Responding to Deforestation: Productive Conservation,the World Bank,and Beekeeping in Rondonia,Brazil

Productive conservation, a sustainable development concept for the Amazon, ideally leads to economic development in rural areas with conservation of rain forest ecosystems. This study evaluates the human and environmental dynamics of productive conservation in Rondonia, Brazil, using as a case study beekeeping, which has been promoted by the World Bank‐funded Rondonia Natural Resources Development Project. Promoters of beekeeping have given little attention to basic ecological or political economic issues that determine whether the practice contributes to ideals of productive conservation. While beekeeping can generate significant increases in household income, beekeeping cooperatives may become overdependent on donor funds. Once the flow of productive conservation donor funds stops, organizations may fail, making it too difficult for beekeepers to maintain their operations. Beekeeping does not lead directly toward rain forest conservation. Moreover, beekeeping almost exclusively employs introduced Africanized “killer” bees, commercially exploitable in the Amazon only because deforestation has temporarily created suitable habitats for them. Given the human and environmental configuration of beekeeping in Rondonia, the paper suggests ways to direct beekeeping toward accomplishing the goals of productive conservation.     

Land tenure and forest cover change. The case of southwestern Beni,Bolivian Amazon, 1986–2009

As land use change continues to increase throughout the Amazon basin, there is a pressing need to accurately map, quantify and assess the effects of different factors on forest cover change (FCC). Land tenure may sometimes have important effects on forest cover, yet such effects remain poorly understood in Amazonia, particularly outside Brazil. In this paper we assess whether significant differences in trends of FCC can be partially explained by different land tenure arrangements, using a case study in southwestern Beni (Bolivian Amazon). We examine spatio-temporal dynamics of FCC across four land tenure systems (indigenous titled territory, protected area, logging concession, and private land) by classifying forests using a time-series of Landsat satellite imagery consisting of four dates (1986, 1996, 2001, 2009). Specifically, we unravel (1) trends in early growth and old-growth forest extent, including changes in total cover area, annual change rates, and spatial change dynamics, and (2) trends in old-growth forest fragmentation. To better understand the association between land tenure and FCC, we qualitatively assess the potential role that other underlying and proximate drivers may have had in FCC over the study period. We found that private lands underwent, by far, the largest FCC, that indigenous territories and the protected area had little FCC, and that logging concessions were responsible for the lowest FCC. Our findings suggest that land tenure played a key role in FCC except in private areas, where many other drivers had operated. Our study sheds light into the potential role of land tenure in FCC and has important implications for public policies aimed at socioeconomic development and environmental conservation in the Amazon. We give some policy recommendations drawn from a biocultural conservation perspective that could contribute to implement more inclusive conservation policies in the region.     

Forest transition and biogeographic meaning of the current laurel forest landscape in Canary Islands,Spain

This study provides a geographical synthesis of the current natural landscape dynamics of the Canarian laurel forest based on the results of a biogeographic study of its structure, composition, and dynamics. Historical socioeconomic changes and recent environmental conservation strategies have led to natural forest dynamics that make it necessary to change our current scientific conception of the Canarian laurel forest landscape. According to the forest transition theory, in the protected areas of Anaga and Teno Rural Parks (Tenerife) and Garajonay National Park (La Gomera), the forest reaction to the gradual abandonment of economic activity reveals how strongly human activity has shaped the features of the laurel forest, which traditionally has been considered to be relatively untouched by humankind. How natural disturbances have affected this forest over the past few years has also contributed to a better understanding of its dynamics. This study explains the key patterns of spontaneous dynamics in the Canarian laurel forest to enrich our understanding of this forest and its landscape, while highlighting the importance of human activity as the catalyst for its current vigorous dynamics.     

