potential of a road-side survey sampling and subsequent digital soil mapping techniques to map the probability of iron pan presence in a French region. We tested 1) indicator kriging without taking into account ancillary covariates and compared the mapped probability with 2) logistic regression kriging which did account for ancillary covariates. The probability of iron pan occurrence was mapped at a regional level with a reasonable precision but adding ancillary co-variates to the model gave more realistic predictions. Likely, the goodness of the prediction is still hampered by the resolution of the employed DEM and by the spatial distribution of the observation points. Furthermore, we made some suggestions of the possible usage of the iron pan map; probability maps could help regional planning for forestry, agriculture and geotechnical projects.

The contribution of forest carbon credit projects to addressing the climate change challenge

ABSTRACTThis article addresses the question of how forestry projects, given the recently improved standards for the accounting of carbon sequestration, can benefit from existing and emerging carbon markets in the world. For a long time, forestry projects have been set up for the purpose of generating carbon credits. They were surrounded by uncertainties about the permanence of carbon sequestration in trees, potential replacement of deforestation due to projects (leakage), and how and what to measure as sequestered carbon. Through experience with Joint Implementation (JI) and Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) forestry projects, albeit limited, and with forestry projects in voluntary carbon markets, considerable improvements have been made with accounting of carbon sequestration in forests, resulting in a more solid basis for carbon credit trading. The scope of selling these credits exists both in compliance markets, although currently with strong limitations, and in voluntary markets for offsetting emissions with carbon credits. Improved carbon accounting methods for forestry investments can also enhance the scope for forestry in the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) that countries must prepare under the Paris Agreement.POLICY RELEVANCEThis article identifies how forestry projects can contribute to climate change mitigation. Forestry projects have addressed a number of challenges, like reforestation, afforestation on degraded lands, and long-term sustainable forest management. An interesting new option for forestry carbon projects could be the NDCs under the Paris Agreement in December 2015. Initially, under CDM and JI, the number of forestry projects was far below that for renewable energy projects. With the adoption of the Paris Agreement, both developed and developing countries have agreed on NDCs for country-specific measures on climate change mitigation, and increased the need for investing in new measures. Over the years, considerable experience has been built up with forestry projects that fix CO2 over a long-term period. Accounting rules are nowadays at a sufficient level for the large potential of forestry projects to deliver a reliable, additional contribution towards reducing or halting emissions from deforestation and forest degradation activities worldwide.

A Global Survey and Review of the Determinants of Transaction Costs of Forestry Carbon Projects

Reducing carbon emissions in the forestry sector by means of market-based schemes is considered a cost-effective measure for tackling climate change impacts. However, the transaction costs (TCs) involved are typically unknown or unquantified and therefore often neglected. In this study three types of TCs (search, design and negotiation costs) were measured in person-days and monetary terms based on a global survey of forestry carbon projects implemented across Latin-America, Asia and Africa. Cost estimates vary between zero and 1.201/tCO2 for person-days and from zero to US$ 1.738/tCO2 for monetary costs. Key drivers of TCs are identified based on the characteristics of the project in general, the transaction, the transactors involved and institutional design. The latter type of characteristic is shown to have a particularly large impact on TCs.

A political ecology of REDD+: Property rights, militarised protectionism, and carbonised exclusion in Cross River

This paper offers a critical assessment of REDD+ in Nigeria through a political ecology perspective. Focusing on questions of property rights and resource access, it maps the discursive articulations and contestations through which carbon rights are being determined. It also shows how these articulations and contestations are linked to land and forest rights, and how they shape everyday access to the forest. Evidence from the Nigerian case suggests that factors that complicate rights and undermine access to resources for forest communities under REDD+ are immanent to the contested terrain constituted in part by REDD+ proposals, proponents’ discourses and practices geared towards securing the forest for REDD+. Efforts to secure property rights and guarantee the permanence of REDD+ forests align with economic, ecological and ideological aspirations of state and non-state actors to produce a regime of militarised protectionism. I demonstrate how, in addition to its material and symbolic facilitation of the emergent carbon forestry economy, militarised protectionism as a regime of exclusion also constitutes collateral political economies of ‘more-than-carbon’ forest resources (such as timber and non-timber forest products) which perpetuate capital accumulation by the elites. It is this kind of exclusion–accumulation dialectic, legitimised by carbon forestry claims that this paper describes as carbonised exclusion. The paper thus furthers debates on the political ecology of REDD+ and other carbon forestry projects, while productively engaging technocentric literature on REDD+ and property rights.

