Collaborative modelling to support forest management: Qualitative systems analysis at Lumut Mountain,Indonesia

Complex ecological and social processes in tropical forests imply that observations on any single element of the system do not provide an adequate basis for sound forest management. A collaborative modelling process engaging all relevant stakeholders led to a shared understanding of how to manage forests around Lumut Mountain, Pasir District, East Kalimantan. The model was developed by identifying forest management objectives, building a conceptual model using a causal loop diagram, and defining performance indicators. The model was then used to explore future scenarios to improve the well-being of local stakeholders while maintaining forest quality. Finally, roles needed to implement the chosen scenarios were defined and assigned to individual participants. This qualitative modelling process was found to be an effective way to assist the development of a collaborative action plan. The authors wish to acknowledge that this paper has been produced with financial support from Department for International Development of UK, the Asian Development Bank under RETA Grant 5812 and CIFOR. The views expressed contained herein are solely of the authors and do not necessarily reflect official views of the donors or of CIFOR. The authors would like to thank Richard Dudley and Bruce Campbell for their inputs to the paper.     

Modelling interactions amongst people and forest resources at the landscape scale

FLORES, the Forest Land Oriented Resource Envisioning System, is a framework to facilitate quantitative modelling of ecological, economic and social issues at the landscape scale. This issue ofSmall-scale Forest Economics, Management and Policy describes the evolution of FLORES from a concept to a series of models calibrated for diverse locations, and documents the lessons learned. The idea to construct and use landscape-scale models of the forest frontier, based on simulating household decisions and land use at a spatial scale close to the field level, arose from a desire to add rigour to land-use policy research at CIFOR, the Center for International Forestry Research (Vanclay 1995). This simulation modelling approach to addressing interdisciplinary issues, where people are strongly interacting with forest resources, became known as FLORES, the Forest Land Oriented Resource Envisioning System (Vanclay 1998). Muetzelfeldtet al. (1998) constructed a simple prototype of a FLORES model to illustrate the concept and demonstrate the ability of a system-dynamics modelling environment to animate such a model (Muetzelfeldt and Taylor 1997, 2001, Muetzelfeldt and Massheder 2003). In 1999, FLORES became a reality, when 50 scientists from diverse disciplines met in Bukittinggi, Indonesia to construct the first FLORES model styled on this prototype (CIFOR 1999, Vanclayet al. 2003). The research reported in this special issue was made possible by generous financial support from the Department for International Development (UK), the European Community, the Asian Development Bank (under RETA 5812) and the Center for International Forestry Research. The views expressed herein are those of the authors alone. We would like to thank the following people who have assisted in the production of this special issue by acting as anonymous referees for these and other papers: Andy Warner, Brendan Moran, Bruno Verbist, Chris Dake, Chris Legg, Doug Sheil, Euan Mason, Francois Bousquet, Frank Vanclay, Geoff Slaughter, James Gambiza, John Herbohn, John Poulsen, Jungho Suh, Mike Spilsbury, Paul Phillips, Paul van Gardingen, Phil Norman, Philip Nyhus, Roger Wheate, Ross Sigley, Steve Harrison and Tom Evans. Thanks also to the editorial staff, especially Steve Harrison, John Herbohn and Jungho Suh, for making this special issue possible.     

Participatory modelling to enhance social learning,collective action and mobilization among users of the mafungautsi forest,Zimbabwe

Participatory modelling can be a useful process to encourage critical examination of livelihood options and foster sustainable natural resource use through enhanced social learning, collective action and mobilization. The broom-grass group in the Mafungautsi Forest Reserve serves as a case study of the process and outcomes of such participatory modelling. Innovative group facilitation methods enhanced participation in the modelling process. The modelling process complements broader efforts to achieve higher levels of adaptive collaborative management. This work was conducted as part of the Adaptive Co-Management project of CIFOR, the Center for International Forestry Research. We are grateful to the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Community for financial support of this project.     

