Small-scale Forest Management Research Articles

Innovative forestry: a synthesis of small-scale forest management practice from Nepal

This guidebook has been published at a time when there is a widespread recognition in Nepal that community forests are not beingactively managed to realize their full potential. Whilst there are both institutional and technical solutions to this problem, the guidebook has clearly spelled out its position in addressing the technical issues of forest management in a way field workers can really understand and articulate while working with forest user groups.

The Flexibility of Sengon Agroforestry in Small-Scale Forest Development in Indonesia

Small-scale forests (SSF) are essential to the community’s ecological, social, and economic aspects. The tree species that many people choose to develop in small-scale forests is sengon. Sengon has various advantages and can be developed in agroforestry with various plants. The research question in this study is how flexible the sengon agroforestry pattern is in Small-Scale Forest Development in Indonesia? The study aimed to determine the flexibility of sengon agroforestry in small-scale forests and the added value of small-scale forests from the economic and ecological aspects. The study was conducted using a systematic review. The results show that small-scale forest development with an agroforestry pattern can diversify income sources from the same land management, thus providing a sustainable income. The sengon agroforestry pattern in small-scale forests can be made with various types of plants (a) woody trees, (b) food crops, (c) plantation crops, (d) horticultural crops, (e) medicinal plants and (f) animal feed crops. Small-scale forest agroforestry patterns can provide economic, ecological, and social benefits. By knowing various alternative agroforestry cropping patterns, communities will be more motivated to improve their small-scale forest management to increase their economy.

Determinants of Decision Making by Smallholder Farmers on Land Allocation for Small-Scale Forest Management in Northwestern Ethiopian Highlands

Smallholder farmers in the northwestern Ethiopian Highlands are highly engaged in small-scale forest management. Participation in this activity can provide a key source of income for the farmers as well as wider benefits to the environment. To gain a better understanding of how spatial and socio-ecological factors determine farmers’ engagements in small-scale forest management, we conducted a comparative study in three Districts of northwestern Ethiopia. We used a mixed method approach including both quantitative (n = 375) and qualitative (n = 45) surveys to understand farmers’ motivations and decisions in three Districts of northwestern Ethiopia. We found that there were a number of factors motivating farmers’ decisions to participate, including land degradation and decline in crop productivity (in Fagta Lekoma District); adverse impact of adjacent woodlots (in North Mecha District); and increasing demand of wood products (in Guna Begemidir District). Further analysis on the extent of farmer engagement revealed that their decision to increase or decrease the share of land allocated to woodlots is heavily dependent on the comparative socio-economic benefits of woodlots and distance to markets. Other key (District-specific) determinant factors included wealth status, soil fertility status, gender, adult equivalent value, total land holding size, and annual crop production risk perception. Our findings suggest that to increase the uptake of woodlots, we would need to adopt a demand-driven forestry extension approach, which considers the heterogeneity of farmers and farm characteristics. Further research is required to quantify the optimal level of land allocation for small-scale forest management.

Ina

Small-scale forest as private property has implications on autonomous management decisions, including whether it will be preserved or converted. Changes in land management at the water catchment area of Jatigede reservoir will impact on the dam condition. The purposes of this study are to determine the financial feasibility level of the small-scale forest business compare to other forms of land management, to identify factors influencing farmer’s decisions, and to evaluate implication of property rights to the conversion of small-scale forest. The results show that small-scale forest management in Jatigede catchment area is generally found in the form of woodlands and agroforestry. Other forms of land management are rice fields and crops. Financial analysis shows that all land management patterns are feasible. The economic factors in the form of profits, savings, and selffulfillment are the dominant motivations for timber planting. The financial benefit difference between agroforestry and crops management is not very large, but the potential for conversion is still exists due to daily need fulfillment. One approach that can be applied to prevent small-scale forest conversion is through policy interventions on payment for environmental services, where the target is more intended for empowerment activities to meet the needs of daily living.

Forest inventories for small areas using drone imagery without in-situ field measurements

Drone applications are becoming increasingly common in the arena of forest management and forest inventories. In particular, the use of photogrammetrically derived drone-based image point clouds (DIPC) in individual tree detection has become popular. Use of an area-based approach (ABA) in small areas has also been considered. However, in-situ field measurements of sample plots substantially increase the cost of small area forest inventories. Therefore, we examined whether small-scale forest management inventories could be carried out without local field measurements. We used nationwide and regional ABA models for stem volumes fitted with airborne laser scanning (ALS) data to predict stem volumes using corresponding metrics calculated from DIPC data. The stem volumes were predicted at the cell level (15 × 15 m) and aggregated to test plots (30 × 30 m). Height metrics for the dominant tree layer from the DIPC data showed strong correlations with similar metrics computed from the ALS data. The ALS-based models applied with DIPC metrics performed well, especially if the ABA model was fitted in the same geographical area (regional model) and the inventory units were disaggregated to coniferous and deciduous dominated stands using auxiliary information from Multi-source National Forest Inventory data (root mean square error at 30 × 30 m level was 13.1%). The corresponding root mean square error associated with the nationwide ABA model was 20.0% with an overestimation (mean difference 9.6%).

