Conditions of forest transition in Asian countries

This study identifies the important factors that contribute to or inhibit forest transitions in nine Asian countries: China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Republic of Korea, Philippines, and Vietnam. A qualitative comparative analysis method was used to determine which conditions or combinations of conditions led to or prevented a forest transition. Under the condition of public ownership with no private forest tenure or ownership of forest land, there was no instance of forest transition among the nine countries studied. Under the condition of non-liberal timber trade policies, there was no instance of forest transition in the countries studied. The results of this analysis suggest that for a forest transition to occur, the country should liberalize timber import and provide forest tenure to the private sector. Based on these results, we argue that in order for a forest transition to take place or for REDD + to be effective, the state should allow for private sector to participate in forest management and create market conditions that meet the demand for timber via trade policy alignment.     

美国私有林管理及其对广东民营林业发展的启示

美国政府十分重视私有林的发展，通过立法明确私有林产权、规范私有林主行为，实行积极的经济和科技扶持政策，使私有林业成为美国的重要产业之一。美国私有林已建立了一整套完善的管理制度，积累了许多成功的经验，为广东省民营林业的发展提供了有益的启示。     

森林多目标规划软件GISCAME及其生物量模块研究进展

在景观尺度,德国的GISCAME把权属、经营措施等森林经理学方法对森林功能与服务的影响加入到森林多目标规划中,对多权属区域森林多目标权衡分析具有重要意义。以生物量规划为例,该平台引入一种提高生物量和生态服务价值在时间和空间上动态权衡的土地利用策略模型,通过生长与收获模型结合的评估方法,解决了小班经营决策和区域规划目标不统一的问题,用情景分析来检验不同措施选择在应对气候变化和生物量增加要求上的差异。从森林经营管理的角度来看,该系统在生长与收获模型、森林调查数据、权属转换率、可及性、保护等级、皆伐或者间伐经营措施改变等方面还存在不确定性假设问题。为将GISCAME平台引进到我国森林经营管理中还需要加强嵌套精准模拟和景观资源可及性等问题研究,系统探索森林权属功能潜力及森林保护等级功能潜力数量差异,为森林景观精准规划与经营管理提供科学参考。     

Needs of private forest owners in the context of changing political systems: Lithuania as a case study

During the first half of the 20^th century the Baltic States were independent democratic nations where private forest ownership was practiced. After annexation to the Soviet Union, individuals in the Baltic States lost their ownership rights and collective ownership was introduced. Currently, after the break-up of the Soviet Union, the land restitution process in the forest sector is coming to an end and the ownership pattern as well as tenure rights are settled. A survey was undertaken to investigate the current state of the private forest sector in general, and the needs and expectations of private forest owners (PFO). Results of the study indicated that for private forest owners their forests first of all provide aesthetic and environmental protection values. Lithuanian PFOs lack information of forests and forest management, face extensive bureaucracy and need help in protecting their forests from fires, diseases and timber thieves.     

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.     

Tenure reform in British Columbia? Model,trust and charter forests

By retaining 91% of the forests in public ownership, British Columbia (BC) holds one of the world’s highest proportion of forest land under a publicsector model for the development and management of the province’s increasingly valuable forest resource. Public ownership implies that critical linkages between the natural forest resource endowment, public-sector management policies and the standard of living of the people of the province are to be forged. Yet, the emerging changes in fundamental public perception of the appropriate use of forests suggests that some of these policies, especially as they relate to forest tenure, are failing to respond to the needs of people in the 21^st century. Some of those linkages require retooling. Although somewhat constrained by past forest activities and policies, the provincial government possesses broad authority across the entire public and private forest system to regulate forest practices and determine rate of cut, stumpage, royalties and rents. It can change the way it does business. It can also devolve responsibility and decision-making to local institutions and create innovative ways of moving toward sustainable forestry. This paper argues that a tenure option developing in the United States — charter forests — may have application in BC and explores briefly how five types of pilots could be tested in the province.     