Community Forest Management in Thailand: Current Situation and Dynamics in the Context of Sustainable Development

Community forest management (CFM) has received increasing worldwide attention from governments, researchers and educational institutions over the past two decades. Many governments, especially in developing countries, have prioritized CFM over traditional forest management systems. In Thailand, CFM is not recognized by the legal system; however, there are de facto CFM practices under common property resource regimes. CFM has in essence been practiced here for hundreds of years by local people, and represents an important aspect of Thai culture. This study aims at evaluating CFM in Thailand in the context of sustainable development. To meet the objective, the study gathered information through focus group discussions with various stakeholders: academics, Forest Department staff, and members of the Chang Tok Tay community forests. From the study, it emerged that forest resources are critical for the livelihoods and survival of rural people, and so they have protected forests to ensure sustainable livelihoods. This study identified that prospects for sustainable CFM in Thailand are bright because: (i) community members are highly motivated and are sufficiently interested to protect trees because they are well aware that their livelihoods are under threat from depleting forests; (ii) tradition and culture of rural people support their relation with nature; (iii) non-timber forest products (NTFPs) play a crucial role in local livelihoods for subsistence and necessitate protection of the forest watershed, which is vital to support their occupations; (iv) spiritual rituals such as those where Buddhist monks bind yellow cloth on trees play a vital role in protecting trees, something rare in other countries. The study further identified various hindrances to achieve sustainable CFM: (i) legal support for CFM is absent; (ii) the Royal Forest Department (RFD) cannot transfer appropriate technology to community people due to lack of legal support; (iii) scope for developing effective strategies for sustainable CFM by combining traditional knowledge with existing scientific knowledge is limited; (iv) a formal institutional arrangement for CFM does not exist; and (v) community members’ access to the hard technology of CFM is limited. Therefore, in addition to legalizing CFM, a formal institutional framework for elaboration, implementation and control of CFM is essential to achieve sustainable CFM in Thailand.     

泛非绿色长城倡议及其农牧林发展

泛非绿色长城倡议的总体目标是通过可持续土地管理和可持续森林管理,加强和保护自然资源,共同抗击荒漠化,同时通过各种渠道和平台促进当地社区的经济发展,消除贫困,保障食品安全,稳定人口数量,加强应对干旱的能力和复原力,最终发展绿色经济。文中介绍和分析了泛非绿色长城倡议及泛非地区农牧林发展概况,通过剖析泛非11个最初成员国在实施泛非绿色长城倡议过程中面临的问题,提出了一些发展前景展望,旨在为我国企事业单位等出境机构更好地参与当地相关产业的合作与发展,以及推进当地植树造林和防沙治沙技术“走出去”和“一带一路”绿色发展联盟建设提供参考。     

Ecologically Sustainable Land Use Planning in the Russian Lake Baikal Region

Abstract

Efforts at achieving sustainable forest management throughout the world often appear to pit global economic and development interests against those who seek preservation and environmental protection of the Faith's resources. Such conflicts, where they do arise, are often unmindful of the full range of land use parameters which must be taken into account when developing sustainable forest models on a regional, if not subconlinenlal scale the scale on which many multinational corporate entities now base their business planning. In fact, sustainable forest resource planning in the global marketplace must be integrated with regional sustainable land use, cultural, ecosystem and economic planning if the myriad forest attributes are to be maintained for future generations. The proposed paper would describe comprehensive sustainable land use planning being implemented in the Lake Baikal region of south central Siberia, Russia, which incorporates the full range of forest utilization from wild forest preserves to ecologically sustainable forest management for wood products. This paper describes similar projects being undertaken by Ecologically Sustainable Development, Inc. (ESD) in Mongolia, the Altai region of Russia, the Ussuri River Basin of Far Eastern Russia and China. Nicaragua and British Columbia, finally, the authors make recommendations key to achieving sustainable forest policy on the federal, state, regional and local levels.     

海南五指山自然保护区周边少数民族社区森林资源管理研究

根据海南五指山自然保护区周边社区森林资源特性和社会经济特点，从该少数民族地区、原住民的社区环境林业研究入手，并结合海南五指山地区的“文明生态村”以及“国际旅游岛”建设的实际，旨在探索一条适合在海南少数民族聚居地区发展参与式森林资源管理的途径与方法，拓宽当地经济创收的渠道，持续保持当地生态资源优势，为实现社会和谐、经济持续发展提供保障。     

The ecological sustainability of tropical forest management: evaluation of the national forest management standards of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, with emphasis on the need for adaptive management

