El manejo forestal en el contexto de la adaptación al cambio climático

La relación entre los bosques tropicales y el cambio climático global se ha centrado más en la mitigación, mientras que se ha prestado menos atención a cómo las actividades de manejo pueden ayudar a los ecosistemas forestales a adaptarse a dicho cambio. Este documento discute la manera en que algunas prácticas de manejo forestal tropical pueden contribuir a mantener o mejorar la capacidad de adaptación de los bosques naturales o las plantaciones forestales al cambio climático global. Asimismo, considera los desafíos y oportunidades que se presentan al incorporar el manejo de bosques tropicales en el contexto más am- plio de la adaptación al cambio climático. Además de la extracción de bajo impacto para mantener la integridad del ecosistema, se necesitarían otros enfoques como la prevención y manejo de incendios, así como opciones silviculturales específicas para favorecer la adaptación genética. El manejo de plantaciones forestales ofrece oportunidades adicionales a aquellas en bosques naturales, para implementar medidas de adaptación, tanto industrial como de pequeña escala. Si bien la integración de las me- didas de manejo forestal destinadas a mejorar la adaptación al cambio climático no requeriría de mayores esfuerzos adicionales en relación con las prácticas actuales, hasta la fecha poco o nada se ha hecho al respecto. ¿Hasta qué punto la investigación forestal y las políticas nacionales están promoviendo la adopción de prácticas de manejo (muchas de ellas no necesitan investi- garse a fondo) que ayuden a los bosques de producción a adaptarse al cambio climático? La priorización de la adaptación en los programas de desarrollo y planificación forestal nacional puede representar un primer paso hacia la incorporación del cambio climático en el manejo forestal tropical.The links between tropical forests and global climate change have traditionally focused on mitigation. Much less emphasis, by contrast, has been devoted to how management activities may help forest ecosystems adapt to a changing climate. This article discusses how some kinds of forestry management practices can help maintain or enhance the adaptive capacity of natural and planted tropical forests to global climate change. It also outlines some challenges, as well as opportunities, for integrating tropical forest management into climate-change adaptation more broadly. In addition to the use of reduced-impact logging to maintain ecosystem integrity, other approaches, such as fire prevention and management as well as specific silvicultural options aimed at facilitating genetic adaptation, may be needed. The normally higher intensity of management in tree plantations (compared to natural forests) offers additional opportunities for implementing adaptation measures at both the industrial and smallholder level. Although the integration of measures aimed at enhancing adaptation to climate change may not involve subs- tantial deviations from current practices, little action appears to have been taken on the ground. Up to what point have forestry research and national policies promoted the adoption of management practices (many of which do not need much additional investigation) that assist exploited forests adapt to climate change? Prioritizing adaptation in national development and forestry planning can serve as a first step towards incorporating climate change into tropical forestry management.A relação entre as selvas tropicais e a mudança climática global está focada principalmente na mitigação, enquanto se presta menos atenção em como é que as atividades de gestão podem ajudar os ecossistemas florestais na adaptação a essas mudanças. Esse do- cumento argúi sobre a forma em que algumas práticas de gestão florestal podem contribuir com a manutenção ou aprimoramento da capacidade de adaptação dos bosques naturais ou das plantações florestais à mudança climática global. Igualmente, considera os desafios e oportunidades verificadas com a incorporação da gestão de bosques tropicais no contexto mais amplo da adaptação à mudança climática. Além da extração de baixo impacto para manter a integridade do ecossistema são necessárias outras aborda- gens como a prevenção e manejo de incêndios, bem como opções especificas de silvicultura para favorecer a adaptação genética. A gestão de plantações florestais oferece oportunidades adicionais de aplicar, em plantações situadas em bosques naturais, medidas de adaptação não só industrial, mas também de pequena escala. Embora, quando comparadas com as práticas atuais, não é preciso fazer grandes esforços adicionais para incorporar as medidas de gestão florestal voltadas para melhorar a adaptação à mudança climática, até hoje pouco ou nada foi feito nesse respeito. Até que ponto a pesquisa florestal e as políticas nacionais promovem a apli- cação de práticas de gestão (muitas delas não precisam de investigação a fundo) que ajudem os bosques de produção a se adaptar à mudança climática? O estabelecimento de prioridades de adaptação nos programas de desenvolvimento e planejamento florestal nacional podem ser o primeiro passo para a incorporação da mudança climática na gestão florestal tropical

Nut production in Bertholletia excelsa across a logged forest mosaic: implications for multiple forest use

