Forest Protection

The nearly ubiquitous bottomland hardwood forests that historically dominated the Mississippi Alluvial Valley have been greatly reduced in area. In addition, changes in hydrology and forest management have altered the structure and composition of the remaining forests. To ameliorate the detrimental impact of these changes on silvicolous wildlife, conservation plans have emphasized restoration and reforestation to increase the area of interior (core) forest habitat, while presuming negligible loss of extant forest in this ecoregion. We assessed the conservation–protection status of land within the Mississippi Alluvial Valley because without protection, existing forests are subject to conversion to other uses. We found that only 10% of total land area was currently protected, although 28% of extant forest was in the current conservation estate. For forest patches, we prioritized their need for additional conservation–protection based on benefits to forest bird conservation afforded by...

Conservation of biodiversity in protected areas will be more challenging if local communities are heavily dependent on them for various products and subsistence needs. This study estimated forest dependency and identified factors influencing dependency for households living around Kasane Forest Reserve (KFR). Data collected from 237 households were analyzed using logistic regression model. Logistic regression suggests that forest dependency is positively and significantly associated with family size. However asset rich households were less dependent on forest resources. Thus, policy makers need to consider the needs and economic options with the above components as an alternative strategy for forest protection so as to create a win-win relationship between conservation and local rural development options. Apart from the biological threats of the forest such as fire and elephant damage, large areas of the forest (about 3060 hectares) have already been de-gazette for residential purposes of the Kasane town and the expansion of the Kasane airport in 2002.A sustainable management plan should use the forest to pay its own management costs and allow surrounding communities to benefit; hence, they can see the forest reserve as worthy of the protection.

Приміські ліси Львова, трансформовані внаслідок стрімкої урбанізації у парки та лісопарки, зазнають сильного рекреаційного навантаження, що спричиняє деградацію рослинного покриву, ущільнення ґрунту та активізацію ерозійних процесів. Визначено ерозійну піддатливість ґрунтів (фактор K) за модифікованою номограмою на основі механічного складу ґрунту та вмісту гумусу. Результати демонструють, що для суглинистих ґрунтів істотний вплив на потенційну інтенсивність ерозійних процесів має вміст гумусу. Зелені насадження, розташовані в західній і центральній частині міста, відзначаються порівняно низькими значеннями фактора ерозійної піддатливості ґрунтів, що пояснюється їх супіщаним механічним складом та високим вмістом піщаної фракції. Дані можуть бути використані для розроблення комплексних заходів із запобігання ерозії, а також для стабілізації ґрунтів.

Стрийський парк у Львові сформований у межах ерозійної долини колишнього струмка Сорока, що зумовлює значну різноманітність рельєфу та ерозійних умов. Верхня тераса парку характеризується мінімальним впливом ерозійних процесів, тоді як нижня тераса та круті схили балки зазнають інтенсивної лінійної та площинної ерозії, спричиненої здебільшого рекреаційним навантаженням і деградацією трав’яного покриву.

The Cancún Agreements provide strong backing for a REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) mechanism whereby developed countries pay developing ones for forest conservation 1 . REDD+ has potential to simultaneously deliver cost-effective climate change mitigation and human development 2-5 . However, most REDD+ analysis has used coarse-scale data, overlooked important opportunity costs to tropical forest users 4,5 and failed to consider how to best invest funds to limit leakage, that is, merely displacing deforestation 6 . Here we examine these issues for Tanzania, a REDD+ country, by comparing district-scale carbon losses from deforestation with the opportunity costs of carbon conservation. Opportunity costs are estimated as rents from both agriculture and charcoal production (the most important proximate causes of regional forest conversion 7-9 ). As an alternative we also calculate the implementation costs of alleviating the demand for forest conservation-thereby addressing the problem of leakage-by raising agricultural yields on existing cropland and increasing charcoal fuel-use efficiency. The implementation costs exceed the opportunity costs of carbon conservation (medians of US$6.50 versus US$3.90 per Mg CO 2 ), so effective REDD+ policies may cost more than simpler estimates suggest. However, even if agricultural yields are doubled, implementation is possible at the competitive price of ∼US$12 per Mg CO 2 . Understanding the economics of carbon conservation is especially important in sub-Saharan Africa, the world's most incomepoor region, where it has the potential to affect ∼200 million food-insecure people and where forest conversion is still strongly linked to subsistence agricultural expansion and fuel extraction . Over the next 40 years forests are likely to be lost faster here than in any other part of the tropics 10 , leading not just to direct CO 2 emissions, but also the erosion of a globally significant net carbon sink . REDD+ payments hold considerable potential for tackling these problems. Attempts to estimate how much REDD+ might cost have focused on the opportunity costs of carbon conservation 4,5 , but have been limited by the coarse scale of available data and the lack of information on some important benefits of forest conversion. A second problem is that simply paying people not to clear forests will mean rising demand for food and fuel goes unmet locally, leading to leakage-where deforestation is simply displaced elsewhere. Implementing policies that instead address these demands in other ways might well cost more than opportunity-cost calculations

Perlindungan hutan di tingkat lansekap memerlukan manajemen kolaboratif yang melibatkan pemangku kawasan hutan (KPH, BKSDA, pemilik konsesi, pemerintah daerah) serta integrasi masyarakat lokal dalam strategi perlindungan hutan.

Dinamika eksternal perlu mendapat perhatian besar karena ragam ancaman dan tekanan hutan berasal dari dinamika populasi di bentang alam, bentuk-bentuk pemanfaatan hasil hutan (kayu maupun bukan kayu), pembukaan lahan, kegiatan pertambangan rakyat, perburuan satwa liar, bahkan kebakaran hutan.

Dalam penanganan sengketa kehutanan perlu mengadopsi ragam bentuk penyelesaian konflik (negosiasi, mediasi, hukum lokal/adat) tidak hanya tunggal yakni penegakan hukum formal semata-mata.

Prevention of forest loss is a high priority in Pakistan, where catastrophic flooding in 1992 and 2010 has been linked to deforestation. Under the United Nation's REDD+ program, new incentive schemes are developed to encourage forest protection and reforestation, while implementing social safeguards for forest-dependent indigenous groups. The objective of this study is to support Pakistan's REDD+ readiness activities that affect the Kalasha, a unique indigenous people that are nominated for enhanced protection of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list. We aim to identify actors and power structures that have caused deforestation in the past, and recommend policy improvements that protect forests as well as the Kalasha's culture and traditional livelihoods. A remote-sensing based historical analysis showed that government actors have significant power to influence land use practices in the region, although their policy instruments may not have had the intended effects. A logging ban in 1993 could not stop forest loss and instead caused a shift to illegal selective cutting of the same magnitude. Near human habitation, forest loss actually increased after the ban. In household surveys, self-reported clearing of forests conformed to remote sensing data, and fuel wood use was identified as the primary pressure on forest resources. Results from expert interviews, however, revealed contradictory perceptions regarding the actors responsible for forest loss. Both local residents and government officials hold the other side as primarily responsible, while rationalizing their own contribution. We recommend policy changes towards more balanced power structure in joint forest management committees. In addition, alternative heating methods would remove the currently largest pressure on forest extraction for fuelwood. Since fuelwood production for regional consumption constitutes one of the largest sources of income for the poorest households, REDD-based compensation schemes would have to support the most affected households of the indigenous Kalasha.