The aim of this thesis is to evaluate the influence of edge effect on vegetation succession in black alder forests. 30 permanent study plots with size of 20×50 m were established with strips at several distances from the edge towards the center of the stand. Stands in study plots fell into three categories – with adjacent clearcut to S or SW created up to 10, 20-40 or more than 41 year ago. In all study plots living trees and dead wood was measured and vegetation was described by layers and the presence of rare epiphytic lichens was recorded.

For the review at hand, Clarivate Analytic's web of science search platform was searched for the keyword combination forest+plantation. The search found 944 articles with the mentioned keywords in their topic that were published between 2010 and 2017. The top 3 subtopics identified were soil, carbon and water in order of abundance. The overview over current research in each of these subtopics to plantation forests naturally show strong overlaps with biodiversity as well as ecological aspects of plantation forests.

We review seven certification systems for verifying carbon trading from forestry and other land uses, and evaluate evidence of their effectiveness in generating social and environmental co-benefits. Published research on non-carbon co-benefits was located by searching the three principal bibliographic databases in this area of science: CABI, ISI Web of Science Core Collection and SCOPUS. We included studies published in English from 2000 to 2016. Our searches yielded 679 studies after duplicates were removed.

The Global Landscapes Forum (GLF) entered a new era in December 2017 when it successfully launched its next five-year phase, centered on building a worldwide movement to connect and engage one billion people around sustainable land use.

The inaugural meeting of this ‘new’ GLF was held from 19-20 December at the World Conference Center in Bonn, Germany, where the movement will take up residence over the next five years.

Policy reform is required to more accurately value natural capital and incentivize green investments through aligned subsidies, supportive financial measures, and risk mitigation support.

A centralized system that synthesizes evidence and connects projects to investors would both improve awareness of initiatives and funding sources, and build capacity and financial literacy.

Key information gaps persist in reporting, monitoring and impact assessment. Leveraging a centralized system could reduce redundancies, enhance cost-effectiveness and bridge finance gaps.

Over the past several years, commitments and pledges on ‘no deforestation, no peat, no exploitation’ (NDPE) have been made throughout the Indonesian palm oil sector, primarily in response to pressure from NGOs and the public. The NDPE pledges aimed to transform an industry with social and environmental challenges into one that works for people, nature and business.

This brief study has been produced by the partners of the CoNGOs consortium to share our different knowledge and experience, and to set out a joint understanding of the current state of play in relation to community forestry in Cameroon.

Traditionally, in the context of environment and natural resources management, many communication efforts have focused on the dissemination of technical information to end-users who were expected to adopt them. Development practitioners were trying to ‘push’ their products on communities in order to receive community commitment to their development initiatives.

Community-managed reserves (CMRs) comprise the fastest-growing category of protected areas throughout the tropics. CMRs represent a compromise between advocates of nature conservation and advocates of human development. We ask whether CMRs succeed in achieving the goals of either. A fixed reserve area can produce only a finite resource supply, whereas human populations exploiting them tend to expand rapidly while adopting high-impact technologies to satisfy rising aspirations. Intentions behind the establishment of CMRs may be admirable, but represent an ideal rarely achieved.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set out the international community’s commitment to rid the world of poverty and hunger and achieve sustainable development in its three dimensions – economic, social and environmental.