Mary Menton

Many ecosystem governance approaches seek to change land-use or natural resource use patterns in order to reduce environmental degradation. Some use command- and-control regulations or ‘sticks’ that restrict access to and use of ecosystems, while others employ ‘incentive-based mechanisms’ (or ‘carrots’) to change behaviours, or a combination of the...

Every year, more people are killed defending the environment than are soldiers from the United Kingdom and Australia on overseas deployments in war zones combined. During the last 15 years, the number of both deaths of environmental defenders, and the countries where they occur, have increased. Recorded deaths have increased from two per week to fo...

Through their synergies, trade-offs, and contradictions, the sustainable development goals (SDGs) have the potential to lead to environmental justices and injustices. Yet, environmental justice (EJ), and social justice more broadly, are not currently embedded within the language and spirit of the SDGs. We part from the premise that “many ‘environme...

Indigenous peoples in Brazil have suffered disproportionately from the COVID-19 pandemic due to limited access to an already precarious public health system together with continued attacks on their cultures , their territories and their way of life. These attacks come as part of the government's attempts to further neoliberal development and underm...

Forests in low and middle-income countries are at the centre of climate change mitigation efforts. But these forests are also areas of high levels of insecurity and are found in fragile states with weak governance, especially over forestlands. Nations affected by conflict hold 40 per cent of the world’s tropical forests (Donovan et al. 2007). No fe...

Many efforts to improve the sustainable management of renewable natural resources in low- and middle-income countries seek to achieve ‘win-win’ outcomes – improved ecosystem health and improved livelihoods. Yet achieving such win–win outcomes is challenging, since many variables affect the potential for synergies. These variables include the qualit...

Several big international non-governmental organisations (BINGOs) have been instrumental in increasing the attention brought to the lived experiences of environmental and land defenders and the atmospheres of violence they face. Among the many BINGOs who frame themselves as ‘supporters’ or ‘protectors’ of environmental and land defenders, several h...

European countries import beef, palm oil, minerals and other commodities from Brazil through companies that purchase from farms and mines with proven links to human rights violations and environmental crimes including massacres, assassination attempts, slave labour, illegal deforestation, and pollution. Through analysis of case studies in the South...

Close to two thousand environmental human rights defenders have been killed in 57 countries since 2002, with about four losing their lives every week in 2019. Many of these defenders represent Indigenous Peoples and local communities protecting ecosystems from large-scale environmentally destructive projects. As the positive contributions of Indige...

The topic of SDG interactions is a relatively new research area with many knowledge gaps. Some of these gaps are addressed in this summary of a Special Feature of Sustainability Science, including new findings and emerging issues on (1) the characteristics of SDG interactions; (2) methods/methodology to analyse these interactions; and (3) the elabo...

This chapter assesses the implications of UN SDG 16: ‘Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions’ for both forests and people. Particular focus is placed on three thematic areas: 1) peace and the reduction of armed conflict, 2) the rule of law, accountability, transparency, and access to justice and 3) inclusiveness and participation. Conflict is widel...

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Brazil's new president could be a disaster for the Amazon. His opponents must unite, say Mary Menton and Felipe Milanez

In Peru, as in many developing countries, charcoal is an important source of fuel. We examine the commercial charcoal commodity chain from its production in Ucayali, in the Peruvian Amazon, to its sale in the national market. Using a mixed-methods approach, we look at the actors involved in the commodity chain and their relationships, including the...

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) has emerged as a promising climate change mitigation mechanism in developing countries. In order to identify the enabling conditions for achieving progress in the implementation of an effective, efficient and equitable REDD+, this paper examines national policy settings in a compa...

Key Messages Improving effectiveness 1. Greater cooperation and coordination is essential between actors, including within and across government. 2. An ecosystem-based approach could encourage greater coordination, plus recognition of multiple ecosystem services and of potential trade-offs from policy. Transparent processes for resolving trade-of...

