Community forests for forest communities: Integrating community-defined goals and practices in the design of forestry initiatives

Community forestry can deliver economic, socio-cultural, and ecological benefits to rural communities, yet criticisms have arisen that community forestry remains dominated by the decision-making of offsite experts and management techniques inappropriate for some communities. We use a case study approach to ascertain the needs, wants, and current realities of selected forest communities in Brazil and Mexico, to inform bottom-up approaches to community interventions. In identifying community-defined goals, we found that other livelihood strategies, particularly agricultural practices, need to be better integrated in the planning of forestry interventions overly focused on timber production. Site-specific intervention models need to take into account the variety of contexts and community interests, rather than replicating models that have been successful in other jurisdictions. A better understanding of local perspectives can aid in the design of community forestry interventions brought by conservation and development agencies, by adding an important and under-studied perspective to the problems that face community forestry.     

Performance of success and failure in grassroots conservation and development interventions: Gender dynamics in participatory forest management in India

Co-governance of forests, or participatory forest management, has been a wide-spread conservation and development (C&D) intervention in India for over two decades. The practice began in the 1990s as Joint Forest Management (JFM), where local communities – organised into forest protection committees (FPCs) – worked in cooperation with various state forest departments. Later on, this intervention took shape of Community Forest Management (CFM), where communities managed their forests largely independent of the forest departments. Under both the JFM and CFM models, gender mainstreaming – enabling equal distribution of opportunities and services across genders – held a pivotal position. This study shows that despite continued marginalisation, female FPC members often performed as if initiatives were successful. Thus, the central question investigated in this paper is: "Why women performed success in participatory forest management interventions while experiencing marginalisation in the FPC?” This paper adopts an ethnographic case study methodology (immersion), utilising in-depth ethnographic case studies from three states of India for analysing performances of success and the resulting dynamics of participation, to explain the gendered nuances of the grassroots conservation and development interventions. The concept of 'situated agency' of community actors is explored to understand the practices around the performances of success in C&D interventions in forest-dependent communities in India. The paper argues that these performances hold the promise of a slow, but steady progress towards the creation of a gender-sensitive system in an otherwise patriarchal social structure.     

劳动负效用视角下的退耕农户决策行为分析

本研究在劳动负效用视角下,通过构建退耕农户决策模型研究退耕还林成果的可持续性问题。引入劳动负效用概念构建农户决策的基本模型,并通过拓展的模型分析农户的生态林管护概率、林产品的市场化程度以及家庭成员劳动就业结构与真实劳动报酬的关系。研究表明:退耕还林成果能否持续,主要取决于退耕农户参与工程的真实劳动报酬。     

林权制度改革对林地经营模式影响分析——江西省林权改革调查报告

介绍了江西省林权改革第一阶段明晰产权工作的主要做法,并运用实地调研的数据分析了林权改革的实施对自留山、责任山、集体山的林地经营模式产生的影响。通过分析发现,自留山和责任山的经营模式在林改前后没有发生大的变化,几乎不受林权改革影响;而集体山林的经营模式受林改的影响较大,林改之后股份合作、承包、转让等模式逐渐取代了集体统一经营的模式成为集体山林经营的重要模式;提出了江西省林权改革工作存在的不足之处及改进的建议。     

Economic indicators of sustainable forest management: theory versus practice

There appears to be a divergence between the conceptual literature in economics on forest sustainability indicators and the practical literature on economic indicators of sustainable forest management. The former focuses on forest resource accounts and issues related to measurement of integrated natural or forest capital accounts. The latter includes some elements of capital accounts but also contains a variety of other community level economic activity indicators. The divergence between these two bodies of literature is evaluated in this paper. Some explanations for the differences are offered as are some suggestions for improvement and investigation in the area of economic sustainability indicators.     

