Conditions for the dissemination of participatory forest management and the resource dynamics: an analysis applying forest infrastructure concept

科学研究費助成事業(科学研究費補助金)研究成果報告書：基盤研究(B)2009-2011課題番号：2140500

Deforestation and Agricultural Expansion Processes in Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia

Gunung Palung National Park (GPNP) represents the biodiversity of tropical forests remain  in Kalimantan Island. However, the natural ecosystem has been threatened by human impact.  This study aimed (1) to identify the deforestation process inside the national park by imagery analysis of Landsat TM (1992), Landsat ETM+ (1999), and SPOT5 (2004), and (2) to find the driving forces behind agricultural expansions.  The results showed that forest cover of GPNP decreased by 18.7% (equal with 18,675) at an average rate of 1.6% per year from 1992 to 2004.  Land use changes by illegal logging were accelerated after decentralization (1,064 ha in 1992-1999 to 3,781 ha in 1999-2004).  In the other side, increase of mix garden/bush area inside GPNP was relatively constant (4,555 ha in 1992-1999 to 9,040 ha in 1999-2004).  Results also showed tendency on increasing areas for dry-rice cultivation and rubber plantation (averagely 2.0 ha per household).  The study also revealed that secondary forest has constantly decreased in GPNP annually.  Family size and income were considered as important factors that were driving forces of deforestation.  To this, zoning system of the national park by clear participatory demarcation and application of effective buffer-zone support programs were recommended.Keywords: deforestation, agricultural expansion, national park, imagery analysis, zoning syste

Expression of Bitter Taste Receptors in the Intestinal Cells of Non-Human Primates

(1) Background: Recent studies have investigated the expression of taste-related genes in the organs of various animals, including humans; however, data for additional taxa are needed to facilitate comparative analyses within and among species. (2) Methods: We investigated the expression of taste-related genes in the intestines of rhesus macaques, the non-human primates most commonly used in experimental models. (3) Results: Based on RNAseq and qRT-PCR, genes encoding bitter taste receptors and the G-protein gustducin were expressed in the gut of rhesus macaques. RNAscope analysis showed that one of the bitter receptors, TAS2R38, was expressed in some cells in the small intestine, and immunohistochemical analysis revealed the presence of T2R38-positive cells in the villi of the intestines. (4) Conclusions: These results suggest that bitter receptors are expressed in the gut of rhesus macaques, supporting the use of macaques as a model for studies of human taste, including gut analyses

The Institutional Design and Effectiveness of Timber Benefit Sharing under Joint Forest Management in Madhya Pradesh, India

This paper explores the institutional design of timber benefit sharing under the Joint Forest Management (JFM) policy and its effectiveness as an incentive for forest protection in Madhya Pradesh, India. Institutional analysis and case studies including household surveys for five committees were carried out. Except for plantations newly created under JFM, the places and times of timber harvesting were determined solely by the state forest department according to the division-level working plan. The sharing of the monetary benefits was determined by the state government and paid in equal amounts to committees in a lump sum, without taking the committees’ differing degrees of performance into consideration. Except in one committee, only a few respondents knew about the benefit sharing. In a committee where the shared benefits had been paid, even though little collective action had taken place, the money was used without communal decisions. It was confirmed that benefit sharing from timber production in Madhya Pradesh had not been implemented with flexible calculation and payment systems based on local people’s involvement in the decision-making process. Information provided by the concerned forest officers was the only way to motivate local people, and yet the appropriate information provisions were not likely to be in place. At the very least, improvements in the information provision with a change in the forest officers’ perceptions and attitudes are desirable

Payment for What? The Realities of Forestry Benefit Sharing Under Joint Forest Management in a Major Teak Plantation Region of Java, Indonesia

This paper explores the realities of forestry beneft sharing under joint forest management in a major teak plantation region of Java, Indonesia, with reference to empirical information about the uses and efects of monetary benefts in terms of stakeholder power relations. The authors intend to enrich current understandings of the pitfalls of beneft-sharing mechanisms at the local level. The analysis focuses on institutional designs of beneft sharing, recent statistical realities of shared benefts, the uses of monetary benefts in villages, and the livelihood and conservation implications of shared benefts through household surveys. The results confrm that the beneft-sharing system has been neither efective nor equitable economically (inefective investment, a distribution policy preferring villages’ wants, and a lack of attempts to improve general farmers’ livelihoods and pro-poor arrangements), ecologically (little change in forest protection systems and continuing illegal logging and unofcial forestland cultivation), and in terms of governance (elite capture and a lack of downward accountability). Limited capacity, downward accountability of committee executive members and a laissez-faire attitude of forest administrators were also observed. A laissez-faire policy of forest administration under the frameworks of joint forest management can create room for elite capture as well as inefective conservation and poor livelihood outcomes and should thus be avoided. Appropriate and supportive facilitation and collaboration from the outside to develop the capacity and downward accountability of village-level decision makers is needed. These issues are increasingly important in the context of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus (REDD+)

