Integrating strict protection and sustainable use areas to preserve the Brazilian Pampa biome through conservation planning

Biodiversity conservation planning must be ecosystem-specific and take into account human needs as food production. The Pampa biome is a temperate grassland with high species richness and with an important role in food production in South America. Here we present the first formal Systematic Conservation Planning for the Brazilian part of the Pampa, which is the least protected biome in Brazil. We aimed to build conservation scenarios where at least 17 % of the biome area were protected, following the 11^th Aichi target for terrestrial lands protection according to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Our conservation targets were the vegetation types of this biome. Three scenarios were built varying in their proportions of strict protection (SP) and sustainable use areas (SU): Permissive scenario (5 % SP, 12 % SU); Intermediate scenario (10 % SP, 7 % SU) and Restrictive scenario (15 % SP, 2 % SU). Urban and rural areas, as well as bovine and ovine density, were used as prioritization costs, aiming to minimize possible conservation conflicts. Four main clusters of priority areas to protect the vegetational diversity can be observed in all scenarios and should be considered when implementing future protected areas in this threatened biome. Sustainable use areas are suitable for low-density livestock raising, combining biodiversity protection and food production, but strictly protected areas are still important to species most affected by livestock. The combination of strict protection and sustainable use areas can be effective in similar biomes. It should be considered in future international negotiations, such as the 2020 Conference to be held in Beijing, opening new strategies to achieve the 17 % of land protection. We expect that this Systematic Conservation Planning reinforces the recently started scientific discussion regarding the conservation of non-forest ecosystems in Brazil.     

Contribution of associated trees to long-term species conservation,carbon storage and sustainability: a functional analysis of tree communities in cacao plantations of Central Cameroon

In Central Africa, most cacao is still cultivated in low-input agroforests where cacao associated trees are traditionally valued by farmers. These systems are sustainable on the long run, support biodiversity conservation and carbon storage. Yet, little knowledge exists on the contribution of tree community management to explain such results. In Central Cameroon, we investigated cacao agroforest associated tree community contributions to the long-term (i) maintenance of tree species encountering a conservation issue and (ii) carbon storage. We further simulated the simplification of these systems by checking for the effect of tree density decrease on community functional groups or traits. Finally, we linked farmers’ use of associated trees to their functional features and conservation status. Cacao agroforestry systems were able to combine high levels of species richness with long-term conservation abilities and carbon storage. Simplification emphasized consistent shifts of functional traits/groups that will change the way they function and alter the existing balances between different associated tree uses. Since traditional agroforests are now foreseen as providers of timber/non-timber forest products, our study argues that this paradigm change in such low-input systems - if carried improperly - is likely to impair the provision of the services they currently provide as well as their sustainability.     

Carbon Sequestration and Conservation of Tropical Forests Under Uncertainty

Concern for global warming has focused attention on the role of tropical forests in the reduction of ambient CO₂ levels and mitigation of climate change. Deforestation is a major land use change in the tropics, with forest resources undergoing degradation through the influence of logging and conversion to other uses. Land use change is a product of varied local and regional resource use policies. Management of forest resources is one such major temporal factor, influencing resource stability and the carbon pool. Under a given management policy, both the long period of forest growth, and the slow turnover and decay of the carbon pool, enhance the relevance of stand level management policies as cost-effective mechanisms mitigating climate change. Apart from regional level uncertainties like the nature of land use and the estimation of carbon storage in vegetation and soil, the carbon flux of tropical forests is greatly influenced by uncertainty in regenerative capacity of forests and in harvest and management policies. A case study from India is used to develop a transition matrix model of natural forest management, and to explore the economic implications of maintaining and expanding existing carbon sinks. The study further explores the significance of investments in additional carbon sinks in plantation forests, given continued uncertainty in natural forest management.     

黑龙江省森林碳汇估算及潜力分析

随着《京都议定书》正式生效,森林碳汇问题已经越来越受到世界各国的重视,随着碳汇造林的广泛开展,森林碳汇的计量问题也越来越受到人们的重视.黑龙江省森林资源丰富,是我国最主要的林区,巨大的“碳汇”既具有重要的生态功能,也蕴藏着潜在的巨大经济利益.本文运用森林蓄积量扩展法与生物量换算因子(BEF)法对黑龙江省森林碳汇容量和碳...     

