Democratising timber: An assessment of Myanmar's emerging ‘Forest Law Enforcement,Governance and Trade’ (FLEGT) process

Amidst Myanmar (Burma)'s political reform process the forest sector remains an important area awaiting democratisation. Forests historically covered over 50% of the countries' land area, and have been of major importance for both local livelihoods, the national economy and ‘ecosystem services’ such as biodiversity and catchment hydrology. The export timber trade has however played a decisive role in determining forest sector policy and indeed has exerted a significant influence on overall national politics since the colonial era began and continuing to the present day. Under the post-independence military dictatorship the timber trade involved ever more unsustainable plunder, particularly from the 1970s, rapidly degrading forests. But now reform of Myanmar's timber trade is on the national political agenda, reform which will be crucial for the Nation's transition towards an equitable and sustainable development trajectory.New legislative measures within consuming countries, including the EU, to challenge illegally sourced timber and wood product supplies have begun to exert a catalytic influence on Myanmar's forest policies, and converging with domestic civil society pressures have led in 2013 to the initiation of a formal ‘Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade’ (or FLEGT) bilateral process between the European Union and the Government of Myanmar.This paper presents an analysis of the nature of Myanmar's current timber trade and of the challenges and opportunities for reform, particularly in relation to the emerging FLEGT process. We argue that there are eight key aspects of Myanmar's timber trade overdue for democratic reform, which the FLEGT process puts into sharp relief: 1) resolution of ethnic conflicts primarily in upland forested areas, 2) reform of forest tenures; 3) a review of overall forest sector policies and the appropriate place of timber production; 4) reform of military era state timber institutions, 5) a return to silviculturally based sustainable forest management; 6) restructuring of the timber industry away from ‘crony’ domination; 7) measures to combat illegal logging and assure the rule of law; and 8) citizen participation in policy development and implementation.This ‘shopping list’ of democratic reforms implies a major and undoubtedly difficult process ahead, and success is far from certain. From 2013 promising initial progress has already begun on several of these areas. However, although the Government of Myanmar may give the international audience the impression that it is rapidly democratising, on the ground only limited substantive changes are yet experienced in rural areas, and resistance to reform persists amongst the military and their commercial partners. A spectrum of possible outcomes for forest sector reform may be foreseen, from mere token improvements on the dictatorship-era ‘business as usual’ to a thorough realisation of democratic aspirations. The outcome will be determined by the balance of power between civil society, public representatives, timber merchants particularly the powerful so-called ‘crony’ and proxy military business interests, and the intermediating powers of Government (including a significant rent-seeking ‘shadow state’), the EU, and the international markets that drive the demand for Burmese timber. The extent to which the FLEGT process can reinforce the wider democratisation process may be a decisive factor.     

Tropical Forestry

An overview of the forestry sector in Costa Rica was undertaken to determine whether the existing management practices of timber resources hold the potential to meet the country's demands for timber in the immediate decades to come, and to identify changes that might be needed in the management of forested lands. To meet these goals, we examined the present status and potential future contribution of the two newest forest sectors: the management of natural forest and plantation forestry. Rcsults indicate that the present management of Costa Rica's timber resources does not hold the potential to meet the country's demands for timber for more than the next ten years without severe loss of its forests. Substantial progress is occurring, but at an insufficient rate. Moreover, despite the considerable headway made in conservation in recent years, the rate of deforestation remains high. A number of factors limit advancement in natural forest management and plantation forestry, both of which have the potential to deaccelerate deforestation. In natural forest management, constraints are the rate at which forests are being brought under management, lack of budgetary provisions for fiscal incentives to private owners who alone cannot be expected to bear the cost of benefits of natural forest management that are national or even global in their distribution, and the weak infrastructure, extension services and research support to meet management goals. In the case of plantation forestry, the capability of this sector to produce commercial timber is not known. Moreover, inadequate management and extension services together with the misuse of the incentive system by private owners is likely to limit the potential of plantations. Institutional constraints include outdated legal and bureaucratic framework, market interventions, absence of clear policy toward natural forest management and plantation forestry, poor investment in infrastructure, extension and research support, and inadequate interaction among various agencies responsible for the development of the forestry sector. Such institutional constraints have allowed the proliferation of disincentives against the development of a sustainable timber sector. If the Costa Rican government's objective is to encourage sustainable forestry, it must first clearly articulate the policy and then create the appropriate legal, economic and institutional framework for implementation of the policy. Costa Rica, with its enlightened public administration system, vast technical and scientific knowledge about its forest ecosystem and extensive assistance from international organizations, must succeed, otherwise prospects for sustainable forestry in thc less fortunate tropical countries would be bleak.     

