Smallholder Teak and Agrarian Change in Northern Laos

Smallholder teak (Tectona grandis) plantations have become increasingly prominent in the landscape of Luang Prabang Province, Lao PDR. While the global market for teak-wood is attractive, investment has been driven by a range of factors, including changes to land legislation, land-use planning, taxation incentives, and government and non-government programs and promotions. The establishment of teak stands provides a labour-saving land use for households, potentially freeing up household resources for other farm and non-farm opportunities. However, the degree to which households can participate in the industry varies within and between villages. This paper reviews some of the underlying incentives for the expansion of teak plantations, examines the livelihood activities of both teak and non-teak producers in five case study villages in Luang Prabang, and explores the differential outcomes emerging from the expansion of smallholder teak production. The survey revealed that teak planting has been more extensive among households with a longer history of settlement, where the household head is older and better educated, where household members have off-farm sources of income, and where the household has access to paddy land and is thus more likely to be self-sufficient in rice. Households that depend on shifting cultivation for their livelihoods, without access to alternative productive land or income sources, will continue to have difficulty planting teak or holding on to the land they do manage to plant. The paper concludes that the establishment and improvement of teak plantations, like other apparently technical interventions aimed at providing a ‘pathway out of poverty’, need to be seen in the context of wider processes of agrarian change and differentiation to appreciate the resultant impacts on livelihood trajectories.     

基于GIS的老挝-中国边境土地适用性评估

对老挝-中国边境林地使用变更进行了评估,并提出了茶叶的土地适用性。建立一个综合的基于GIS的分析系统（IGAS）,该系统支持老挝-中国边境的林地使用和土地适用性的评估研究。采用多标准分析和系统动态技术评估林地使用和土地适用性,同时预测了潜在的茶叶用地。收集到的土地数据和数据分析表明,整体研究区域为10325.07 km2,当前的森林覆被由1992年的6337.33 km2（占61.38%）减少到2002年的5106.28 km2（占49.46%）。当前的森林主要被转为潜在林地和专门的永久农业用地,甚至国家生物多样性保护区域被转为橡胶种植区。林地使用转变的主要原因是贫穷。为了解决这个问题,根据多标准方法,我们对研究区域中适用茶叶种植土地提出了2种分类方案。     

清水河水库工程影响区生态系统服务价值评价

以云南省文山州清水河水库为例,对其环境影响区域内土地利用变化进行分析,全面预测研究区生态系统服务价值和变化情况。结果表明：清水河水库实施后,研究区内土地利用类型并未发生显著变化,旱地依旧是主要的土地利用类型,生态系统总体格局并未发生改变;研究期间虽然生态系统服务总价值呈上升趋势,但工程建设对多数生态系统功能价值会有一定的负面影响,因此在生产建设和管理中,要加强林地保护,尽量降低生态系统的损失;清水河水库下闸蓄水后,水域生态系统服务价值的变化将会对研究区生态系统服务总价值将产生较大影响;研究区内生态系统服务之间存在显著的协同关系。     

Income Options for the Poorest of the Poor: The Case of Cardamom in Northern Laos

This study examines the potential of cardamom for poverty alleviation and sustainable rural development under conditions of increased resource scarcity in the uplands of northern Laos. Drawing on both qualitative and quantitative fieldwork in Luang Namtha province, the supply chain of cardamom is identified and the socio-economic opportunities for collectors and growers are examined. Rising demand in neighbouring countries, particularly China, provide sound income opportunities for all actors in the cardamom supply chain. Growing improved varieties has become a boon for farmers endowed with relatively large land areas with suitable agro-ecological conditions. However, land-poor and landless collectors of wild cardamom are facing increasing difficulties due to overharvesting, lower prices offered by middlemen, and the rapid conversion of remaining forests into monoculture plantations, especially rubber, which has reduced the natural habitat of cardamom and other non-timber forest products. The major policy implication is that protecting the remaining natural and secondary forests—for instance through making use of evolving international support mechanisms for community-based forest protection, including REDD-plus—will not only be of benefit for biodiversity conservation and climate change mitigation, but would also enhance the livelihoods of the poorest groups in the uplands of northern Laos.     

