Suchergebnisse

Climate change presents potential risks to forests and challenges for forest managers. Adaptation to climate change involves monitoring and anticipating change and undertaking actions to avoid the negative consequences and take advantage of potential benefits of those changes. Forest managers are accustomed to considering the long-term implications of their decisions. However, many are now responding to much shorter term economic or political imperatives. Climate change potentially increases the consequences of many existing challenges associated with environmental, social or economic change. Some current management measures may continue to be suitable in responding to increasing pressures under climate change, while for other situations new measures will be required. This special issue presents papers from Africa, Europe, and North America that provide examples of the type of analysis being implemented to support forest management in a changing climate. The implications in the context of uncertainty in climate projections and ecosystem responses are discussed.

Policies to promote tree plantations in the Lao People's Democratic Republic have been developed since independence to support national socio-economic and environmental goals, and in response to domestic and international markets. The effectiveness of these policies has been variable, and the resulting plantation wood value chains are poorly developed due to contradictory and confusing laws and regulations with inconsistent application and high transaction costs. Consequently, there has been limited tree plantation investment, and few investments have realized the anticipated benefits. Renewed interest in plantations from the government, investors and other sectors in Laos has prompted policy reviews and recognition of the need for new policy settings. We reviewed the development of plantation policies in Laos and assessed policy effectiveness and barriers to policy options. Through document analysis, interviews with key stakeholders and actors, stakeholder forums, and field research, we found that smarter regulation, and facilitating value-chain partnerships and knowledge sharing, can motivate smallholders and industry investors in plantations, and increase community-level benefits and financial returns to the Government and private sector. These results are discussed in the context of current international developments in plantation policy and the convergence in related policy processes in Laos.

• The Government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has played a prominent part in recent negotiations for "rainforest nations" to be compensated for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation or forest degradation (DFD). • A new report "The State of the Forests of Papua New Guinea" claims that rates of DFD in PNG are much higher than have previously reported. It suggests more than half of PNG's remaining forests will have disappeared or be damaged beyond recovery by 2021. • We argue that this claim is incorrect. The report overestimates the area of intact primary forest in 1972 and the impact of traditional land use practices on forest cover. Much of what the RSLUP report considers as deforestation is part of a cycle of traditional clearance for farming, fallow and regrowth that has been occurring for hundreds of years. • The assumption that areas impacted by harvesting or shifting cultivation will inevitably degrade and become non-forest is also not supported by observation of cutover forest in PNG. A considerable proportion of cutover forest areas will recover carbon stocks after harvesting. • It is argued that traditional land use practices and forest recovery processes need to be considered in assessing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation in countries with complex land use histories such as PNG.

• The Government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has played a prominent part in recent negotiations for "rainforest nations" to be compensated for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation or forest degradation (DFD). • A new report "The State of the Forests of Papua New Guinea" claims that rates of DFD in PNG are much higher than have previously reported. It suggests more than half of PNG's remaining forests will have disappeared or be damaged beyond recovery by 2021. • We argue that this claim is incorrect. The report overestimates the area of intact primary forest in 1972 and the impact of traditional land use practices on forest cover. Much of what the RSLUP report considers as deforestation is part of a cycle of traditional clearance for farming, fallow and regrowth that has been occurring for hundreds of years. • The assumption that areas impacted by harvesting or shifting cultivation will inevitably degrade and become non-forest is also not supported by observation of cutover forest in PNG. A considerable proportion of cutover forest areas will recover carbon stocks after harvesting. • It is argued that traditional land use practices and forest recovery processes need to be considered in assessing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation in countries with complex land use histories such as PNG.

International audience ; The Government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has played a prominent part in recent negotiations for "rainforest nations" to be compensated for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation or forest degradation (DFD).* A new report "The State of the Forests of Papua New Guinea" claims that rates of DFD in PNG are much higher than have previously reported. It suggests more than half of PNG's remaining forests will have disappeared or be damaged beyond recovery by 2021.* We argue that this claim is incorrect. The report overestimates the area of intact primary forest in 1972 and the impact of traditional land use practices on forest cover. Much of what the RSLUP report considers as deforestation is part of a cycle of traditional clearance for farming, fallow and regrowth that has been occurring for hundreds of years.* The assumption that areas impacted by harvesting or shifting cultivation will inevitably degrade and become non-forest is also not supported by observation of cutover forest in PNG. A considerable proportion of cutover forest areas will recover carbon stocks after harvesting.* It is argued that traditional land use practices and forest recovery processes need to be considered in assessing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and degradation in countries with complex land use histories such as PNG. ; Le Gouvernement de Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée (PNG) a joué un rôle important dans les récentes négociations pour que "les pays à forêt tropicale humide" soient indemnisés pour la réduction des émissions de gaz à effet de serre provenant de la déforestation ou la dégradation des forêts (DFD).* Un nouveau rapport "L'État des forêts de Papouasie-Nouvelle Guinée" affirme que les taux de DFD en PNG sont nettement plus élevés que précédemment signalés. Il suggère que plus de la moitié des forêts de PNG auront disparu ou seront endommagées au-delà de la récupération d'ici 2021.* Nous sommes d'avis que cette affirmation est erronée. Le rapport surestime la surface de la forêt ...