Determinants of private forest management decisions: A study on West Virginia NIPF landowners

The availability of timber in the United States depends largely on forest management and investment decisions of nonindustrial private forest landowners since they hold the largest share of forest land in the nation. Since NIPF landowners are so diverse, there is a need to better understand the determinants of their decisions so that policies could be in place to motivate them. A survey was carried out in 2005 to the nonindustrial private forest landowners of West Virginia to examine the factors affecting their forest management decisions. The study looked at four categories of decisions related to forest management: timber harvest, silvicultural activities (i.e., tree planting, herbicide application, fertilization, thinning, grapevine control, and timber stand improvement), property management activities (i.e., road construction, road maintenance, surveying/boundary maintenance, and access control), and wildlife habitat management and recreation improvement activities. Four models were developed to examine factors affecting each category of forest management activity. The results showed that landowner, ownership, and management characteristics of NIPF landowners are associated with their forest management decisions. Specifically, age, education, profession, income, ownership size, period of forestland acquisition, distance of the forestland to the place of residence, whether the forestland was purchased or acquired through inheritance or as a gift, primary objective of forestland ownership, and presence of a written forest management plan were found to be significant determinants for at least one of the categories of forest management activities. The models explained 25%, 27%, 31%, and 24% of the variation in timber harvesting, silvicultural activities, property management activities, and wildlife habitat management and recreation improvement activities, respectively. Understanding the underlying factors influencing forest management decisions of this diverse group of forest landowners could form the basis for developing, modifying and targeting policy instruments to motivate NIPF landowners in forest management.     

退耕还林与森林经营管理

在总结退耕还林工程具有建设任务重、政策性强、参与部门多、操作复杂、涉及面广5个显著特点的基础上,分析了在退耕还林工程实施管理过程中与森林经营管理密切相关的规划布局、作业设计、检查验收、林权证发放、抚育管护、采伐利用、效益监测、档案管理8个环节,提出了加强基础数据工作,完善检查验收方法,开发和推广应用工程管理信息系统,研究采伐利用政策和技术4条提高退耕还林经营管理水平的具体建议。     

Decadal trends in net ecosystem production and net ecosystem carbon balance for a regional socioecological system

Carbon sequestration is increasingly recognized as an ecosystem service, and forest management has a large potential to alter regional carbon fluxes − notably by way of harvest removals and related impacts on net ecosystem production (NEP). In the Pacific Northwest region of the US, the implementation of the Northwest Forest Plan (NWFP) in 1993 established a regional socioecological system focused on forest management. The NWFP resulted in a large (82%) decrease in the rate of harvest removals on public forest land, thus significantly impacting the regional carbon balance. Here we use a combination of remote sensing and ecosystem modeling to examine the trends in NEP and net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) in this region over the 1985-2007 period, with particular attention to land ownership since management now differs widely between public and private forestland. In the late 1980s, forestland in both ownership classes was subject to high rates of harvesting, and consequently the land was a carbon source (i.e. had a negative NECB). After the policy driven reduction in the harvest level, public forestland became a large carbon sink − driven in part by increasing NEP − whereas private forestland was close to carbon neutral. In the 2003-2007 period, the trend towards carbon accumulation on public lands continued despite a moderate increase in the extent of wildfire. The NWFP was originally implemented in the context of biodiversity conservation, but its consequences in terms of carbon sequestration are also of societal interest. Ultimately, management within the NWFP socioecological system will have to consider trade-offs among these and other ecosystem services.     