乡村土地开发对森林生态系统服务功能的影响

根据马家河乡2005年和2010年的土地开发利用数据,采用Costanza提出的生态系统服务功能价值(ESV)计算方法,对其不同利用类型土地的森林生态系统服务功能及森林生态系统单项服务功能的价值进行评估。结果表明:马家河乡土地利用类型变化中,以林地、居住及建设用地等类型变化为主。其中,林地面积减少的最多,其所占国土总面积的比例减少幅度达到11.94%;其次为耕地面积,减少了3.02%;果园、草地水域的面积基本保持不变;而居住及建设用地增幅最大,达到了8.14%。马家河乡土地的森林生态系统的服务功能价值以林地价值减少最多,达到664.5元;果园价值减少459.77元;耕地价值减少188.97元;草地价值减少了64.39元;水域、居住及建设用地和未利用地的价值有不同程度的上升。马家河乡森林生态系统单项服务功能价值中除了森林游憩保健服务功能的价值有所上升,其余各项服务功能的价值均有不同程度地下降。     

Inclusion of forest harvest legacies, forest type, and regeneration spatial patterns in updated forest maps: A comparison of mapping results

In Maine and other heavily forested states, existing land cover maps quickly become dated due to forest harvesting and land use conversion; therefore, these maps may not adequately reflect landscape properties and patterns relevant to current resource management and ecosystem studies. By updating an older land cover product (the 1993 Maine GAP map) using Landsat imagery and established forest change detection techniques, we demonstrate a practical and accurate means of providing contemporary, spatially explicit forest cover data needed to quantify landscape change. For a 1.8 million hectares study area in northern Maine, we quantify the accuracy of forest harvest classes and compare mapped harvest and regeneration area between the 2004 GAP update product and the 2004 Maine Landcover Dataset (MeLCD), a map recently developed in coordination with the 2001 National Land-Cover Database (NLCD). For the period 1995–2004, the overall harvest/non-harvest accuracy of the GAP update map is 87.5%, compared to 62.1% for the MeLCD. Producer and user accuracy for harvest detection is 92.4% and 89.7%, respectively for the GAP update, and 48.8% and 92.5% for the MeLCD. Mapped harvest area differs considerably, reflecting a systematic under-representation of recent harvest activity on the part of the MeLCD. By integrating older land cover data, the GAP update retains the forest disturbance legacies of the late 1970s through the early 1990s while simultaneously depicting 2004 forest composition for harvested and regenerating stands. In contrast, the MeLCD (and 2001 NLCD) over-represents the area and connectivity of older forest (undisturbed since the late 1970s), and provides no forest composition information for mapped forest regeneration. Systematic misclassification of forest age classes and harvest history has serious implications for studies focused on wildlife habitat modeling, forest inventory, and biomass or carbon stock estimation. We recommend the integration of older land cover data and time-series forest change detection for retention of harvest or disturbance classes when creating new forest and land cover maps.     

‘Slippage’ in the Implementation of Forest Policy by Local Officials: A Case Study of a Protected Area Management in Lao PDR

A progressive part of protected area management program in Lao PDR is a land and forest allocation program which contains critical elements that delegate right of land and forest use to local people. This study analyzes the gap between the original intent of the program and its actual implementation by local officials in Phou Xang He protected area, and discusses policy issues that need to be addressed. It appears that several types of non-compliance with regulations by local people have occurred, with local officials tacitly ignoring infractions. By switching viewpoints, however, it appears that the local officials permit these infractions as a way of allowing local people to secure their livelihoods. As constraints on the realities of land and forest use vary widely in and around villages in different locales, there is a need for government to allow local officials flexibility in implementing policies.     

Land use change and net C flux in Indian forests

This paper reports on the net carbon flux caused by deforestation and afforestation in India over the period from 1982 to 2002, separately for two time periods, 1982–1992 (PI) and 1992–2002 (PII), using the IPCC 2006 guidelines for greenhouse gas inventories. The approach accounts for forest and soil C pool changes for (a) forest areas remaining as forests, (b) afforested areas and (c) deforested areas. The data set used were remote sensing based forest cover for three time periods (1982, 1992, 2002), biomass increments, biomass expansion factors and wood density. In addition a number of required coefficients and parameters from published literature were adopted. In the 1982–2002 period, the forest cover changed from 64.20 Mha in 1982 to 63.96 and 67.83 Mha in 1992 and 2002 respectively. During the PI and PII periods, plantations were also established of 0.2 and 0.5 Mha yr⁻¹, while the annual deforestation rate was about 0.22 and 0.07 Mha in these periods, respectively.     

