Tourism in sub-global assessments of ecosystem services

Published in 2005, the United Nations Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) stressed that influencing governments, businesses and communities to address the supra-national challenge of limiting biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation requires a fuller understanding of the range of values and benefits people derive from ecosystems, including tourism. The MA was informed by, and has shaped, several conceptually and methodologically distinctive sub-global assessments (SGAs) of ecosystem services. Through content analysis, this paper is the first detailed examination of how tourism features in 14 extant SGAs identified in a database held by a major supra-national environmental organization. Although the SGAs should have incorporated the widest range of specialist subject expertise, tourism scholars played only peripheral roles in producing them even for territories where tourism is a significant land use. The SGAs examined did not benefit from the extensive body of knowledge relating to sustainable tourism. Limited portrayals of tourism restrict the capacity of SGAs in their current format as management solutions. It is also contradictory to the ethos, principles and purpose of ecosystem assessments. With the ecosystem services perspective set to become more important to policy and decision making, the paper argues for greater incorporation of recent progress in sustainable tourism in ecosystem assessment

Secondary forests in the Philippines: formation and transformation in the 20th century

Secondary forests are the largest and most dynamic natural forest ecosystems in the Philippines. This paper examines the characteristics and dynamics of secondary forests in the country. In the last century, the country lost 50% of its natural tropical forest cover. At present, the major land cover types in terms of areal coverage are upland farms, secondary forests, protected forests, brushlands, grasslands and tree plantations. The two most dominant types of secondary forests are post extraction secondary forests and swidden fallow secondary forests. The former stems from legal and illegal logging, which are ultimately rooted in corruption, poverty and high population pressure. At present, post extraction secondary forests are the main source of wood products of the country. Although secondary forests initially increase as a result of heavy commercial logging, they subsequently decrease due to degradation to brushland and conversion to agriculture. Swidden fallow secondary forests are generally associated with indigenous cultural communities who derive many ecological and socio economic benefits from them. However, there are very limited quantitative data available on these forests, including areal coverage. The paper emphasises the need for research efforts directed at the sustainable use and conservation of secondary forests in the Philippines

Using Soil and Water Assessment Tool to assess material transfer in Layawan Watershed and its implications on payment for ecosystem services

Soil and water are the most important resources in the watershed. The alterations on the quantity and quality of these resources do not only have on-site impacts, but are experienced by off-site communities as well. To assess the material transfer and identify critical sub-basins in the Layawan Watershed, Mindanao, Philippines; the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) Model was used. The model was also used to investigate changes in land use. Results show that a 4% reduction in sediment concentration and sediment yield in the critical sub-basins will be achieved if the community-based watershed management plan is implemented. On the other hand, there will be a 106% increase in sediment concentration and sediment yield if forests are cleared for utilization, primarily for agriculture, in the critical sub-basins. Modeling sediment yield and sediment concentration is important to help policy makers, environmental managers, and development agencies predict the impact of activities on soil and water quality, as well as guide them in the implementation of payments for ecosystem services (PES) schemes. The quantification of ecosystem services has been a major challenge surrounding the success of PES. In the Layawan Watershed, it is shown that land change use will not likely affect water quantity, it will, however, heavily impact water quality. Modeling provides an avenue to manage watersheds effectively and efficiently. SWAT running on open source GIS could help budget-constrained government units and development agencies to better predict the impact of programs and projects on watersheds

One century of forest rehabilitation in the Philippines: approaches, outcomes and lessons

Forest cover is decreasing or very low in many tropical landscapes following decades of logging, fire and other human disturbances. At the same time, there are large and growing areas of degraded forest lands that need to be rehabilitated to again provide forest goods and services and meet local livelihood needs. National, international, local and private agencies have invested in innumerable rehabilitation initiatives in the tropics. Lots of money has been spent, but have these efforts actually increased forest cover, helped impoverished upland communities, enhanced biodiversity and environmental services, or contributed to meeting timber needs? Did they address the underlying degradation causes and were the rehabilitated areas maintained in the long term? What are the most promising approaches? Which ones can be replicated at low cost by local institutions and actors? Which ones are self-sustaining at the local level? What enabling factors are required to sustain the efforts?. This report reviewing forest rehabilitation in the Philippines is part of a larger study by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and national partners to assess efforts across six countries to try and answer the above questions and derive lessons for planning and guiding future efforts. The countries are Peru, Brazil, Indonesia, Vietnam, China and the Philippines. The study aimed to increase the chances of success for future rehabilitation efforts by identifying the approaches that contributed to longer-term sustainability and positive outcomes for different stakeholders