Environmental justice implications of land grabbing for industrial agriculture and forestry in Argentina

Land grabbing results in social impacts, injustice, conflict and displacement of smallholders. We use an environmental justice framework to analyse land grabbing and actions taken by local communities (resistance, protest, and proactive organisation). Qualitative research investigating land grabbing for tree plantations and agriculture (primarily soy) was undertaken in Argentina. We found that pre-existing local vulnerabilities tended to result in people acquiescing rather than resisting land grabs. Local people considered existing injustices to be more pressing than land grabbing. Locals tacitly accepted injustice resulting in communities becoming displaced, fenced-in, or evicted. Consequently, already-vulnerable people continue to live in unhealthy conditions, insecure tenure situations, and bear a disproportionate social and environmental burden. More attention should be given to pre-existing vulnerabilities and to improving the wellbeing of people affected by land grabs. Analysing land grabbing from an environmental justice perspective contributes to understanding the deeper reasons about why, where and how land grabbing occurs

Is Sustainable Forestry Economically Possible?

Concern about the rate at which the world's forests are being depleted is wide-spread. Recent international calls for radical efforts to reduce deforestation include the United Nations Inter-governmental Forum on Forests of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, and the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development. This concern reflects an appreciation of the ecological and economic functions of forests: as providers of timber and many non-timber predicts, as the habitat for much of the world's biological diversity, and as regulators of local, regional and global environments. These functions are at risk. Most of the forest clearance is in areas of high forest cover and high human population pressure in tropical areas for agriculture. In temperate and boreal areas the pressures from logging are more important. But in all areas, forestry itself has an important role to play both as a partial cause of deforestation, and, if practiced wisely, as a potential source of salvation for at least some of the worldââ‰��������s forests. In terms of its causal role, forestry tends to open up primary forest areas, enabling colonists to move in, using roads forged by the timber companies. In some parts of the world, forests are converted not to agriculture but to biomass plantations of fast growing trees or to other agro-industries based on tree-crop plantations such as palm oil and rubber. Here the primary agent is not the peasant, but the richer elements of local and international society. How, then, can the world's forests be used more wisely? It is this admittedly grand and complex question that we seek to answer in this chapter

A Sustainable Forest Future?

Concern about the rate at which the world's forests are being depleted is wide-spread. Recent international calls for radical efforts to reduce deforestation include the United Nations Inter-governmental Forum on Forests of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (1999), and the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development (1999). This concern reflects an appreciation of the ecological and economic functions of forests: as providers of timber and many non-timber predicts, as the habitat for much of the world's biological diversity, and as regulators of local, regional and global environments. These functions are at risk. Most of the forest clearance is in areas of high forest cover and high human population pressure in tropical areas for agriculture. In temperate and boreal areas the pressures from logging are more important. But in all areas, forestry itself has an important role to play both as a partial cause of deforestation, and, if practiced wisely, as a potential source of salvation for at least some of the world's forests. In terms of its causal role, forestry tends to open up primary forest areas, enabling colonists to move in, using roads forged by the timber companies. In some parts of the world, forests are converted not to agriculture but to biomass plantations of fast growing trees or to other agro-industries based on tree-crop plantations such as palm oil and rubber. Here the primary agent is not the peasant, but the richer elements of local and international society. How, then, can the world's forests be used more wisely? It is this admittedly grand and complex question that we seek to answer in this paper. Some argue for outright protection, caricatured perhaps in the phrase 'fence and forget'. Others argue for 'sustainable forest management', and still others for systems of forest management that rely on acceptance of an initial period of exploitation of valuable species followed by outright protection. The issue, then, is the optimal use of forested land , which begs the question of what is meant by 'optimal'. This is addressed shortly

Sustainable Forestry in the Tropics: Panacea or Folly?

The profitability of uncontrolled logging can be a significant obstacle to sustainable forest management, especially in the tropics. Rice et al. (1997) have argued that not only does traditional selective logging provide higher returns but also incurs less damage to forests than sustainable forest management systems that involve harvesting of many species and the creation of large gaps in the forest canopy to foster regeneration of light-demanding species. They claimed that protected areas were the only viable way to conserve forest ecosystems and proposed that loggers be allowed to log forests selectively once, after which the forests should become parks. Here we respond to the challenge posed by Rice et al. by exhaustively reviewing the evidence regarding the viability and desirability of sustainable forest management in the tropics. Following Rice et al., we use the term conventional timber harvesting to refer to existing practice, which typically pays little attention to maintaining long-term timber supply. Sustainable timber management implies taking steps to ensure forests continue to produce timber in the longer term, while maintaining the full complement of environmental services and non-timber products of the forest. Empirical studies tend to confirm the conclusion of Rice et al. (1997) that although sustainable timber management sometimes provides reasonable rates of return, conventional timber harvesting is generally more profitable. This implies that without additional incentives, one cannot expect companies to adopt sustainable management. The shortsightedness of many loggers, the slow rise in international timber prices, political uncertainty, and tenure insecurity simply reinforce this tendency. However, we reject the claim that sustainable timber management generally damages forests more than conventional logging. Rice et al. base their conclusion largely on the particular case of mahogany extraction in Bolivia, and even there it may not hold. In many cases, sustainable timber management performs better in terms of carbon storage and biodiversity conservation than conventional logging approaches, as well as producing more timber. If new carbon markets emerge, sustainable forest management might compete effectively with conventional timber harvesting. Timber certification systems may also provide a sufficient incentive for sustainable forest management in certain circumstances

A Growth Model for North Queensland Rainforests

A model to predict the growth of commercial timber in north Queensland's rainforests is described. More than 100 commercial species and several hundred other tree species are aggregated into about 20 species groups based on growth habit, volume relationships and commercial criteria. Trees are grouped according to species group and tree size into cohorts, which form the basis for simulation. Equations for predicting increment, mortality and recruitment are presented. The implications of the model on rainforest management for timber production are examined. The model has been used in setting the timber harvest from these rainforests, and should provide an objective basis for investigating the impact of rainforest management strategies. The approach should be applicable to other indigenous forests