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Finnish-based forest corporation, Stora Enso, is developing and purchasing eucalypt plantations, and establishing a large pulp mill with an approximate production capacity of 1 million tonnes of pulp per year in southern China. The project has been evaluated by recognised international assessment, which concluded that it would be profitable and environmentally and socially sustainable. Wood supply from existing and new plantations was assessed to be sufficient to meet the need of the pulp mill. The conclusions on wood supply were based on very simple estimates and risky assumptions on mean annual increment (MAI) and areas of plantation estate available without fully taking into account many high-risk factors, or at least data are not available in the public domain. This paper discusses several elements that have an effect on sustainability of wood supply, including factors and risks affecting wood production and land availability. The results demonstrate a close relationship between wood production of the plantation itself, and the total area needed to produce a certain amount of wood. At the scale of the case study involved, every 10% change in MAI is equivalent to about 5000 to 40 000 ha of land, depending on growth rates. We show that many new fast-growing eucalypt plantations, in addition to existing ones, are needed for long-term sustainability of wood supply. Moreover, substantial investments in strategic and applied research would be required to achieve high and sustainable production per unit area in the given environment. This means that more actions will be required in the establishment and management of new plantations. The results from the wood supply scenario also reveal the growing importance of corporate responsibility (CR) in the corporate governance agenda of the forest sector. In order to achieve the desired economic, environmental, and social outcomes, national macro-economic planning, a consistent policy and management framework, and a systematic, focused and institutionalised approach to CR are therefore expected from the government and the private sector, respectively

Deforestation, forest degradation, and land-use change are a major source of carbon emissions. The Copenhagen Accord recognised the crucial role of reducing emissions from deforestation, emphasized the role of forests in climate change mitigation, and called for the immediate establishment of a REDD+ mechanism. Most likely, it will form an integral part of the future climate change regime. For many developed countries, REDD+ seems to be an attractive option to achieve part of their reduction targets through investments in developing countries. For some developing countries, this offers an additional source of financing to support sustainable forest management and to boost their development plans and poverty-reduction strategies. This paper analyses the challenges and major gaps that developing countries are facing when planning their national strategies for the implementation of REDD+ schemes. We conclude that REDD+ as a climate change mitigation instrument will only be able to proceed at a pace that allows the meaningful participation of all relevant stakeholders in consensus-building. When the REDD+ enters the markets, the rights of local communities to forest land and carbon will need to be clarified and secured. Successful implementation of REDD+ will, in most cases, require strengthening the stake of local communities for managing their forest carbon assets and allowing them to benefit fully from emerging carbon markets and other funding schemes. Governments will need to renew their institutions and adopt new approaches to handle these challenges by including the role of forests in climate change mitigation as an integral part of their development plans and policies.

Many studies have suggested various kinds of forest policies, management planning and practices to help forests adapt to climate change. These recommendations are often generic, based mostly on case studies from temperate countries and rarely from Africa. We argue that policy and management recommendations aimed at integrating adaptation into national forest policies and practices in Africa should start with an inventory and careful examination of existing policies and practices in order to understand the nature and extent of intervention required to influence the adaptation of forest ecosystems to climate change. This paper aims to contribute to closing this gap in knowledge detrimental to decision making through the review and analysis of current forest policies and practices in Burkina Faso and Ghana and highlighting elements that have the potential to influence the adaptation of forest ecosystems to climate change. The analysis revealed that adaptation (and mitigation) are not part of current forest policies in Burkina Faso and Ghana, but instead policies contain elements of risk management practices which are also relevant to the adaptation of forest ecosystems. Some of these elements are found in policies on the management of forest fires, forest genetic resources, non-timber resources, tree regeneration and silvicultural practices. To facilitate and enhance the management of these elements, a number of recommendations are suggested. Their implementation will require experienced and well-trained forestry personnel, financial resources, socio-cultural and political dimensions, and the political will of decision makers to act appropriately by formulating necessary policies and mainstreaming adaptation into forest policy and management planning.

