Why managing and restoring tropical forests matter

Managing and restoring natural tropical forestsEnsuring a sustainable flow of benefits for people in the context of global change

Plinio Sist, [email protected]

Discussion forum

Why managing and restoring tropical forests matter ?

50% of the World Forests

Tropical Forests

27 % of the Terrestrial Carbon stock

50 % of terrestrial species

Deforestation still concentrated

in tropical regions

FAO 2005

Annual net forest gain/loss (2005)

Deforestation 2010-2015 8.8 Mha/year (FRA 2015)

Logging = Degradation ?

Conventional RIL

Forest Companies

Farmers

Forest Communities

Partnerships

A Diversity of Actors

The Main Challenges Debated in this Discussion Forum

Forest Degradation, Forest management, and restoration The future role of tropical natural forests vs plantations Production of goods and maintenance of environmental

services Diversity of actors, interests and perceptions Forest management and Restoration within landscape use

planning

FSC certified forest management in Brazilian Amazon:

current status and challenges

Saturday 5 December 2015

Isabel GARCIA-DRIGO

Managing and restoring natural tropical forestsEnsuring a sustainable flow of benefits for people in the context of

global change

8Tropical forests in an era of change: Southeast AsiaRobert Nasi & Michael Galante

Forest lands to legal logging

24%

© Galante

Managing and restoring natural tropical forests: Ensuring a sustainable flow of benefits for people in the context of global change

Concessions granted until 2015In 5 National Forest

FMU Area : 842.000 ha

Concessions to be granted in 2016:In 7 National Forest

FMU Potential Area: 1,3 million haSource: SFB (2016)

Few or none private lands available...So forest concessions are the hope

Forest Concessions only of Para State already granted: 475.000 ha

Federal Forest Concessions

Until 2015, the total area granted in concession = 1,3 million haIn average: 44.000/ha/year for legal logging


Certified forest management

30%

24%

© Galante


FSC FM at National levelNatural Forests~1,6 million ha

Plantations4,8 million Ha

7 companies- 4 forest

concessions1 Community

2 companies

5 Communities1 State Forest (gov. direct management)

2 companies- 1 forest concession

12 Companies6 Communities

1 gov. managed area

Area certified (in ha):Private land: 1,3 million Federal concessions: 99.000 Communities: 41.000Para State Concessions: 136.000Acre State Forest: 66.000

1 company


we can see the glass half full.....

30%

24%

© Galante


Total certified area= 1,6 million about 53.000/ha/year potential production

If annual cut in 20m3/ha/year about 1,0 million m3/year of certified timber available

18 % of the total forest concession area granted already certified

Potential to expand FSC in forest concessions: 1,6 million ha, if so, double the certified production


......or half empty

30%

24%

© Galante


Fulfill forest concessions contract requirements is not for everyone!

Public agents are still too slowly to solve contract problems

FSC certification is costly

Deficit of labor force well trained to perform RIL activities

Social and technical performance of Subcontractors: questionable

Unfair competition: illegal logging


Merci!Thank you!

Gracias!Grazie!Grata!

[email protected]

Toward Concessions 2.0 in Central Africa

Recognising and managing overlapping tenure rights

Alain Karsenty, Cédric Vermeulen & Guillaume Lescuyer

Forest concessions in C. Africa are generally large, calling for land sharing

Concentration and fragmentation• With the increasing demographic

density, the room for large-scale concessions is gradually shrinking (exceptions being essentially Gabon and Congo). - Some will inevitably be reduced

(and probably converted to agricultural use at one stage), other will be transformed into community forests and households’ lands

- Large concessions will remain where their role in structuring remote landscapes is key

Public and NGOs initiatives• New public regulations

insist on timber revenues’ sharing (Gabon, Cameroon, Congo) and management plan often have provisions for “agricultural series” within the concessions– The “community

development series” within concessions in Congo as a benefit sharing mechanism and socioeconomic reinvestment tool (but not working well)

Impact of NGO initiatives: MappingForRights (RFUK) and Rights and Resources Initiative work for mapping customary territories and

rights recognition

Overlaps with timber concessions

… and with protected areas

Certification fosters tenure rights recognitionMap of “finages” (customary tenure rights within concessions)

Beyond timber: developing new commodity chains jointly with communities

• Competition with alternative land uses: oil palm, rubberwood, cocoa… often encouraged by national governments

• An evolution of the forest concession system is desirable – and has probably started, especially in FSC-Certified ones