Fengshui forest management by the Buyi ethnic minority in China

Fengshui forests, very popular among the ethnic minorities in the rural areas in Guizhou Province of China, have spiritual symbolic meanings and are strictly managed. This paper examines the nature, history, local perceptions and management of fengshui forests in two Buyi villages in the Guizhou Province. With their long history, the fengshui forests are perceived to provide good wishes, security, unity, fortune, wealth and health to the local communities. Fengshui forests act as a form of “community based nature reserve” which maintains the health of natural forests, especially hydrological features and prevention of soil erosion. Cunguimingyue (Folk Regulation and Customs) is the primary local normative mechanism that maintains the fengshui forests in a good condition. The lessons learnt from local fengshui forest management needs to be incorporated in for contemporary China's forest policy formulation as these forests play an important role in rural livelihoods.     

China's role in the global forest sector: how will the US recovery and a diminished Chinese demand influence global wood markets?

Over the last decade, while the size of China's economy more than doubled, China has simultaneously become a major producer and exporter of forest products. Although China's domestic supply of wood is significantly constrained both by a limited natural supply and by conservation-oriented policies, the country is increasingly regarded as the world's “wood workshop.” Furthermore, China is the largest driver of demand for the trade in tropical logs and is becoming a significant driver of demand for trade in coniferous logs. In this paper, we describe a spatial equilibrium model adapted to study forest sector markets and policies that affect them. We present the model and the result of two alternative future scenarios. The first scenario analyzes the impact on global forest products markets of a US recovery in wood markets. The second scenario examines the effect on global forest products markets of decelerating growth in Chinese demand for wood products. Through these two scenarios, the modeling output sheds light on the role China's wood products markets have on resource supply and trade around the world. The trade model shows substantial potential changes in global prices, production, and trade activity associated with the recovery in domestic demand in the USA.     

中国对东北亚木质林产品出口增长模式分析——基于三元边际模型的测算

东北亚地区是中国重要的木质林产品出口市场,但近年来中国对东北亚地区木质林产品出口增幅日益减小。文中选取2000-2015年中国对东北亚地区木质林产品出口贸易数据,利用三元边际模型分析中国对东北亚地区木质林产品的出口增长模式。结果表明,在2000-2015年中国对东北亚地区木质林产品的出口增长驱动因素中,出口数量始终是最主要的。为刺激中国对东北亚地区木质林产品出口再增长,应加强国内森林认证体系的发展,坚持林产企业供给侧改革,实现"数量价格双驱动"的出口增长模式。     

Australia's forests: Contested past,tenure-driven present,uncertain future

Australia's forests have been characterized by a history of contestation and conflict since British colonization in 1788. This paper adopts a “pathways to sustainability” approach to review Australia's forest governance models, which are strongly tenure-dependent, and generally vary between sub-national jurisdictions; only climate change-related policies, which are in a state of considerable flux, apply to all forests. Consequently, pathways to sustainability are defined largely in terms of the dominant purpose of particular tenures, and are now little-integrated across institutions, landscapes or tenures. Three decades of trialing devolved models of natural resource governance have effectively been abandoned, as have many of the initiatives intended to support development of a more diverse and more integrated ‘forestry’ sector. While the near-term prospects for sustainability of Australia's forests in anything more than the narrowest sense are poor, there are both knowledge-based and historical institutional foundations from which more substantive progress towards sustainability could be realized. This progress will need to be founded on approaches to policy development and implementation that recognize and accommodate the plurality of interests in forests, that enhance coordination and integration between institutions and across landscapes, and that empower and enable the diverse communities of interests in forests.     

Discourse as ideology: Neoliberalism and the limits of international forest policy

The term ‘discourse’ can have different applications in the social and policy sciences to refer variously to generalised ideas, beliefs and assertions. In particular there is a clear difference between discourse as knowledge and discourse as ideology. Epistemically the two are very different, with each making different types of claim. The paper examines the influence of an ideological discourse on international forest policy, namely neoliberalism. A variant of classical liberalism, neoliberalism emphasises an increased role for markets, an enhanced role for the private sector and voluntary regulation. It is argued that all three of these principles have systemically penetrated the international soft law on forests that has been negotiated since 1992 and up and including the 2007 Non-Legally Binding Instrument on all Types of Forests. Neoliberal policies also underpin forest certification schemes and the tradeable emission permits systems adopted under the Kyoto Protocol and the European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme. Adopting a Foucauldian approach the paper views the construction of neoliberal discourse and its reiteration in the forests issue area as an expression of power that establishes the limits of international forest policy, tending towards certain policies and inhibiting the selection of others. It is argued that contrary to what is often asserted, neoliberalism depends on a strong state, one that introduces market-based disciplines to new areas and creates political space that can be occupied by private sector businesses.     