An overview of Italian participation in afforestation and reforestation projects under the Clean Development Mechanism

In order to meet its Kyoto Protocol commitment targets, the Italian Government has made relevant investments in forest projects in developing countries through the Clean Development Mechanism. This paper investigates the Italian participated afforestation/reforestation (A/R) projects under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol, by considering the countries hosting forestry projects, the project areas, the estimated emission reductions, the use of tree species (native/non-native), the issuance of Carbon credits, and the projects’ contribution to sustainable development and technology transfer in general, as stated by the “Project Design Document” of each project. This study utilizes the “Project Design Documents” and “Monitoring Reports” of the registered projects in the United Nations Convention on Climate Change database and data from the BioCarbon Fund database. Results show that, in terms of number of projects, the A/R sector is a prominent component of the Italian CDM portfolio. The financing of the 16 projects by the Italian government, with a total of about 65 k ha planted and an estimated emission reductions of about 556 k tCO2 eq per year, are based on criteria that differ substantially from the ongoing policy adopted for domestic forest interventions.

Carbon-equivalent metrics for albedo changes in land management contexts: relevance of the time dimension.

Surface albedo is an important physical property by which the land surface regulates climate. A wide and growing body of literature suggests that failing to account for surface albedo can result in suboptimal or even counterproductive climate-motivated policies of the land-based sectors. As such, albedo changes are increasingly included in climate impact assessments of forestry and other land sector projects through conversion of radiative forcings into carbon or carbon dioxide equivalents. However, the prevailing methodology does not sufficiently accommodate dynamic albedo changes on land or CO2 in the atmosphere. We present two new metrics designed to address these deficiencies, referring to them as the time-dependent emissions equivalent and the time-independent emissions equivalent of albedo changes. We demonstrate their application in various land management contexts and discuss their merits and uncertainties.

Using Landsat Images and Spectral Mixture Analysis to Assess Drivers of 21‐Year LULC Changes in Sudan

AbstractLandsat images acquired in 1987, 1999 and 2008 were selected to evaluate land use and land cover changes in three different ecological zones in the Republic of the Sudan: savannah (North Kordofan), semi‐desert (River Nile) and desert (Northern State). Maps of soil, vegetation and non‐photosynthetic material were built by spectral mixture analysis using endmembers spectra derived from images. Multitemporal comparison techniques were then applied to vegetation and soil maps to estimate the long‐term land degradation/re‐growth dynamics and to emphasize land cover variation over time and in space. Multitemporal comparisons have shown that site‐specific interactions between natural processes, climate variation and human activity played a pivotal role in land use and land cover change. In savannah, human activities strongly affected degradation phenomena. Expansion of villages triggered a change in land use and mismanagement of the natural resources, mainly caused by deforestation to supply wood for domestic uses. The degradation then promoted sand encroachment and dune migration. On average, 48% of the total area was subjected to medium (25–50%) and high (50–75%) land degradation. Differently, climatic constraints drove increasing degradation processes in semi‐desert and desert zones. The phenomenon was particularly severe in the desert zone. In each site, an inversion of the general trend was due to a land use change where forestry or agricultural projects were established, partly sustained in savannah by the positive rainfall trend of the last two decades. Site‐specific strategies that take into account the interactions of the driving factors at local scale are thus necessary to combat land degradation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The evolution and impacts of ACIAR’s forestry research program over three decades

ABSTRACTThe Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) commissions collaborative agriculture, fisheries and forestry research projects in developing countries. Over a 30-year period, ACIAR has invested over AUD 100 million to fund 150 forestry projects and activities in 29 countries, with most of these projects implemented in Indonesia, Vietnam and Papua New Guinea. This article describes the approach that ACIAR uses to develop and implement projects, and reviews the nature of the ACIAR Forestry Program and its achievements during each decade of its existence. About three-quarters of the research projects have focused on aspects of smallholder and community forestry systems. The findings from a series of independent impact assessment studies, which demonstrate generally high returns on the forestry research investment, are reviewed and some examples of different categories of impacts from the research projects are discussed.

Foreign donors driving policy change in recipient countries: Three decades of development aid towards community-based forest policy in Bangladesh

The influence of foreign actors on domestic policy change is a major question in political and development studies, involving issues of sovereignty as well as major methodological challenges in its analysis. This study analyses the influence of donor aid for development projects on domestic policy change, particularly on community-based forest development policy in Bangladesh. With our analytical framework, we combine concepts from development policy analysis, the international relations theorem of direct access, and the adapted correlation of variable approach to policy change analysis. We build on own, existing, and longitudinal findings on forest policy changes in Bangladesh over three decades. We contrast this data with data on forest Development Project Aid from 1980 to 2014. First, we identify multiple links between the two parallel data sets. We subsequently corroborate selected links through qualitative in-depth analyses. The results indicate a link between donor funding and domestic policy changes towards community-based forest policy. This link is further specified by different temporal relations, as policy changes are being observed prior to, in response to, or simultaneously with donor funding. We conclude that donor funding for forestry projects has a strong influence on the recipient country's forest policy.