Exotic tree species predominate in reforestation in tropical regions worldwide. However, some native species are suitable for plantations, providing a wider variety of products. Adequate government programs of incentives, coupled with good technical advice to farmers, are needed to stimulate reforestation, especially among small and medium-sized farmers with limited financial resources. This project evaluates growth of native and exotic tree species on plantations in small and medium-sized farms in the Atlantic humid lowlands of Costa Rica, Central America. A total of 210 pure plantations, ranging in age from 6 to 11 years, were evaluated on 123 farms that had used government incentives for reforestation, and had received technical advice from local non-government organizations. For each species, seven plantations were chosen at random for study. In each plantation, plots of 15 trees each were chosen systematically for evaluation of diameter at breast height (dbh), total height, number of trees per hectare, tree form and spacing. Terminalia amazonia (J.F. Gmel) Exell, Hieronyma alchorneoides Allemao, and Vochysia guatemalensis Donn. Sm. were the most frequent species found in plantations in the region of study. Gmelina arborea Roxb. (exotic) and V. guatemalensis (native) had the highest mean annual diameter increment with 2.90 and 2.59 cm, respectively. Calophyllum brasiliense Cambess. (native) had the lowest mean annual diameter increment (1.48 cm). G. arborea and V. guatemalensis had the highest mean annual volume increment, followed by Tectona grandis (L.f) Lam. (exotic), and T. amazonia and Cordia alliodora (R&P) Cham. (both native). Although G. arborea had the greatest mean annual diameter increment, it had the lowest plantation density and problems with form. V. guatemalensis and T. amazonia, two native species, were the most promising species for reforestation, due to good growth in volume, good form, and adaptability to a variety of sites. The poor form of exotic species was related to the low intensity management methods of small farmers. Exotic species had the highest performance variability between sites, while native species showed relatively high growth homogeneity. Therefore, native species seem more promising than exotics for general use across varying ecological conditions.

Reforestation efforts are being promoted throughout the humid tropics in response to increased areas of deforested and abandoned or degraded lands. Farmers need technical information on species performance, plantation design and management in order to make appropriate choices of species and silvicultural techniques to achieve high productivity. In Costa Rica, government incentives have promoted the planting of native tree species, but information is still scarce on species performance and silvicultural management. The present study examines the growth and responses to thinning of native species in mixed and pure-species plantations in the Caribbean Lowlands of Costa Rica. At 9–10 years of age, the species with best growth in diameter and volume were Vochysia guatemalensis Donn. Sm., Terminalia amazonia (J. Gmell) Excell, Jacaranda copaia (Aubl) D. Don, Virola koschnyi Warb. and Vochysia ferruginea Mart. Most species had better growth in mixed than in pure-species plantations. The slower growing species Calophyllum brasiliense Cambess and Genipa americana L. grew better in pure than in mixed stands. Mixed plantations (combinations of 3–4 species) ranked among the most productive in terms of volume. Trees responded to thinning with increased diameter growth, while height was not generally influenced by thinning. Tight initial spacing and thinning with high extraction of stems can improve growth and timber quality of stands. Results of the present research are useful to improve species choices for reforestation and plantation management in the humid lowlands of Costa Rica and in other regions with similar ecological characteristics.

During the last two decades, the Costa Rican government has promoted the establishment of Tectona grandis plantations for sawn timber. However, there is a lack of knowledge on optimum spacing and on thinning regimes, in contrast to high expectations of final mean diameter at breast height (DBH) between 35 and 40 cm and stand volumes between 200 and 300 m3 ha-1. The aim of this study was to establish guidelines for plantation management in terms of appropriate intensity and timing of the first thinning (from approximately 4 thinnings recommended in 20–25 year-old rotation management systems). A thinning trial was established in a 4-year old T. grandis plantation that was originally established with initial spacing of 1600 trees ha-1. The experimental design consisted of randomized complete blocks, with eight treatments and three replicates. Each treatment consisted of 80 trees in square blocks of 500 m2. The treatments were of different thinning intensities (from 25% to 60% removal of standing trees, and the unthinned control) applied at two timings (at the ages of 4 and 6 years, and one treatment applied at the ages of 4 and 5 years) and an unthinned control in each replicate. The trees in each treatment were measured annually between age 4 and 8 years. At the age of 8 years, the average DBH for all treatments was 17.5 cm (15.2–20.1 cm) and the total height averaged 18.8 m (17.7–19.5 m). The total volume (Vo) varied from 90 to 200 m3 ha-1, at corresponding BA between 12 and 28 m2 ha-1.The 60% thinning intensity applied at the age of 4 years, and the two consecutive 25% thinnings at the ages of 4 and 5 years gave the highest individual tree growth, while the control was the lowest. The current annual increment (CAI) of DBH was highest in the 40 and 60% thinned treatments. The CAI of DBH and BA decreased rapidly with increasing age in every treatment. The values of CAI of Vo varied between 9 and 39 m3 ha-1 year-1. The high values of CAI of Vo were obtained at BA between 18 and 20 m2 ha-1. At BA of 18 m2 ha-1, Vo was between 120 and 150 m3 ha-1 on a stand conformed by trees with an average DBH between 17 and 20 cm. The recovery of BA and Vo was faster in the treatments carried out at the age of 4 years than at 6 years, when measured 2 years after the thinning. In terms of the remaining stand volume (after thinning), tree size and rate of recovery, the best thinning was at the age of 4 years removing 40–60% of the trees, or consecutively at the ages of 4 and 5 years removing 25% of standing trees in each year. Results of this thinning trial indicate that T. grandis plantations can be managed towards the production of high individual tree growth or towards the production of high stand growth, by means of varying the intensity and timing of the thinning interventions through rotation.

