Economic potential of forest resources of Nepal

Nepal's forest resources underpin the livelihoods of rural people in important ways. During the country's 'planned development' over the past 50 years, the government, donors and policy makers have viewed these resources as a key vehicle for ushering in economic growth and for meeting basic needs. They underscore the potential value of forest resources for achieving conservation and socio-economic objectives. To what extent have economic incentives been generated to effectively harness these resources to meet the said objectives is an open question. To address this question, this paper reviews briefly and broadly the economic potential of the country's forest resources in terms of forest goods and services. Estimates of economic potential of timber and non-timber forest products and environmental services have been assessed. A number of recommendations for realizing the potential for achieving development and poverty reduction objectives is provided

Impacts of Policy Measures on the Development of State-Owned Forests in Northeastern China: Theoretical Results and Empirical Evidence

State-owned forest enterprises (SOFEs) in northeast China and Inner Mongolia play important roles both in timber production and in the maintenance of ecological security. However, since the late 1970s, forest resource and economic crises have seriously restricted these functions. Based on a theoretical and an empirical analysis of the harvest and investment behavior of the SOFEs, we examined the effects of forest policies and the socioeconomic conditions on the behavioral choices of the SOFEs. Both the extent to which SOFE supervising authorities emphasized improvement of forest resources in their annual evaluations and the increases in expenses necessary to manage SOFEs had significant impacts on harvest and investment decisions as well as development of forest resources. Promoting the management and utilization of non-timber resources, as well as reforms to increase the efficiency of forest protection and management, have reduced timber harvests as intended, which in turn has increased investment and improved forest resources. The effects have been relatively small, however. In contrast, reforms aimed at timber harvest and afforestation activities actually contributed to increasing the timber harvest, which affected the development of the forest resources negatively.state-owned forest enterprise, “double crises,” sustainable forest management, forest policy

Inventory of forest and rangeland resources, including forest stress

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Inventory of forest and rangeland resources, including forest stress

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Does degradation from selective logging and illegal activities differently impact forest resources? A case study in Ghana

Degradation, a reduction of the ecosystem’s capacity to supply goods and services, is widespread in tropical forests and mainly caused by human disturbance. To maintain the full range of forest ecosystem services and support the development of effective conservation policies, we must understand the overall impact of degradation on different forest resources. This research investigates the response to disturbance of forest structure using several indicators: soil carbon content, arboreal richness and biodiversity, functional composition (guild and wood density), and productivity. We drew upon large field and remote sensing datasets from different forest types in Ghana, characterized by varied protection status, to investigate impacts of selective logging, and of illegal land use and resources extraction, which are the main disturbance causes in West Africa. Results indicate that functional composition and the overall number of species are less affected by degradation, while forest structure, soil carbon content and species abundance are seriously impacted, with resources distribution reflecting the protection level of the areas. Remote sensing analysis showed an increase in productivity in the last three decades, with higher resiliency to change in drier forest types, and stronger productivity correlation with solar radiation in the short dry season. The study region is affected by growing anthropogenic pressure on natural resources and by an increased climate variability: possible interactions of disturbance with climate are also discussed, together with the urgency to reduce degradation in order to preserve the full range of ecosystem functions

Inventory of forest and rangeland resources, including forest stress

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

Multiple-use forest management in Central Africa: Perceptions, implementation and evolution

Although multiple-use forest management (MUFM) is supported by forestry laws in the Congo Basin countries, this approach remains confused, misunderstood and little implemented. We conducted a survey with 62 people concerned or in charge of forest management in Cameroon, Gabon and DRC. Three conceptions of MUFM are expressed: (1) an intentional and formal management of the main forest goods and services; (2) an informal use of forest resources; (3) timber management with limited integration of other secondary goods, like NTFP or bushmeat. The first perception is supported by NGOs, research institutes and projects, the second by the communities' representatives, and the third by logging companies and forestry administration. Actual implementation of MUFM was reviewed in eight forest management initiatives - six logging concessions and two community forests. Timber production, biodiversity conservation, protection of sensitive areas and exploitation of NTFPs are the main uses integrated in MUFM. However their implementation faces various barriers: an inadequate legislation that prevents locally extracted resources from being traded when they come from logging concessions, precarious rights on forest resources for communities, and lack of economic profitability. In contrast, three approaches favor the adoption of MUFM, respectively forest certification, enforcement of traditional use rights in logging concessions, and the tentative REDD schemes. (Résumé d'auteur

Inventory of forest and rangeland resources, including forest stress

There are no author-identified significant results in this report

ACCOUNTING FOR FOREST RESOURCES IN ZIMBABWE

Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Forest Measurements

Forest measurements, one of the cornerstones in the foundation of forestry, is the art and science of providing the quantitative information about trees and forest stands necessary for forest management, planning, and research. The updated edition (sixth edition) of this longstanding classic textbook, Forest Measurements, provides new and complete coverage of conventional and current measurement practices and technological applications that link the role of forest measurements with management of forest resources