Community forestry and sustainability research at The New York Botanical Garden

Research focused on community forestry and the sustainable use of tropical forest resources has been conducted at The New York Botanical Garden for over 30 years. Five of the projects are located in the Neotropics, six are in Southeast Asia, and three are in Tropical Africa; project sites include some of the largest remaining areas of tropical forest in the world, e.g. Amazonia, Borneo, northern Myanmar, and Papua New Guinea. All of the projects have had a training component, several have incorporated both training and the collection of baseline data, and much of the recent work has included training, baseline data collection, and community-based natural resource management (CBNRM). The CBNRM initiatives at NYBG are unique because (1) they are based on quantitative inventory and growth data, (2) they are conducted in intact forests as a conservation incentive, and (3) the data collection, management planning, and monitoring activities are conducted by the villagers themselves. Although a variety of different ecological, economic, and social factors can influence the success of a community forestry project, one of the major lessons learned from the NYBG interventions is that management programs specifically tailored to a given community and forest based on a preliminary assessment of the actual supply and demand of forest resources are most effective.

Eating money: Narratives of equality on customary land in the context of natural resource extraction in the Solomon Islands

Why do Solomon Islands’ villagers continue to engage with large scale logging projects by foreign companies when they have decades of experience of the disadvantages of such deals? This paper explores village level narratives of equality surrounding a logging dispute in a village on Kolombangara Island in the Western Province of the Solomon Islands. Drawing on empirical evidence I seek to understand firstly, why villagers continue to engage with logging companies, and secondly, why seemingly viable and financially attractive alternative forestry projects may not be taken up. Additionally, I examine legal recognition of a local conservation Non‐Government organisation as an environmental ‘stakeholder’, with an accepted interest in customary land as distinct from the categorisation of ‘landowners’. I conclude that village communities may continue to engage with foreign logging companies, despite their clear knowledge of the disadvantages of such projects, partly as a means of maintaining some measure of social equality in the village.

Core Model of the Forestry Investment Project Decision Support System Based on the Real Option

The forestry investment project has the typical characteristics such as the flexibility, phases, uncertainty, and so on, and needs reasonable applicable decision method and decision support system. The traditional forestry investment project evaluation mostly adopts the net present value method, and ignores option property of the forestry investment project, which is easy to cause the decision-making bias and erroneous judgment. This paper analyzes the real option characteristics of the forestry investment project from the perspective of real option, constructs the analysis model of real option based on the binomial tree theory, and applies the instance to verify. The instance proves that forestry investment project decision will be more scientific based on the real option model. Finally, on the basis of this model, the forestry investment project decision support system is preliminarily studied.

Diseases of eucalypts in the central and northern provinces of Mozambique

In the mid-1970s, Mozambique embarked on several forestry projects to promote and establish large plantation areas with eucalypt trees. The planted species included Corymbia citriodora, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, E. saligna and E. tereticornis. Similar to other regions of the world, pests and pathogens pose a significant threat to eucalypt plantations in Mozambique, but little is known regarding the diseases of trees in the country. The aim of this study was to provide the first detailed consideration of the possible disease problems affecting plantation- grown eucalypt species in the central and northern provinces of Mozambique. Isolates of fungal pathogens were obtained from material displaying disease symptoms collected during two field surveys conducted in 2010 and 2011. Representative fungal isolates were identified using DNA sequence data. Stem canker diseases caused by fungi in the Botryosphaeriaceae, Cryphonectriaceae and Teratosphaeriaceae, as well as leaf spots caused by species of Calonectria, Pilidiella, Pilidium and Phakopsora myrtacearum were commonly encountered. Their relative importance to the future of planation forestry in Mozambique is discussed.

Análise Econômica e de Sensibilidade em um Povoamento Implantado no Sudoeste da Bahia

RESUMO A execução de um projeto florestal deve ser norteada por ferramentas de análise econômica, de forma que se possa respaldar os investimentos realizados. Objetivou-se neste trabalho promover uma análise econômica e de sensibilidade em projetos de reflorestamento de eucalipto na microrregião de Vitória da Conquista, BA. Utilizou-se como critério o Valor Presente Líquido, a Taxa Interna de Retorno, o Valor Periódico Equivalente e o Custo Médio de Produção. A análise de sensibilidade foi realizada através da variação da taxa anual de juros, da produção e do preço da madeira. O custo de implantação apresentou valor de 2.091,92 reais/ha. Se tratando do processo de condução, obteve-se um valor de 915,29 reais/ha, corrigidos para o ano zero. Apesar da característica de longo prazo, a atividade florestal constituiu alternativa de renda para os pequenos produtores, apresentando viabilidade econômica em todos os critérios avaliados.