From a conceptual point of view, national forest management standards in Latin American countries have progressed significantly in recent years. Examples include the Costa Rican Standards and Procedures for Sustainable Forest Management and Certification, developed by the National Commission for Forest Certification and in Nicaragua, the National Institute of Forestry proposal of principles, criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management. In line with general approaches worldwide, these national standards primarily focus on the fulfillment of sound forest practice. There is comparatively little emphasis on the assessment of management outcomes or changes in key components of the eco- and social-systems that result from management impacts. Essentially, there is little emphasis on adaptive management, though arguments that management cannot be sustainable if it is not adaptive are persuasive. This study sought to contribute to the development of standards that include elements for adaptive management that define, communicate and evaluate sustainable forest management in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Elements from the national standards and the CIFOR generic C&I template (predominantly focused on forest management outcomes) were used as a starting point. The basic research process consisted of three phases of evaluation (in-office, desk and field). The evaluations were carried out by multidisciplinary, international groups of experts in forest ecology, management and policy. This study demonstrated the value of forums and workshops that facilitate exchange between forest scientists and policymakers; the innovation and application of a practical, applicable and scientifically based methodology for developing national level C&I; and acceptance of this methodology by key players in the fields of forest management and policy. These experiences and the resulting proposals of C&I for the evaluation of ecologically sustainable forest management are expected to be used as points of reference for future development of forest policy in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, and to contribute to the overall understanding of C&I development processes in the region.     

Community-based management of rural pine forests in a suburban village of Hiroshima prefecture, western Japan

Community-based management of a rural pine forest in a small suburban community, was examined and assessed. In particular, the study focused on theMatsutake project, which is an initiative seeking to help in the maintenance of a communal pine forest via the cultivation of theMatsutake mushroom by a local seniors’ group. From an ecological perspective, the maintenance work is found to be effective in the conservation and regeneration of the pine forest ecosystem, including its species diversity, especially in the herb layer. From a sociological perspective, theMatsutake project presented a valuable opportunity to strengthen connections not only within the seniors’ group, but also between senior citizens and other generations. However, subsidies for the project have tended to be gradually reduced, because it is difficult for non-involved community members to appreciate the benefits of the project. For the project to be sustainable, more widespread participation of the community is essential. A framework for wider analysis of local participatory forest management is also deemed necessary.     

Forest-related partnerships in Brazilian Amazonia: There is more to sustainable forest management than reduced impact logging

There is more to sustainable forest management than reduced impact logging. Partnerships between multiple actors are needed in order to create the institutional context for good forest governance and sustainable forest management and stimulate the necessary local community involvement. The idea behind this is that the parties would be able to achieve more jointly than on their own by combining assets, knowledge, skills and political power of actors at different levels of scale. This article aims to demonstrate by example the nature and variety of forest-related partnerships in Brazilian Amazonia. Based on the lessons learned from these cases and the authors’ experience, the principal characteristics of successful partnerships are described, with a focus on political and socioeconomic aspects. These characteristics include fairly negotiated partnership objectives, the active involvement of the public sector as well as impartial brokers, equitable and cost-effective institutional arrangements, sufficient and equitably shared benefits for all the parties involved, addressing socioeconomic drawbacks, and taking measures to maintain sustainable exploitation levels. The authors argue that, in addition to product-oriented partnerships which focus on sustainable forest management, there is also a need for politically oriented partnerships based on civil society coalitions. The watchdog function of these politically oriented partnerships, their awareness-raising campaigns regarding detrimental policies and practices, and advocacy for good forest governance are essential for the creation of the appropriate legal and political framework for sustainable forest management.     

Long-term ecological impacts of clear-fell logging on tree species diversity in a subtropical forest,southern Japan

Defining the spatial arrangement and length of the cutting cycle in a logged area is crucial for reconciling potential conflicts between timber yields and maintenance of ecosystem services in natural forests. In this study, we investigated long-term impacts of clear-fell logging on timber production and tree species diversity in a subtropical forest on the Ryukyu Islands, using an individual-based simulation model. We assumed six logging scenarios defined by combinations of forest type and regeneration processes, which acted as surrogates for spatial scales of clear-fell logging. These scenarios were simulated under cutting cycles ranging from 20 to 150 years. Short-cutting cycles resulted in dominance by the sprouting species Castanopsis sieboldii. The compositional shift was accelerated by the lack of seed dispersal from surrounding forest areas. The simulations demonstrated that a sustainable logging regime maintaining both yield and tree species diversity requires a cutting cycle longer than 50 years. The simulation results also suggest that the trade-off between the recovery of tree species diversity and timber production is favored more in stands surrounded by mature forest than in isolated stands or stands surrounded by immature forest. Ecological risk assessments based on model simulations provide an alternative to current forest management practices that rely on empirical knowledge.     

