More than just trees: Assessing reforestation success in tropical developing countries

Abstract

a b s t r a c tRural communities in many parts of the tropics are dependent of forests for their livelihoods and for environmental services. Forest resources in the tropics have declined rapidly over the past century and therefore many developing countries in the tropics have reforestation programs. Although reforestation is a long-term process with long-term benefits, existing evaluations of the success of these programs tends to focus on short-term establishment success indicators. This paper presents a review of reforestation assessment that highlights the need to not only consider short-term establishment success, but also longer-term growth and maturation success, environmental success and socio-economic success. In addition, we argue that reforestation assessment should not be based on success indicators alone, but should incorporate the drivers of success, which encompasses an array of biophysical, socio-economic, institutional and project characteristics. This is needed in order to understand the reasons why reforestation projects succeed or fail and therefore to design more successful projects in future. The paper presents a conceptual model for reforestation success assessment that links key groups of success indicators and drivers. This conceptual model provides the basis for a more comprehensive evaluation of reforestation success and the basis for the development of predictive systems-based assessment models. These models will be needed to better guide reforestation project planning and policy design and therefore assist rural communities in tropical developing countries to alleviate poverty and achieve a better quality of life.Crown

Plant functional types and traits as biodiversity indicators for tropical forests: two biogeographically separated case studies including birds, mammals and termites

“…One approach is to find and use easily assessed indicators (partial measures or estimator surrogates, sensu Sarkar and Margules 2002). However, selection of such indicators remains predominantly intuitive rather than evidence-based (Howard et al 1997;Lawton et al 1998;Watt 1998;Noss 1999;Dudley et al 2005;Kessler et al 2011;Le et al 2012) and there remains the challenge of distinguishing change that can be attributed to external anthropogenic factors from underlying natural processes (Magurran et al 2010). Candidate indicators such as landscape metrics, remotely-sensed variables, multi-species indices and formulated measures of ecosystem complexity or genetic diversity have found wide application but are of limited practicality in forests (UNEP-CBD 1996; Kapos et al 2001;Delbaere 2002; European Academies' Science Advisory Council (ESAC) 2004; Gregory et al 2005;Duraiappah and Naeem 2005).…”

Spatial optimization of carbon-stocking projects across Africa integrating stocking potential with co-benefits and feasibility

“…Caution should be taken that C projects by reforestation should not extensively conflict with existing land uses such as agriculture, as loss of agricultural activity on land earmarked for C-stocking projects could result in leakage, where C stocking in one area results in agricultural increases-and therefore loss of C stocks-in other areas 13 . Also, for reforestation projects to succeed in developing countries, surrounding communities must obtain benefits from forests and be actively involved in their management 41,42 . A number of co-benefits have been shown to improve the success of C-stocking projects.…”

“…A number of co-benefits have been shown to improve the success of C-stocking projects. These include improved livelihoods that address local needs, increased incomes, the creation of employment opportunities and markets for, for example, non-timer forest products that could be harvested from within the reforested patch 41 . Future climate change comprises a further consideration for reforestation projects.…”

Estimativa Da Altura E Do Volume Em Povoamentos Jovens De Restauração Florestal Em Rondônia

“…Existem muitas experiências sobre restauração florestal nas regiões tropicais em várias partes do mundo, inclusive no Brasil, com muitos pesquisadores a se dedicar a desenvolver protocolos de monitoramento que ajudam a avaliar a performance dos plantios realizados (LE et al, 2012;ELLIOTT et al, 2013;WORTLEY et al, 2013;GONZÁLEZ et al, 2015;VIANI et al, 2017 (COUTO et al, 1987;MACHADO et al, 1994;FIGUEIREDO et al, 2006;SOUZA et al, 2008;AZEVEDO et al, 2011;MIGUEL et al, 2011;YOSHITANI JUNIOR et al, 2012). Por outro lado, poucas equações foram desenvolvidas para espécies nativas amazônicas, particularmente em plantios mistos de restauração.…”