A portfolio analysis of incentive programmes for conservation,restoration and timber plantations in Southern Ecuador

This paper uses portfolio analysis to study how the Ecuadorian incentive programme for forest conservation and restoration (Socio Bosque), and an incentive programme for timber plantations, may reduce income risk and/or maximise returns for a given level of risk for farmers in the municipality of Loja. The main existing land use in the research area is milk production on pasture, with some farmers having forest land. Our results suggest that most farmers would significantly increase the area under conservation and/or restoration as part of their risk reduction strategies, compared to a decision based solely on expected returns. However, in land use allocations that maximise the return per unit of risk, a small group of milk producers without forest would continue milk production on most of their land. In addition, milk producers with forest would significantly decrease deforestation under the land use allocations made when conservation incentives are available. Against this we also identify a likely shift of milk production from existing pasture to new pasture established on deforested land, which provides evidence of a potential ‘leakage effect’. In addition, the incentive programmes would only lead to small areas of tree plantations being established. None of the land use combinations (portfolios) analysed would increase the income of all households to above the poverty line, as the monetary incentives are too low and many farms are too small. For forest holders all the land use combinations we studied would have a positive impact on income, but we observed a negative impact on household income for milk producers without forest. For producers without any forest, there seems to be a trade-off between maximising household income and risk reduction through combining incentives for restoration and tree plantations.     

森林碳汇与经济增长的互动关系

基于1998—2018年的林业数据,采用边际碳减排成本作为森林碳汇价格的代理变量,构建森林碳汇与经济增长的面板向量自回归模型(PVAR),从经济价值角度探析森林碳汇与经济增长的长期互动关系。结果表明:经济增长通过加大对森林自然资本的投资、改变林产品消费结构和产业结构、转变林业发展方式三条路径促进森林碳汇发展;但是,由于中国以生态建设为主的森林经营理念和森林碳汇市场功能不完全,以至于森林碳汇"抑制"经济增长。鉴于经济增长推动森林碳汇发展而森林碳汇在短时间内"抑制"经济增长,建议加快健全森林碳汇交易平台、完善森林碳汇定价机制、合理界定森林碳汇产权、加强森林管理和提高森林质量,促进森林碳汇与经济增长融合发展。     

Prospective evaluation of the impact of land use change on ecosystem services in the Ourika watershed,Morocco

Land use change at the local stage affects the flow of ecosystem services at all levels. Analyzing the causes of land use change such as anthropogenic activities in the case of the Ourika watershed will facilitate sustainable policies. A decision-making tool, InVEST (Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Trade Offs) was used to quantify three ecosystem services and to generate three spatially explicit land use scenarios (trend, development and conservation) with expert stakeholders and the local population. The results indicate that forest expansion under the conservation scenario increased carbon sequestration and sediment retention by 34.29 % and 7.17 % but decreased water yield by 0.75 %. Comparably, a combination of forest and cropland expansion under the trend scenario generated a moderate increase by 8.4 % and 0.98 % but a negligible decrease of 0.09 %. A decline in the forests under the development scenario caused an improvement in the water yield by 0.12 % but a decrease in carbon sequestration and sediment retention by 6.06 % and 0.88 % respectively. A combination of forests and croplands through agroforestry systems enhances the provision of all the three ecosystem services. Community-based ecosystem and land management is the best way to improve ecosystem services at the local level.     

Land use and climate change in the UK

This paper reviews the relationships between land use and climate change. It explores how land use decisions will be affected by future changes in the climate, but also the feedbacks from land use change to the global climate system through greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes. Past changes in land use were characterised by decreasing areas of agricultural use and increasing areas of forested and urbanised land. This has led to UK land use being a net sink for GHGs, mostly due to forestation. However, existing forests have on average passed their age for maximum net removals of carbon from the atmosphere. In the next decade at least, net removals from UK forests are likely to decrease significantly.Longer term scenarios of future land use change are consistent in their expectation of further declines in the agricultural area used for food production – offset to some extent by increased bioenergy cropping – along with increases in forested and urban areas. These trends are broadly consistent with the observed past land use change, but are calculated from various assumptions about future changes in drivers rather than by extrapolation from the past. Socio-economic and technological changes are likely to be the most important drivers for land use, with climate change having a smaller influence. The land use changes represented in these scenarios would likely reduce GHG emissions and enhance carbon sinks. These trends would be reinforced by small future changes in the climate, but large climatic changes are likely to cause net GHG fluxes to switch from being a sink to a source. Land use change will also be moderated by potential policy goals that seek to reduce GHG emissions from land and/or increase the size of land-based sinks. This includes strategies to reduce carbon and nitrogen emissions through increased efficiency, afforestation and biofuel production.     