“林木市场成熟理论”的不“成熟”——评“林木市场成熟理论的提出与探讨”专著

对比分析了"林木市场成熟理论的提出与探讨"专著和已有的森林成熟方面的专著和教材的差同,指出"林木市场成熟理论"没有进行实质性的理论、自主探讨,没有研制木材价格和需求2个最大的模型,也没有求证。在《林木市场成熟理论涉及若干重大问题研究》中,所涉及的林业、森林资源可持续、森林经营等方面的问题,没有深入探讨和反映。     

The impact of agricultural conservation easement on nearby house prices: Incorporating spatial autocorrelation and spatial heterogeneity

The impact of farmland under agricultural conservation easement (ACE) contract on the values of nearby residential properties is investigated using housing sales data in two Pennsylvania counties. ACE-protected farmland had a positive impact on nearby property values in one study county but a negative impact in the other. The paper also looks at the impact of forest land use, and discovers that preserved forest land had a positive impact on the nearby property values in both counties. House prices showed strong spatial correlation in both counties, and a spatial error components (SEC) model fit the data better than the OLS model, a spatial-lag model (SLM), or a spatial autoregressive error model (SEM). Geographically weighted regression (GWR) showed that the impact of ACE-protected farmland on nearby property values varied within one of the two study counties, with positive impacts in some parts of the county and negative impacts in other parts. The impact of forest cover on property values also varied, with positive impacts within both counties. A new hybrid GWR-SEC model is introduced that incorporates both spatial correlation in prices and spatial heterogeneity in the model parameters. Statistical goodness of fit measures showed that the GWR-SEC model fit better than the GWR model or a hybrid GWR-SEM model.     

Social and cultural determinants of collective management of community forest in Nepal

The main goal of the study is to determine which socio-economic factors affect level of participation in the community forest management of “Ludhi-Damgade” of Gorkha district in Nepal. The empirical evidence for level of participation as a function of social status is obtained by using an ordered probit and two-stage least-squares model. The model also estimates the marginal effects of socio-economic factors on different levels of participation suggesting how per unit change in such socio-economic characters affects the level of participation. Empirical results from the model also verify that participation in forest management determines the quantity and type of benefits received from the community forest. The research findings of the study suggest that participation in community forest management is based on the socio-economic profile of an individual and the level of participation is determined by the benefits obtained from the common forest resources. Lack of participation in community forest management excludes the disadvantaged groups from decision-making in product distribution. Consequently, the disadvantaged groups get less benefit from the community forest. The empirical results are expected to aid policy makers in empowering people of lower socio-economic status to understand the importance of participation in community forest management in order to have equal distribution of benefits accrued by community forest.     

The dynamics of land-cover change in western Honduras: exploring spatial and temporal complexity

This paper presents an econometric analysis of land‐cover change in western Honduras. Ground‐truthed satellite image analysis indicates that between 1987 and 1996, net forest regrowth occurred in the 1015 km² study region. While some forest regrowth can be attributed to a 1987 ban on logging, the area of forest regrowth greatly exceeds that of previously clear‐cut areas. Further, new area was also deforested between 1987 and 1996. Thus, the observed land‐cover changes most likely represent a complex mosaic of changing land‐use patterns across time and space. Using satellite imagery from 1987, 1991 and 1996, we estimate a series of models, including binary probit models for each date, and a random‐effects probit model using panel techniques. We also experiment with spatial sampling schemes designed to reduce residual spatial autocorrelation, and qualitatively compare the impact of spatial sampling on model accuracy. Lastly, we find that changes in relative prices, infrastructure improvement, and topography are all significantly related to changing land‐cover patterns.     

新农村建设中林业作用的实证研究——以安徽省大山村为例

对安徽省大山村试验示范区进行了经济发展的实证分析,结果表明,发展农林复合经营,有利于调整农业产业结构,促进农村经济发展。目前全村林业年收入占各业总收入的44.5%;农民人均年纯收入达到3719元,其中林业收入占55%。森林覆盖率由产业调整前的25.6%提高到71.8%,生态环境得到明显改善。山区发展林业产业,是推动新农村建设行之有效的措施之一。     

