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In this paper, I illustrate the dynamics of frontier development in the Redencao area in southern Para, one of the oldest agricultural frontiers in the Brazilian Amazon. This frontier has evolved from a landscape initially dominated by large-scale corporations investing in cattle ranching, to another in which medium-scale cattle ranchers and to less extent smallholders expanded their influence in the local economy. The initial stage was driven by fiscal incentives and subsidies from the government. The latter stage features more developed markets for beef and milk products, and is associated with an expansion of slaughterhouses and dairy processing plants, the modernisation of livestock production, fragmentation of large estates, and competition for land. The latter phase originated with the arrival of new investors in medium-scale cattle ranching, and with expanding pressure from smallholders and landless people looking for land. The process of land occupation and agrarian development has inevitably led to forest conversion mainly to pasture. Finally, environmental policies seeking to halt deforestation have been largely ineffective under these conditions of frontier development.

This book presents the results of the Bolivian case study on forestry decentralization. It is part of a larger CIFOR study also undertaken in Brazil, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras, which investigates forestry decentralization processes and, in particular their effects on forest-dependent groups. Since the 1990's, Bolivia has played a leading role in Latin America with regard to the transfer of political, administrative and fiscal responsibilities and authority from national to municipal governments. Decentralization also included important aspects of forest management, which was particularly affected by new land policies. Among his conclusions, the author points out that, although municipal governments are now more active in poverty alleviation initiatives, their conception of local development still fails to consider the potential use of natural resources. At the same time, small rural producers and indigenous groups, who have recently been granted formal land rights, have not been given the decision-making authority to define the use of those resources. The first half of the book provides pertinent information on the Bolivian forest sector, presents the decentralization framework promoted by the government, and discusses the legal, institutional and informal arrangements of forest governance. The author then analyses power disputes among a variety of actors and institutions and examines the effects of decentralization on the wellbeing of various social groups. Finally, he proposes key topics for further research that would advance the forestry decentralization debate in Bolivia.

This paper presents a case study of decentralized forest management in lowland Bolivia. Bolivia has undertaken important policy reforms since the mid-1990s aimed at institutionalizing popular participation and promoting democratic decentralization. In the forestry sector, municipal governments have received important responsibilities, and various mechanisms have been established to hold these governments accountable to local populations. Nevertheless, in spite of being one of the most advanced forestry sector decentralizations in developing nations, the democratization of decision-making is still limited, with local governments being primarily responsible for monitoring forest management and illegal activities, and promoting forest management by local users. The national government has retained the right to define standards and allocate forest resources. Still, the political environment prompted by decentralization has created conditions for local forest users and municipal governments to become stronger players in natural resources governance. Given this complex context, outcomes of decentralization are mixed, mainly as a result of municipal resources and capacity, local power relationships and the degree to which local economies depend on forest resources.

This chapter analyses the model of decentralization of forest management in Bolivia, and assess its main outcomes. Though significant functions were delegated to municipalities regarding forest resources such as control of forest crime, monitoring of forest management, delimitation and allocation of municipal reserves, the central state has reserved by itself some key functions regarding forest resources allocation and formulation of forest regulations. Besides the powers delegated to local governments, there are other factors that influence on decentralization such as the political economy of municipalities, the social pressures of local forest users over the local government, and the property regimes. Those conditioning factors affect the institutional capacity of local governments to deal with forest management which is also influenced by the amount of forest resources municipalities spend on their municipal forest units, the human resources capacities, and the degrees of transparency in decision making within local governments. The interactions of all those factors define the diverse results that decentralization has in practice for people and forest resources.

This chapter analyses the model of decentralization of forest management in Bolivia, and assess its main outcomes. Though significant functions were delegated to municipalities regarding forest resources such as control of forest crime, monitoring of forest management, delimitation and allocation of municipal reserves, the central state has reserved by itself some key functions regarding forest resources allocation and formulation of forest regulations. Besides the powers delegated to local governments, there are other factors that influence on decentralization such as the political economy of municipalities, the social pressures of local forest users over the local government, and the property regimes. Those conditioning factors affect the institutional capacity of local governments to deal with forest management which is also influenced by the amount of forest resources municipalities spend on their municipal forest units, the human resources capacities, and the degrees of transparency in decision making within local governments. The interactions of all those factors define the diverse results that decentralization has in practice for people and forest resources.

This chapter analyses the causes of deforestation and forest degradation in the Bolivian Amazon. The study predicated on the assumption that the factors involved have less to do with the forest sector itself than with events that take place within the country's political, economic, and social arenas. This paper reviews the situation of land tenure in the Bolivian lowlands and summarises the information about the magnitutes of deforestation and forest degradation until 1985 and followed by the evaluation on the changes in forest cover associated with structural adjustment policies. It concludes that deforestation rates in lowland Bolivia have been relatively low compared to those observed in other countries where tropical forests are found. Recent policies to stimulate the export of soybeans and wood products have had important positive effects. However, long-term benefits could have been greater, and environmental costs could have been lower, if development policies had been linked to initiatives that led to a more equal distribution of land and forest resources.

