Managing The Worlds Forests

Although global rates of deforestation have started to decrease, they remain alarmingly high in many tropical countries. In light of this challenge, the growing importance of sustainable forest management (SFM) has been highlighted as a means for improving sustainability across the sector. Achieving sustainable management of tropical forests summarises and reviews the rich body of research on tropical forests and how this research can be utilised to make sustainable management of tropical forests a standard implementable strategy for the future. The book features expert discussions on the economic, political and environmental contexts needed for SFM to operate successfully, including coverage of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With its distinguished editors and international array of expert authors, Achieving sustainable management of tropical forests will be a standard reference for researchers in tropical forest science, international and national organisations responsible for protection and responsible stewardship of tropical forests, as well as the commercial sector harvesting and using tropical forest products.

Yet another book on the topic of ‘Sustainable Forest Management’ can only be justified by new information that is of direct relevance. The contents of this volume concentrate on the very latest factors and developments, thus, hopefully, contributing both to the book’s attractiveness and to closing gaps in the discipline’s database. This book is written for researchers in the field of forest management, international forestry, and climate change-related issues, legal and policy advisors, as well as for managers of private companies who deal with SFM. The authors of the various sections are scientists in the field of forestry and other environmental sciences. They represent different institutions, mainly universities and research agencies in Germany, but also high-level international institutions in development co-operation, such as the World Bank, FAO, and IIASA. The scope of the book is to refresh the meanings and perceptions of SFM against the background of the rapid changes in our natural and social environment. Climate change and the rapid increase of atmospheric CO concentration is a global process 2 with negative impacts of different kinds, among others on natural ecosystems such as forests. A crucial issue therefore is how forest management can contribute to forest conservation in light of changing climatic conditions. Moreover, policy changes such as the introduction of certification schemes and the new emphasis laid on Non-Wood Forest Products justify the re-evaluation of the role of SFM in delivering ecological goods and services from our forests.

Climate changes, particularly warming trends, have been recorded around the globe. For many countries, these changes in climate have become evident through insect epidemics (e.g., Mountain Pine Beetle epidemic in Western Canada, bark beetle in secondary spruce forests in Central Europe), water shortages and intense forest fires in the Mediterranean countries (e.g., 2005 droughts in Spain), and unusual storm activities (e.g., the 2004 South-East Asia Tsunami). Climate changes are expected to impact vegetation as manifested by changes in vegetation extent, migration of species, tree species composition, growth rates, and mortality. The International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has included discussions on how forests may be impacted, and how they may be used to mitigate the impacts of changes in climate, to possibly slow the rate of change. This book provides current scientific information on the biological and economical impacts of climate changes in forest environments, as well as information on how forest management activities might mitigate these impacts, particularly through carbon sequestration. Case studies from a wide geographic range are presented. This information is beneficial to managers and researchers interested in climate change and impacts upon forest environments and economic activities. This volume, which forms part of Springer’s book series Managing Forest Ecosystems, presents state-of-the-art research results, visions and theories, as well as specific methods for sustainable forest management in changing climatic conditions.

Fundamental changes have occurred in all aspects of forestry over the last 50 years, including the underlying science, societal expectations of forests and their management, and the evolution of a globalized economy. This textbook is an effort to comprehensively integrate this new knowledge of forest ecosystems and human concerns and needs into a management philosophy that is applicable to the vast majority of global forest lands. Ecological forest management (EFM) is focused on policies and practices that maintain the integrity of forest ecosystems while achieving environmental, economic, and cultural goals of human societies. EFM uses natural ecological models as its basis contrasting it with modern production forestry, which is based on agronomic models and constrained by required return-on-investment. Sections of the book consider: 1) Basic concepts related to forest ecosystems and silviculture based on natural models; 2) Social and political foundations of forestry, including law, economics, and social acceptability; 3) Important current topics including wildfire, biological diversity, and climate change; and 4) Forest planning in an uncertain world from small privately-owned lands to large public ownerships. The book concludes with an overview of how EFM can contribute to resolving major 21st century issues in forestry, including sustaining forest dependent societies.

This book discusses the reality of implementing sustainable forest management measures. Rather than simply offering theoretical descriptions, the book comprehensively details how sustainably managed forests can only be achieved through the cooperation and support of foresters, politicians, business leaders, local communities, consumers of forest-based goods and services, and the general public. The book also aims to raise public awareness of the factors involved in attaining the true sustainability of forest management, and the consequences of failing to do so, as well as the current issues facing sustainable forest management such as land ownership and land-use rights, political corruption, environmental stressors, and economic pressure. In 17 chapters, the book will appeal to academics and teachers in forestry and related areas, government practitioners, development agencies, and NGOs.