A Property-Rights Approach to Understanding Regulations and Practices in Community-Based Forest Management: Comparison of Three Systems in the Philippines

Decentralizing property rights from state control to user communities has encouraged people’s participation in forest management. Relatively few studies, however, examine the forest regulations required for exercising such property rights. To address this issue, Schlager and Ostrom’s ‘bundle of rights’ framework was used to examine various forms of property rights and regulations in three systems of community-based forest management. The field research was undertaken in the northern Philippines, using eight cases of community-based forest management at sites in the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Ifugao. Local communities were found to informally retain the authority to create locally crafted property rights and regulations in a central government-initiated program. While forest regulations and practices prescribed at the national level have improved forest conditions, the flow of forest benefits to communities has been limited because of decentralization without devolution of authority. A case study of a site initiated by a local government indicated that the transfer of responsibility from the central government to local government units can create more favourable conditions for the flow of forest benefits to communities. But due to a lack of clarity about devolution of cutting permits and about the locations of afforested critical watershed areas, authorized local users lose their authorization. When forest is managed traditionally, communities can have more assured rights than in government-initiated programs, particularly in relation to tree ownership. This is because individuals have the authority to devise collective-choice rights as well as operational rights.     

A United States View on Changes in Land Use and Land Values Affecting Sustainable Forest Management

Summary

With increasing opportunity costs of keeping land in forests because of increasing values for other land uses, such as for developed uses, forest ownership may become less attractive for some landowners and the return on investment less viable for both private and public landowners. This raises the question of what will become of the forests and the resources the forest supports, such as water and wildlife, if owners of the forests find it too costly to manage the forest. Land markets provide evidence on revealed behavior about what people are willing to actually pay for a bundle of rights necessary to gain access to land that can provide forest-based goods and services into perpetuity. However, owing to market failures and the nature of some forest land values, markets do not always reveal true forest land values, as discussed below. Allocation of land by use and cover types is a key determinant in sustainable forest management, with changes in land values providing important signals to land managers. Land valuation differs under market-oriented economies, emerging values in transition economies, and administered values in countries with command economies and is influenced by interactions between the environment and humans, including land ownership, use, and management.     

Assessing the situation of non-forest private woodlands: The Turkish case

This paper examines the situation of private woodlands in Turkey, which are referred to as ‘non-forest private woodlands’ (NFPWs). The questions addressed by this study are ‘Why are NFPWs not defined as forest?’, ‘Is the exclusion of NFPWs from forests reasonable?’ and ‘What are the consequences of excluding NFPWs from the forest regime?’. It is found that the criteria used to define a forest in Turkey, and hence to exclude NFPWs from forests, do not have a rational basis. Moreover, the threshold level of area, the most decisive criterion, is far beyond comparable international values and cannot be explained by country peculiarities. Also, NFPWs are more likely to be granted tree cutting approval if they have some type of official cadastre or if they harvest trees for domestic use. Commercial-use NFPWs make tree cuttings in higher quantities than domestic harvesters. NFPWs in general can be perceived as fuelwood harvesters as opposed to industrial wood suppliers. NFPWs with forest or land cadastre tend to harvest at higher levels compared to those without a cadastral survey. In the 8-year period 1993 and 2000, approximately 2.5 M m³ of wood was harvested on NFPWs across Turkey. The annual wood production on NFPWs throughout the country decreased drastically during that period, from about 700,000 m³ down to about 150,000 m³. This may be an alarming sign for environmental and socio-economic sustainability involving these lands. Forest management of these lands can be improved if the forestry administration authority implements planned environment-related regulative criteria as well as sound channels of communication, designed to lead the landowners towards best ‘forest’ management practices and hence to guarantee the sustainability of the communities and the natural resource base of the country.     

Barriers to policy implementation and implications for Zambia's forest ecosystems

Policies play a vital role in setting priorities and actions for forest use and management. High rates of forest loss can be attributed to failure by policies to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. It is argued that in most Least Developed Countries such as Zambia, adopted forest and natural resources policies are rarely put into effect resulting in ecosystem degradation.This study examined policy actor's perception of implementation of policies aimed at reducing deforestation and forest degradation and their implications for forest resources.To examine policy implementation, 55 policy actors were interviewed at national, regional and local levels. This included government officials, Non-Governmental Organisations, traditional leaders and local people. Interviews were analysed using discourse analysis.Findings show that policy implementations deficits are prevalent in Zambia's forest sector. Policy actors identified the main barriers as inadequate institutional capacity, inadequate legal framework, political influences, insecure land tenure, poor funding, and lack of intersectoral coordination. The paper has shown gaps between policies and their implementation. To halt deforestation and forest degradation, it is imperative that formulated policies are implemented. This will require improved communication and coordination among government units and various stakeholders, sufficient resources and harmonizing policies and legal frameworks.     