Voicing interests and concerns: challenges for forest research

Forest research has to change in response to the increased interest of society in the management of forest land. The president and the vice president of IUFRO, the Assistant Director-General for Forestry in the FAO and the Past Director-General of CIFOR discuss key issues. IUFRO should become a clearing house for forest research and expertise. Research has to recognize that the culture of forestry has become a culture of conflict. More interdisciplinary and policy research should be added to the strong bio-physical sciences in forestry. We need science to exploit the comparative advantages of local and larger-scale forest management and we need science to bridge the gaps between the traditional and modern pools of knowledge and experience.     

Certification of community forestry enterprises: experiences with incorporating community forestry in a global system for forest governance

This paper discusses the history and present status of community forest certification as an illustration of the growing interactions between global and local processes in forest governance. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification system is analyzed as an illustrative case of the trend towards increased incorporation of community-based forest enterprises (CFEs) into international initiatives for sustainable forest management and global markets. First the paper reviews the development of community-based forest management and the evolution in certification of community-based forest enterprises. Next it discusses the main challenges and opportunities for making CFE certification accessible and beneficial for communities. Finally it illustrates the importance of multi-level and multi-actor partnerships for creating effective interfaces between global standards and community forestry practices. The experiences with FSC certification of community-based forest enterprises demonstrate that community forestry is enlarging its scope from autonomous decision-making on local practice to incorporation in international forest governance systems. This experience also demonstrates that the application of global standards for sustainable forest management requires adaptation to local realities. These lessons are of relevance for further incorporation of community forestry in the newly evolving global programs for forest management and conservation.     

试论杉木林可持续经营的对策

改革传统林业经营措施 ,降低对林地干扰强度 ,增加杉木林不同生长发育阶段群落结构复杂性和物种多样性 ,杉阔轮栽 ,林地施肥 ,进一步加强宏观调控 ,加大杉木良种选育和推广力度等 ,均是实现杉木林可持续经营的较有效措施。为了全面实现杉木林可持续经营 ,则应针对不同产区、立地 (母岩 )开展可持续经营相关试验及评价指标体系的研究与探讨     

From Forests to Food Security: Pathways in Nepal’s Community Forestry

There is an increasing recognition of the contribution of forests to food security of poor and marginalized people. However, empirical findings remain limited on how forests contribute to food security. Drawing on four case studies of community forestry in Nepal, this paper discusses pathways through which forests are contributing to food security needs of local communities. The evidence presented here was gathered through 4 years of action research and draws insights from the past 40 years of Nepal’s community forestry practice, which is often regarded as a successful case of conservation and development. It is shown that there are four distinct pathways through which community forests contribute to food security as a source of: (1) income and employment; (2) inputs to increase food production; (3) directly for food; and (4) renewable energy for cooking. Despite emerging pathways linking forest management to food systems at the local level, forestry policies and institutions have neither explicitly recognized nor strengthened the linkage between forest and food security. The paper highlights that there is a need for a fundamental shift in thinking from the conventional notion of ‘forests for soil conservation’ to ‘sustainable forest management for food security’.     

Assessing the sustainability in community based forestry: A case from Nepal

Community based forestry is seen as a promising instrument for sustainable forest management (SFM) through the purposeful involvement of local communities. Globally, forest area managed by local communities is on the rise. However, transferring management responsibilities to forest users alone cannot guarantee the sustainability of forest management. A monitoring tool, that allows the local communities to track the progress of forest management towards the goal of sustainability, is essential. A case study, including six forest user groups (FUGs), two from each three community based forestry models—community forestry (CF), buffer zone community forestry (BZCF), and collaborative forest management (CFM) representing three different physiographic regions, was conducted in Nepal. The study explores which community based forest management model (CF, BZCF or CFM) is doing well in terms of sustainable forest management. The study assesses the overall performance of the three models towards SFM using locally developed criteria (four), indicators (26) and verifiers (60). This paper attempts to quantify the sustainability of the models using sustainability index for individual criteria (SIIC), and overall sustainability index (OSI). In addition, rating to the criteria and scoring of the verifiers by the FUGs were done. Among the four criteria, the FUGs ascribed the highest weightage to institutional framework and governance criterion; followed by economic and social benefits, forest management practices, and extent of forest resources. Similarly, the SIIC was found to be the highest for the institutional framework and governance criterion. The average values of OSI for CFM, CF, and BZCF were 0.48, 0.51 and 0.60 respectively; suggesting that buffer zone community forestry is the more sustainable model among the three. The study also suggested that the SIIC and OSI help local communities to quantify the overall progress of their forestry practices towards sustainability. The indices provided a clear picture of forest management practices to indicate the direction where they are heading in terms of sustainability; and informed the users on issues to pay attention to enhance sustainability of their forests.     