• Need to shift from a mono-exploitation (timber) to a broader spectrum of activities mixing SFM and valorisation of NTFPs, genetic resources, agroforestry production, plantations on degraded lands and savannahs (including teak, cocoa, oil palm…), recreational hunting, energy production and distribution…

• Acceptable only with the recognition of communities’ customary territories (“finages”) within the concessions: new economic activities developed jointly with the empowered populations

From land sparing to land sharing: designing concessions 2.0 as a hybrid between a company and a territorial institution

• Systematic mapping of the customary territories (‘finages’) in an out the concessions and participative management and organization of the dual dimension of community forestry, combining overlapping areas and exclusive community concession areas

• Gazetting of Forest Management Units, not yet completed in C. Africa, will provide the legal opportunity for adjustments of the boundaries to make room for viable SMEs

Managing the overlapping rights “by layers”

• On the overlapping area management by layers: – Timber would remain an exclusive right of concessionaires (but with benefits

sharing) but trees can be set aside (caterpillars…) after agreement with populations

– Recreational hunting could be organised by a specialised operator, – Investment would be needed to create joint venture for commercial exploitation

of NTFP – PES can finance timber and firewood plantations on restoration lands– Cash crops (cocoa, oil palm…) could be developed with households on degraded

lands (outgrowing schemes with the concessionaire)…• Sharing the decision process on land-use and resources:

– Concession’s Assembly with voting rights of the represented communities– “Comités de finages” set as a way to discuss specific problem and prepare joint-

ventures• Implementation process would remain in the hands of the concessionaire,

under the supervision of the administration and the concession’s assembly

Je n’ai pas tout

compris…

Thank you for your attention!

Thank you

Managing tropical forests in an era of change: Southeast Asia

Saturday 5 December 2015

Michael Galante & Robert Nasi

27Tropical forests in an era of change: Southeast AsiaMichael Galante & Robert Nasi

Why production forests?-Globally production forests account for 30% of

all designated forest types; and 24% account for multiple-use.

-Tropical forests constitute ~400 million ha, affecting ~1 billion people.

-If sustained and managed, they can continue to produce goods and services, i.e., timber, NTFP, protection of soil and water, conservation of biodiversity, and provision of social services.

-However the maintenance of goods and services

are possible only under different paradigms than are generally being practiced today.

30%

24%

© Galante

FAO, 2010


Status and trends of production forests in Southeast Asia

FAO, 2015

FAO, 2015

FAO, 2015

FAO, 2015


Trends of forests cover on Borneo

FAO, 2015FAO, 2015

55.8 M ha(76% of Borneo)

38.9 M ha(53% of Borneo)

Gaveau et al. 2014

17.8 M halogged forests

21 M ha(42% production forests)


A changing composition of diversity and dynamic

-Many forests have already been harvested at least once, with many areas multiple times.

-A large proportion of tropical forests in Southeast Asia have changed in composition.

-Primary forests have become the exception, and traditional approaches to management must be reconsidered.

-Continued degradation will limit the forest management options available, and consequently, the associated multiple environmental, social and economic benefits, thereby increasing the risk of non-forest activities in the area.© Galante


Lessons learned: Approaches to forest management

-There is an urgent need for new management systems for logged-over forests as the existing ones will not work in the current and future conditions.

-Improved approaches should support the flow of benefits for the people, the forest and its biodiversity, in the context of global change.

-More needs to be learned about the consequences of interventions, other than just ground-based selective logging with reduced-impact logging.

© Galante

© Galante


Lessons learned: Concession management

-New models are need to create the enabling environment for better concession management

-Well managed tropical forests represent a ‘middle way’ between deforestation and total forest protection

-Concessions are a good model to devolve timber or forest product rights to operators (who can be local communities)

-Rather than expecting sustained timber yield, without changes in species or quality, emphasis should assure production forests remain in the best possible condition.

© Galante

© Galante


Lessons learned: The value of logged-over forest

-The integrity of the composition of tropical forests is integral to the genetic diversity found in Southeast Asia.

-Maintaining multi-tiered forest structures supports complex ecosystem dynamics for both the integrity of the forest, and the biodiversity within.

