Amazonian deforestation and global warming: carbon stocks in vegetation replacing Brazil''s Amazon forest

Carbon stocks in vegetation replacing forest in Brazilian Amazonia affect net emissions of greenhouse gases from land-use change. A Markov matrix of annual transition probabilities was constructed to estimate landscape composition in 1990 and to project future changes, assuming behavior of farmers and ranchers remains unchanged. The estimated 1990 landscape was 5.4% farmland, 44.8% productive pasture, 2.2% degraded pasture, 2.1% ‘young’ (1970 or later) secondary forest derived from agriculture, 28.1% ‘young’ secondary forest derived from pasture, and 17.4% ‘old’ (pre-1970) secondary forest. The landscape would eventually approach an equilibrium of 4.0% farmland, 43.8% productive pasture, 5.2% degraded pasture, 2.0% secondary forest derived from agriculture, and 44.9% secondary forest derived from pasture. An insignificant amount is regenerated ‘forest’ (defined as secondary forest over 100 years old). Average total biomass (dry matter, including below-ground and dead components) was 43.5 t ha⁻¹ in 1990 in the 410 × 10³ km² deforested by that year for uses other than hydroelectric dams. At equilibrium, average biomass would be 28.5 t ha⁻¹ over all deforested areas (excluding dams). These biomass values are more than double those forming the basis of deforestation emission estimates currently used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Although higher replacement landscape biomass decreases net emissions from deforestation, these estimates still imply large net releases.     

Above-ground biomass dynamics after reduced-impact logging in the Eastern Amazon

Changes in above-ground biomass (AGB) of 17 1 ha logged plots of terra firme rain forest in the eastern Amazon (Brazil, Paragominas) were monitored for four years (2004–2008) after reduced-impact logging. Over the same time period, we also monitored two 0.5 ha plots in adjacent unlogged forest. While AGB in the control plots changed little over the observation period (increased on average 1.4 Mg ha⁻¹), logging resulted in immediate reductions in ABG that averaged 94.5 Mg ha⁻¹ (±42.0), which represented 23% of the 410 Mg ha⁻¹ (±64.9) present just prior to harvesting. Felled trees (dbh > 55 cm) accounted for 73% (±15) of these immediate losses but only 18.9 Mg ha⁻¹ (±8.1) of biomass was removed in the extracted logs. During the first year after logging, the annual AGB balance (annual AGB gain by recruitment and growth − annual AGB loss by mortality) remained negative (−31.1 Mg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹; ±16.7), mainly due to continued high mortality rates of damaged trees. During the following three years (2005–2008), average net AGB accumulation in the logged plots was 2.6 Mg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ (±4.6). Post-logging biomass recovery was mostly through growth (4.3 ± 1.5 Mg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ for 2004–2005 and 6.8 ± 0.9 Mg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ for 2005–2008), particularly of large trees. In contrast, tree recruitment contributed little to the observed increases in AGB (1.1 ± 0.6 Mg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ for 2004–2005 and 3.1 ± 1.3 Mg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ for 2005–2008). Plots with the lowest residual basal area after logging generally continued to lose more large trees (dbh ≥70 cm), and consequently showed the greatest AGB losses and the slowest overall AGB gains. If 100% AGB recovery is desired and the 30-year minimum cutting cycle defined by Brazilian law is adhered to, current logging intensities (6 trees ha⁻¹) need to be reduced by 40–50%. Such a reduction in logging intensity will reduce financial incomes to loggers, but might be compensated for by the payment of environmental services through the proposed REDD (reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.     

Evaluation of sustainability in Eastern Amazon under proambiente program

This study evaluates the sustainability of the innovative practices of smallholders who have extended their traditional farming and backyard gardening to other production parcels, such as agroforest systems in Eastern Amazon, Northeast Pará, under the PROAMBIENTE Program at Capim River Pole. According to these smallholders, these practices have assured food supplies and yields with the inclusion into the consumer market through produce diversity obtained by agroforest arrangement and increased purchase of material goods to the system. The smallholders’ perceptions also permit the evaluation of the sustainability of their experiences through the “Amoeba” method, which consolidates economic, social, cultural, and environmental indicators.     