Identificación de núcleos agrarios mazahuas prioritarios para la rehabilitación forestal

<p>La existencia de recursos limitados para llevar a cabo proyectos forestales que requieren de financiamiento a largo plazo justifica la construcción de sistemas de información que permitan focalizar las intervenciones. Con el propósito de identificar áreas susceptibles para la rehabilitación forestal en núcleos agrarios mazahuas, del sistema de microcuencas prioritarias Cutzamala, se llevó a cabo un análisis multicriterio considerando variables sociales y biofísicas. Esta investigación aporta elementos para focalizar proyectos de rehabilitación, a largo plazo, en zonas indígenas de alta marginación que cuentan con áreas degradadas y, simultáneamente, con el capital natural suficiente para desarrollar proyectos de silvicultura comunitaria.</p>

The Impact of Farm Forestry on Poverty alleviation and Food Security in Uganda

<p>To address the problem of high rural poverty and food insecurity, government and international donors have funded on-farm plantation forestry projects as one of the tools for improving the welfare of rural communities. In the wake of climate change, on-farm plantation forestry has evolved to include carbon forestry, with the dual purpose of sequestering carbon and improving rural livelihoods. However, there is a dearth of empirical evidence regarding whether and under what conditions on-farm plantation forestry can deliver favorable livelihood outcomes.</p>Therefore, Propensity Score Matching (PSM) and endogenous switching regression models were used to estimate the average treatment effects of adopting eucalyptus and carbon forestry woodlots (under the planvivo system) on consumption expenditure per adult equivalent and daily calorie acquisition per adult equivalent. PSM and switching regression results consistently indicated that adoption of eucalyptus woodlots increased consumption expenditure by 32 and 28.3% respectively. PSM and switching regression results also indicated that adoption of eucalyptus woodlots increased calorie acquisition per adult equivalent by 36 and 13.1% respectively. Results also indicated that adoption of carbon forestry increased calorie acquisition per adult equivalent by between 22 and 26.9% but the impact on consumption expenditure per adult equivalent was mixed. The findings of this study provide empirical evidence that adoption of on-farm eucalyptus woodlots is an important pathway for smallholder farmers to escape poverty and improve food security. Similarly, adoption of carbon forestry woodlots under the planvivo system can improve food security. However, previous on-farm plantation forestry projects were not well targeted to the poor households.

Property Rights Effects on Farmers’ Management Investment in Forestry Projects: The Case of Camellia in Jiangxi, China

China’s central government has carried out a series of collectivization and de-collectivization attempts of forest tenure over time, which have led to multiple forest tenure arrangements within provinces. This paper investigates the motivation of farmers to maintain forestry under various forest tenure regimes. First, the paper provides a qualitative analysis of the different forest tenure regimes using the New Property Rights Theory. Second, an econometric analysis based on data from camellia projects in Jiangxi province is carried out. Camellia projects are long-term projects for the production of non-timber forest products which are important for rural income generation. Qualitative results of the research show that a multitude of different tenure regimes exist across forestry projects. Community-based or collective forest management regimes are the most important tenure regimes in forest management in Jiangxi province. Village communities and farmers are the main actors in forest resource management and investment in camellia projects in Jiangxi province. The results of the econometric analysis show that higher degrees of tenure security and residual claimancy for farm households lead to a higher use of household labor and capital within camellia forestry projects. Uncertainty about the future forestland distribution is an obstacle for household investments in forestry.

An economic assessment of genomics research and development initiative projects in forestry.

Abstract The field of forest genomics is rapidly expanding, and many new potential uses of the genetic information gained are being developed. Some of these uses are primarily economic in nature, such as increasing the growth rate of trees and increasing yields for woody biomass, or producing trees with more desirable physiological or wood characteristics. Other uses are additionally advantageous to ecological or social goals, such as pest resistant trees that can withstand the effects of insects or diseases. Yet, to date, no forest products company in Canada has embraced forest genomics into mainstream business activity. This could be due to a number of factors: the lack of familiarity with genomics tools, the lack of expertise to assess genomics within the industry, the costs of applying genomics techniques in tree breeding, the lack of evidence of industrial benefits and the lack of commercialization potential. Here, we conducted an economic assessment of seven forest genomics research projects in Canada, including value judgements on the potential of commercialization and research application. The outcome of our work allowed us to (1) categorize the projects by type including the description of the economic frameworks, (2) undertake an economic assessment of each of these projects, using qualitative and quantitative (if available) information and (3) provide advice and a value judgement on the necessary micro-level economic conditions for application and commercial success.