The relative scarcity of land resources to meet the growing needs of land-users has compelled land specialists to consider the need for a better system in the proper use and management of land resource. Forestlands comprise a major component of the national land and are currently the most degraded areas.

Presentation by Richard Meade to the AARES 53rd Annual Conference held 10-13 February 2009 in Cairns Australia.Forest and Forest Land Valuation - How to Value Forests and Forest Land to Include Carbon Costs and Benefits. forest, forest land valuation, carbon costs,

The paper highlights that land degradation in India has been approaching a crisis level in spite of repeated emphasis on wasteland development and existence of apex level organisations for that purpose. One reason has been the policy emphasis on ownership and control rather than appropriate management of the land. It is set in the context of i) the 1988 Forest Policy, and ii) the recent amends to the Forest Conservation Act.

Esta hoja informativa presenta resultados cuantitativos y cualitativos sobre la deforestación en las comunidades nativas, así como mapas detallados sobre la deforestación entre 2001 y 2015 y sus posibles causas en las más de 1300 CCNN tituladas. También realiza un análisis a partir de la región, el pueblo indígena, la densidad poblacional, los años de ocupación del lugar y la distancia de carreteras. Se presentan detalles sobre las 10 CCNN más y menos deforestadas, sobre todo en San Martín y Ucayali, las regiones de trabajo del proyecto ProTierras Comunales (PTC).

Land-use planning is an important policy instrument for governing landscapes to achieve multifunctionality in rural areas. This paper presents a case study conducted in Na Nhan commune in the northwest montane region of Vietnam to assess land-use strategies toward multiple ecosystem services, through integrated land-use planning.

Quantification of global forest change has been lacking despite the recognized importance of forest ecosystem services. In this study, Earth observation satellite data were used to map global forest loss (2.3 million square kilometers) and gain (0.8 million square kilometers) from 2000 to 2012 at a spatial resolution of 30 meters. The tropics were the only climate domain to exhibit a trend, with forest loss increasing by 2101 square kilometers per year.

Vietnam, which has a long history of theft of timber from neighbouring Laos and Cambodia, recently initialled a timber trade agreement with the European Union. This will see Vietnam implement legislation to address imports of illegally harvested or traded timber, in return for timber exports to the EU being deemed to comply with the requirements of the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR).

Cambodia has suffered some of the highest rates of deforestation (measured as a percentage of forest cover) of any country since the 1970s – and rates have been increasing significantly in the past decade. Even the country’s so-called protected areas have been severely impacted, despite supposedly being safeguarded under Cambodian law.

Global Forest Watch estimated that between 2001 and 2018, Cambodia had lost 557 000 hectares of tree cover in protected areas, representing an 11.7% loss of the total protected area.

The Bhutan Forest Note articulates opportunities for supporting Bhutan's sustainable development aspirations, including its constitutional commitment to maintain at least 60 percent of the country's land area under forest cover and to better respond or prepare for vulnerabilities such as climate change and natural disasters. The note presents a forward-looking business case for Bhutan to support an increase in forest utilization without jeopardizing the integrity of forest and non-forest ecosystems.

This guide presents the 'Mapping for Rights' approach, which combines participatory mapping techniques, facilitation and hands-on support with the application of relevant and available technology. This combination of tools, guidance and equipment enables communities to identify advocacy goals that their maps could support. The maps are designed to provide a snapshot of the communities’ reality, including information on their history and socio- economic situation and demonstrate occupation and use of specific areas by communities.

MappingForRights, an initiative of the Rainforest Foundation UK and local partners, enables forest communities themselves to demonstrate their presence in the forest; decision-makers and the private sector to take account of and recognise this presence; and to assist the international community in ensuring that programmes concerned with the Congo Basin’s forests provide equitable benefits for local communities.

This paper presents case studies of two tribal villages - Mendha Lekha and Jamguda - successfully running forest-based bamboo businesses under the community forest rights provisions of Forest Rights Act (2006). We have documented the issues faced by the villagers in claiming community forest rights, issues faced in harvesting and sale of bamboo, and business practices adopted by both the villages.