Local Perceptions of the Livelihood and Conservation Benefits of Small-Scale Livelihood Projects in Rural Madagascar

Small-scale livelihood projects are widely used in forest conservation and Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD)+ initiatives; however, there is limited information on how effective these projects are at delivering livelihood and conservation benefits. We explored local perceptions of the effectiveness of small-scale livelihood projects in delivering livelihood and conservation benefits in eastern Madagascar. Our results suggest that small-scale livelihood projects vary greatly in their ability to deliver livelihood benefits, and that the type of livelihood project (e.g., agriculture, beekeeping, fish farming, or livestock production) has a significant impact on which livelihood benefits are delivered. Many small-scale livelihood projects, regardless of project type, are perceived to contribute to forest conservation efforts. Our study highlights that small-scale livelihood projects have the potential to contribute to both improved livelihoods and enhanced forest conservation, but also illustrates the need for more information on the factors that lead to project success.     

Spillover effect offsets the conservation effort in the Amazon

Diverse conservation efforts have been expanding around the globe, even under the stress of increasing agricultural production. A striking example is the supply-chain agreements put upon the Amazon forest which had reduced deforestation by 80% from the early 2000s (27,772 km²) to 2015 (6207 km²). However, evaluation of these conservation efforts usually focused on the impacts within the Amazon biome only, while the effects that spill over to other areas (e.g., displacement of environmental pressure from one area to another) were rarely considered. Ignoring spillover effects may lead to biased or even wrong conclusions about the effectiveness of these conservation efforts because the hidden cost outside the target area of conservation may offset the achievement within it. It is thus important to assess the spillover effects of these supply-chain agreements. In this study, we used the two supply-chain agreements (i.e., Soy Moratorium and zero-deforestation beef agreement) implemented in the Amazon biome as examples and evaluated their spillover effects to the Cerrado. To achieve a holistic evaluation of the spillover effects, we adopted the telecoupling framework in our analysis. The application of the telecoupling framework includes the interactions between distant systems and extends the analytical boundaries beyond the signatory areas, which fill the gap of previous studies. Our results indicate that the supply-chain agreements have significantly reduced deforestation by half compared to projections within the sending system (i.e., Pará State in the Amazon, which exports soybeans and other agricultural products), but at the cost of increasing deforestation in the spillover system (i.e., a 6.6 time increase in Tocantins State of the Cerrado, where deforestation was affected by interactions between the Amazon and other places). Our study emphasizes that spillover effects should be considered in the evaluation and planning of conservation efforts, for which the telecoupling framework works as a useful tool to do that systematically.     

Who Is “Forest‐Dependent”? Capturing Local Variation in Forest‐Product Sale,Eastern Honduras

How researchers describe groups living within or near the world's tropical rain forests has important implications for how and why these groups are targeted for assistance by conservation and development organizations. This article explores how data about market behavior can be used to assess one aspect of forest peoples’ livelihoods: their “dependence” on forest resources as a source of market income. With the intent of revealing the importance of methodology to how we describe forest peoples’ livelihoods, I draw from a multiyear survey of market activity among the Tawahka Sumu of Honduras and distinguish nested measures of the Tawahkas’ engagement in forest‐product sale. Results indicate that whether or not the Tawahka —or any forest group — can be considered financially “dependent” on forest resources depends on the spatial and temporal scales at which data are aggregated. As a group, the Tawahka earned 18 percent of total market income from forest‐product sale, but their group profile masked a high degree of heterogeneity at the village and household level. Similarly, multiyear data indicated that while group‐level generalizations adhere from year to year, they belie considerable change in households’ market behavior across years. I discuss three ways in which the findings are relevant to the theory and practice of conservation and development in the humid tropics. I emphasize the importance of spatial scale in interventions, how market‐oriented conservation schemes can benefit from a broader conceptualization of the economic context in which forest‐product sale occurs, and how longitudinal analysis can reveal the dynamism of forest peoples’ livelihoods.     