Future development of the Leningrad region forests under nature-oriented forest management

Russian forests are of high importance for the Russian economy, the European wood market, for nature conservation, and for carbon sequestration. However, the ongoing changes in forest management and administration in Russia led to uncertainty about forest ownership, wood harvesting levels, and long-term impacts of alternative management plans. Therefore, better insight in their current and future state is highly desirable. We present a study for the Leningrad region forests in which alternative management regimes for wood production and nature conservation values are balanced in varying ways. The total forest land area in the Leningrad region forest fund is 4.8 million ha. Coniferous species dominate and due to the natural succession occurring, the forests are divers in vertical structurally.

A timber assessment model was used to project the forest until 2040. Five forest management scenarios were run. Special attention was paid to a scenario that simulates recovery of the Russian forest sector in combination with the incorporation of a ‘set-aside for nature conservation’ policy. All scenarios showed that recovery of the forest sector in the Leningrad region is biologically feasible. A sustainable continuous annual production of 10.6 million m³ per year (2.8 m³ ha⁻¹ per year) by 2040 was found. The ‘Recovery with Nature Conservation’ scenario showed that recovery of the forest sector in combination with the establishment of set-aside areas is very well feasible. It was possible to set aside 28% of the forest area for nature conservation while still developing a forest sector to a production level higher than that achieved in the late eighties.

The timber assessment model applied was not specifically designed to incorporate nature-oriented forest management. We, therefore, discuss ways of improving the required methodology to analyse long-term effects of nature-oriented forest management in Europe.     

农户家庭收支视角的我国集体林权制度改革成效实证分析——基于2010-2015年7省林改监测面板数据

采用国家林业局集体林权制度改革监测2010-2015年连续6年7省的农户数据,利用非平衡面板数据模型分析集体林权制度改革成效及其影响因素。结果表明,集体林权制度改革中期以后农户家庭林业生产经营投资和涉林收入增长乏力;进一步分析其原因发现,农户家庭劳动力数量、林地规模和配套扶持政策会显著促进农户对集体林的经营和投资,而林权不稳定和不完整对农户林业投资有较大的负向影响。应积极稳妥推动流转,培育新型规模经营主体;稳定和加强有关扶持政策,引导农户持续经营投入;完善相关基本立法,强化农户林权的安全完整性。     

改革开放以来我国农村林业政策变化过程及取向分析

文中通过对改革开放以来我国农村林业政策演变阶段的梳理,总结出林业政策的3个基本取向,即林业政策调整以帕累托改进为核心原则、实践中不断扩大并强化农民的林业产权以及逐步构建起以森林保护为主基调的林业发展战略;在此基础上,借鉴国外相关的林业政策,提出未来我国林业政策调整的思路。     

Current pathways towards good forest governance for ecosystem services in the former Soviet republic Tajikistan

As one of the former Soviet republics, Tajikistan is facing a slow transition from a communist command-and-control system to a more market oriented, decentralized and participatory forestry. In the last 25 years, the country's forestry sector has undergone several reorganizations. In the process of a current reform, the overall aim of this study is to gain a broader understanding of the current state of forest sector in Tajikistan. Our specific objectives are a) to describe the current institutional network's complexity, (b) to analyze stakeholders' perceptions on the key challenges towards good forest governance, (c) and give recommendations to tackle the key challenges, so that important forest ecosystem services (ES) may be enhanced, thus, also contribute to the development of the sector. We elaborate a generic framework, which simplifies complex interaction of governance and forests ecosystem services. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through questionnaire-based interviews with stakeholders of the forestry sector. The results indicate that the forestry sector is still far from representing good forest governance, however the newly established structure seems to be a first step. Yet, challenges in establishing sound legal frameworks, decision-making transparency, and implementation enforcement must still be overcome. While it is too early and challenging to assess the impacts of forest governance on ES and vice versa, the survey respondents highlight the importance of provisioning services for the development of the forest sector. Given the post-Soviet background, almost all member countries developed along similar lines. Therefore, the study results are not only of significance for Tajikistan, but also countries with similar history and socio-economic context.     

应对与发展——全球气候变化背景下的加拿大林业

气候变化使全球森林资源面临新的、更为复杂的挑战。作为重要的林业大国,加拿大在气候变化中将会受到更大的影响。正确地应对这些挑战、保证森林资源良好地适应气候变化并实现可持续发展,是目前加拿大林业面临的主题。文中以全球气候变化为背景,介绍加拿大林业情况,包括森林资源、森林的价值体现以及林业产业发展,进而说明气候变化对加拿大森林产生的影响以及加拿大为应对气候变化在林业方面所采取的相关措施。     

Why did the 1980s' reform of collective forestland tenure in southern China fail?