Grievances,agency and the absence of conflict: The new Suzano pulp investment in the Eastern Amazon

In November 2013, Suzano Papel e Celulose, a Brazilian paper company, is projected to inaugurate the world's largest pulp mill in Imperatriz in the remote state of Maranhão, Eastern Amazon. This investment will further consolidate Brazil's position as the leading exporter of wood-pulp coming from vast, corporate-controlled industrial plantations. These inland forestry investments are a feature of the second wave of large pulp projects, extending inland from the best lands in the coastal belt via accessible rivers and railroad networks. This globally significant inland expansion has been poorly studied, if at all. No publications exist on this Suzano pulp project. Empirically, this article provides a baseline study on the political economic dynamics.The case is highly relevant for conflict theory. Generally, industrial tree plantation expansion has boosted grievances, but the resistance and conflicts have varied depending on the social actors' agency. In comparison to the high-intensity conflicts between the rural social movements such as the Brazilian Landless Movement (MST) and the pulp companies in most other new investments, there has been a rare absence of conflict in this case, as no movement has seized on local grievances. Conflicts cannot be studied in-depth by focusing only on conflict cases. Absence-cases open up an opportunity to revisit the question why conflicts arise. An analysis of this case allows an empirically rooted theoretical discussion on conflict causalities, which can answer several vexing questions in the study of conflicts. A new and generally applicable typology of different types of grievances is offered, and the grievances' causal relation to conflicts is examined. The importance of political dynamics and inter-personal relations in investment conflicts is emphasized. The way culture influences conflict dynamics is pondered upon by ethnography of the Brazilian conflict culture, where personal relations are more relevant in explaining conflict escalation than in the political systems with a stronger (impersonal) rule of law. The role of third parties such as other industries in the investment area is discussed. A qualitative comparative analysis of the major pulp project conflicts and their causes in Latin America is offered. Mobilization and thus conflict causality is explainable only when taking into account the types of grievances and the local, inter-personal, and organizational (state–business–movement) relations by which these are remediated and negotiated.     

Property rights and multipurpose mountain forest management

Mountain forest management is, and has always been, multipurpose-oriented. It should provide for private goods, such as timber, as well as public goods, such as protection against natural forces. This paper investigates private, state and common property regimes in terms of theoretical managerial performance, since empirical studies are scarcely available. Private property rights are sufficient for the production of private goods, whereas public goods have to be safeguarded by state intervention. The performance of state property regimes depends on objectives set by society and their implementation by public officials. Whereas state intervention in private and public property regimes in mountain forests is a necessary condition for multipurpose forest management, common property regimes would be less dependent on it. Usually, the rights holders of common property regimes use mountain forests for the production of both private and public goods. One can conclude that common property regimes are promising for the multipurpose management of mountain forests. In practice, however, common forest property regimes in Switzerland and Austria have become very dependent on public support. Research is recommended in order to investigate into the underlying reasons.     

Agroforestry systems recover tree carbon stock faster than natural succession in Eastern Amazon,Brazil

Agroforestry Systems - The potential of agroforestry systems (AFS) for atmospheric carbon sequestration in degraded tropical lands is of key interest for climate change and rural development...     

Cocoa agroforestry and tree diversity in relation to past land use in the Northern Ecuadorian Amazon

New Forests - Shifting agriculture (SA) involving fallow intervals between crop cycles is common in tropical areas. It allows the recovery of soil fertility for subsequent crops. However, the...     

