Reducing tropical forest loss through multiple-use?

Manuel R. Guariguata

“Forest  resources  and  forest  lands  should  be  sustainably  managed  to  meet  the  social,  economic,  ecological,  cultural  and  spiritual  needs  of  present  and  future  genera8ons.      These  needs  are  for  forest  products  and  services,  such  as  wood  and  wood  products,  water,  food,  fodder,  medicine,  fuel,  shelter,  employment,  recrea8on,  habitats  for  wildlife,  landscape  diversity,  carbon  sinks  and  reservoirs,  and  for  other  forest  products.”  

20  years  ago  in  Rio…  

•  Food  supplies  will  expand  70  %  by  2050  and  demand  for  wood  and  fiber  will  concurrently  increase    

•  How  can  we  sustain  enough  produc8ve  forest  and  land  available  for  agriculture  to  meet  current  demands  without  further  forest  conversion?  

•  Keeping  space  for  produc8ve  forests  will  require  innova8on  in  forestry  prac8ces  while  mee8ng  ever-­‐growing  societal  needs  

 

Strict protection (IUCN I-IV)

Multiple use (IUCN V-VI)

Indigenous territories

Nelson  and  Chomitz  (2011)  

How are forests being used?

Who owns the forest?

Sunderlin  et  al.  2008  

How do deforestation and degradation fit in the current scenario?

•  In  La8n  America  and  Asia,  strict  forest  protec8on  substan8ally  reduced  fire  incidence  but  mul8-­‐use  areas  were  even  more  effec8ve  

 •  Across  the  tropics,  deforesta8on  rates  in  

protected  areas  were  significantly  larger  than  in  mul8-­‐use  protected  areas  

 Nelson  and  Chomitz  2011;  Porter-­‐Bolland  et  al.  2012  

•  Technical  and  managerial  capaci8es  differ  for  different  forest  products  and  market  opportuni8es  

•  Local  communi8es  and  small-­‐scale  operators  struggle  to  adjust  their  prac8ces  to  meet  official  regula8ons—which  in  turn  show  li]le  harmoniza8on  for  mul8ple  objec8ves    

•  Spa8al  planning  for  long  term  produc8on  is  usually  disregarded—par8cularly  for  mul8ple  uses  and  mul8ple  views    

•  Ossified  tropical  forestry  curricula    

Multi-use: challenges

In  Guatemala,  ten  years  a`er  the  implementa8on  of  community  forest  concessions,  those  with  the  highest  degree  of  product  diversifica8on  and  social  organiza8on  are    be]er  able  to  buffer  economic  uncertainty      Radachowsky  et  al.  2012  

In  Peru,  segrega8on  of  produc8on  objec8ves  was  not  effec8ve    

Aichi  Target  5:  Rate  of  loss  of  all  natural  habitats,  including  forests,  is  at  least  halved  …and  degrada8on  and  fragmenta8on  is  significantly  reduced  

Aichi  Target  11:  Terrestrial  areas  are  conserved…and  integrated  into  the  wider  landscapes  and  seascapes    

•  Management  tradeoffs  are  complex  and  acute  in  mul8ple  use  systems  

•  Social  learning  and  mul8-­‐stakeholder  dialogue  is  essen8al  

•  Spa8al  approaches  for  planning      

Policy dimensions