Excerpts from: Physiological and Medical Aspects of the Himalayan Scientific and Mountaineering Expedition, 1960–61

Please refer to Br Med J, September 8, 1962, pp 621–627 for a copy of this article.     

May the Goddess of the Changjiang River Stay Forever——Review of the protection of Chinese river dolphinss and cowfisheses

Withitsuniquelyfavorableecologicalenvironment,theChangjiangRiverbreedstheChineseriverdolphinsandcow-fishes.Thedistributionoftwocetaceananimalsinthesameriverisrarelyseenintheotherriversoftheearth,highlightingthedistinctivecuttingedgesoftheChangjiangRiverin…     

Annual volume increment of the European forests—description and evaluation of the national methods used

Key message

In order to obtain the necessary information for decision making etc., it is of increasing importance to be able to assess increment in a reliable way. Only repeated measurements on permanent sample plots in national forest inventories can provide accurate and comprehensive information on the various components of annual increment. Such inventory systems are increasingly employed in European countries. The felling/increment ratio, characterizing wood use sustainability, should be expressed as the ratio of felled living trees (excluding dead trees) and net increment.

Context

Reporting of gross and net annual increment is an element of international forest resource assessments and crucial for sustainable forest management. A number of approaches exist for the estimation of increment and its various sub-components.

Aims

The main objectives of the study are to assess in detail what methods European countries have used and are planning to use in the future for international reporting of increment. Also, the usefulness of the various approaches for the assessment of increment is evaluated.

Methods

A questionnaire asking about their assessment methods was distributed among the UNECE/FAO national correspondents of all European countries and members of the UNECE/FAO Team of Specialists on Monitoring Sustainable Forest Management. Databases of the Temperate and Boreal Forest Resource Assessment 2000 and of the State of Europe’s Forests 2011 were also used. Furthermore, the methodological background was described on the basis of relevant literature sources and some examples for country groups presented.

Results

Countries have indicated what methods they used for assessment of various increment components, and the percentage of countries, forest area, and growing stock corresponding to these replies has been calculated. With regard to gross annual increment, these metrics represent about one third for inventories based on permanent sample plots, but this percentage is on the increase.

Conclusion

The concept of the “control method” for forest management was developed more than 100 years ago but only utilized at the local level. The same methodology is now widely used at the national and regional level due to the implementation of modern national forest inventories using permanent sample plots. Care should be taken to utilize the data correctly for international forest resource assessments, in order to, e.g., avoid double counting of dead trees.

     

Overview of restoration and management practices in the degraded landscapes of the Sahelian and dryland forests and woodlands of East and southern Africa§

The highest deforestation and forest degradation rates in Africa occur in the dry forests and woodlands where pressure for land is increasing, poverty is rampant, livelihood options are few and climate change effects are severe. This paper examines factors that cause land and forest degradation in the Sahel and dry forests and woodlands of eastern and southern Africa and highlights some successful restoration practices, technologies and approaches. In the Sahel, enclosures are used to protect young growing trees while in East Africa enclosures are implemented on degraded land as a mechanism for environmental rehabilitation with a clear biophysical impact. The choice of techniques for rehabilitating specific degraded areas depends first on the priorities and management objectives of stakeholders followed by the costs and benefits associated with available rehabilitation techniques and the economic, social, and environmental values of the land resources in their current and desired future states. In the Sahel, sustainable land management is considered to be an imperative for their sustainable development and the practices include soil and water conservation activities and structures. In all regions, natural forest rehabilitation has used both natural and assisted regeneration to promote the growth of especially indigenous species through coppice regrowth and root suckers rather than seeds. Assisted regeneration was especially prevalent in the Sahel where indigenous tree species have been identified to dominate the degraded sites during early stages of secondary forest succession. The success of any rehabilitation activities depends on community-based natural resources management. In addition, the forest policies and their related policies need to be enabling in order to address issues of concern, including (1) the full participation of communities, (2) clear land and tree tenure and (3) equitable benefit sharing.     

‘Economic Injury Level’ and preventive pest control

Abstract Although the Economic Injury Level (EIL) concept belongs to the keystones of IPM theory, its applicability to all pest problems is believed not to be universal. Current IPM theory claims that the EIL concept is of limited use (i) in situations where an injury-damage function cannot be established, (ii) if pest monitoring is impossible or EIL is very low, and (iii) with preventive measures of pests and pathogens. In this work, I argue that the two latter points may not be true. First, within IPM all types of chemical treatment, including preventive ones, should be economically justified via calculation of EIL, based on the comparison of the cost of preventive and responsive control measures and the cost of the forecasted/expected damage. The expected damage should be based on long-term (historical) damage records, manipulative experiments, risk assessment and biomathematical modelling of the evaluated pathosystem. Second, the absence of EIL in preventively controlled pests hampers completion of the consistent Stern–Pedigos classification of pest organisms according to mutual position of EIL and General Equilibrium Position (GEP) or Stationary Distribution of Population Densities (SDPD).     

Experience and Problems of the Project of Sichuan Community Forestry

TheprojectofSichuanCommunityForestry,fundedbytheFordFoundationandassistedandguidedbyRECOFTC,isaseriesofactivitiesofresearch,practiceandpromotionofthebestmanagementandoperationalmodesimplementedintheareaoftheprojectofYangtzeriverprotectiveforest.Since1992,SichuancommunityforestryhascarriedoutsomepilotworksinQuxiancounty,PingchangcountyandButoucounty.1.ThethinkingandfeaturesofcommunityforestryCommunityforestryisacompletelynewthinkingandmethodofworksintroducedfromabroad.Itisaproductofcombi…