Both the reform of forestland tenure and timber market liberalization are important for forest resources management worldwide. This paper employs a unique provincial level panel dataset of 8 National Forest Resource Inventories and related price and investment data to estimate the effects on the forest of China's reforms of collective forestland tenure and timber prices in the 1980s. The system Generalized Method of Moments with robustness (controlling for endogeneity) and fixed effects models were used to identify the determinants of these reforms for the collective forest region of southern China. Our empirical results indicate that these two reforms jointly caused deforestation and forest degradation. As much as 13.5% of the total forest area was lost, and 14.9% of the forest volume was removed. Deforestation in the 1980s was followed with widespread negative long-term impacts on forest growth and afforested area. These policy failures suggest the important lesson that a well-conceived framework for monitoring and regulation needs to be in place for successfully implemented reforms.     

朝鲜森林培育、保护与管理政策

朝鲜多山的地形条件决定了其森林资源在朝鲜经济建设、社会发展、民生福祉等方面的重要作用。自2015年以来,作为国家战略,朝鲜大力开展了“山林复原战斗”,目标是在10年之内把所有山野改造成树木茂密的“宝物山”和“黄金山”,使“全国树林化、园林化”。文中介绍了朝鲜森林资源、林业发展阶段及其政策法规、保护林和自然保护区、林业管理机构、林产品生产与贸易以及林业教育与科研等现状,总结了朝鲜森林培育、保护与管理的政策特点,并探讨在林业领域的中朝合作、朝韩合作以及国际组织合作的前景,以期为我国林业等相关领域对朝合作提供借鉴与帮助。朝鲜林业发展实践表明,朝鲜已经形成了较为完善的政策目标体系、法规管理制度和组织保障机制,相关领域的国际合作也在不断深化。     

Hurricane Katrina impacts on forest trees of Louisiana's Pearl River basin

Hurricane disturbance has the potential to markedly affect coastal forest structure and ecosystem processes. This study focused on the impacts of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana's Pearl River basin, which lies just west of Katrina's final landfall at the Louisiana–Mississippi border. Prior to landfall, composition and structure of bottomland hardwood forests in this region were studied with permanent forest inventory plots sampled in 1989, 1998, 2005 and following the storm in 2006. This enabled a direct comparison of forest structure and dynamics before and after the disturbance, including species-specific tree mortality and damage rates, biomass production, and differences among forest types having varied hydrologic regimes. Background tree mortality rate before Hurricane Katrina was 1.9%, while average annual mortality was 20.5% for the census interval including the disturbance. Change in live tree biomass estimated from allometric models demonstrated a shift from an average annual production of 3.5 Mg ha⁻¹ before the disturbance, to an average loss of 77.6 Mg ha⁻¹ from the storm. Damage associated with Hurricane Katrina varied significantly with tree species but not tree size. Flooded cypress-tupelo swamp forests sustained the least damage and frequently flooded bottomland hardwood forests sustained the highest damage. Hurricane disturbance influenced the structure and composition of these coastal forests through species-specific differences in damage and mortality rates, and varied impacts dependent on forest flooding regime.     

Community Forest Enterprise Markets in Mexico and Brazil: New Opportunities and Challenges for Legal Access to the Forest

ABSTRACT

A significant shift has taken place in global forest tenure, with a doubling of the forest area under community ownership (or administration over the past 15 years). There is every indication that communal tenure will double again over the next 15 years. Recognition of traditional and indigenous peoples' collective rights over forest lands has important implications for forest-rich countries—both developed and developing. Combined with dramatic changes in the structure of the forest industry and globalizing markets, this shift creates new opportunities and challenges for low-income forest producers and community enterprises to leave poverty and diversify livelihoods. The challenge for policy makers and governments is to reform outdated regulatory and incentive frameworks to support these enterprises. This article presents findings on three types of responses from communities to the new opportunities created by the tenure shift and looks specifically at community timber enterprise cases from Mexico and Brazil; recommending actions by communities, policy makers, and private sector. Changes in international and domestic forest product demand, consolidation of commodity wood sectors, new corporate responsibility commitments, and the emergence of ecosystem service markets all affect community markets. One response has been the emergence of socially-integrated, timber and non-timber based enterprises. Another has been the expansion of self-financed community conservation. A third response has been new models of collaboration between companies and communities.     