Although many examples of multiple-use forest management may be found in tropical smallholder systems, few studies provide empirical support for the integration of selective timber harvesting with non-timber forest product (NTFP) extraction. Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa, Lecythidaceae) is one of the world’s most economically-important NTFP species extracted almost entirely from natural forests across the Amazon Basin. An obligate out-crosser, Brazil nut flowers are pollinated by large-bodied bees, a process resulting in a hard round fruit that takes up to 14 months to mature. As many smallholders turn to the financial security provided by timber, Brazil nut fruits are increasingly being harvested in logged forests. We tested the influence of tree and stand-level covariates (distance to nearest cut stump and local logging intensity) on total nut production at the individual tree level in five recently logged Brazil nut concessions covering about 4000 ha of forest in Madre de Dios, Peru. Our field team accompanied Brazil nut harvesters during the traditional harvest period (January-April 2012 and January-April 2013) in order to collect data on fruit production. Three hundred and ninety-nine (approximately 80%) of the 499 trees included in this study were at least 100 m from the nearest cut stump, suggesting that concessionaires avoid logging near adult Brazil nut trees. Yet even for those trees on the edge of logging gaps, distance to nearest cut stump and local logging intensity did not have a statistically significant influence on Brazil nut production at the applied logging intensities (typically 1–2 timber trees removed per ha). In one concession where at least 4 trees ha-1 were removed, however, the logging intensity covariate resulted in a marginally significant (0.09) P value, highlighting a potential risk for a drop in nut production at higher intensities. While we do not suggest that logging activities should be completely avoided in Brazil nut rich forests, when a buffer zone cannot be observed, low logging intensities should be implemented. The sustainability of this integrated management system will ultimately depend on a complex series of socioeconomic and ecological interactions. Yet we submit that our study provides an important initial step in understanding the compatibility of timber harvesting with a high value NTFP, potentially allowing for diversification of forest use strategies in Amazonian Perù

El manejo forestal en el contexto de la adaptación al cambio climático

La relación entre los bosques tropicales y el cambio climático global se ha centrado más en la mitigación, mientras que se ha prestado menos atención a cómo las actividades de manejo pueden ayudar a los ecosistemas forestales a adaptarse a dicho cambio. Este documento discute la manera en que algunas prácticas de manejo forestal tropical pueden contribuir a mantener o mejorar la capacidad de adaptación de los bosques naturales o las plantaciones forestales al cambio climático global. Asimismo, considera los desafíos y oportunidades que se presentan al incorporar el manejo de bosques tropicales en el contexto más amplio de la adaptación al cambio climático. Además de la extracción de bajo impacto para mantener la integridad del ecosistema, se necesitarían otros enfoques como la prevención y manejo de incendios, así como opciones silviculturales específicas para favorecer la adaptación genética. El manejo de plantaciones forestales ofrece oportunidades adicionales a aquellas en bosques naturales, para implementar medidas de adaptación, tanto industrial como de pequeña escala. Si bien la integración de las medidas de manejo forestal destinadas a mejorar la adaptación al cambio climático no requeriría de mayores esfuerzos adicionales en relación con las prácticas actuales, hasta la fecha poco o nada se ha hecho al respecto. ¿Hasta qué punto la investigación forestal y las políticas nacionales están promoviendo la adopción de prácticas de manejo (muchas de ellas no necesitan investigarse a fondo) que ayuden a los bosques de producción a adaptarse al cambio climático? La priorización de la adaptación en los programas de desarrollo y planificación forestal nacional puede representar un primer paso hacia la incorporación del cambio climático en el manejo forestal tropical

Revisiting the 'cornerstone of Amazonian conservation': a socioecological assessment of Brazil nut exploitation

Abstract The Brazil nut (the seeds of the rainforest tree Bertholletia excelsa) is the only globally traded seed collected from the wild by forest-based harvesters across the Amazon basin. The large geographic scale of Brazil nut exploitation and the significant contributions to local livelihoods, national economies, and forest-based development over the last decades, merit a review of the ''conservation-through-use'' paradigm. We use Elinor Ostrom's framework for assessing sustainability in socioecological systems: (1) resource unit, (2) users, (3) governance system, and (4) resource system, to determine how different contexts and external developments generate specific conservation and development outcomes. We find that the resource unit reacts robustly to the type and level of extraction currently practiced; that resource users have built on a self-organized system that had defined boundaries and access to the resource; that linked production chains, market networks and informal financing work to supply global markets; and that local harvesters have used supporting alliances with NGOs and conservationists to formalize and secure their endogenous governance system and make it more equitable. As a result, the Brazil nut model represents a socioecological system that may not require major changes to sustain productivity. Yet since long-term Brazil nut production seems inextricably tied to a continuous forest cover, and because planted Brazil nut trees currently provide a minimal contribution to total nut production basin-wide, we call to preserve, diversify and intensify production in Brazil nut-rich forests that will inevitably become ever more integrated within human-modified landscapes over time