El Perú tiene la cuarta mayor área de turberas de los trópicos. Su cobertura terrestre de turba más representativa es el pantano de palmeras (denominado a partir de ahora PP denso) dominado por la especie Mauritia flexuosa, que ha estado sometido a presión humana durante décadas debido a la alta demanda del fruto de M. flexuosa, que a menudo se rec...

Peru has the fourth largest area of peatlands in the Tropics. Its most representative land cover on peat is a Mauritia flexuosa dominated palm swamp (thereafter called dense PS), which has been under human pressure over decades due to the high demand for the M. flexuosa fruit often collected by cutting down the entire palm. Degradation of these car...

To date, the spatial distribution pattern and density of Brazil nut trees in logged forest stands is unclear across the Amazon basin. We asked the following questions: (1) What are the densities and spatial distributions of Brazil nut juveniles (10 ≤ dbh < 40 cm) and adults (≥ 40 cm dbh) in three selectively logged Brazil nut concessions (1413 ha s...

Descifrando datos oficiales sobre el consumo de leña y carbón vegetal en el Perú Mensajes claves 1. Los datos divulgados por el Ministerio de Agricultura sobre el consumo de leña y carbón vegetal a nivel nacional son incompletos y no están actualizados. Una de las razones es que la ecuación desarrollada en 1980 no fue reajustada y los datos sobre v...

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) has emerged as a promising climate change mitigation mechanism in developing countries. This paper examines the national political context in 13 REDD+ countries in order to identify the enabling conditions for achieving progress with the implementation of countries? REDD+ policies...

A key premise underlying discussion about deforestation in Amazonian Peru is that small-scale or so-called migratory agriculture is the main driver of deforestation. This premise has been expressed in government documents and public outreach events. How the Peruvian government understands drivers of deforestation in the Amazon has profound implicat...

Una premisa clave del debate sobre la deforestación en la Amazonía peruana es que la agricultura de pequeña escala, también conocida como agricultura migratoria, es el impulsor principal de la deforestación. Esta premisa se ha expresado tanto en documentos del Gobierno como en eventos de difusión pública. La manera en que el Gobierno peruano entien...

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, and enhancing forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+) has emerged as a promising climate change mitigation mechanism in tropical forest countries. A number of countries are now at different phases in the process of realizing REDD+, from policy design and technical readiness...

Although many examples of multiple-use forest management may be found in tropical smallholder systems, few studies provide empirical support for the integration of selective timber harvesting with non-timber forest product (NTFP) extraction. Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa, Lecythidaceae) is one of the world's most economically-important NTFP spec...

Perú está en la fase de elaboración de un sistema de MRV (medición reporte y verificación) para REDD+ (Reducción de Emisiones por la Deforestación y Degradación Forestal Plus) y USCUSS (Uso del Suelo, Cambio de Uso del Suelo y Silvicultura). Este resumen ejecutivo se presenta las informaciones ya existentes en el país con las precondiciones necesar...

http://capacity4dev.ec.europa.eu/public-flegt/blog/propuesta-metodologica-para-la-medici%C3%B3n-y-evaluaci%C3%B3n-de-la-gobernanza-forestal-en-brasil-colomb This report compiles four case studies of methodology development to measure forest governance in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. These studies were conducted in 2013 and 2014 as part of th...

Key points: We analyzed submissions to the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) from Parties and Observer Organizations on two issues: (i) party and observer positions on inclusion of further guidance on REDD+ safeguard information systems (SIS); and (ii) developing country Party experiences and lessons learned from SIS d...

Key messages • The REDD+ policy arena in Peru involves a wide range of actors, governmental as well as civil society, although the environmental and forest sectors predominate. Peruvian government actors show high levels of reputational power while non-governmental actors, international as well as national, dominate the information exchange network...

This review summarizes the published literature, as well as any available information provided by NGOs or project proponents, on the practice of community forest management (CFM) in the Peruvian Amazon. It provides an overview of literature related to land‐use and forest management by rural populations in the Peruvian Amazon, placing this informati...

El presente documento realiza una revisión de la literatura publicada, y de toda la información disponible facilitada por ONG o proponentes de proyectos, sobre la práctica del manejo forestal comunitario (MFC) en la Amazonía peruana. Presenta un panorama de la literatura relacionada con el uso de la tierra y el manejo forestal por las poblaciones r...