© Galante

© Galante

© Galante

Putz et. al., 2012

Thank You

Forest Landscape Restoration as a Key Component of Climate Change

Mitigation and Adaptation

John Stanturf: Climate Benefits of FLRStephanie Mansourian: Governance and FLR

Background and Our Objectives

Where are we? Status of implementationIn place

Partly in place

Not in place

Where do we want to go? Prioritization of future implementation

Desirable

Maybe

Undesirable

• Inter-linked FLR and climate policy• Success requires many motivated actors

doing the right things• Promote understanding of linkages,

simple communication products, participatory planning, and joint evaluation of FLR initiatives

• Best available information on mitigation, adaptation, and transformation activities

• A “stoplight” tool to evaluate, design, or communicate an FLR project

Climate Benefitsof

Forest Landscape Restoration

John Stanturf

Mitigation Benefit Mechanism Restoration Activity

Sequester carbon

Increase forest area Recolonization

Afforestation/Reforestation

Increase biomass/unit area Increase productivity

Introduce longer–lived species

Increase soil carbon

Add biochar

Soil conservation to reduce erosion

Reduce fossil fuel emissions

Bioenergy

Firewood, charcoal, forest residues

Bioenergy plantations

Substitute materials with greater carbon footprint

Wood-based bioproducts (e.g. construction materials

Reduce emissions from biomass burning

Control GHG emissions from wildfire

Prescribed burning and holistic fire management

Convert to fire resistant species

Increase biofuel use efficiency

More efficient stoves

Improve charcoal productionReduce emissions from

land use change

Reduce deforestation drivers

Policy reforms to promote increasing trees in the landscape

Effective protection

Adaptation Benefit(Incremental/Anticipatory)

Mechanism Restoration Activity

Maintain forest area

Reduce deforestation drivers

Policy reforms to promote increasing trees in the landscape (e.g., secure tenure)

Effective protection (e.g., improved enforcement)

Maintain carbon stocks

Reduce or avoiddegradation

Utilize existing participatory forest management programs (e.g., community forests)

Reduce illegal logging

Maintain or improve other forest functions

Biodiversity

Expand reserves

Manage hunting (protect seed dispersers)

Afforest, reforest, or agroforest with mixed species

Hydrology Protect catchment areas, to benefit downstream users

Restore stream hydroperiod

Rural economy

Promote forest-based value chains

Improve timber productivity

Adaptation Benefit(Incremental/Anticipatory)


Reduce vulnerability

Increase resistance and resilience

Thin to increase drought resistance

Integrated pest management

Overcome regeneration barriers

Control herbivory

Enhance dispersal by removing barriers and creating connectivity

Assisted populationmigration

Reintroduce species within historic range that have become extirpated

Expand population within the historic range

Assisted range expansion

Expand just beyond historic range, mimicking natural range expansion

Create refugia

Identify and create microclimate refugia for in situ conservation of climate-threatened species

Adaptation Benefit(Transformation)


Manage novel ecosystems Manage spontaneous ecosystems

Manage new species combinations that emerge (e.g., non-natives, altered dominance of natives)

Create ecosystems

Policy that allows planting non-native species or transgenic trees Assisted long distance species migration (well outside historic range)Create and plant new species that are climate-adapted (using synthetic biology) with desired functional traits

Rewilding (re-introduce extirpated or extinct species)Ecosystem with novelty (replace native species with non-natives having desired functional traits)

Neo-native ecosystems (moving communities of native species)Novel ecosystems (combinations of native and non-native species with desired functional traits; designer ecosystems)

Governance and Forest Landscape Restoration

Stephanie Mansourian

What is governance?

• Governance determines who takes decisions, and how these decisions are taken and applied.

• Environmental governance comprises “the rules, practices, policies and institutions that shape how humans interact with the environment” (UNEP, no year).

How does Governance relate to FLR?

• FLR is a process• Governance influences different stages of this

process

Five Reasons why Governance is important in FLR

• Understanding the root causes of forest degradation and loss is essential for successful restoration, and frequently these may be traced back to a range of governance failures.

• New value is generated - by returning trees and forests to the landscape -> potential for conflict if governance is unclear

Five Reasons why Governance is important in FLR (contd.)

• Competing land use – Allocating land for forest restoration signifies reducing the options to use that land for other purposes (e.g. food production or mining).

• Tenure and rights – In landscapes , often a range of tenure and rights systems (or even unclear tenure) leading to increased risk of conflict.

• Scaling up – Scaling up implies an increase in the number of actors, thereby also adding further complexity in governance matters.

Final word….

• In order to arrive at climate benefits many of the underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation need to be removed or at least altered in ways that allow restoration activities to occur and to be sustainable

• Many of these underlying causes represent governance challenges