Wood Use and Forest Management for Carbon Sequestration in Community Forestry in Sierra Juárez,Mexico

Forest managers and policy-makers are being encouraged to incorporate carbon sequestration as a criterion for decision-making. This is a great challenge for small-scale forestry where the conspicuous lack of practical knowledge available for managers prevents the implementation of criteria to promote carbon sequestration. The carbon simulation model CO2FIX combined with local data could provide valuable information for C sequestration in these small-scale forestry systems. The research reported here focuses on community forestry located in the Juarez Mountain Range (Oaxaca State, Mexico), and analyzes the influences of forest management and wood-use (20 scenarios based on five forest management plans and four wood-use strategies) on the changes of C stock (biomass C, soil organic C, products C and fuelwood C) over time. The comparison of the whole stocks to reference results show that group-selection, based on an uneven-aged forest management system involving small patches, has only about half the C benefit relative to clear-cutting harvesting. A forest management strategy focused on oak logwood has a lower C benefit (70 %), and a forest management strategy focused on oak fuelwood has a higher C benefit (120 %) relative to the average of the studied wood-use strategies. Thus, in the study area forest managers and policy-makers who wish to mitigate climate change should increase the rotation period from 40 to 50 years in clear-cutting areas, continue with 40 years in group-selection areas, and promote the use of oak for bioenergy.     

Moving forward in collaborative forest management: Role of external actors for sustainable Forest socio-ecological systems

Collaborative Forest Management (CFM) of local forest users and governments promoted to achieve sustainable forest Social-Ecological Systems (SESs) by consolidating strengths of these actors. Although much of the writings on CFM acknowledge its potential to deliver sustainable SESs, knowledge about what specific role of government can strengthen local forest management and utilization is still poor at best. This study aims to fill the gap by analyzing meta-data from International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) database for 77 SESs (IFRI sites) in seven countries. We used Ordinal logistic regression to model association between government's Forester Department involvement in important forest management activities and sustainability of forest SES. Our result shows that Forester Department involvement in planting, forest maintenance activities and forest benefit sharing among forest users are associated with sustainable SESs while their involvement in monitoring, sanctioning and transfer of local people harvest right are associated with unsustainable SESs. Our finding has important implications for the ongoing local to global level discourse on how to structure appropriate government interventions to achieve positive social and environmental outcomes from local forest management. However, we suggest precaution not to overstretch the implication of our findings as a panacea for CFM.     

Effects of Different Management Practices on Stand Composition and Species Diversity in Subtropical Forests in Nepal: Implications of Community Participation in Biodiversity Conservation

In this article, we compared the structure, composition, and diversity of trees, shrubs and saplings, seedlings and herbaceous species of community- and government-managed forests in the lowlands of eastern Nepal. Results suggest that among the trees, the community forest was dominated by a single species, Shorea robusta. However, Shorea robusta and Terminalia myriocarpa were codominant in the government forest. Tree density and basal area were higher in the government forest, but shrub/sapling density and basal area were higher in the community forest, suggesting a positive effect of community management on tree regeneration. Overstory species assemblages showed an obvious compositional difference between the forests, but understory species assemblages were less obvious. Plot-level tree and shrub/sapling species richness was higher in the government forest than the community forest. However, seedling-herbaceous species richness was higher in the community forest. The dominance of Shorea robusta trees in the community forest suggests that people involved in managing forests may be more interested in a limited number of economically valuable species while removing less important trees. Such preferential management practices may increase resource heterogeneity within a forest and maintain species diversity in the understory. Thus, community participation in forest management should be encouraged, with guided management techniques and exercises, to achieve maximum forest recovery, provide sustainable ecosystem services, and maintain forest diversity.