A Perspective of Urban Forestry Policy and Management Methodologies in China

INTRODUCTION China is the country with the largest number of people in the world. In the past 20 years, the rapid urbanization proceeding had brought huge pressure on the ecology, environment and economy. The European practice showed that the ecological and environmental problem in the city could be solved by developing Urban Forestry (Konijnendijk 2003; Chai Yixin et al. 2004; Konijnendijk et al. 2005). Additionally, urban forestry policy formulation and management methodologies are t…     

Do “stakeholders” represent citizen interests? An empirical inquiry into assessments of policy aims in the National Forest Programme for Germany

Participatory National Forest Programmes (NFPs) intend to democratise forest sector policy, but they may suffer from a fundamental democratic legitimisation deficit since the stakeholders involved are neither democratically authorised nor accountable to the population. In order to scrutinise the empirical relevance of this problem in the case of the German NFP, it is analysed how the German population on the one hand and the NFP participants on the other hand assess central forest policy aims of the NFP, and how far both assessments coincide. Two surveys based on identical questionnaires are used as the data base. The respondents assessed the importance of the respective aims as well as at their implementation. Results show that the population considers the majority of the NFP aims to be generally relevant, but assesses the majority of the aims significantly differently from the stakeholders. The formal legitimisation deficit of the German NFP therefore also matters in terms of content. Discussing the NFP among the elected representatives and in the public seems indispensable.Moreover, the differences in the assessment of some policy aims are significantly dependent on how people judge the image of forest enterprises between the opposing poles of profit orientation and nature protection. Public acceptance of those aims could be furthered more appropriately by adjusting the partly incorrect image of forestry rather than by providing more information about the particular aims and their background.     

Factors affecting a sheep vegetation management system in British Columbia, Canada

A silvopastoral agroforestry system involving sheep is an important silvicultural issue. We examined the factors that affect the continuation or discontinuation of sheep vegetation management (SVM) in British Columbia. A questionnaire was used to conduct interviews with a randomly selected sample of contractors and farmers who were involved in SVM in British Columbia (BC). Based on a stepwise discriminant analysis, we found that the profitability of SVM, and the practitioners' commitment (number of ewes owned by the farmer or contractor), experience (number of years the farmer or contractor has practiced SVM on public lands in BC) and trust or confidence (number of years the farmer or contractor has consistently worked for the landlord) contributed to the farmer's or contractor's continuation or discontinuation of SVM practice. The factors we defined seemed to be validated (corroborated) by a complex of determinants voiced by various experts concerning the relationship between SVM and the forestry economy in BC, the scale of sheep farming in BC, the relative absence of an agricultural infrastructure to support sheep farming in BC, and the continuity of SVM from year to year. Further investigation into these factors and others is required to advance our understanding of SVM in British Columbia. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Projecting the bird community response resulting from the adoption of shelterbelt agroforestry practices in Eastern Nebraska

Evolving agricultural policies have influenced management practices within agroecosystems, impacting available habitats for many species of wildlife. Enhancing wildlife habitat has become an explicit objective of existing agricultural policy. Thus, there is renewed focus on field borders and the use of shelterbelt agroforestry systems to achieve conservation goals in the Midwest. Two Representative Farms – a 283-ha dryland and 510-ha irrigated farm were created in Saunders County, Nebraska. The Habitat Analysis and Modeling System (HAMS) was used to describe the composition and spatial pattern of the existing farms and surrounding landscape, as well as for the landscapes surrounding selected Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) routes. Simulated land use changes resulting from the implementation of two shelterbelt scenarios, Agricultural and Wildlife, were incorporated on each Representative Farm and surrounding landscape. Landscape variables which influence breeding bird species richness and community composition as determined from BBS routes were measured on simulated farm landscapes. A more heterogeneous landscape results from implementing either scenario. The percent total woods was a significant determinant of bird species richness on the BBS routes and was important in influencing bird communities at the farm- and landscape-level. Other landscape metrics which influenced the bird community composition on BBS routes were woody edge percentages and edge density values. Policies promoting shelterbelts create edge habitats which ultimately favor birds within the Forest-edge/generalist guild while bird species in need of conservation such as grassland-field species would potentially be negatively affected. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

退耕还林中生态补偿政策存在的问题浅析——以贵州省晴隆县紫马乡为例

通过对贵州省晴隆县紫马乡退耕还林的调查研究,分析了目前在经济补偿政策中出现的补偿标准不合理,后续管护存在"漏补"现象、补偿年限非持续性,存在复耕隐患、补偿资金融资渠道单一,投入产出错位、补构偿政策执行有偏差等问题.提出了调整补偿标准、延长补偿期限、建立多层次的经济补偿制度等政策建议.     