Addresses recent industrial and services market research literature
that points out the need for improving product quality and customer
service in response to stiffer competition. Offers a quantitative
approach for measuring current levels of satisfaction with one′s product
or service relative to the competition. Provides some basic marketing
research tools for identifying the components of customer satisfaction
and measuring the relative importance of each in managers′ overall
evaluations of the company and its products.

The 2000s witnessed the rapid expansion of biofuel plantations in the global South in the context of a growing trend of crop plantation expansion. This trend has been spurred by policies in the European Union, United States, Brazil, and other countries favoring the use of biofuels in the transport sector to enhance energy security and reduce carbon emissions, as well as by the desire of governments in developing countries to harness the stimulus that new commercial investments provide to the agricultural sector and to national economies. Despite these potential benefits, a number of concerns have been raised about the local social and environmental impacts of biofuel feedstock expansion. We shed light on this debate through a synthesis of findings from case studies in six biofuel producer countries of Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and a seventh paper exploring the implications of the land-use changes observed in these case studies for the climate mitigation potential of biofuels. We also explore the implications for governing the environmental impacts of biofuel feedstock production, protecting the rights of customary land users, and enabling smallholder-inclusive business models. Our analysis suggests that better governance of the sector's impacts is not the exclusive preserve of unitary sets of actors, but instead requires concerted and coordinated efforts by governments of producer and consumer countries, investors, civil society, and the financial sector to better capture the sector's potential while minimizing its social and environmental costs.

Preoccupation with global energy supplies and climate change in the global North, and a desire to improve the balance of trade and capture value in the emerging carbon market by developing countries, together place biofuels firmly on the map of global land use change. Much of this recent land use change is occurring in developing countries where large agro-ecologically suitable tracts of land may be accessed at lower economic and opportunity cost. This is leading to the gradual penetration of commercial crops that provide suitable biofuel feedstocks (e.g., sugarcane, soybean, oil palm, jatropha) into rural communities and forested landscapes throughout many areas of the global South. Expansion of biofuel feedstock cultivation in developing countries is widely embraced by producer country governments as a means to achieve energy security and stimulate rural economic development through employment and smallholder market integration. It is also expected that foreign and domestic investments in biofuel feedstock cultivation will lead to positive economic spillovers from knowledge transfer and investor contributions to social and physical infrastructure. While biofuel feedstocks are expanding through large industrial-scale plantations and smallholder production alike, the expansion of industrial-scale production systems has been countered by a critical response by civil society actors concerned about the implications for rural livelihoods, customary land rights, and the environmental effects of biofuel feedstock cultivation. To date, however, limited data exist to demonstrate the conditions under which widely anticipated economic and climate change mitigation benefits accrue in practice, and the implications of these developments for forests, local livelihoods, and the climate change mitigation potential of biofuels. In such a situation, debates are easily polarized into those for and against biofuels. This special issue seeks to nuance this debate by shedding light on the local social and environmental impacts accruing to date from the expansion of biofuel feedstock cultivation through in-depth case studies in 6 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Findings provide a more nuanced picture of costs and benefits, and point to a host of risks that need to be proactively managed to leverage the potential of the industry as an engine of national social and economic development.

This study adopts an institutional approach to analyze the way in which informal rules, in their interaction with formal rules, shape the use of forest resources by diverse types of smallholders and communities (i.e., indigenous people, agro-extractive and traditional communities) in Latin America. Attention is given to understanding the 'working rules', comprising both formal and informal rules, that individuals use in making their decisions for land and forest resources access and use, which in turn affect benefits generation and distribution from such resources use. The dichotomy between formal and informal institutions take on relative importance, it is their interaction that matters in assessing human behavior. Three areas of behavior that affect forest resource use by smallholders and communities are examined: (1) the interface of formal rules, often contained in written laws, and practiced 'rules of the game' that guide how smallholders and communities control, allocate, legitimize and enforce land and forest tenure rights, (2) local systems for forest resource use and management under the imposition of formal regulations and models, and (3) smallholder interaction with markets influenced by the constraints and opportunities produced by formal regulations. The principal findings suggest that in spite of the fact that many governments have introduced progressive policies intended to benefit rural populations and their forest use, it is questionable the extent to which such policies have actually brought about any real change to benefit communities. Exploring the role of informal institutions, as they interact with formal law, is important to explain these outcomes in practice. This study draws on five case studies that provide evidence supporting this argument. Field research was carried out from 2006 to 2007 in four different countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