Soil carbon and physical property changes in Brazilian Coastal Tableland soils with land use following deforestation

The Atlantic Forest has been deforested to the point that only about 7% of the original forest remains. Soil degradation, including loss of soil organic carbon (SOC), has often been associated with deforestation. In extensive areas previously occupied by Atlantic Forest the soil has a naturally compact subsoil horizon called the coeso. This layer challenges root development and plant productivity. The purpose of this study was to investigate soil carbon and selected physical characteristics under the influence of the native forest and post-deforestation agricultural practices. The management regimes were a native forest, a rubber tree plantation, a pasture and annual cropping. Two soil depths were investigated: 0 to 15 cm, corresponding to the A horizon; and 35 to 50 cm, corresponding to the coeso. Management influenced both SOC concentration and soil bulk density; however, SOC content was not significantly changed by any of the post-deforestation land uses. This result supports the annual cropping system that has been adapted by small landholders. Most interesting was the quantity of SOC found in the coeso, which was as much as 50% of the surface horizon.     

Plant growth and metabolism of exotic and native Crotalaria species for mine land rehabilitation in the Amazon

Despite its enormous benefits, mining is responsible for intense changes to vegetation and soil properties.Thus, after extraction, it is necessary to rehabilitate the mined areas, creating better conditions for the establishment of plant species which is challenging. This study evaluated mineral and organic fertilization on the growth, and carbon and nitrogen(N) metabolism of two Crotalaria species [Crotalaria spectabilis(exotic species) and Crotalaria maypurensis(native species from Carajás Min...     

辽阳县林权纠纷的成因及对策分析

文章简要介绍了辽阳县集体林权改革的基本情况,分析了辽阳县在集体林权改革中出现林权纠纷的原因并提出解决对策,以期为解决林改后出现的林权纠纷问题提供借鉴。     

Confusion vs. clarity: Property rights and forest use in Uganda

Projects and policies targeted at reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD +) frequently emphasize the articulation of property rights that are new, formalized or revised. A major question for successful REDD + implementation, and forest sector reform more broadly, is how changes in formal rights are understood and internalized by resource users. This paper explores the determinants of knowledge of formal rights, and whether accurate knowledge of rights influences forest clearing and forest product harvesting behavior in Uganda. We find limited awareness of rules surrounding clearing forest, and mixed levels of awareness regarding rights to harvest specific forest products. Harvesting behavior is variably correlated with awareness of rights depending on the product and capacity of district forest officials.     

浅谈桑植县林地承包经营权现状与对策

阐述了桑植县林地承包经营权的现状、形成的原因以及对桑植县林业发展造成的影响,提出了改善桑植县林地使用权现状的对策和建议,以促进林业事业健康协调发展。     

Forest Taxes,Timber Concessions,and Policy Choices in the Amazon

Abstract

In many countries of Africa and Asia, timber production is dominated by concession contracts in public forests. In the neo-tropics, however, timber production occurs on both public and private lands; a mixture that moves countries of the neo-tropics towards the complex systems of forestry sectors in the developed world. Therefore, much of the forest taxation and public forest management literature that currently exists is pertinent to new forest policy decisions in developing countries. Unfortunately, the similarities between forest policies in the neo-tropics and those of developed countries have largely been ignored. This paper begins the process of bridging that gap to show how existing literature is important to the design of timber concessions and accompanying policy instrument design. Although the principles we discuss here apply in any mixed harvest forest economy, we use Brazil as an example because it is in the process of adopting a system of timber concessions in national forests. In our discussion, we suggest that concessions are not a perfect substitute for private forestry in the neo-tropics; concession and other instrument policies must be designed jointly; and because concession policies and government revenue objectives may be linked, the expansion of concessions must be carefully monitored.     

集体林权制度改革下的林地流转问题探讨

集体林权制度改革和相应的法律依据使林地流转作为新现象产生和发展起来。文章首先对林地流转概念进行概述,分析了林地流转参与主体利益需求,提出林地流转的主要形式,并针对林地流转中存在的问题提出相应对策。     

Property rights distribution and entrepreneurial rent-seeking in Romanian forestry: a perspective of private forest owners