土地利用变化对昆明生态服务功能的影响

利用昆明市三期土地利用数据，分析了昆明市快速城市化过程中土地利用变化，并计算由此导致的生态系统服务价值变化。并得出如下结论：1992年至2000年、2000年至2004年两个阶段内林地和城市用地的面积不断增加，而灌草地、耕地和水域的面积不断减少；1992年昆明市总的生态系统服务功能有所增加，而其中林地在历年的生态系统服务功能中所占的比例具有绝对优势，并且呈递增趋势；2000年至2004年间生态服务功能的年变化量要普遍大于1992年至2000年间的年变化量，这是因为土地利用变化在后一阶段更加剧烈。     

森林覆盖变化遥感监测方法研究进展

森林是陆地上最大的生态系统,是地球表面一种重要的植被类型,它对维持全球生态平衡具有不可替代的作用。森林覆盖变化既包含森林与其它地物类型间的转化,又包括不同森林种类间转化的含义。及时准确获取森林覆盖变化信息,对于碳源估测、实现森林资源可持续经营管理等具有重要意义。本文通过对国内外利用遥感技术开展土地覆盖/利用、森林类型识别和制图方法的研究现状及发展趋势的综述,对森林覆盖变化遥感监测方法研究进展进行了概述,并分析了其研究发展趋势。     

文峪河流域土地利用/覆被变化及其驱动力分析

土地利用/覆被变化对于区域的自然、经济和生态发展有着深刻的影响,土地变化驱动力研究是土地利用/覆被变化的核心问题之一。为了探讨中西部小流域的土地覆被变化特征及其驱动因子组成与驱动方式,以山西省文峪河流域为研究对象,基于RS与GIS平台,分析流域2000—2018年土地利用/覆被变化情况;利用马尔柯夫模型预测未来土地利用结构;选取自然因子、区位建设因子、社会经济因子,利用Logistic回归的建模方法分析流域的土地利用/覆被驱动力。结果表明,流域整体耕地、林地、草地面积有所减少,水域、建设用地、其他用地类型面积增加,不同地类的变化速度、土地转移情况不同,流域整体土地变化速度较快,利用程度提高,有序化程度下降,均匀度增加。预测结果显示,耕地、林地、草地、其他用地面积下降,水域、建设用地面积增加,除耕地、建设用地外,其余地类面积变化较小。自然因子、区位建设因子和社会经济因子对研究区土地利用/覆被变化都具有显著的驱动作用。流域的土地利用/覆被在过去18年间经历了快速、复杂的变化,自然因子对土地变化具有基础性、长远性的影响,短时间尺度上区位建设因子与社会经济因子是影响土地变化的主要驱动力量。     

Land use transformation in the mountainous mainland Southeast Asia region and the role of indigenous knowledge and skills in forest management

The mountainous mainland Southeast Asia region, that covers adjoining parts of Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China, contains the region's largest remaining tropical forest. The people living in the forested mountains, who belong to a diversity of ethnic minority groups, possess a wealth of local knowledge and skills in forest management. With rapid decrease in forest area, implementation of forest conservation policies, improved access to market and replacement of shifting cultivation with permanent cropping, land use and management in the region has been rapidly changing. Some indigenous knowledge and technology in forest management will inevitably continue to be lost in the process, but not all. This paper shows how local forest management systems have been adapted to deal with the change, with specific focus on deployment and adaptation of indigenous knowledge and skills. First background on the region and its traditional land use systems will be provided. A review will then be made of the cropping system changes that have been taking place and their driving forces and how local farmers have adapted indigenous knowledge and skill in forest management to meet current needs and conditions. Cases drawn from studies in the region will illustrate how deployment of indigenous technology not only helps the farmers to improve their productivity but can also provide services in forest regeneration and biodiversity conservation. To do this farmers, including those who were former migratory opium growers, make use of the knowledge of their own environment and locally available genetic resources and the community's organizational and management skills. It will also be shown that farmers’ knowledge and skills are not static, but continually revised and integrating modern inputs as well as transfer of new ideas and innovations.     

北京市生态系统服务价值时间变化和区域差异分析

以北京市1992和2007年遥感图像和统计数据为依据,分析了北京市土地利用结构的变化,对不同时期生态系统服务价值进行了动态评估,并依据各区生态系统服务价值对北京市生态系统服务进行分区规划.结果表明：北京市土地利用发生了很大变化,1992年以林地和农田为最主要的利用方式,2007年林地、草地、农田、建设用地所占比重都比较突出,显现了大都市各种用地较均衡的局面;研究期内总的生态系统服务价值由528.27亿元降至485.04亿元,其中农田的变化量最大,生态系统服务价值减少66.2亿元,变化率达49.74%,林地生态系统服务价值随森林覆盖率的提高增加29.36亿元,由于水域单位面积生态系统服务价值很高,其面积减少不大,但生态系统服务价值减少了9.27亿元,草地面积增加较大,其生态价值呈增长趋势;依据各区各类型生态系统服务价值,将北京市划分为水源涵养区、生态屏障区和生态涵养区、城市未来发展区、首都功能核心区和城市功能拓展区5类,为宏观控制土地利用提供依据,便于实现各功能分区的差别化管理.     

