A single word can describe the history of forest management in the region: conflict. Too often this happens because local people are excluded from decision-making and the benefits of forest management. REDD+ is a proposed mechanism to make forests more valuable standing than destroyed. This media brief looks at the reasons for forest conflict and how REDD+ could impact this contested terrain.

For RECOFTC, the highlight of the past year has been the launch of its Third Strategic Plan, which covers the five years from 2008 to 2013. The plan has the title ‘People and Forests in a Time of Change: Strengthening Capacities for Community Forestry to Respond.’ This report looks at the progress the organization made for the 2007-2008 fiscal year.

Violent conflict affects three quarters of Asia’s forests and tens of millions of people. In Cambodia, for example, nearly half of the 236 land conflicts recorded in 2009 escalated to violence. Because forest conflict is such a major issue in the region, we need a better understanding of the underlying causes, impacts, and management solutions. This issues paper sheds light on these topics, drawing lessons from eight new case studies.

This paper updates an analysis of returns from major productive land uses in New Zealand carried out in 2008. Trends in profitability over time are shown, and a preliminary investigation of the relationship between land-use change towards forestry (new land planting) and forestry profitability is described.

Analyses the economics of alternative land-use allocations for a forested area that ensure a targeted viable population of a forest-dependent species, such as the orangutan.

Problems of unsustainable watershed use in the Mediterranean areas (overgrazing, forest degradation and clearing, soil erosion, fires, etc.) often result from the reduced profitability of traditional land use systems, lack of clearly defined property rights, insufficient enforcement of existing rules, and lack of adequate economic instruments.

As part of international climate change policy, voluntary opt-in programs to reduce emissions in unregulated sectors or countries have spurred considerable discussion. Since any regulator will make errors in predicting baselines, adverse selection will reduce efficiency since participants will self-select into the program. In contrast, pure subsidies lead to full participation but require large financial transfers; this is a particular challenge across countries. A global social planner facing costless transfers would choose such a subsidy to maximize efficiency.

Incentive-based programs to reduce deforestation are expected to play an increasinglyimportant role in global efforts to protect ecosystems and sequester carbon but theirenvironmental effectiveness is not clear. We investigate program effectiveness and slippage in the context of Mexico's national payments for hydrological services program, which pays private and communal landowners to maintain forest cover on enrolled lands. To measure program impacts, we use matched controls drawn from the program applicant pool to establish counterfactual deforestation rates in the absence of payments.

Tenure in Mystery collates information on land under conservation, forestry and mining in the Karamoja region. Whereas significant changes in the status of land tenure took place with the Parliamentary approval for degazettement of approximately 54% of the land area under wildlife conservation in 2002, little else happened to deliver this update to the beneficiary communities in the region. Instead enclaves of information emerged within the elite and political leadership, by means of which personal interests and rewards were being secured and protected.

Trends and Emerging Needs for 2020, Asia-Pacific Forestry Sector Outlook Study II

This paper updates an analysis of returns from major productive land uses in New Zealand carried out in 2008. Trends in profitability over time are shown, and a preliminary investigation of the relationship between land-use change towards forestry (new land planting) and forestry profitability is described.

Community forestry in Nepal is intended to reduce poverty by sustainable management of forests. Timber is one of the most high-value forest products, especially in the case of Sal (Shorea robusta) forests in the Terai region of Nepal. Despite having several advantages, including high value forests on fertile land, connection with transportation networks, and being close to regional markets, community forests in the Terai region produce little or no timber from their Sal forests. This research looks at what is affecting the production of Sal timber from community forests.