... In Myanmar, people's participation has been prioritized as an imperative of national forest policy in 1995 endorsed by the community forestry instructions (DFIs). Today, there are about 42,148 ha of community forestry (CF) management by 572 user groups (USGs). In CF management, the people are engaging three types of activities: (1) to preserve of improve the production system such as planting trees and promoting the growth of trees, (2) to use forest resources for subsistence needs, (3) to get cash by selling the timber harvested or furniture made by the timber.

The use of forests as carbon sinks is examined by introducing carbon sequestration benefits’ accounting in a multi-vintage land allocation model. Following the IPCC, three carbon accounting methods are considered. We compare the results in each case with those without carbon sequestration, as well as the performances of the ton-year and the average methods (second-best) to the carbon flow (first-best) concerning optimal land allocation between forestry and alternative uses, total carbon sequestered, timber production and social welfare.

The Bali Action Plan identified two key areas for the forest sector to contribute significantly to global climate change mitigation. One area concerned approaches and incentives relating to reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD). The second area focused on the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries. REDD+ has become synonymous for a combination of these two areas.

This bulletin draws on country-level experience to share civil society perspectives on the challenges, opportunities, and possible approaches for pro-poor REDD. As governments begin to formulate their national REDD programs, questions are emerging about the role of local people in design and implementation, and the socio-economic implications for the rural poor. Drawing on experiences from Nepal and Vietnam, this bulletin includes:

The Global Invasive Species Program (GISP) is an independent, not-for-profit association whose mission is to conserve biodiversity and sustain human livelihoods by minimizing the spread and impact of invasive alien species (IAS) and which is presently located in the Centre for Agriculture and Biosciences International (CABI) in Nairobi, Kenya. Its current membership is limited to the four founding members of GISP.

Governance for Sustaining Himalayan Ecosystem (G-SHE): Guidelines and Best Practices is . This publication, which forms part of our broader climate change adaptation strategy, puts together key guidelines related to the governance and management of the Himalayan ecosystem, along with case studies.

Local people hold the key to healthy forests, and if forest carbon-financing schemes are to succeed, they must actively engage and benefit these crucial stakeholders.

textabstractIn this paper we discuss forestry issues related to land reform in Bolivia. We find that although the current land reform satisfies most of the conditions that are necessary for adequately addressing development issues in the agrarian sector, it does not deal with many of the challenges related to forest management and actually contains provisions that come in conflict with the objectives of sustainable forest management.

Climate change presents a profound challenge to food security and development. Negative impacts from climate change are likely to be greatest in regions that are currently food insecure and may even be significant in those regions that have made large gains in reducing food insecurity over the past half-century. Adaptation in the agricultural sector is being given a high priority within this effort because of the inherent sensitivity of food production to climate and the strong inter-linkages that exist between climate, agriculture, and economic growth and development.

The implementation of the South–South REDD process was made achievable by those who assumed leadership roles (political and technical), facilitated the meetings and the logistics on the ground (especially the consultations and training) and acted as resources people. It would be impossible to name everyone, but in particular we would like to thank the Minister of Environment, Alcinda Abreu, and Vice-Minister, Ana Chichava, who provided the leadership and often challenged the technical experts.

In many areas within the Asia-Pacific region, there are compelling short-term incentives to degrade or to convert forestland for other uses. A common example is poorly regulated timber markets, which provide financial rewards for logging that is inadequately managed, unsustainable, and often illegal. Other examples include poorly planned land conversion for mining, agriculture, and large-scale agribusiness plantations as well as spontaneous clearing by farmers.

 

In December 2004, the passing of the Forest Protection and Development Law (FPDL) legally recognized community forest management (CFM) in Vietnam for the first time. Despite this step, skepticism remains about whether CFM can work in practice and to what extent legal recognition contributes to effective forest protection and management.

During 2008, in response to these concerns, the Forest Governance Learning Group (FGLG) visited 25 villages to learn from field implementation of CFM in seven provinces.