Effects of land use change on biodiversity and ecosystem services in tropical montane cloud forests of Mexico

Tropical montane cloud forests deliver important goods and services to society, such as timber, the supply and purification of fresh water, and carbon sequestration. In spite of their relevance, current deforestation rates are very high, at the expense of affecting the provision of ecosystem services. We explore the impact of land use change in terms of provision of ecosystem services by following two approaches, one very detailed (focused on hydrological services – water quality) and another one with a broader perspective (at a large scale and considering the ecosystem service value (ESV) of several ecosystems and their ecosystem services at the same time). In the highlands of the State of Veracruz, previously forested lands were converted into coffee plantations and cattle ranches. To evaluate the role of species composition and community structure on water quality, we studied nine small watersheds (<15 ha) covered by pristine cloud forest, coffee plantations and cultivated grassland (three each). Species richness of the three land use types was similar, although species composition was as different as 90%. Overall species diversity as well as that of woody species, and growth form diversities decreased in the transformed land uses. Water quality of streams flowing through these watersheds declined: nutrients (nitrate), conductivity, cations, chloride and suspended solids were lowest in the forest streams and highest in streams from coffee watersheds, whereas grasslands were intermediate. We also calculated ecosystem service values (using the transfer value method) and estimated economic market–non-market gains and losses owing to land transformation. Loss of natural ecosystems may imply a significant economic loss to society in terms of ecosystem services, although market gains may still lead land owners to land conversion because revenues are higher. Adequate Payment for Ecosystem Services may be a good option to prevent deforestation, but the compensation should be at least equal to the opportunity cost of the promoted land use. Our estimates are indicative of the urgent need to go beyond water quantity as the most relevant ecosystem service considered in PES schemes.     

黄土高原清水河流域土地类型利用变化及生态系统服务价值分析

为探讨人为干预下黄土高原清水河流域土地利用类型变化及其对生态系统服务的影响,以清水河流域1959,1986和2007年3个时期的土地利用类型为对象,对该流域的生态系统服务价值进行了研究,结果表明:三个时期清水河流域总面积的97%以上为林地、草地和农田;从1959—2007年土地利用表现为林地面积的增加,草地和农田面积的减少;3种生态系统的综合服务价值除废物处理和食物生产外,其他各项服务价值从1959—2007年均表现为递增,增幅由大到小依次为气体调节>原材料>水源涵养>生物多样性保护>土壤形成和保护>气候调节和娱乐文化。由此可见,在追求总生态服务价值的基础上,在该流域不能只追求林地面积的增加,在进行生态环境建设时应充分考虑当地的水资源和经济发展的需要。     

Change and persistence: exploring the driving forces of long-term forest cover dynamics in the Swiss lowlands

By the end of the twentieth century, the forest cover over most of Europe had stabilized or was increasing after many decades of decline. Persistence and change in forest cover are driven by complex human–environmental interactions and feedback loops operating on different temporal and spatial scales. A promising method to detect these complex interactions between driving forces is a causal analysis based on historical documents. In the first step of this study, forest cover was reconstructed based on historical and contemporary maps of the Canton of Zurich at seven different points in time between 1664 and 2000. Secondly, causal chains of drivers were constructed based on historical document analysis, in order to investigate whether forest cover was stable or whether any compensating mechanisms in place were reducing the net changes. While the overall net forest cover remained considerably persistent in the Canton of Zurich throughout the 336-year study period, major gross forest cover losses and gains were detected during certain periods. Major deforestation events occurred during times of crisis, e.g., at times of economic or political crisis. In contrast, the strong persistence of net forest cover was mainly a consequence of the Forest Police Law, but can also be attributed to intensive land use. The law prohibits deforestation in general, and intensive land use is preventing the kind of natural reforestation occurring in other regions, e.g., the Swiss Alps. These empirical findings shed light on the relevance of a high degree of political and economic stability in terms of maintaining landscape persistence. These insights into the driving forces of forest cover change and persistence can contribute to protecting and managing valuable landscapes in a rapidly changing world.     