Population densities and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: New insights on the current human settlement patterns

This paper provides the first analysis at the sub-municipality scale of the relationships between population densities and deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon between 2000 and 2010. We use the database on deforestation published by the Brazilian space research center (INPE) and the population census data released by the federal geographical and statistical agency IBGE at their finest scale: the census tract level. By crossing the population density and deforestation variables, we identify ten human settlement patterns in the Amazon. There are low-low and high-high classes of population density and deforestation, but also low-high and high-low classes. This analysis helps understand the low overall relations in the Amazon for population and deforestation. We emphasize the expansion of large-scale agriculture and cattle ranching as causing the depopulation of rural areas while in many regions of the Amazon quite strong population densities coexist with relatively low extents of deforestation. Such findings stress the need to implement case-specific public policies in these regions in order to encourage human presence compatible with the conservation of forest cover and biodiversity. We also confirm the importance of the Amazon urbanization process, including the ‘discrete urbanization’ of rural areas, and the need to better recognize the distinct social and environmental problems of urban areas.     

基于RS和GIS的西双版纳土地覆被动态变化

人口增加、经济发展导致滇南热带地区西双版纳土地利用/土地覆被发生显著变化,这些变化对该区的生态环境及生物多样性保护有着重要影响。基于RS和GIS方法,通过对1976、1988和2003年三个时期遥感影像解译分析,试图了解西双版纳近27 a间土地利用/土地覆被时空变化特征及影响因素。结果表明,近27 a间有林地在西双版纳分布最广、占绝对优势,其中以亚热带常绿阔叶林面积最大;但在研究时段内,有林地面积不断减少、呈现破碎化,尤其是热带季节雨林、山地雨林面积减少最为明显和破碎化最为严重。相应,橡胶园、灌木林面积不断扩大并聚集成片,其中橡胶园在1988~2003年间是面积增长最快、最多的地类,其面积扩张主要来源于对热带季节雨林的砍伐。轮歇地面积在1976~1988年是所有地类中增长最快、最多的,在1988~2003年由于向橡胶园转变而大幅度减小。粗放式的刀耕火种和橡胶种植园的不断扩大是主导本区土地利用/土地覆被变化的主要因素,土地利用变化导致了本区生态环境的退化和生物多样性的丢失。     

Rural Self-Reliance in Bondolfi, Zimbabwe: the role of beekeeping

Community-based economic self-reliance has become critical in many African countries because of the severity of prevailing soci-economic and environmental constraints. Concerns over food security have encouraged a re-evaluation of the importance of indigenous technical knowledge. This study examines a rural area in Zimbabwe where members of the local community have established a successful beekeeping association to improve their livelihoods. The history of the initiative, its broader impact on the community and the role played by external facilitation feature in the study.     

Lost in translation: conflicting views of deforestation, land use and identity in western Madagascar

This paper focuses on the interplay between environmental narratives, identity politics and the management of forest resources in Madagascar. While efforts to conserve the island's biological diversity have centred primarily on the designation of protected areas, policies have increasingly focused on local communities. The experiences of the last 20 years have shown that community-based approaches to conservation offer considerable challenges due to the complex politics of natural resource use, which involve multiple and diverse stakeholders, often with very different and sometimes conflicting values. In this paper, I focus on the environmental perceptions and values of two groups in the Central Menabe region of western Madagascar – conservation organisations and rural households – revealing a contrasting set of views regarding the region's forest. I show that the conservation discourse has changed over time, increasingly emphasising the biological diversity of the region's tropical dry-deciduous forest and prioritising non-consumptive uses of natural resources. Although policy has changed in response to changing values, I show that it has been underpinned by the notion that hatsake (‘slash-and-burn’ agriculture) is an irrational practice driven by necessity rather than choice. Policy has thus sought to provide livelihood alternatives, firstly through forestry, then through changes in cultivation and increasingly through tourism. This misunderstands the local view of the forest, which sees hatsake as a way to make the land productive, as long as it is carried out responsibly according to local fady (taboos). As well as facing problems of translating conservation goals into local values and misunderstanding the motives for forest clearance, policy has been based on a narrative that attaches particular land use practices to ethnic identities. I argue that this ignores the history and fluid reality of both identity and land use.     