Production and investment evaluation of oyster mushroom cultivation on the waste dendromass: a case study on aspen wood in Slovakia

ABSTRACTThis paper addresses the processes and investment evaluation of utilizing available dendromass in an easy and close-to-nature way under Central European conditions in Slovakia. Wood of the European aspen (Populus tremula L.) that has generally been considered of little economic value was efficiently used as a growth medium for the oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus (Jacq.) P. Kumm.). The production of the fruiting bodies of this mushroom were evaluated for 5 years under natural forest conditions. The evaluation focused solely on aspen wood, specifically, the most valuable part – the trunk. The investment assessment revealed the high economic value of the fruiting bodies of the oyster mushroom inoculated into aspen wood blocks for the period of five years. In particular, the results of the net present value (NPV = 347.78 €/m3) as well as the profitability index (PI = 1.63) and discounted payback period (DPP ≈ 2 years and 8 months) point to the high profitability of such a project under the given conditions. The results could be helpful and inspiring for forest and garden owners when deciding how to utilize low-value waste dendromass, low-quality aspen wood and other tree species in small-scale forest management.

Remote Sensing and GIS Application on Forest Resource Mapping and Monitoring in Bulolo District, Morobe Province

Forest resources monitoring are particularly challenging for tropical forest due to their diverse composition and structure and a wide range of stakeholder’s expectations and requirement. New monitoring approaches and control policies directions are required to meet these different challenges. For the past decades, much of the focus of formal forest monitoring and management policy in Papua New Guinea (PNG) has been on large scale conventional harvesting to meet national requirements for economic development, with little attention given to community or small area forest management and monitoring. The current management is considered to be unsustainable and, as forest resources from primary forests are exhausted. This has resulted in extensive cutover forest areas being left to degrade over time. Forest reserve has suffered seriously and if the present trend of deforestation continues; it is just a matter of time when the whole reserve would have been converted to a bare ground. This study therefore examined the integration of remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) application on forest resource mapping and monitoring in Bulolo district, Morobe province. Landsat satellite imageries for 1992, 2002 and 2014 were used to classify and identify forest changes through change detection techniques. A GIS database of land use categories and their location within 24 years (1992-2014) were generated and analysed with the aid of GIS analytical functions. This function includes area calculation, overlay, and image differencing, supervised classifications, cross tabulations and map representation. The result shows that population growth (anthropogenic) factors among communities around the natural forest imposes a lot of pressure on the natural forest resources. This should also include consideration of the future usage capacity of the forest resources as well as development of the capacity of local forest owner communities to participate in small scale forest management and utilization.

The failure of eco-forestry as a small-scale native forest management model in Papua New Guinea

Deforestation and forest degradation are problems common to many tropical countries, including Papua New Guinea (PNG). These problems are often a result of the environmentally unsustainable logging practices of industrial logging companies. Beginning in the 1990s, six organizations attempted to mitigate the deforestation and forest degradation occurring in PNG by facilitating small-scale native forest management by Indigenous forest landowners. All six organizations utilized an ‘eco-forestry’ approach, involving selective harvesting of timber combined with the milling of timber by Indigenous forest landowners using portable sawmills. The lumber produced was sold into local and international markets as sustainable certified under Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) principles. The use of portable sawmills was also intended to provide the landowners with a greater financial return compared to the timber royalty payments they could receive from logging companies. This study used a literature review and interviews with key informants from the eco-forestry organizations and the PNG Forest Authority to assess the effectiveness of variants of the portable sawmilling model. We found that each of the six organizations were unsuccessful in developing a financially viable model for small-scale native forest management by Indigenous forest landowners in PNG. All the Indigenous landowners were unable to continue their portable sawmill operations once the donor funding of the eco-forestry organizations ceased. In addition, the operators of portable sawmills struggled to produce lumber that met the quality and quantity demands of buyers, who ultimately ceased purchasing the lumber. Furthermore, the Indigenous landowners struggled to adhere to the FSC principles, resulting in a loss of FSC certification. The study identifies a need for a new small-scale native forest management model in PNG. We recommend that future research involve collaboration with private sector businesses and professionally trained operators to inform the development of a small-scale forest management model which is financially profitable while also adhering to the principles of eco-forestry.