Heterogeneity and assessment uncertainties in forest characteristics and biomass carbon stocks: Important considerations for climate mitigation policies

The management of forests to store carbon and mitigate climate change has received significant international attention during the last decade. Using in situ data from a 2008–2009 forest inventory field campaign in Sri Lanka, this study describes the structural characteristics and carbon stocks of six natural forest types. This paper has a dual scope: i) to highlight the variation in carbon stored in aboveground biomass within and between forest types and ii) to determine the implications of the allometric equations chosen to calculate biomass carbon stocks. This study concerns work related to climate change interventions, such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) and other forest-related, performance-based initiatives that require proper monitoring, reporting, and verification of carbon stocks, sinks and emissions. The results revealed that forests are heterogeneous in terms of tree density and height–diameter relationships, both between and within the six forest types investigated. The mean aboveground carbon stock in the different forest types ranged from 22 to 181 Mg C ha⁻¹, and there were statistically significant differences in the carbon stocks of the six forest types in 7 of 15 cases. The estimated carbon stock depended heavily on the allometric equation used for the calculations, the variables, and its application to the specific life zone. Due to the diversity of forest structures, these results suggest that caution should be taken when applying default values to estimate forest carbon stocks and emission values in reporting and accounting schemes. The results also indicated the need for allometric equations that are context-specific for different forest types. Therefore, new field investigations and measurements are needed to determine these specific allometric equations, as well as the potential variation in forest carbon stocks in tropical natural forests.     

Ecosystem services–biodiversity relationships depend on land use type in floodplain agroecosystems

Managing agricultural floodplains to meet present and future human requirements without jeopardizing biodiversity conservation is a challenge for land use planners and ecologists. This paper aims to disentangle the relationships between ecosystem services and biodiversity in multifunctional landscapes, such as floodplain agroecosystems, by disaggregating their values across land use types. We measured eight ecosystem services (gas regulation, soil formation, nutrient regulation, habitat provision, food provision, raw materials production, education, and recreation) and six plant diversity indexes (richness, abundance, and true diversity for both plant species and growth forms) in seven land use types identified in the floodplain of the River Piedra (Spain). We observed that all land use types provided services to some extent, but each one was better at providing certain services. Natural or semi-natural habitats provided more services and hosted greater diversity than cultivated land use types. In addition, five diversity indexes were strongly correlated to at least three ecosystem services each one. Habitat provision and education were the ecosystem services positively correlating to most diversity indexes, whereas food provision was negatively correlated to all diversity indexes. Moreover, analyzing the interactions between ecosystem services and biodiversity across land use types, we observed that land use type was the controlling factor regarding the sign and significance of the interaction. The results of this study suggest that, in floodplains agroecosystems, a mosaic landscape of different land use types helps support ecosystem services and contributes to maintaining biodiversity while using local resources. Such land use policies might manage agricultural floodplains at the landscape scale while still being able to accommodate specific measures for each land use type. Moreover, riparian forests should be preserved and restored across the floodplain as they are hot spots for biodiversity and ecosystem services provision.     

Identifying salient forest SES attributes for sustainability: A multi-country study

The question of under what settings locally managed forests will lead to successful conservation without frustrating the local people’s subsistence outcomes remains contested. This research investigates the relationship between attributes of locally managed forest SES and its forest and livelihood outcomes using data from 83 forest SESs across seven countries. The data were obtained from the International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) database. Thirteen predicators that were selected from the attributes of forest, user group and governance of the local forest SES were used to evaluate their influence on SES sustainability. Our results showed that sustainable forest SES was significantly associated with forest size, diversity of the NTFP that is extracted from the forest, networks among the forest users, rule making by external non-forest harvest organizations in dispute resolution, and benefits sharing. On the other hand, the distance of forest users’ settlements in the forest, rule making for forest protection and harvest quantity as well as sanctions by external non-forest harvest organizations were found to be significantly associated with unsustainable forest SESs. Our findings have important implications for the ongoing discourse on how to promote sustainable forest management at local level. The results on the success factors can assist decision makers to improve the chances for the success of forest governance that rely on local people who depend upon forests.     