Forest Fragmentation in the Humid Tropics: A Cross–National Analysis

While habitat destruction always causes species extinctions, the rate of extinction may be highest in those habitats which become the most fragmented as they decline in size. For this reason, knowledge about the patterns and origins of rain forest fragmentation in the tropics may prove useful in efforts to preserve biodiversity. This paper calculates the degree of fragmentation in the tropical rain forests of 51 nations containing 83 per cent of the world's tropical forests. By these measures, West Africa and Central America have the most fragmented tropical rain forests in the world. Not surprisingly, rain forests in the Amazon basin are the world's least fragmented. Some patterns of tropical deforestation appear to produce more fragmentation than others. A two-stage least squares analysis of these data suggest that deforestation driven by smallholders is most likely to produce highly fragmented forest habitats. The implications of these findings for policy and for further research are briefly discussed.     

PRODUCTIVITY RATINGS BASED ON SOIL SERIES: A METHODOLOGICAL CRITIQUE

How researchers describe groups living within or near the world's tropical rain forests has important implications for how and why these groups are targeted for assistance by conservation and development organizations. This article explores how data about market behavior can be used to assess one aspect of forest peoples’ livelihoods: their “dependence” on forest resources as a source of market income. With the intent of revealing the importance of methodology to how we describe forest peoples’ livelihoods, I draw from a multiyear survey of market activity among the Tawahka Sumu of Honduras and distinguish nested measures of the Tawahkas’ engagement in forest-product sale. Results indicate that whether or not the Tawahka —or any forest group — can be considered financially “dependent” on forest resources depends on the spatial and temporal scales at which data are aggregated. As a group, the Tawahka earned 18 percent of total market income from forest-product sale, but their group profile masked a high degree of heterogeneity at the village and household level. Similarly, multiyear data indicated that while group-level generalizations adhere from year to year, they belie considerable change in households’ market behavior across years. I discuss three ways in which the findings are relevant to the theory and practice of conservation and development in the humid tropics. I emphasize the importance of spatial scale in interventions, how market-oriented conservation schemes can benefit from a broader conceptualization of the economic context in which forest-product sale occurs, and how longitudinal analysis can reveal the dynamism of forest peoples’ livelihoods.     

阿尔泰山森林生态系统服务功能及其价值评估

以阿尔泰山森林生态系统为研究对象并依据《森林生态系统服务功能评估规范》（LY/T 1721—2008）,通过利用空间分析的方法对阿尔泰山森林资源二类调查数据处理分析,得到了阿尔 泰山不同类型森林生态系统的生态服务价值和阿尔泰山生态服务价值的影响因素。结果表明：阿 尔泰山森林生态服务价值量为 47 957.79×106 元·a^-1,价值量的大小为：涵养水源＞固碳释氧＞保护 生物多样性＞净化大气环境＞保育土壤＞积累营养物质,其中涵养水源是主导服务功能;不同林 龄的生态服务价值量呈现为：成熟林＞过熟林＞近熟林＞中龄林＞幼龄林;按照林场划分,各个林 场的生态服务价值呈现富蕴林场＞阿勒泰林场＞新疆阿尔泰山两河源自然保护区＞布尔津林场 ＞青河林场＞哈巴河林场＞福海林场的顺序。     

基诺山林地环境及鸟类分布的变化

随着人类经济活动的增加，自然环境条件也在改变；人与自然的协调发展，保护生物多样性已成为突出的问题。本文分析了基诺山（又称攸乐山）林地及农作区鸟类多样性的变化，以探索地方民族与自然环境的协调发展。     

The El Cielo Biosphere Reserve: Forest Cover Changes and Conservation Attitudes in an Important Neotropical Region

This article combines approaches to better understand both forest cover changes and attitudes toward environmental conservation in the El Cielo Biosphere Reserve in northeastern Mexico. Satellite images are used to document the extent and response of forest cover in the reserve before and after its designation as a biosphere reserve. Ethnographic interviews are also employed to examine the attitudes of local people toward the costs and benefits of the biosphere reserve in their lives. Our research found that unlike many “paper parks,” large-scale deforestation has stopped and forest cover has expanded after the biosphere reserve was created. Our research also found that local people value both tangible and intangible benefits created by the biosphere reserve.     