新时期国有林场的发展模式与路径选择——以南云台林场为例

从南云台林场建设谈起,借鉴原山林场获得长足发展的范例,提出了新时代国有林场高质量融合发展机制的立足点,是建设社会主义国有林场利益共同体。实行股份合作制、"一场两制"、KSF全优绩效等现代企事业管理机制是未来国有林场可持续发展模式和路径选择。     

贵州省台江县反排苗族村山林管理模式及影响因素分析

以一个苗族村寨为例,考察分析解放以来农村土地制度几经变迁后的民族地区山林管理的模式及影响因素。研究结果表明:在农村土地集体所有的前提下,社区选择了多种山林管理模式,这些模式除了受国家政策影响外,很大程度上还受到民族社区的传统观念、风俗习惯及经营管理方式的影响;目前一些尚未划分到户、仍由村组统一经营管理的矛盾多、管理难的"公山"的存在,有其历史原因,也有现实必要。重视这些对于推进集体林权制度改革,制定科学适宜的林地政策,保护林地资源,促进生态平衡及增加林农收入,都是非常重     

Using Geographically Weighted Choice Models to Account for the Spatial Heterogeneity of Preferences

In this paper, we investigate the use of geographically weighted choice models for modelling spatially clustered preferences. We argue that this is a useful way of generating highly‐detailed spatial maps of willingness to pay for environmental conservation, given the costs of collecting data. The data used in this study come from a discrete choice experiment survey of public preferences for the implementation of a new national forest management and protection programme in Poland. We combine these with high‐resolution spatial data related to local forest characteristics. Using locally estimated discrete choice models we obtain location‐specific estimates of willingness to pay (WTP). Variation in these estimates is explained by characteristics of the forests close to where respondents live. These results are compared with those obtained from a more typical, two stage procedure which uses Bayesian posterior means of the mixed logit model random parameters to calculate location‐specific estimates of WTP. We find that there are indeed strong spatial patterns to the benefits of changes to the management to national forests. People living in areas with more species‐rich forests and those living nearer bigger areas of mixed forests have significantly different WTP values than those living in other locations. This kind of information potentially enables a better distributional analysis of the gains and losses from changes to natural resource management, and better targeting of investments in forest quality.     

Forecasting the German forest products trade: A vector error correction model

In the forest sector often very complex models are used that take into account a variety of factors. In addition to variables that describe the natural production of wood, into these models flow among others also such variables that depict nature conservation legislation, market contexts, etc. The limited availability of large amounts of data and more particularly of precise data to all these subject areas considerably weakens the validity of the models. Our study therefore takes up the challenge to develop a model, as simple as possible, that can help to estimate export and import volumes as well as export and import prices of raw timber in Germany. To this end, we apply the technique of time series analysis and develop a simple model that allows for short-term and medium-term forecasting in the German forest sector. We show that using a vector error correction model (VECM) can succeed in a relatively simple modelling of future quantities and prices of raw timber for Germany.     

Aggregating forest harvesting activities in forest plantations through Integer Linear Programming and Goal Programming

The inclusion of criteria related to the spatial patterns resulting from forest harvesting activities is an important component of forest planning. Harvesting operations are more efficient when the harvesting areas are clustered. Therewith, it is possible to reduce the displacement of machinery and costs related to construction and maintenance of the road network. In this context, the objective of this study was to evaluate different strategies for aggregating harvesting stands in a forest plantation. We applied two Goal Programming approaches aiming at aggregating harvesting stands and an Integer Linear Programming model for including road investments into strategic forest planning.     