On the economics of forests and climate change: Deriving optimal policies

First-best optimal forest sector carbon policy is examined. Using a forest and energy sector model with a carbon cycle module we show that the renewability and carbon neutrality arguments do not warrant emission free status of wood use. As a general optimality principle, the release of carbon is penalized by a tax and carbon capture is subsidized. However, under the biomass stock change carbon accounting convention, the land owners pay for the roundwood emissions and, to avoid double counting, the use of roundwood is treated as emission free. Yet, the carbon accounting convention followed does not affect the equilibrium outcome. The bioenergy from harvest residues is not emission free either. Furthermore, we show that an optimal policy subsidizes the production of wood products for their carbon sequestration. Correspondingly, carbon removals by biomass growth are subsidized and the harvest residue generation taxed. Numerical solution of the model shows that, although the use of wood is not emission free, it is optimal to increase the use of wood, possibly also in the energy sector. Before the wood use can be increased, the forest biomass will be increased. This carbon sink decreases the net emissions until the forest resources reach a new equilibrium.     

Potential of woody biomass production for motivating widespread natural resource management under climate change

In this study we assessed the potential of woody biomass (short-rotation Mallee Eucalypts) for renewable energy generation as an economically viable way of motivating widespread natural resource management under climate change in the 11.9 million ha Lower Murray agricultural region in southern Australia. The spatial distribution of productivity of agricultural crops and pasture, and biomass was modelled. Average annual economic returns were calculated under historical mean (baseline) climate and three climate change scenarios. Economically viable areas of biomass production were identified where the profitability of biomass is greater than the profitability of agriculture under each scenario for three factory gate biomass prices. The benefits of biomass production for dryland salinisation, wind erosion, and carbon emissions reduction through biomass-based renewable energy production were also modelled. Depending on climate scenario, at the median price assessed ($40/tonne) biomass production can generate $51.4–$88 M in annual net economic returns, address 41,226–165,577 ha at high risk of dryland salinisation and 228,000–1.4 million ha at high risk of wind erosion, and mitigate 10.4–12 million tonnes of carbon (CO₂^−e) emissions annually. Economically viable areas for biomass production expanded under climatic warming and drying especially in more marginal agricultural land. Under the baseline, the area at high risk of dryland salinisation was more than double that at high risk of wind erosion. However, under climatic warming and drying the relative importance of these two natural resource management objectives switched with the area at high risk of wind erosion becoming much larger. As biomass production can achieve multiple natural resource management objectives, it may provide a land use policy option that is adaptable to changing priorities and economically resilient given climatic uncertainties. For such a significant and enduring land use change policy it is prudent to assess both the economic and environmental potential under climate change.     

北京地区发展林业碳汇的SWOT分析

运用SWOT分析方法,对北京地区发展林业碳汇的内部优势、劣势、外部机会、威胁进行整体把握分析,提出北京地区发展林业碳汇的合理建议,即充分利用北京的科技优势和人才优势,开发生物质能资源,林业废弃物循环利用;持续稳定发展林业第三产业,增大林业第二产业发展力度;逐步提高森林质量,提升碳汇能力;积极运行碳汇项目,推动林业碳汇发展;完善碳汇理论、实施碳汇政策、开发碳金融产品.     

Making two parallel land-use sector debates meet: Carbon leakage and indirect land-use change

Several land-based policy options are discussed within the current quest for feasible climate change mitigation options, among them the creation and conservation of forest carbon sinks through mechanisms such as Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation also called REDD+ and the substitution of fossil fuels through biofuels, as legislated in the EU Renewable Energy Directive. While those two policy processes face several methodological challenges, there is one issue that both processes encounter: the displacement of land use and the related emissions, which is referred to as carbon leakage in the context of emissions accounting, and indirect land-use change also called ILUC within the bioenergy realm. The debates surrounding carbon leakage and indirect land-use change issues run in parallel but are rather isolated from each other, without much interaction. This paper analyzes the similarities and differences as well as common challenges within these parallel debates by the use of peer-reviewed articles and reports, with a focus on approaches to address and methods to quantify emissions at national and international scale. The aim is to assess the potential to use synergies and learn from the two debates to optimize climate benefits. The results show that the similarities are many, while the differences between carbon leakage and ILUC are found in the actual commodity at stake and to some degree in the policy forum in which the debate is taken. The geographical scale, actors and parties involved also play a role. Both processes operate under the same theoretical assumption and face the same problem of lacking methods to quantify the emissions caused by international displacement. The approach to international displacement is one of the main differences; while US and EU biofuel policymakers acknowledge uncertainties in ILUC accounting but strive to reduce them, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change excludes accounting for international carbon leakage. Potential explanations behind these differences lie in the liability issue and the underlying accounting principles of producer responsibility for carbon leakage and consumer responsibility for ILUC. This is also reflected on the level of lobby activities, where ILUC has reached greater public and policy interest than carbon leakage. Finally, a possible way forward for international leakage accounting in future climate treaties could be the adoption of accounting methods taking a consumer perspective, to be used alongside the existing set-up, which could improve climate integrity of land-based policies.     