林業経営の将来を考える研究会編『森林経営の新たな展開-団地法人経営の可能性を探る-』（書評）

林業経営の将来を考える研究会編『森林経営の新たな展開-団地法人経営の可能性を探る-』（書評）

Ant abundance increases with clearing size

Ants are an important part of biodiversity and are useful bioindicators. Our aim was to determine whether ant species richness and composition differ among large clear-cuts (ca. 3000 m2), small forest gaps (ca. 400 m2), and areas of mature forest. The research was conducted in a large plantation of Picea abies in the Jizerske Mountains in the Czech Republic at an elevation of ca. 900 m a.s.l. Ants were sampled using pitfall traps in three areas, each of which had a large clear-cut, mature forest, and gaps; a randomized complete block design was used. Species richness and composition of ant assemblages differed significantly among plots in the three treatments. The results showed that ant abundance and diversity were similarly low in small gaps and in closed-canopy mature stands; in comparison, large clear-cuts supported significantly higher species richness, more complex species composition, and a higher abundance of ants. Six species were found in large clear-cuts, but only one and two species were collected in small gaps and mature forests, respectively. Our findings suggest that small-scale forest management is not suitable for maintaining ant diversity.

Impact of Community Forest Management on Biomass Carbon Stocks in the Uatumã Sustainable Development Reserve, Amazonas, Brazil

Forest management can result in net losses of carbon stock. To quantify the impact of the management it is important to assess losses or gains of carbon, as well as the sustainability of the management system. This study quantified the impact management under a Small-Scale Sustainable Forest Management Plan, which is a recently created category of authorized management for small managers in the state of Amazonas, Brazil. Impact was quantified on the number of individuals, the biomass of natural regeneration, and the damage to the remaining trees 2 months after logging. The impact of these changes on carbon stock was estimated. The study was carried out in the Uatumã Sustainable Development Reserve, Amazonas, Brazil, where two areas of small-scale forest management and one control were evaluated. Average total carbon stock previous to logging was estimated at 161.25 ± 9.66 MgC ha−1. Two months after logging, reductions were found of 3% in one managed area (MA1) and 8.3% in the other (MA3), including the carbon stock from the harvested timber. For each harvested tree, the logging caused damage to 12 trees in MA1 and four trees in MA3. The reductions in carbon stock and number of trees damaged per harvested tree were less than the reductions found for higher impact forest management and other experiences in community forest management. No significant alteration was found in the carbon stock of natural regeneration. However, there was an increase in the number of individuals, both in the logged areas and in their respective control areas.

Use of Smartphone Technology for Small-Scale Silviculture: A Test of Low-Cost Technology in Eastern Ontario

This study examined the potential use of low-cost consumer-grade smartphone technology to perform and improve field data collection in support of small-scale forest management. This proof-of-concept exercise for day-to-day forester operations focused on the effectiveness of the smartphone platform (form factor and functionality) rather than any particular smartphone software. An electronic data acquisition system for a smartphone was developed that combined a simple custom timber cruise application and mobile commercial mapping software to record and process forest stand and geospatial information, and transfer these to a small-scale operator’s existing desktop geographic information system. Workflow efficiency and system performance of the smartphone system was then measured and compared with paper-based methods presently being used in the managed forest. The smartphone greatly increased workflow efficiency by reducing data transfer and processing times, and eliminated the need to carry separate global positioning system (GPS) device, map, paper forms and digital camera. The GPS accuracy of the smartphone was more than adequate to meet operational requirements, and provided a capacity to map forest features on an ad hoc basis that is not easily done through the paper-based process. However, initial data entry using the smartphone takes longer than using paper-based notes, there is a greater chance of data entry error through inadvertent keypad touches on the small screen, and there is the potential for a device malfunction. Overall, it is concluded that smartphones offer an opportunity for small-scale operators to create electronic field data management systems that are affordable, operationally robust, compatible with existing management systems, capable of increasing data management efficiency and, in particular, expanding the types of data that can be collected during silvicultural operations.

Social Learning as a Basis for Cooperative Small-Scale Forest Management

This paper analyses the governance characteristics of an innovative policy instrument for sustainable forest management in Flanders, namely a mechanism based on social learning and collaborative planning within joint forest management organizations. These organizations have been successful in involving non-industrial private forest owners in managing the transition towards sustainable management in small-scale forestry. Why was this innovative scheme successful? And what are its shortcomings and possible limitations? The hypothesis developed in this paper is that the success of the forest groups has been made possible by the explicit organization of a process of social learning, leading to change in the beliefs and the social norms of forest owners and users. Based on the analysis of this case of cooperative forestry, and on theoretical insights from governance theory, the contribution to fostering social learning from three distinct mechanisms is established, these being (1) the recourse to sustainability criteria and indicators as an open-ended learning device, (2) the experimentation with disruptive action strategies to put new beliefs into practice, and (3) the building of new forms of social cooperation around these new beliefs and practices.