Land Cover Changes on Ambergris Caye,Belize: A Case Study of Unregulated Tourism Development

Measuring land-use, land-cover change in biodiverse, tropical countries is critical for conservation management and sustainable planning because it provides quantifiable data regarding broad environmental changes. This project uses Landsat satellite imagery to document vegetation cover change on Ambergris Caye, Belize, from 2000 to 2017. The close proximity of the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System has made Ambergris Caye the most popular tourist destination and economic hub in Belize. As a result, the region has undergone intense commercial and residential development coupled with rapid population growth over the past two decades. Understanding general trends in landscape dynamics is critical for the natural resource–based tourism industry of Belize to continue to thrive. Unsupervised classification methods and a per pixel postclassification comparison were used with Landsat imagery to estimate loss in vegetation cover and increases in urban and barren land. The results indicate a 10.85 percent decrease in vegetation and a 39 percent increase in urban and barren land during the seventeen-year study period with an annual forest loss rate of 0.67 percent per year using a compound interest rate formula. The results of this analysis represent a baseline study of vegetation change on Ambergris Caye to inform management and conservation efforts.     

广西岩溶植被自然分布规律及对岩溶生态恢复重建的意义

广西的岩溶植被类型和物种多样性丰富，分为5个植被型组8个植被型共96个群系，广西岩溶植被纬度分布由南至北为季节性雨林→含热带成份的常绿落叶阔叶混交林→常绿落叶阔叶混交林，生态结构复杂，特有成分突出，形成特殊的热带亚热带岩溶植物区系。岩溶区生态建设与植被恢复过程中，需遵循植被地带性分布规律，参照区域性顶极植物群落，进行人工群落的重建设计，选择优良乡土树种尤其是速生常绿阔叶树种，模拟天然植被构建先锋植物群落，乔灌藤草优化配置，针对生境异质性的主导因子，强化岩溶山地造林与封育管理技术，有效提高生物生产效率和植被覆盖率，开发特有适生的名特优产品，带动经济发展、促进生态环境尽快改善。     

香港米埔自然保护区保护与管理经验及启示

随着深圳市城市发展步伐的不断加快,福田红树林自然保护区受到水体污染、人为干扰、病虫害及外来物种等各方面影响,导致其生态系统出现不同程度的退化。通过赴香港米埔自然保护区考察与学习,分析了香港米埔自然保护区精细化管理、生态系统日趋稳定及教育宣传等经验,提出了深圳福田乃至全国红树林自然保护区保护与管理对策和建议。     

教育投入对中国经济增长作用的区域差异分析——基于多指标面板数据聚类结果

进入21 世纪,人力资本在经济增长中的作用越来越突出,作为人力资本形成的重要途径,教育在中国已经被提高到优先发展的战略地位。以2001-2010 年中国31 个省份的面板数据为基础,基于人均受教育年限、人均教育经费、教育经费占地区GDP比例三项指标的多指标面板数据聚类结果,进行“微观”面板数据建模,具体比较和分析中国教育发展水平、GDP对教育投入弹性的区域差异。研究发现：教育投入对不同发展水平、不同类型经济区域的影响作用不同。总体来看,GDP对教育投入富有弹性,尤其是对于经济基础好、居民文化素质较低的省份,GDP对教育投入的弹性通常较大。但中西部9 个省份则出现教育与经济消极互动的局面,表现为GDP对教育投入缺乏弹性。     

BEEKEEPING AND LOCAL SELF-RELIANCE IN RURAL SOUTHERN AFRICA*

ABSTRACT. Beekeeping has the potential to supplement incomes in rural southern Africa. In light of regional economic constraints, self-reliance strategies that draw on local knowledge and skills take on a renewed importance. We consider the advantages and disadvantages of beekeeping and examine appropriate forms of development support. A short case study from Zimbabwe illustrates these issues.