Assessing medicinal plants as the linkage between healthcare, livelihood and biodiversity: a case study from native villages surrounding a second-tier city in the central Peruvian Amazon

Medicinal plants are still used for healthcare and as medicaments especially in developing countries and some rural areas. The potential and high expectation of medicinal plants for local healthcare and livelihood and as biodiversity management is prevalent globally. This study assesses the extent to which medicinal plants bring benefits in biodiversity management and improve livelihood and healthcare in indigenous villages near a small city, a second tier city in the central Peruvian Amazon, taking into consideration the course of urbanization. A total of 81 people living in two villages were interviewed. The results show that unlike areas surrounding large cities in the Amazon, areas around the second tier city do not have the conditions to commercialize medicinal plants to support livelihood. Therefore, the local utilization of medicinal plants does not deteriorate the forest resources, thus medicinal plants would not be expected to be a driver for biodiversity management. Although medicinal plants still support healthcare of the locals, the reliance on modern medicine is aparent. The distance to the urbanized city and modern facilities influences the use of medicinal plants. While close proximity facilitates the use of modern medicine, it is found that mal-accessibility to modern medicine does not increase the variety of medicinal plant use

Deforestation and Agricultural Expansion Processes in Gunung Palung National Park, West Kalimantan, Indonesia

Gunung Palung National Park (GPNP) represents the biodiversity of tropical forests remain  in Kalimantan Island. However, the natural ecosystem has been threatened by human impact.  This study aimed (1) to identify the deforestation process inside the national park by imagery analysis of Landsat TM (1992), Landsat ETM+ (1999), and SPOT5 (2004), and (2) to find the driving forces behind agricultural expansions.  The results showed that forest cover of GPNP decreased by 18.7% (equal with 18,675) at an average rate of 1.6% per year from 1992 to 2004.  Land use changes by illegal logging were accelerated after decentralization (1,064 ha in 1992-1999 to 3,781 ha in 1999-2004).  In the other side, increase of mix garden/bush area inside GPNP was relatively constant (4,555 ha in 1992-1999 to 9,040 ha in 1999-2004).  Results also showed tendency on increasing areas for dry-rice cultivation and rubber plantation (averagely 2.0 ha per household).  The study also revealed that secondary forest has constantly decreased in GPNP annually.  Family size and income were considered as important factors that were driving forces of deforestation.  To this, zoning system of the national park by clear participatory demarcation and application of effective buffer-zone support programs were recommended.Keywords: deforestation, agricultural expansion, national park, imagery analysis, zoning syste

Presence and effectiveness of material benefit provisions under Joint Forest Management in India: the cases of World Bank-aided Village Forest Committees in Madhya Pradesh

Provision of material benefits by external agencies has been widely adopted in developing countries’ forest management, although their effectiveness in improving local livelihoods and conservation has been controversial. We provide empirical evidence of the presence and effectiveness of material benefit provisions under Joint Forest Management (JFM) in a forest division of Madhya Pradesh State, India. We conducted an extensive survey of 18 World Bank-aided Village Forest Committees (VFCs) and case studies of two committees, one tribal and one non-tribal. Material benefit provisions by the forest department were the most predominant type of economic activity. Provisions were dispensed in a top-down manner lacking communication and facilitation, and consequently were not sufficiently effective in improving local livelihoods and conservation, especially in tribal communities. The policy implications we derived are; the provision of material benefits should be properly explained to beneficiaries for them to be effective as conservation incentives; technical assistance for the maintenance of the dispensed materials should be provided by village development specialists; and collective forest-based activities should be gradually promoted so that beneficiaries gain a sense of ownership for forest resources and programs. These improvements should be implemented with particular attention to disadvantaged or marginalized populations

Conditions of marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Philippines observed through the MEAT database and a reality of evaluation system and the community based management in two MPA cases

It is well recognized that the marine resources of the Philippines are increasingly and severely damaged by climate change and human interventions, including overfishing and destructive fishing. To manage its marine resources, the government has implemented marine protected area (MPA) systems, expecting the involvement of local communities in its management. Although over 1,600 MPAs had been established by 2014, it is reported that they are not effectively managed. The purpose of the study is to determine the current conditions of MPAs in the Philippines using the MPA Management Effectiveness Assessment Tool (MEAT) developed in 2010, and to identify how MEAT reflects reality through interviews at two MPAs. The MEAT data analysis shows that MEAT has not yet been fully utilized and its information is not representative of all the MPAs in the country. So far, as based on the information provided by MEAT, less than half of the MPAs are effectively managed and management effectiveness is not related to the age of the MPA or evenly distributed across regions. The field study, although limited by the fact that it is based on only two MPAs, raises the question as to whether or not local evaluation has been conducted as intended. Unlike the high expectations of communities as effective MPA management entities, local people in the two cases rely more on local government. The results suggest the necessity of further studies on monitoring the MEAT evaluation process and the importance of field studies regarding the effectiveness of community-based MPA management