Effect of small-scale forest management on fungivorous Coleoptera in old-growth forest fragments in southeastern Ontario, Canada

AbstractFungivorous Coleoptera were sampled from old-growth and managed (selectively logged in 1999) hemlock–hardwood forests in southeastern Ontario to examine the effect of small-scale forest management on fungivore diversity in forest fragments. Sampling using flight-intercept traps and trunk-window traps for 22 weeks in 2003 yielded 11 888 beetles representing 73 species in 11 target families (Anthribidae, Cerylonidae, Endomychidae, Erotylidae, Leiodidae, Mycetophagidae, Scaphidiidae, Sphindidae, Tenebrionidae, Trogossitidae, and Zopheridae). The leiodid subfamily Leiodinae was the dominant taxon (10 386 individuals, 38 species). While old-growth stands had no recent logging and had higher volumes of coarse woody debris, species diversity and composition of fungivorous Coleoptera were similar between forest types, suggesting that the stand differences measured (recent logging history, volume of coarse woody debris) did not have a significant effect on beetle diversity in this study. Indicator species analysis showed that Triplax macra LeConte (Erotylidae) was strongly associated with old-growth stands, while Anisotoma blanchardi (Horn), Anogdus obsoletus (Melsheimer), Agathidium sp. 1 (Leiodidae), and Mycetina perpulchra (Newman) (Endomychidae) were associated with managed stands. The lack of difference observed between stand types may be related to the small size of the forest fragments or the relatively small scale of the disturbance.

Are Peasants Risk‐Averse Decision Makers?

Les AA. se proposent d'evaluer l'approche qui explique le conservatisme culturel de la petite agriculture de subsistance par la rationalite d'une analyse cout-benefice effectuee par les paysans, ou les individus prennent des decisions en fonction d'un comportement d'aversion au risque en raison de leur situation economique incertaine et precaire. A cet effet, ils combinent des recherches de terrain comparatives experimentales avec des recherches ethnographique economiques dans deux groupes de petites exploitations agricoles, les Mapuche du Chili et les Sangu de Tanzanie. Ces experimentations, malgre des lacunes methodologiques, mettent en doute les approches theoriques standards. Concues afin de mesurer les preferences pour le risque directement, elles montrent que les Mapuche et les Sangu expriment une preference pour le risque dans leurs prises de decisions - suggerant que de facon generale les agriculteurs de subsistance n'agissent pas en fonction d'une aversion envers le risque. D'autre part, la preference pour le risque semble s'expliquer essentiellement en fonction du groupe culturel. En conclusion, les AA. esquissent brievement une alternative theorique au modele standard.

SHIFTING ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PARADIGMS IN TWO FINNISH PAPER FACILITIES: A BROADER VIEW OF INSTITUTIONAL THEORY

Environmental management paradigm shifts are examined in two organizations, a packaging company and a printing paper firm, both of which belong to a Finnish paper corporation. The article looks at how new rules for the social construction of the business–natural environment relationship evolve in a business enterprise when its institutional context changes. The environmental issues with respect to the environmental management paradigm shift studied concern recycling and forest management. Both companies were able to respond to changes in their institutional context, but the change processes differed substantially. Important elements of shifting environmental management paradigms included the external impetus for change, the role of change agents, the influence of the identities of different professional groups on change, and phases in unlearning and relearning. In the packaging firm the results indicate a shift from a traditional management paradigm to an environment-related management. In the paper company, a shift from large-scale Scandinavian forestry to small-scale forest management is ongoing.

SHIFTING ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT PARADIGMS IN TWO FINNISH PAPER FACILITIES: A BROADER VIEW OF INSTITUTIONAL THEORY

Environmental management paradigm shifts are examined in two organizations, a packaging company and a printing paper firm, both of which belong to a Finnish paper corporation. The article looks at how new rules for the social construction of the business–natural environment relationship evolve in a business enterprise when its institutional context changes. The environmental issues with respect to the environmental management paradigm shift studied concern recycling and forest management. Both companies were able to respond to changes in their institutional context, but the change processes differed substantially. Important elements of shifting environmental management paradigms included the external impetus for change, the role of change agents, the influence of the identities of different professional groups on change, and phases in unlearning and relearning. In the packaging firm the results indicate a shift from a traditional management paradigm to an environment-related management. In the paper company, a shift from large-scale Scandinavian forestry to small-scale forest management is ongoing.

6 オウレンの需給が林家及び地域に及ぼす影響（特集 「繁栄」のなかの山村不況-林産物と地域にみる実態と位相-(II)）

6 オウレンの需給が林家及び地域に及ぼす影響（特集 「繁栄」のなかの山村不況-林産物と地域にみる実態と位相-(II)）