SummaryThere are compelling reasons to encourage the employment of Indigenous Australians in the forestry sector. The benefits of, and constraints to, Indigenous employment in the sector were examined using a case study approach focused on Indigenous participation in ‘Operation Farm Clear’, an emergency response following Cyclone Larry in northern Queensland in 2006. The findings suggested that, given a supportive environment, there are opportunities for Indigenous people to benefit from employment in the forestry sector.

Land-use emissions accompanying biomass loss, change in soil organic carbon (ΔSOC) and decomposing wood-products, were comparable with fossil fuel emissions in the late 20th century. We examine the rates, magnitudes and uncertainties for major carbon (C) fluxes for rangelands due to commercial grazing and climate change in Australia. Total net C emission from biomass over 369Mha of rangeland to-date was 0.73 (±0.40)Pg, with 83% of that from the potentially forested 53% of the rangelands. A higher emission estimate is likely from a higher resolution analysis.

Abstract.

Global conservation discourses and practices increasingly rely on market-based solutions to fulfill the dual objective of forest conservation and economic development. Although varied, these interventions are premised on the assumption that natural resources are most effectively managed and preserved while benefiting livelihoods if the market-incentives of a liberalised economy are correctly in place.

The practice of raising cattle in the Amazon has been connected to deforestation, which has been especially intense in the Eastern Amazonian state of Pará that contained 23% of new rural settlements before 2008. The settlements were part of a program of land reform that allowed farmers to receive public credit. Public credit aims to increase production and incorporation of new technologies by settled farmers, which can lead to a decrease in pressure on forested areas.

Summary There are compelling reasons to encourage the employment of Indigenous Australians in the forestry sector. The benefits of, and constraints to, Indigenous employment in the sector were examined using a case study approach focused on Indigenous participation in ‘Operation Farm Clear’, an emergency response following Cyclone Larry in northern Queensland in 2006. The findings suggested that, given a supportive environment, there are opportunities for Indigenous people to benefit from employment in the forestry sector.

A reconstruction of land use changes and the implications thereof for landslide occurrence on critical slopes of Mount Elgon in Eastern Uganda were undertaken. Aerial photographs taken in 1960 formed the benchmark for the analysis of respective land use changes between 1995 and 2006, using 30m Landsat TM and 20m SPOT MS images. Landslide sites were mapped using a MobileMapper, and terrain parameters were derived using a 15m Digital Elevation Model.

Payment for ecosystem services (PES) has been widely promoted as an effective and efficient model for conservation; however, few studies have empirically examined how the market-based approach interacts with farmer's decision-making processes and their abilities to sustain new conservation practices. This paper examines the sustainability of a PES silvopastoral programme in Colombia from peasant farmers’ perspectives.

It is necessary to estimate the area of afforestation and deforestation in New Zealand, since 1990, to meet reporting obligations under the Kyoto Protocol. We describe a method for national mapping of forest change that achieves high accuracy, but only requires moderate effort. A national coverage of satellite imagery is standardised, classified (automatically) for land cover, and then compared with an existing 1990 land-use map to identify polygons (>1ha) of possible forest change. Each one of these possible change polygons is checked by operators for actual or spurious change.

The implementation of an international programme for reducing carbon emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD) can help to mitigate climate change and bring numerous benefits to environmental conservation. Information on land change modelling and carbon mapping can contribute to quantify future carbon emissions from deforestation. However limitations in data availability and technical capabilities may constitute an obstacle for countries interested in participating in the REDD programme.

SUMMARYPrescribed burning in forestry is a valuable land management tool that has been extensively used in Australia, Eurasia, and North America. Nevertheless, fire is inherently dangerous and may impose risk upon humans, properties, and other natural resources. With the case of southern United States, the objective of this study is to assess the trend of administrative law reforms for forestry prescribed burning within the theoretical framework of management-based regulation.

We used land‐cover maps and active fire detection based on satellite imagery to evaluate the rates and spatial distribution of peatland deforestation in Southeast Asia from 1990 to 2010. Over this time period, the proportion of forest cover in the peatlands of Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and Borneo fell from 77% to 36%. After two decades of extensive deforestation (31 000 km²; 4.9% yr⁻¹) strongly associated with fire activity, Sumatra has been left with just 28% of its historical forested peatlands.