Seasonal changes of understorey herbage yield in relation to light intensity and soil moisture content in a Pinus pinaster plantation

The relationship of understorey herbage yield with light intensity and soil moisture content was investigated in a 20-year-old Pinus pinaster plantation in Kilkis of Macedonia, northern Greece, in three seasons (fall, winter and spring). The plantation was thinned at three density levels, high, medium and low (2500, 1750 and 1000 trees/ha respectively) and it was seeded with Dactylis glomerata. In addition, two fertilization levels (0 and 110 N+150 P₂O₅ kg/ha) and grazing intensity levels (0 and 0.8 sheep/ha/yr) were applied in a split-split plot experimental design. It was found that herbage yield was highest in the ungrazed and fertilized low tree density stands in all seasons. In the medium tree density stand, although light was lacking, fertilized plots produced higher herbage yield as compared to unfertilized low tree density stands while fertilization is of no use in close stands if herbage production is the goal. Animals seemed to prefer fertilized and medium density stands. Third degree polynomial equations were the best to explain herbage variation through the seasons both in fertilized and unfertilized plots.     

The influence of regulatory forest policy tools on biodiversity measures for forests in Ukraine

The transition from a state-oriented forest economy to a market-oriented one requires a critical analysis of the set of tools designed to implement state forest policies. One of the important goals of Ukrainian forest policy is conservation of the biodiversity of forest ecosystems. This paper analyzes the influence of two of the regulatory forest policy instruments (zoning and prohibition of final harvesting) on the diversity of woody vegetation using Tobit regression. Data on the forest resources of the Sumy administrative province in Ukraine are used for the analysis. Additionally, we look at how diversity of woody vegetation is affected by the form of forest tenure.     

FORESTAR：A decision—support system for multi—objective forest management in Northeast China

Past monoculture forestry in China has contributed to countrywide ecological disasters and economic difficulties in forestry regions. China‘s new forestry programs, Natural Forest Conservation Program and Returning Farmlands to Forests Program, provide opportunities for ecosystem management of mountain forests in China. A decision support system, FORE-STAR, has been developed for better managing and protecting natural forests in Changbai Mountain area. It uses GIS-based forest inventory data at a scale of forestry bureau. The first version contains two sub-modules: forest operation and forest res-toration. Under each sub-module, users can compare several decision options and make optimal choices. It can help field for-esters, forest managers, and policy makers make multi-objective and consistent decisions in planning forest management at hierarchical administrative scales.     

Establishment and early growth characteristics of six Paulownia genotypes for goat browse in Raleigh, NC, USA

Meat goat production in the eastern USA is increasing as a result of growing demand from various ethnic groups. Because goats naturally prefer a high proportion of browse in their diets, research was initiated to investigate various silvopastoral production systems. The genus Paulownia contains several species which exhibit rapid juvenile growth and other characteristics that justify research into their potential use in meat goat feeding systems. In May 1997, six Paulownia genotypes were planted in a randomized complete block experiment with six replications. Trees were between 6 and 12 cm in height at planting. Genotypes included: P. fortunei seedlings, P. tomentosa seedlings, P. elongata seedlings and three P. elongata clones. Each 4-m wide plot contained a single row of 12 trees with an intra-row spacing of 1 m. Plant measurements included height, root collar diameter (RCD) at 3 cm above soil surface, and the number of main branches. Leaf samples were collected from all six replications for estimates of herbage quality. During 1998, trees were browsed with goats on two occasions to assess palatability of the herbage and to determine any preference for specific genotypes by the animals. Compared with seedling trees of all three species, the three P. elongata clones were taller (clones: 79.7 cm, seedlings: 55.9 cm; P < 0.01), had larger RCDs (clones: 18.4 mm, seedlings: 13.9 mm; P < 0.01) and had a higher branching frequency (clones: 4.9, seedlings: 1.5; P < 0.01) by the end of the first growing season. Mortality averaged 4.8% across all treatments and ranged between 0 and 8%. Early in the 1998 growing season before trees were browsed, P. elongata clones grew more rapidly than seedlings (clones: 116.4 cm, seedlings: 84.1 cm; P < 0.01). Estimates of herbage quality indicated favorable concentrations of energy and protein for lamina. In vitro true dry matter disappearance ranged from 85.4 (blades) to 71.5% (petioles) and crude protein from 25.1 (blades) to 4.9% (petioles). Animals readily browsed the lamina during two separate sessions, but no clear preference trends were observed among the different Paulownia genotypes.This revised version was published online in November 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

关注林权:中国集体林政策研究国际研讨会综述

公共资源面对的挑战、风险与机遇受到国际社会的关注。文章以“国际公共资源研究协会第十届大会”为背景,对中国集体林研究课题的成果、相关国际会议内容及专家发言作了介绍。研究成果主要形成8个专题报告,国际会议分“中国集体林政策和法律框架的总体回顾”和“中国集体林与生态保护、公司 社区模式”两个部分展开,并形成了5点结论。