Seed population dynamics and germination in Coespeletia timotensis Cuat, (Compositae) an Andean giant rosette

Publicado en: Biotropica 20(1), 1988: [email protected]

Forest regeneration in abandoned logging roads in lowland Costa Rica

This study characterised plant regeneration in four old logging roads (700-1 000 m long) in selectively logged forests in lowland Costa Rica, 12-17 years after abandonment. Sets of 4 m2 plots were laid out at 20 m intervals in three distinct microhabitats: road track (topsoil eliminated), road edge (where removed topsoil accumulates on the sides after road construction), and adjacent logged forest. Density of stems taller than 1 m and at least 5 cm dbh (included canopy trees, midstorey trees, lianas, palms, shrubs and tree fern species) was highest in the road edge plots than either the track or logged forest plots. This ‘edge effect’ is presumably due to buried seed germination of light-demanding trees and shrubs after moderate soil disturbance, less compaction and higher substrate fertility than in road tracks. Species richness was the lowest, but relative dominance the highest, in the track plots of all roads: 6-9 species comprised alone 50% of the Importance Value Index (IVI), in contrast to 11-15 and 16-22 species required to reach 50% IVI in edge and forest plots, respectively. There was evidence of soil compaction in tracks in three out of four roads which, in addition to low substrate fertility and initial lack of on-site plant propagules, could explain slower recovery of stem density and species richness compared to edge and logged forest plots. For stems between 5 20 cm dbh, density and basal area in the track plots averaged about one-fourth of edge and logged forest plot values. We estimated recovery of basal area in road tracks to take at least 80 years to reach the status found in logged forest, and species richness over an even longer period. We suggest that abandoned logging roads serve as long corridors of relatively uniform and long-la sting floristic and structural characteristics that may confer particular ecological roles in selectively logged forests

Current Challenges and Perspectives for Governing Forest Restoration

Negotiation, reconciliation of multiple scales through both ecological and social dimensions and minimization of power imbalances are considered critical challenges to overcome for effective governance of forest restoration. Finding the right mix of “command and control” in forest restoration vs. “environmental governance”, which includes non-state actors, regulatory flexibility, and market based instruments is at the heart of these challenges. This Special Issue attempts at shedding light on these challenges with case studies from South and Central America, Africa, and Asia. Some provide within-country as well as cross-country comparisons. A few others present case studies at the household level. Both policy and legal constraints towards implementing forest restoration are also discussed as a function of top down vs. bottom up approaches. The effectiveness of payments for environmental services is examined as catalyzers of forest restoration initiatives. Finally, two papers deal with the legal and policy constraints in making restoration through natural regeneration a viable and cost-effective tool. In the face of renewed perspectives for expanding forest restoration programs globally, governance issues will likely play a key role in eventually determining success. As many of the papers in this Special Issue suggest, the fate of forest restoration outcomes is, more often than not, associated with overall governance challenges, some of which are often overlooked particularly across multiple scales

Co-Creating Conceptual and Working Frameworks for Implementing Forest and Landscape Restoration Based on Core Principles

Existing guidelines and best-practices documents do not satisfy, at present, the need for guiding implementation of Forest and Landscape Restoration (FLR) based on core principles. Given the wide range of FLR practices and the varied spectrum of actors involved, a single working framework is unlikely to be effective, but tailored working frameworks can be co-created based on a common conceptual framework (i.e., a common core set of principles and a generalized set of criteria and indicators). We present background regarding FLR concepts, definitions, and principles, and discuss the challenges that confront effective and long-term implementation of FLR. We enumerate the many benefits that a transformative criteria and indicators framework can bring to actors and different sectors involved in restoration when such framework is anchored in the FLR principles. We justify the need to co-develop and apply specifically tailored working frameworks to help ensure that FLR interventions bring social, economic, and environmental benefits to multiple stakeholders within landscapes and adjust to changing conditions over time. Several examples of working FLR frameworks are presented to illustrate the goals and needs of communities, donors and investors, and government agencies. Transparency, feedback, communication, assessment, and adaptive management are important components of all working frameworks. Finally, we describe existing FLR guidelines and what we can learn from them. Working frameworks can be developed and used by different actors who seek to initiate an FLR process and to align restoration actions at different scales and levels