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Environment & Sustainable Development
Forest Management
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Harvard University/Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS) Environmental Biology Site Network
Community Management of Forest Resources: An Empirical Assessment
Harvard University/Center for Tropical Forest Science Environmental Biology Site Network
The Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS) of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, in conjunction with scientific collaborators around the world, has undertaken a series of comparative, long-term studies of tropical forest diversity and change in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Harvard University is coordinating the Asia component of the program.
The central feature of the network, present at each CTFS site, is the standardized Forest Dynamics Plot. Forest Dynamics Plots are unique due to their large size and intensive sampling methods. Within each plot, every tree over one centimeter in diameter is marked, measured, plotted on a map, and identified according to species. The typical Forest Dynamics Plot is 50 hectares in size and may contain as many as 360,000 individual trees. An initial tree census and periodic follow-up censuses yield long-term information on species growth, mortality, regeneration, distribution and productivity. Utilizing the data from the standardized, intensive Forest Dynamics Plots throughout the tropics, CTFS researchers are exploring tropical forest species diversity and dynamics at a global scale.
CTFS researchers also use data from the network of plots as the basis for silvicultural, socio-economic, and ecological research. The results from this research provide critical - and otherwise unavailable - information for environmental decision-making. For example, a large demographic plot can supply data to:
Determine the biologically sustainable harvest rates for timber and non-timber forest products,
Select native tree species for use in plantation forestry, agroforestry and reforestation of degraded areas,
Provide density and distribution information for the economic valuation of tropical forests,
Identify the response of tropical forests to climatic change.
With the biological knowledge gathered by the field scientists and socio-economic information analyzed by Harvard University, CTFS researchers can help improve forest management and conservation using sound science.
FRIM-GEF Project on the Conservation of Biological Diversity Through Improved Forest Planning Procedure
The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) has awarded the Government of Malaysia (GOM) a PDF Block B grant to prepare a targeted research proposal on methods for assessing and valuing biological diversity in a landscape that includes timber production forests.
The project is being put forward by GOM because there are concerns that current forest planning procedures do not give sufficient consideration to the conservation of biodiversity. Specifically, current procedures for identifying forest areas that should be protected within the permanent forest estate and within individual concessions have been found to be deficient in certain critical aspects. If the project is funded, UNDP will serve as the GEF implementing agency, and the Forest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM) will serve as the national implementing agency. The project will develop tools that will enable forest planners to assess the adequacy of existing protected areas for biodiversity conservation and, if there is a need to establish additional areas, to determine how large they should be and where they should be located. The biodiversity assessment tools will take spatial scale and habitat heterogeneity into account. They will make rapid biodiversity assessments—both qualitative and quantitative—feasible at the landscape and stand levels. The assessments will provide information on not simply the number of species present in a region, but also the presence of ecological communities that are not well represented elsewhere. They will enable forest planners to predict how the allocation of forestland between protection and production categories, and the retention of unlogged areas within production forests, affect biodiversity.
The ecological research required to develop these tools will entail the establishment and periodic remeasurement of permanent sample plots in logged and unlogged forests, in the context of an experimental design that involves varying the proportions of logged and unlogged areas in timber concessions. Because the conservation value of unlogged areas depends not only on their size but also on the characteristics of surrounding logged areas, sample plots will be established both in concessions logged using conventional techniques and in ones logged using reduced-impact techniques.
The economics research will adapt existing nonmarket valuation methods, which have mainly been applied to temperate forests in high-income countries, to the valuation of the benefits of protecting biologically rich tropical forests. It will encompass both direct use values like traditional nontimber products, nature-based recreation, and watershed services, and non-use values like existence values. It will entail carrying out careful valuation studies aimed at understanding the key determinants of the economic value of each major good or service. The findings from these valuation studies will support the subsequent development of a set of simpler valuation tools more suitable for routine application by forest managers. To enable managers to evaluate the tradeoffs between biodiversity protection and timber production, the economic research will also develop tools for measuring the opportunity cost of forest protection, i.e. forgone timber value. Hence, it will generate information on both the benefits and the costs of biodiversity conservation.
The biodiversity assessment and economic valuation tools will be integrated into computer-based forest-planning models. These models will be designed to assist forest planners with practical decision-making. They will be linked to spatial databases. For example, given information on the characteristics of forests in a planning region, an expert system could recommend how to allocate those forests between production and protection categories in order to maximize biodiversity, while achieving timber management goals. The system could also predict how changes in timber management goals would affect biodiversity conservation.
Fieldwork for the project will occur primarily in Temenggor Forest Reserve, Perak. This forest reserve is rich in biodiversity and is part of the largest remaining block of natural forest in Peninsular Malaysia. The fieldwork will be conducted in cooperation with the Perak State Forestry Office and the Perak Integrated Timber Complex Sdn. Bhd. (PITC), which is a subsidiary of the Perak State Economic Development Corporation. The entire forest estate in Perak will be considered for analyses that require considerations at a landscape scale.