In the framework of a broader political economics approach, this paper intends to enhance the understanding of the role of rent-seeking practices in the delineation of clear property rights in forestry. The research background is provided by the institutional changes occurring in the Romanian forestry sector as a consequence of the transition period and the accession to the European Union. The entrepreneurial approach to rent-seeking requires clarifications of the perspective under which private forest owners are analysed in order to position this study within ongoing discussions regarding the role of rent-seeking and its social impact. The conceptual framework employed distinguishes between rents resulting from entrepreneurship in conventional production functions and rents resulting from institutional entrepreneurship. A typology of entrepreneurial rent-seeking is developed for further understanding of the effects resulting from changes in the institutional setting of property rights. Using a qualitative approach, in the form of a case study, the research reveals perspectives of Romanian forest owners regarding barriers to production inherent in the current distribution of rights. Despite the extent of perceived profit-seeking barriers, owners’ entrepreneurial rent-seeking actions intended to change property rights in their favour appear limited and constrained. Hence, identified hypotheses regarding the institutional context dependency of entrepreneurial rent-seeking provide the basis for the future empirical identification of the role of institutional entrepreneurship within the forest production system.     

Mechanized land preparation in forest-based fallow systems: The experience from Eastern Amazonia

Agroforestry Systems - The slash-and-burn practice of land preparation that farmers use traditionally in forest-based fallow systems in the humid tropics causes land degradation and human health...     

Road paving,fire regime feedbacks,and the future of Amazon forests

Fire poses the greatest threat to the forests of Amazônia. The magnitude of this threat is amplified by three positive feedback loops that drive the expansion of forest fire in the region: (1) Fire promotes drought, and therefore more fire, by releasing smoke into the atmosphere, thus reducing rainfall. Fire-assisted conversion of forests to pastures may also promote drought by increasing albedo and decreasing water vapor flux to the atmosphere, further inhibiting rainfall. (2) Fire increases the susceptibility of forests to recurrent burning by killing trees, thereby allowing sunlight to penetrate the forest interior, and increasing the fuel load on the forest floor. (3) Finally, fires also self-perpetuate by burning agricultural and forestry systems, discouraging landholders from making those fire-sensitive investments in their land that would allow them to move beyond their dependence upon fire as a management tool.The long-term reduction of Amazon fire, and its substantial costs to society, is most likely to emerge through investments and policy change that stimulate permanent agricultural and forestry production systems within existing frontiers while slowing the rate of frontier expansion. But the Brazilian government’s plan to pave, recuperate or construct 6245 km of roads in the Amazon may have the opposite effect. We present research findings that the government plan would nearly double the area of forestland that is accessible by paved highways, including 192,000 km² of fire-prone forest. Our analysis finds that these roads will stimulate 120,000–270,000 km² of additional deforestation, and forest impoverishment through logging and understory fire, if the historical relationship between road paving and forest alteration by humans continues. Infrastructural investments are urgently needed in Amazônia to help integrate isolated urban centers into the market economy, to improve the quality of life for millions of rural Amazonians, and to improve the profitability of agribusiness in Brazil’s agricultural belt. But as currently planned, these investments will have the ancillary effects of accelerating deforestation, logging, forest fire, smoke-related illness, and the displacement of small-scale farmers.     

Prospects for easing land tenure conflicts with agroforestry in Mediterranean France: a research approach for intercropped timber orchards

Agroforesty plots offer the opportunity to combine annual agricultural production and long-term wood capitalization. The fallow scheme now in operation in Europe intends to reduce the surplus of agricultural products. Agroforestry management could be a valuable alternative to fallow or to forestry plantations on agricultural land.Agroforestry is attractive to agricultural landowners in Mediterranean France, as agroforestry stands are less costly than forestry plantations, are less prone to fire hazards, provide agricultural returns from intercropping during the first twenty years and have many environmental benefits.An experimental network of on-farm agroforestry plots has been set up since 1988 in the Mediterranean part of France. These plots include grazed paddocks (silvopastoral systems) and ungrazed fields (silvoarable systems). They gained support both from landowners and tenants: the former expect a high value treestock, while the latter have a free use of the space between plantation lines. Plantations have been designed to allow easy mechanical intercropping. First results from two experimental sites are discussed. The growth of the trees in the agroforestry plots is much higher than in the control forestry plots.