The area of forest plantations in the tropics worldwide is increasing as a response to the expansion of degraded lands. Rural farmers of many regions of the dry and humid areas are responding to government and other incentives, dedicating portions of their land to native and exotic tree plantations with varied uses and objectives.We evaluated the success of reforestation efforts in a dry region of Nicaragua and in a humid region of Costa Rica where reforestation has been promoted by the governments with local assistance of technical personnel and non-governmental organizations. In all farms, the survival, diameter at breast height (dbh), height, form, and health of the tree plantations were evaluated. In addition information regarding the farmer's preferences and characteristics of the farms and the farmers was gathered through a survey including socioeconomic and silvicultural aspects. In both countries farmers used more native than exotic species for reforestation. Farmers are willing to continue reforesting as long as they continue to receive government incentives. In Costa Rica the plantations had better silvicultural management than in Nicaragua. In Nicaragua the species preferred by farmers for their growth were Azadirachta indica, Caesalpinia eriostachys, Eucalyptus spp., Gliricidia sepium, Leucaena leucocephala, and Tectona grandis. In Costa Rica the preferred species for their growth were Cordia alliodora, Gmelina arborea, Terminalia amazonia, Tectona grandis, Vochysia guatemalensis, and Virola koschnyi. The implementation of incentive programs for reforestation was a key factor in encouraging the participation of small and medium farmers.

The Costa Rican government has promoted the establishment of high yielding plantations, expecting to produce high quality timber. Nowdays the management of some species have been uncertain, since wood quality and yield are becoming lower than expected. Heartwood content is a determinant characteristic for Bombacopsis quinata, a widely appreciated species in the country. The aim of this study was to evaluate the heartwood, sapwood and bark content of young and advanced aged B. quinata trees. The research was based on the hypothesis that heartwood content increases with increasing age. By means of steam analysis, the heartwood, sapwood, and bark volume was measured on trees of different ages (10 to 27 years). The highest heartwood proportion found in B. quinata was 13,6%, and the lowest o.1%. The sapwood ranged between 70.0 and 87.2% while the bark, from 9.4 to 23% of the total stem volume. No clear differences in heartwood content could be observed between trees of similar age from dry and wet zones. Rotation period for B. quinata in Costa Rica should be extended to produce high quality timber with increased heartwood content.

This publication has two objectives. First, it analyzes the past research on deforestation and summarizes the findings of that research, in terms of its relevance to the development of future REDD regimes. Second, it highlights areas where future research and methodological development are needed to support national and international processes on avoided deforestation and degradation.