The project will complement GOM efforts to promote sustainable forest management. Although the methods and tools it generates will be developed in a Malaysian context, they will be applicable to forests throughout Southeast Asia and in other tropical countries. To ensure that the global benefits of the research are maximized, the project will include a variety of dissemination activities.
The Development of Reforestation Strategies for Degraded Landscapes in Panamá using Native Species of Trees, or Proyecto de Reforestación con Especies Nativas (PRORENA)
The Proyecto de Reforestación con Especies Nativas (PRORENA) is a partnership led by the Center for Tropical Forest Science (CTFS) at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), the Center for International Development (CID) of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the Yale Tropical Resources Institute (YTRI), and the Panamanian National Environmental Authority (ANAM), with active collaboration on the part of private partners (Ecoforest-Panama, Futuro Forestal, individual private landowners), public partners (Autoridad del Canal de Panamá), and community organizations (Asociación de Productores Independientes de Darién).
The mission of the PRORENA is the restoration and reforestation of degraded areas with native species of trees within the ecological, social, and economic context of Panamian landscapes. These landscapes include areas occupied by invasive Saccharum spontaneum grasslands, abandoned pastures, and severely eroded areas. This mission is served by three objectives:
To serve as a coordinating and technical advisory body for native species reforestation efforts, and to disseminate relevant silvicultural, ecological, social, and economic information to interested parties throughout Panama.
To develop strategies and guidelines for the restoration and reforestation of degraded areas in Panama with native species of tree within the ecological, social, and economic context of Panamanian landscapes, including the appropriate use of exotic species in restoring native forests.
To build upon existing knowledge to develop basic silvicultural information for Panamanian native species, enabling their utilization in reforestation for conservation, timber production, and other purposes.
Community Management of Forest Resources: An Empirical Assessment
The vast majority of literature on community-based resource management and social forestry still consists of integrated conservation, development projects and case studies. The issue of what works and why is often presented in terms of long lists of principles and factors without assessments of the magnitude of their empirical significance.
This project contributes to the growing body of literature by combining village and household surveys to quantify the importance of socioeconomic, environmental and geographic factors. The project is examining several hypotheses. One hypothesis centers on the "manageability" of natural resources. In the Bolivian Andes, for example, natural resources like the "tholares" (arbustive vegetation used for fuelwood) have been progressively degraded and the communal response has been insufficient to regulate their use; on the other hand, Eucalyptus plantations have mobilized communities both in their establishment and in their access and use. The researchers contend that Eucalyptus plantation communities have been more effective in their involvement because these plantations are easier to manage and the fruits of community initiatives are more apparent. The second research question focuses on the economic and environmental impacts of community initiatives. While substantial evidence exists to support the claim that local management increases local incomes (although not always equally), the environmental impacts are much less clear. Some studies suggest that local communities produce environmental management outcomes no different than those produced by commercial operators.
The results of this project will have several implications:
Locally (in Bolivia), the project will examine the gradation of fuelwood supplying sources and the resulting shift toward the use of dung for heating and cooking. The project will quantify the adverse health (respiratory disease) and productive (dung is diverted from agricultural production) impacts of this change.
Globally, this project will help shed light on which factors are important in building and supporting local initiatives for improved environmental management. The immediate implications are for the design of biodiversity conservation projects, forest-based carbon offset projects and rural development projects.
Projects |
People | Publications
| Faculty | CTFS-Asia Network Site Associates |
| Peter Ashton | Raman Sukumar |
| Simmathiri Appanah | |
| Senior Research Associate | Hua Seng Lee |
| Stuart Davies | N. Manokaran |
| Sylvester Tan | |
| Staff | Wan Mohd. Shukri Wan Ahmad |
| Ellen VanScoyoc | Richard Condit |
| Suzzane Loo de Lao | |
| Collaborating Faculty | Robert Arano |
| & Researchers | Shawn Lum |
| Jeffrey Vincent, UCSD | Savitri Gunatilleke |
| Matthew Potts, UCSD | Nimal Gunatilleke |
| Sarayudh Bunyavejchewin |
Projects |
People | Publications
Biodiversity and Production Forestry in Malaysia
Appanah, S. "Trends and Issues in Tropical Forest Management: Setting the Agenda for Malaysia." Working Paper, Harvard University. (2000)
Community Management of Forest Resources: An Empirical Assessment
Boscolo, Marco. "Strategies for Multiple Use Management of Tropical Forests: An Assessment of Alternative Options." Working Paper, Harvard University. (1999)
Boscolo, Marco and R. Bluffstone. "Community Management of Forest Resources: Empirical Findings in Bolivia." Working Paper, Harvard University. (June 2002)
Projects |
People | Publications
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Copyright
© 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Last revised 10/31/2007