林业碳汇供给稳定性的演化博弈分析

通过构建演化博弈模型详细地剖析了林业经营者和地方政府博弈系统的演化稳定策略及其演化过程。研究结果表明:林业碳汇项目的前期和后期成本、相关扶持政策的有效性以及扶持成本等因素会影响博弈系统的演化方向,进而影响林业碳汇供给的稳定性。为提高林业碳汇供给的稳定性,地方政府应制定切实有效且精简的林业碳汇扶持政策,林业经营者应有效发挥其自主能动性。     

都江堰市生物多样性保护现状、问题及对策

分析了都江堰市生物多样性的特点、保护现状及存在问题;认为种类丰富、特有种多、显示度高是其物种多样性特点;物种的吉毒性和珍稀濒危性是其遗传多样性特点;类型多样、结构复杂则体现了生态系统多样性特点;目前,全市已成功开展了生物多样性的就地与迁地保护。但在保护区管理与人类活动的影响方面仍存在不少问题;提出了加强宣传教育、加大监测力度,促进科学研究、加强地方立法与执法和加强国际合作与交流等生物多样性保护的对策措施。     

森林碳汇价值与农户林业收入增长的分析

根据福建省顺昌县农户林业收入的调查数据,从林产品收入、林业服务性收入、林地地租收入、生态公益林补偿收入、其他涉林收入等方面对农户林业收入构成进行分析,发现森林生态效益在农户林业收入中的贡献非常小,仅占0.18%;以现有碳汇市场为参考,通过森林蓄积量换算因子法估算出该县的森林碳汇量及其碳汇价值,指出森林碳汇价值的实现可以有效地增加农户林业生态收入、改善农户的林业收入结构;并探讨了农户森林碳汇价值实现的途径。     

基于化肥减量化管理的农业清洁生产多方联动机制框架研究

[目的]化肥减量增效是实现农业可持续发展的关键举措和优先任务,文章首先基于环境经济学的外部性理论分析与国内外研究现状综述,提出了新形势下基于利益相关方的视角开展化肥减量化管理多方联动机制研究的必要性。[方法]为构建有效的多方联动机制,需要全面了解利益相关方参与化肥减量化管理的现状与主要问题,该文实地调研了普通农户、新型经营主体的耕地保护意识、地力改善意识、清洁生产支付意愿和对政府的主要利益诉求并对其做了对比分析,同时通过关键人物访谈了解基层农技部门、有机肥生产企业在化肥减量过程中面临的主要困难。[结果]构建了化肥减量化管理多方联动机制框架,具体包括肥料生产与使用监管机制、耕地保护责任追究机制、化肥减量化技术推广机制、农业清洁生产补贴机制和绿色农产品消费引导机制等。[结论]结合当前农业供给侧结构性改革的政策背景,强调通过综合运用规范性、激励性和市场性政策工具和手段,建立有效的化肥减量化管理多方联动机制是实现化肥减量增效和农业可持续发展的必然要求。此外,该文补充强调了当前化肥减量应坚持用地、养地相结合,化肥、有机肥配合使用,在保持和改善当前地力水平的前提下,通过提质增效来确保粮食安全、农民增收。     

Forests in the Finnish low carbon scenarios

Finland is committed to the EU goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80% from the 1990 levels by 2050. We examine the potential role of the forests in fulfilling this goal in Finland. We base our analysis on the six scenarios that supported the parliamentary process of preparing Energy and Climate Roadmap 2050 for Finland to which we contributed by providing the assessment of forest sector development. While the scenario paths show that a systemic change to achieve the 80% target is possible with the increasing use of wood for energy being an important tool to cut emissions, our projections here show that an increase in forest carbon sink alone could play at least as important a role in improving the carbon balance. As the Finnish forests are growing clearly more than the projected removals of wood biomass are, Finland's carbon balance in full carbon accounting might become negative already before 2040 thanks to the forest sink. The forest growth might come to offset all other emissions sources even without other measures and still allow an increase in the use of wood for materials and energy. Nevertheless also other emission saving measures are needed because there is currently a cap which limits the use of LULUCF sinks as an emission reduction tool, and because of the fact that at some future point of time the forest sink will saturate while being vulnerable to many risks at the meantime.