Typology of Nonindustrial Private Forest Landowners and Forestry Behavior: Implications for Forest Carbon Sequestration in the Southern US

To implement effective climate change mitigation and carbon sequestration activities in the southern US, nonindustrial private forest landowner (NIPF) participation is necessary because of the significant area of forest land under their ownership. For policy implementation to involve this major ownership group in climate change mitigation activities in this region, it is important to understand their forest management motivations and understanding toward carbon sequestration. This study develops a regional typology of NIPF landowners based on reasons for owning forest land in the southern US. The specific goals were to: (1) segment NIPF landowners into smaller homogeneous groups based on reasons for owning forest land; (2) identify landownership characteristics and forest management behavior by ownership groups; and (3) assess their climate change beliefs and understanding of forest carbon sequestration by ownership groups. A principal component-cluster analysis of 735 responses to a mail questionnaire distributed to NIPF landowners in the southern US revealed three groups, which were named amenity, multi-objective, and timber-oriented landowners. The amenity group included 21% of the landowners, while the timber and multi-objective groups included 40% and 39% of the landowners, respectively. These landowner groups varied in terms of owner characteristics, forest species type and management behavior, climate change beliefs and understanding of carbon sequestration. The amenity and multi-objective owners tend to have more positive belief toward climate change than the timber group, but more landowners in each group indicated having poor understanding of forest carbon sequestration. The study fills a knowledge gap in research efforts by developing a regional typology of NIPF landowners and linking it with their forestry resources and management strategies along with their climate change beliefs and understanding of forest carbon sequestration.     

Service logics and strategies of Swedish forestry in the structural shifts of forest ownership: challenging the “old” and shaping the “new”

ABSTRACT

Sweden is one of the most forested countries in Europe, and it has one of the highest shares of productive forest. Production in forestry is largely reliant on the private non-industrial forest owners, who own half of the forest land. As in many countries, however, forest ownership is changing towards a higher extent of urban, female or non-forestry-background owners. This poses a challenge for the forestry services sector, mainly forest owners’ associations and companies, but also broadly the sector at large. By exploring the sales and marketing processes, this paper analyses the service logics and strategies of Swedish forestry under changing forest ownership, drawing on an interview study covering all the large actors in the Swedish forestry sector. The study illustrates an increased focus of forestry organizations on services from a strategic and managerial perspective, in customer-oriented relationship development and in value creation and sales processes, specifically in order to manage “new” forest owners and the demand of forest industries. The results highlight the domination of service logics associated with timber production and the challenges for the service market and the provision of diversified services to forest owners.     

私有林采伐管理制度:发达国家经验及对我国的启示

通过对世界上8个发达国家私有林采伐制度的研究,总结其经验,对我国集体林采伐制度改革提出建议。发达国家因地制宜设计私有林采伐制度,有充分的法律依据,地方政府具有更多的私有林管理权,各国用森林可持续经营的理念来指导私有林采伐、对私有林采伐行为侧重政策引导。建议我国要坚持集体林采伐许可证制度,完善林木采伐相关法律,政府制定林业规划,林主制定森林经营方案,实行多种政策调控私有林采伐行为,加强采伐后林地更新管理,积极探索各个地区不同的私有林管理制度。     

Land-use and land-base patterns in non-industrial private forests: Factors affecting forest management in Northern Spain

