The dynamics of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon are complex. A growing debate considers the extent to which deforestation is a result of the expansion of the Brazilian soy industry. Most recent analyses suggest that deforestation is driven by the expansion of cattle ranching, rather than soy. Soy seems to be replacing previously deforested land and/or land previously under pasture.

The United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD) commissioned this report from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) to summarize the current state of negotiations towards a decision in Copenhagen, specifically outlining areas of consensus, options for resolving areas where consensus has not yet been reached, and priorities for research to support successful implementation of an international REDD Programme following a decision at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) in Copenhage

This infobrief provides an early snapshot of 17 REDD+ pilots under development in Indonesia in mid 2009. There is great variety in and experimentation by the proponents of REDD+ pilots. Three key dimensions useful for categorising early pilots are: 1) degree of spatial planning and heterogeneity of forest classification, 2) strategy for establishing long-term claims to carbon, and 3) predominant driver and agent of deforestation and degradation.

El tema del calentamiento global y sus consecuencias pone en el orden del día la discusión sobre la protección y el control de la región amazónica al mismo tiempo que cuestiona la posibilidad del desarrollo sostenible bajo el capitalismo. En Brasil, Lula defiende la Amazonía en palabras, pero en los hechos impulsa una política económica que tiene como prioridad la entrega de los recursos naturales al capital nacional e internacional. ¿A quién interesa la conservación de la Amazonía brasileña?

Este trabajo analiza las causas directas e indirectas del proceso complejo de la deforestación, en cinco ejidos en la región de Calakmul en el estado de Campeche durante el periodo 1976-2008. En los cinco ejidos estudiados el establecimiento de la agricultura y la práctica de la ganadería han sido los factores de impacto directo de deforestación. En todos los ejidos estudiados se presentan procesos de sucesión secundaria o revegetación, es decir expansión de selvas secundarias en proceso de recuperación.

The tree species composition of silver fir and beech forests has changed in space and time due to a number of direct and indirect natural and anthropogenic causal factors. Forming silvicultural guidelines, therefore, requires a sufficient understanding of the ecological, historical, economic and general environmental factors that influence silver fir-beech forests.

Broad interpretation of land use and forest cover studies has been limited by the biophysical and socio-economic uniqueness of the landscapes in which they are carried out and by the multiple temporal and spatial scales of the underlying processes. We coupled a land cover change approach with a political ecology framework to interpret trends in multi-temporal remote sensing of forest cover change and socio-economic surveys with smallholders in the towns of Iapari, Peru and Assis Brasil, Brazil in southwest Amazonia.

Once the conditions that led to the creation of the Société Civile des Terres du Larzac (SCTL) have been introduced, the companion modelling approach used with this group of farmers is presented. The agent-based model co-constructed with a group of researchers and technicians is then described, as well as the way it was used to confront scenarios developed by the SCTL to envision management options of the forest massif, with scenarios developed by the farmers to improve the current functioning of their farms

Remote Sensing has contributed to forest and landscape management. The technology, which includes sensors, processing software and analysis, has been extensively studied and applied. Studies that employed remote sensing have improved understanding of the sites studied. At the strategic level of forest planning, or in general planning for forest resource allocation over a wide area, remote sensing can play an important role in estimating and monitoring forest cover.