This study adopts an institutional approach to analyze the way in which informal rules, in their interaction with formal rules, shape the use of forest resources by diverse types of smallholders and communities (i.e., indigenous people, agro-extractive and traditional communities) in Latin America. Attention is given to understanding the 'working rules', comprising both formal and informal rules, that individuals use in making their decisions for land and forest resources access and use, which in turn affect benefits generation and distribution from such resources use. The dichotomy between formal and informal institutions take on relative importance, it is their interaction that matters in assessing human behavior. Three areas of behavior that affect forest resource use by smallholders and communities are examined: (1) the interface of formal rules, often contained in written laws, and practiced 'rules of the game' that guide how smallholders and communities control, allocate, legitimize and enforce land and forest tenure rights, (2) local systems for forest resource use and management under the imposition of formal regulations and models, and (3) smallholder interaction with markets influenced by the constraints and opportunities produced by formal regulations. The principal findings suggest that in spite of the fact that many governments have introduced progressive policies intended to benefit rural populations and their forest use, it is questionable the extent to which such policies have actually brought about any real change to benefit communities. Exploring the role of informal institutions, as they interact with formal law, is important to explain these outcomes in practice. This study draws on five case studies that provide evidence supporting this argument. Field research was carried out from 2006 to 2007 in four different countries: Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

How are forestry decentralisations evolving in Latin America? What role are municipal governments playing, and to what extent are the needs of forest-dependent peoples being taken into account? This article represents a synthesis of research findings from Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. It assesses current trends in Latin American forestry decentralisations, with particular attention to different conceptions of decentralisation, the role of sub-national governments and the problems of forest-dependent groups. With regard to sub-national governments, the research finds that the principal tendency in the decentralisation of decision-making over forests is through contractual arrangements between local or state governments and forestry institutes. For their part, forest-dependent groups are not able to improve their opportunity to engage in forestry-based activities without specific policies operating in their favour – beginning with secure access to forest resources – and such policy changes have most often come about in response to organised demands and in policy spheres outside of forestry.

This paper analyzes the growing role of municipal governments in Bolivia and Nicaragua in forest-related issues on the basis of some thirty case studies. It first provides background information on forest issues and legislation concerning municipal involvement in forest issues in the two countries. It then uses the case study material to derive some initial responses to six frequently asked questions about municipal forestry activities. It concludes that municipalities only devote a small proportion of their resources to these issues but show increasing interest and concern. Heavily forested municipalities tend to view forests as a productive asset, while the more deforested municipalities have greater concern for environmental degradation. Decentralization has opened opportunities for previously marginalized stakeholders to participate in forest policy decisions, but has not guaranteed that this will occur in every case. It has also favored local producers over outside interests. Inter-agency environmental commissions have achieved mixed results in Nicaragua. Municipalities implement a variety of forestry activities. However, the impact of increased municipal participation in forest issues on both forests and local livelihoods remains small compared to the magnitude of the problems. National government agencies, donor projects, NGOs, and community organizations could substantially improve these impacts in the future.

The continued growth in demand for a relatively small number of agricultural and forest commodities in global trade has placed increasing pressures on forests across landscapes in the tropics and sub-tropics. These pressures are amplified by growing domestic demand in producing countries. Such trends have led to multiple environmental challenges linked to loss of forests and biodiversity and rising carbon emissions. They also create social challenges including threats to local food security, tenure rights and the livelihoods of indigenous peoples and local communities. Expansion of trade in forest-risk commodities over the past three decades has resulted in increased pressure from civil society organizations, consumers, international banks and shareholders of consumer goods companies to develop and implement a diverse array of instruments and tools to promote sustainable or deforestation-free sourcing, and as a way to reduce exposure to reputational, financial and regulatory risks. Multi-stakeholder platforms and commodity roundtables also emerged, in response to criticisms of government failures. The multiplication of sustainability initiatives has been driven by the growing complexity and diversity of conditions under which agri-food and timber supply chains operate. Private sector actors have increasingly defined and monitored their own sustainability performance by using certification standards or by developing their own procedures and criteria. More recently, a discernible shift toward landscape or jurisdictional approaches is seen as a way to meet sustainability goals. The growing complexity of policy regimes, inevitably, results in ambiguities and can lead to tradeoffs between gains and losses. This review presents a synthesis of the multiple public, private and hybrid governance initiatives that aim to promote sustainable supplies of key forest-risk commodities. It aims to make it easier to understand a vast and rapidly expanding literature. By drawing on the published literature and scientific discussions, including the recent FTA 2020 Science Conference, the review highlights some of the outstanding challenges that urgently need to be addressed in order to achieve the targeted impacts.

Forestry decentralization offers new opportunities for participation in decision-making regarding natural resources and for greater local resource control. Yet previous research has found that decentralizations, at least in the way that they are implemented, may also have detrimental effects on forest-dependent peoples. CIFOR, with support from IDRC, carried out a study in 2005 to investigate the implications of these processes in Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. This book represents a synthesis of this research. Among other things, it finds that most gains in terms of decentralized decision-making have come from contractual arrangements between sub-national governments and forestry institutes and through certain land tenure policies. With regard to marginalized groups, the research found that forestry in general is not a sector in which small producers are able to improve their welfare without specific policies operating in their favor, and for decentralization to have a positive effect, it has to come hand in hand with other measures—particularly those that address structural inequities, such as property rights and access to financial resources and technologies. The book has three principal goals: to propose a theoretical framework to conceptualize more effectively the relationship among decentralization, governance and livelihoods; to assess the current state of forestry decentralizations in Latin America, with particular attention to the role of sub-national governments and the effects on "marginalized" forest-dependent groups; and to identify research and actions that could increase the benefits of decentralization for these groups.