There is increasing worldwide interest in land-use allocation and management within the sphere of rural planning and development. The study of land-use patterns mainly focuses on understanding the practices and values of individuals involved, and no debate of this issue would be complete without taking into account non-industrial private forest (NIPF) ownership as a key component in most rural areas worldwide. This paper empirically explores and assesses NIPF owners' management in terms of analysing dynamics in farming and forestry practices (past conversions from forestland to meadow and from marginal meadow to woodland, and intentions to change the current productive forest species and to extend the area of woodland) and landholding attributes (size and degree of parcellation in productive forestland). Logistic regression models were also used to investigate the probabilities and influencing factors involved in transforming marginal meadows to woodland, and attempts on the part of NIPF owners to change the current productive forest species and increase productive forestland. For this, a total of 103 NIPF owners in Northern Spain were interviewed in person, in March 2004, about their commitment to and involvement in land management during 1999–2003. The models correctly explained 73.3%, 83.7% and 73.3% of the variability in having converted marginal meadow in woodland and of future intentions to change the productive forest species and increase the area of productive forestland, respectively. The results of the study indicate that forest management mainly responds to investment and increasing the productivity of the land as a capital asset, which is directly influenced by the size and degree of parcellation of the holding, and directly or indirectly related to the owner's interest in timber production. The results may be used by forest professionals, researchers and policymakers in order to design and execute successful forest policies related to land management and planning.     

利用林权管理软件确定卫星林火监测热点详细信息的方法

利用林权管理软件与网上发布的卫星林火监测热点信息相结合,可以在极短的时间（大约10秒钟）内准确掌握热点详情,确切知道热点发生的具体乡（镇）、村、组、山头地块（小地名）以及林地、林权所有者姓名等情况,文章以贵州省为例,就该方法的可行性及具体操作方法进行了概述．     

Equitable regulation of private forests

The sustainability of forested ecosystems often requires cross-boundary management at large spatial scales. This can be challenging, however, in landscapes where forests are primarily under small-scale, private ownership. Consequently, in many areas of the world private forest practices are governmentally regulated to promote more consistent cross-boundary outcomes and better protection of large-scale ecological integrity. In this qualitative, ‘grounded theory’ study, 109 stakeholders throughout the State of Washington, USA were interviewed to learn their perspectives about processes and effects of private forest regulation. The State of Washington is widely recognized for its long-established and comprehensive forest regulatory policies and thus provides an excellent study area for this topic. Interviewees included private forest owners, forest policy advisors, regulatory agency employees, and representatives from forest ownership organizations, forest industry trade groups, and environmental organizations. The study revealed an important and often poorly recognized outcome of private forest regulatory policy: regulation rarely affects all private forest owners similarly. Instead, the burdens and advantages of regulation tend to be unevenly distributed within this key stakeholder group. The study identified three phenomena producing these inequitable outcomes: natural landscape variability, oversights in policy design, and disparate interests and goals among forest owners. This paper analyzes these causes, identifies solution pathways, and discusses implications for policy-makers.     

Motives and Incentives for Joining Forest Owner Associations in Estonia

The development of private ownership is an important outcome of structural changes for the whole economy as well as for the forestry sector in Estonia. Cooperation between forest owners has been seen as one possibility for increasing the provision of various forest-related benefits and goods. Yet the extent of cooperation between forest owners is still not at a sufficient level, but the reasons have not been extensively studied. The authors’ aim was to find out the key determinants for forest owners to join a forest owner association and to explore how cooperation between owners could be increased. Survey data were used to divide the respondents into two groups according to whether they were members of forest owners associations or not. It was found that one key aspect is the size of the forest property—association members usually manage larger forest areas than non-members. In addition, the members tend to be more active and consistent in forest management activities than non-members. Also there is potential towards cooperation within non-members as their plans for the future are much more targeted. Although there are limits to voluntary cooperation, a huge potential for Estonian private forest owners could be realised by diversifying forest owner association activities and services to meet the different expectations of forest owners.