基于DEA窗口模型的重点国有林区森工企业技术效率评估

通过构造产出导向、径向的DEA窗口模型,对2003~2014年重点国有林区森工企业在横截面和时间序列上都具有可比性的单属性综合技术效率指数TE1与多属性综合技术效率指数TE2进行评估。根据评估结果,得出5个结论:⑴森工企业两种综合技术效率指数偏低;⑵森工企业单属性综合技术效率指数明显低于多属性综合技术效率指数;⑶森工企业综合效率指数偏低的主要原因是纯技术效率指数偏低;⑷森工企业之间的综合技术效率指数差异较大;⑸多数森工企业处于规模报酬递减阶段。最后,对这些结论的政策含义进行了探讨。     

构建森林生态资源产权交易机制的理论探索

森林生态资源的公共物品属性引发了森林生态生产和消费过程中的正、负外部性,进而导致森林生态供需失衡。通过构建产权交易机制可以消除由于外部性而引发的森林生态资源供需失衡问题。森林生态资源利益相关主体包括森林经营者、厂商和居民,将享受良好生态环境的权利赋予居民,由企业承担环境治理费用,将森林生态资源的收益权赋予森林经营者,采用污染者付费模式,借助产品市场所构建的森林生态资源交易模型,能够在交易成本最低的前提下实现森林生态资源供需均衡。森林生态产权交易成本包括创建成本和运行成本两部分,当森林生态资源产权交易的运行成本小于政府行政管理成本时,产权交易市场才被认为是有效的。对于任何一项森林生态资源来讲,在稀缺性、竞争性和排他性3种经济属性上表现出相应的适应性,是建立该项森林生态资源产权交易市场的前提。现阶段只有森林景观和碳汇两类森林生态资源的经济属性符合私有化产权交易的基本条件。     

福建省重点生态区位商品林赎买模式比较研究

阐述福建省重点生态区位商品林赎买改革模式,收集典型案例,对福建省现行的赎买、租赁、置换及改造提升等多种赎买模式进行归纳总结和优劣势分析。基于赎买过程中涉及到的政府、行业主管部门和农户3个利益主体,并结合赎买模式实施条件,得出不同利益主体选择赎买模式的建议:政府应选择保护林权权利人合法权益,促进林区社会和谐稳定的赎买模式;林业主管部门应选择有利于林分结构调整、优化生态公益林布局、提高林业社会地位的赎买模式;农户应基于收益最大化目标,结合家庭劳动力、林业依赖等情况选择赎买模式。     

黑龙江省国有林区职工家庭贫困脆弱性的影响因素分析

在参阅了大量现有研究成果中关于贫困脆弱性理论与测度方法的基础上,选择了多层次随机回归分析方法,在社区与家庭两个层面进行变量设定,利用HLM7软件实现了模型建立,应用2012年黑龙江省国有林区9个林业局的林业职工家庭调查的横截面数据,实证分析了影响黑龙江省国有林区职工家庭贫困脆弱性的因素。分析结果表明:家庭规模、家庭负担比、是否在林场或经营区对家庭贫困脆弱性呈正向影响;户主年龄、家庭资产指数、社区人均收入水平对家庭贫困脆弱性呈负向影响。依据研究结果,建议在国有林区生态功能区建设以及二期天保工程建设期间,应充分重视林区的民生工程,重点建设林区社区保障体系,大力发展林下经济,增强林区职工的生计能力。     

An economic assessment of options for operating within plantation forestry water entitlements and tightening cap and trade policy

The Green Triangle (GT) region of southern Australia is one of only two jurisdictions globally to licence plantation forestry's groundwater use. In response to declines in groundwater resources caused by historical plantation expansion, reductions in forest water allocations (~50%) are likely for some parts of the region, presenting novel challenges for forest managers in maintaining revenues and timber flows. This article presents a mathematical programming model evaluation of water trade opportunities for plantation forest owners to adapt to reduced water entitlements and explores how tightening groundwater policy could affect forestry returns and land use mix for the region. Results suggest that even absent opportunity to sell water, relatively limited 11% reduction in return could be expected for a large (−50%) water entitlement and (−48%) land-use change out of forestry. Results suggest that opportunities for forestry companies to sell water entitlements may allow them to maintain or even increase combined returns from forestry and water sales. Whilst the results highlight the adaptive capacity of the plantation forestry sector to operate within reduced water entitlement, a significant sectoral and regional economy adjustment would be likely. The discussion focusses on the potential to realise optimisation model-identified adaptation opportunities accounting for real-world thin markets, transaction costs and market friction.