Spatial and temporal dynamics of Pai forest vegetation in Pakistan assessed by RS and GIS

Pai, an arid forest in Sindh Province of Pakistan,is important for the environmental, social, economic development and conservation of ecosystems of the province. Considering the significance of the forest for Sindh and the calls from the local population for its deforestation,we quantified the spatial and temporal variation in the vegetation of the forest and land surface temperature(LST)using optical and thermal Landsat satellite data. Our analysis of temporal(1987–2014) images with Arc GIS10.1 revealed that the dense forest area was greatest at725 ha(37 % of the total forest area) during 2013 while it was smallest at 217 ha(11 %) in 1992. The sparse forest area peaked during 1987 at 1115 ha(58 %) under shrubs whereas it was smallest at 840 ha(43 %) in 1992, and the maximum deforestation of Pai forest occurred during 1992.Spatial change in vegetation over a period of about27 years(1987–2014) revealed that vegetation increased on an area of 735 ha(37 %), decreased on 427 ha(22 %),and there was no change on 808 ha(41 %) of the forest.Variation in temperature between shaded(dense forest) and unshaded areas(bare land) of the forest was from 6 to10 °C. While the temperature difference between areas with sparse forest and bare land ranged from 4 to 6 °C. An inverse relationship between LST and NDVI of Pai forest with coefficients of determination of 0.944 and 0.917 was observed when NDVI was plotted against minimum and maximum LST, respectively. The vegetation in the forest increased with time and the areas of more dense Pai forest supported lower surface temperature and thus air temperature.     

国际土地利用与土地覆盖变化对生态环境影响的研究

土地利用与土地覆盖变化作为全球变化的一个重要内容,对全球生态环境产生了巨大的影响,一方面通过影响气候、土壤、水文以及地貌而对自然环境产生了深刻的影响,另一方面则造成了生态系统的生物多样性、物质循环与能量流动以及景观结构的巨大变化,使得生态系统的结构和功能发生了改变。文中介绍了国际上土地利用与土地覆盖变化对生态环境影响的最新研究进展,并对相关研究在未来的发展进行了探讨。     

Experiences from developing an integrated land-use planning approach for protected areas in the Lao PDR

While early efforts to establish protected areas often excluded local people, modern approaches in many countries now seek to involve local communities in ways that are appropriate to the objectives for the protected area. In the Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), a protected area management system was established in 1993. In many cases, the new protected areas had land-use conflicts with inhabitants who depended on the areas for their living. This study was undertaken in a protected area in the northwest of the Lao PDR. The primary objective was to identify and gain experiences from a feasible approach for improvement and implementation of protected area management with a positive interaction between people and the natural environment. An integrated land-use planning approach was adopted. It included participatory methods for data capture and analysis, including the use of a simple simulation model, the ‘Area Production Model’ (APM) aiming at evaluating different options for land use and primary production. The outcome of the study was positive in the sense that this integrated land-use planning approach was found to be well adapted to the needs of the protected area management system.     

基于时序Landsat数据的浙江省竹林信息提取及时空演变

【目的】提取浙江省不同时期竹林分布信息,分析其时空演变规律,揭示竹林面积变化与土地利用格局之间的关系,为国家及至全球尺度长时间序列的竹林时空动态研究提供参考。【方法】以浙江省为研究区,基于2000、2004和2008年Landsat5 TM及2014年Landast8 OLI时间序列影像数据,首先,对不同时期的Landsat数据进行大气校正和几何校正,采用最大似然法提取土地利用和竹林时空分布信息;然后,利用变化幅度和动态度2个指标分析4个时期、3个时间段的竹林时空演变规律;最后,建立全省土地利用时空转移矩阵,揭示竹林时空动态与土地利用格局之间的关系。【结果】1)基于时序Landsat数据提取的浙江省竹林信息精度较高,分类精度达75%以上,使用者精度达91%以上,且分类统计面积与实际清查面积高度吻合,面积提取精度达96%以上; 2) 2000—2014年浙江省竹林面积变化幅度和年均变化率分别为16.55%和1.18%,在时空上呈逐渐增加趋势; 3)浙江省竹林面积由2000年占全省面积的7.33%增长到2014年的8.56%,其中针叶林、阔叶林和农田3种土地利用类型变化对竹林面积增加的贡献最大,贡献率分别为28.62%、37.23%和16.15%。【结论】基于Landsat时间序列数据能够高精度监测浙江省竹林资源动态变化,针叶林、阔叶林和农田等土地利用类型减少对竹林面积时空演变具有显著影响。