日本森林资源供求变动趋势和经营管理战略创新

丰富的森林资源促进了第2次世界大战结束后日本经济的恢复和高速发展。此后,林产品市场供求、生产经营和产业政策发生了重大变化。文中分析了日本森林资源和森林经营现状、木材供求和森林功能多样化的趋势,以及林业政策、经营管理和技术创新的动向,以期为理论研究和业务决策提供参考。日本在经济高速增长期过后,木材需求量减少,自给率维持低位。近年来,日本林木进入集中主伐利用期,社会对森林生态环保需求增大,森林经营面临着规模过小、国有林缺乏经营活力、年轻劳动力减少等问题。日本森林经营管理创新的重点包括提高科技贡献率、改革林业特别是国有林的生产经营体制、提升森林在生态与环境和经济减贫等多方面价值。目前,上述创新已经效果初现,也是今后日本林业改革发展的主要方向。     

Regional impact assessment on forest structure and functions under climate change—the Brandenburg case study

A forest simulation model has been applied in a regional impact assessment to investigate impacts of climate change on forest structure and function in the Federal state of Brandenburg, Germany. The forest model FORSKA-M was linked to a GIS that included soil, groundwater table and land-use maps. Two climate scenarios (current climate and a climate change of 1.5 K temperature increase which is combined with a precipitation decrease of 10–20% on average) for 40 meteorological stations in and around Brandenburg were used to assess the sensitivity of species composition to climate change. Furthermore, the implications of vegetation changes for other forest functions were analysed by means of several indicators. To evaluate the impacts of climate change on biodiversity, measures of species diversity (Shannon’s and Simpson’s index) and habitat and structural diversity (Seibert’s index) were applied. The evaluation of impacts on groundwater recharge of natural and managed forests was carried out using the soil water balance model of FORSKA-M.At first, model simulations of the potential natural vegetation (PNV) on the whole area of Brandenburg with different climate scenarios were analysed. The results indicated that climatic warming would lead to a shift in the natural species composition in Brandenburg towards more drought tolerant species. The simulated diversity of the forests would be reduced, and groundwater recharge would be decreased.The majority of forests in the state of Brandenburg have been managed intensively in the past. At present, large areas of Brandenburg’s forests are dominated by pure stands of Scots pine, but current forest management practice aims at increasing the share of deciduous and mixed forests. In order to analyse the possible consequences of climate change on forest management, forest inventory data were used to initialise FORSKA-M with representative forest stands. Simulation experiments with three different management scenarios showed that the short to mid-term effects of climatic change in terms of species composition were not as severe as expected. However, the comparison of different diversity measures indicates a decrease in the species diversity in contrast to an increase in habitat diversity under climate warming. Furthermore, a decrease in productivity and groundwater recharge was simulated under the climate change scenario.The regional impact assessment corroborated the high sensitivity of natural forests in the region to the projected climatic change and it underlined the importance of adaptive management strategies to help forestry to cope with climatic change.     

Natural disasters and economic development drive forest dynamics and transition in China

China has been implementing the world's most ambitious afforestation and forest conservation programs and undergoing rapid forest expansion since 1990s, thus, understanding the forest dynamics in China has global implications for sustainable forest management. Through analyzing forest area, biomass dynamics, and factors influencing deforestation and forest restoration, we found that the natural disasters and economic development drove forest dynamics and transition in China. The growth of the economy and population drove up demand for forest products, facilitating deforestation. The booming economy also boosted government's investment in forest restoration and conservation programs. Natural disasters damaged and frequently destroyed forests, but they also served as stimuli for the authorities to adopt remedy forestry policies and programs that ultimately led to forest increase. Nationwide, increasing peaks of annual afforestation were observed in the late 1950s, early 1980s, and early 2000s, and the newly increased area closed for forest restoration reached the peak in 1998. All these peaks were closely associated with peaks of natural disasters (i.e., floods, drought, and dust storm events). Based on the dynamics of forest area, biomass and forest consumption over the past 40 years, forest transition occurred during the late 1980s to the early 1990s, and it also strengthened the carbon (C) sink function of forests in China (with an increasing rate of 0.137 Pg C yr.⁻¹ during 1994–2008). Overall, our study highlighted the influences of natural disasters and economic development on the forestry policies and forest C dynamics in the newly industrialized country.     

中国热带林资源和利用现状及2000年发展前景

中国热带林资源和利用现状及２０００年发展前景朱敏慧（中国林科院科信所,北京１０００９１）１中国热带林资源概况中国的热带林处于热带北缘,属干湿交替型的热带向干热带过渡地带,按区域划分大体可分为３个地带：（１）东部过渡性热带季雨林、雨林区,包括福建东南部...