Nearly three years ago, world leaders agreed to the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – the central framework for guiding development policies throughout the world. This edition of The State of the World’s Forests is aimed at enhancing our understanding of how forests and their sustainable management contribute to achieving several of the SDGs. Time is running out for the world’s forests: we need to work across sectors, bring stakeholders together, and take urgent action. The State of the World’s Forests 2018 identifies actions that can be taken to increase the contributions of forests and trees that are necessary to accelerate progress towards the SDGs. It is now critical that steps be taken to work more effectively with the private sector, and the informal forest sector must be transformed in order to bring broader economic, social and environmental benefits. Seventy years ago, when FAO completed its first assessment of the world’s forest resources, the major concern was whether there would be enough timber to supply global demand; now we recognize the greater global relevance of our forests and trees. For the first time, The State of the World’s Forests 2018 provides an assessment of the contribution of forests and trees to our landscapes and livelihoods. The purpose of this publication is to provide a much wider audience with an understanding of why forests and trees matter for people, the planet and posterity.

Forests cover 30% of the Earth’s land area, or nearly four billion hectares. Enhancing the benefits and ecosystem services of forests has been increasingly recognized as an essential part of nature-based solutions for solving many emerging global environmental problems today. A core science supporting forest management is understanding the interactions of forests, water, and people. These interactions have become increasingly complex under climate change and its associated impacts, such as the increases in the intensity and frequency of drought and floods, increasing population and deforestation, and a rise in global demands for multiple ecosystem services including clean water supply and carbon sequestration. Forest watershed managers have recognized that water management is an essential component of forest management. Global environmental change is posing more challenges for managing forests and water toward sustainable development. New science on forest and water is critically needed across the globe. The International Forests and Water Conference 2018, Valdivia, Chile (http://forestsandwater2018.cl/), a joint effort of the 5th IUFRO International Conference on Forests and Water in a Changing Environment and the Second Latin American Conference on Forests and Water provided a unique forum to examine forest and water issues in Latin America under a global context. This book represents a collection of some of the peer-reviewed papers presented at the conference that were published in a Special Issue of Forests.

Yet another book on the topic of ‘Sustainable Forest Management’ can only be justified by new information that is of direct relevance. The contents of this volume concentrate on the very latest factors and developments, thus, hopefully, contributing both to the book’s attractiveness and to closing gaps in the discipline’s database. This book is written for researchers in the field of forest management, international forestry, and climate change-related issues, legal and policy advisors, as well as for managers of private companies who deal with SFM. The authors of the various sections are scientists in the field of forestry and other environmental sciences. They represent different institutions, mainly universities and research agencies in Germany, but also high-level international institutions in development co-operation, such as the World Bank, FAO, and IIASA. The scope of the book is to refresh the meanings and perceptions of SFM against the background of the rapid changes in our natural and social environment. Climate change and the rapid increase of atmospheric CO concentration is a global process 2 with negative impacts of different kinds, among others on natural ecosystems such as forests. A crucial issue therefore is how forest management can contribute to forest conservation in light of changing climatic conditions. Moreover, policy changes such as the introduction of certification schemes and the new emphasis laid on Non-Wood Forest Products justify the re-evaluation of the role of SFM in delivering ecological goods and services from our forests.

The rapid loss of tropical forests, particularly in the developing world, has been a global concern since the late 1980s and has prompted a variety of international initiatives to save the forests. In 1991, the World Bank responded to global concerns and to criticism by nongovernmental organizations by forming a conservation-oriented forest strategy. Managing a Global Resource is an outgrowth of the independent evaluation conducted by the World Bank's Operations Evaluation Department and discusses how effectively that strategy was implemented. In this detailed investigation, Uma J. Lele explores why the loss of forests and biodiversity has been so rapid in some developing countries (Brazil, Indonesia, and Cameroon) and not in others (China, India, and Costa Rica). She assesses future prospects for conservation in these six countries by critically examining their policies, institutional arrangements, and emerging national and international instruments to conserve forests and biodiversity. Together these six countries account for 25 percent of the world's forest cover and 44 percent of the world's population. Managing a Global Resource presents case studies of the forest sectors of each country in the context of overall development policies, interest groups, and governance issues. Lele's investigation finds a fundamental divergence in forest-rich countries between the global objectives of conservation and the local objectives of development and private profit. In some forest-poor countries, in contrast, natural resource loss has led the countries on their own accord to adopt a variety of conservation-oriented policies and programs. Despite the greater congruence between the global and national objectives in these forest-poor countries, competing demands on their resources and the constraints on their policies, institutions, and human capital make it difficult for them to affect forest and biodiversity conservation. This volume makes it clear that