The most prominent international responses to climate change focus on mitigation (reducing the accumulation of greenhouse gases) rather than adaptation (reducing the vulnerability of society and ecosystems). However, with climate change now inevitable, adaptation is gaining importance in the policy arena, and is an integral part of ongoing negotiations towards an international framework. This report presents the case for adaptation for tropical forests (reducing the impacts of climate change on forests and their ecosystem services) and tropical forests for adaptation (using forests to help local people and society in general to adapt to inevitable changes). Policies in the forest, climate change and other sectors need to address these issues and be integrated with each other—such a cross-sectoral approach is essential if the benefits derived in one area are not to be lost or counteracted in another. Moreover, the institutions involved in policy development and implementation need themselves to be flexible and able to learn in the context of dynamic human and environmental systems. And all this needs to be done at all levels from the local community to the national government and international institutions. The report includes an appendix covering climate scenarios, concepts, and international policies and funds.

The most prominent international responses to climate change focus on mitigation (reducing the accumulation of greenhouse gases) rather than adaptation (reducing the vulnerability of society and ecosystems). However, with climate change now inevitable, adaptation is gaining importance in the policy arena, and is an integral part of ongoing negotiations towards an international framework. This report presents the case for adaptation for tropical forests (reducing the impacts of climate change on forests and their ecosystem services) and tropical forests for adaptation (using forests to help local people and society in general to adapt to inevitable changes). Policies in the forest, climate change and other sectors need to address these issues and be integrated with each other—such a cross-sectoral approach is essential if the benefits derived in one area are not to be lost or counteracted in another. Moreover, the institutions involved in policy development and implementation need themselves to be flexible and able to learn in the context of dynamic human and environmental systems. And all this needs to be done at all levels from the local community to the national government and international institutions. The report includes an appendix covering climate scenarios, concepts, and international policies and funds.

CIFOR's Forests and Governance Programme examines how decisions about forests and forestdependent people are made and implemented in order to promote the participation and empowerment of disadvantaged groups; the accountability and transparency of decision-makers and more powerful groups; and democratic, inclusive processes that support fair representation and decision making among all groups.

Finnish-based forest corporation, Stora Enso, is developing and purchasing eucalypt plantations, and establishing a large pulp mill with an approximate production capacity of 1 million tonnes of pulp per year in southern China. The project has been evaluated by recognised international assessment, which concluded that it would be profitable and environmentally and socially sustainable. Wood supply from existing and new plantations was assessed to be sufficient to meet the need of the pulp mill. The conclusions on wood supply were based on very simple estimates and risky assumptions on mean annual increment (MAI) and areas of plantation estate available without fully taking into account many high-risk factors, or at least data are not available in the public domain. This paper discusses several elements that have an effect on sustainability of wood supply, including factors and risks affecting wood production and land availability. The results demonstrate a close relationship between wood production of the plantation itself, and the total area needed to produce a certain amount of wood. At the scale of the case study involved, every 10% change in MAI is equivalent to about 5000 to 40 000 ha of land, depending on growth rates. We show that many new fast-growing eucalypt plantations, in addition to existing ones, are needed for long-term sustainability of wood supply. Moreover, substantial investments in strategic and applied research would be required to achieve high and sustainable production per unit area in the given environment. This means that more actions will be required in the establishment and management of new plantations. The results from the wood supply scenario also reveal the growing importance of corporate responsibility (CR) in the corporate governance agenda of the forest sector. In order to achieve the desired economic, environmental, and social outcomes, national macro-economic planning, a consistent policy and management framework, and a systematic, focused and institutionalised approach to CR are therefore expected from the government and the private sector, respectively

The formulation and implementation of an adaptation strategy is of growing concern to governments. The adaptation policy framework (APF) sets out indicative activities and features of an adaptation strategy. Understanding the extent to which existing practices can support adaptation in societies and ecosystems is an important step towards the solution. This study uses vulnerability, policy and financial analyses to investigate the compatibility of the modified taungya system (MTS) (a reforestation programme) in Ghana with the indicative activities of the APF. The findings indicate that MTS takes into consideration most of the activities of an adaptation strategy, is a profitable venture (BCR > 1) and has a high potential to reduce vulnerability due to short-term food production and long-term plantation establishment. Resource management in MTS is promising in the short term, but challenges remain to meet livelihood and adaptation needs in the medium and long term. Policy instruments related to MTS align with the forestry, climate change and the development goals of Ghana. We conclude that MTS is a potential win–win practice for forestry and adaptation. The legalization of all contractual arrangements coupled with continuous monitoring, evaluation and improvement may drive MTS to become a lasting activity that will support the long-term horizon of an adaptation strategy.