This country profile contains an analysis of the causes of deforestation and forest degradation in Peru, and the economic, institutional and political context in which REDD is emerging in the country. Peru has a total forest area of approximately 73 million hectares, almost 60% of national territory. In the past few years, deforestation decreased f...

Wood charcoal is generally viewed as a rudimentary form of energy. It is often understood in terms of its role of providing rural poor populations with basic energy needs, and/or the contribution its production makes to local forest degradation. More recently, the potentially much larger impact of urban demands on natural resources is attracting at...

Superposición espacial en la zonificación de bosques en Madre deDios Implicaciones para la sostenibilidad del recursocastañero Mensajes clave • A pesar de que muchos esfuerzos se han dirigido a mejorar la situación del manejo de la castaña en Madre de Dios, todavía existen vacíos legales y contradicciones que atentan contra el mantenimiento a largo...

Amphibian declines are a pressing global concern. The lowland rainforests of the south-eastern Amazon harbour exceptionally high amphibian diversity, but also face a range of threats includ-ing habitat modification caused by forest fires. In this study, we sampled amphibians in areas of forest in Madre de Dios, Peru, that were affected by anthropog...

Background Climate change and high rates of global carbon emissions have focussed attention on the need for high-quality monitoring systems to assess how much carbon is present in terrestrial systems and how these change over time. The choice of system to adopt should be guided by good science. There is a growing body of scientific and technical in...

El aprovechamiento de madera en las concesiones castañeras (Bertholletia excelsa) en Madre de Dios, Perú Un análisis de su situación normativa

Estimates of natural resource harvests often inform rural conservation and development strategies. Retrospective household surveys remain one of the most commonly employed methods for estimating harvests. Pair-wise comparisons of estimates from household surveys versus diary records were performed for household harvests in the Brazilian Amazon. Alt...

As a result of government-sponsored colonization, more than 500 000 km 2 of the Brazilian Amazon is managed by settlement households. By law, 80% of this land must remain as standing forest. In this study, we examine the potential for timber harvesting through company–community partnerships (CCPs) as a means to increase forest-based revenue without...

We combined measurements of tree growth and carbon dioxide exchange to investigate the effects of selective logging on the Aboveground Live Biomass (AGLB) of a tropical rain forest in the Amazon. Most of the measurements began at least 10 months before logging and continued at least 36 months after logging. The logging removed ∼15% of the trees wit...

The stable carbon isotopic composition of methane (δ13C-CH4) gas bubbles formed in the sediments of three Amazonian streams was determined over a 5-yr period. The study sites were two ‘várzea’ floodplain (Açu and Maicá) and one ‘terra-firme’ (Jamaraquá) streams. The δ13C of sedimentary organic matter (SOM) from the surrounding vegetation and bottom...

We are using long-term eddy covariance to study the effects of selective logging on the energy and trace gas exchange at km 83 in the Tapajos National Forest, Para, as a component of LBA. In addition to the core flux measurements of carbon dioxide, water vapor, momentum and heat, sensors were installed to measure vertical profiles of CO2, H2O, wind...

We used the eddy covariance technique from July 2000 to July 2001 to measure the fluxes of sensible heat, water vapor, and CO 2 between an old-growth tropical forest in eastern Amazonia and the atmosphere. Precipitation varied seasonally, with a wet season from mid-December 2000 to July 2001 characterized by successive rainy days, wet soil, and, re...

We used eddy covariance to measure the net exchange of CO2 between the atmosphere and an old-growth tropical forest in Para ´, Brazil from 1 July 2000 to 1 July 2001. The mean air temperature and daily temperature range varied little year-round; the rainy season lasted from late December to around July. Daytime CO2 uptake under high irradiance aver...

We used two independent approaches, biometry and micrometeorology, to determine the net ecosystem production (NEP) of an old growth forest in Para ´, Brazil. Biometric inventories indicated that the forest was either a source or, at most, a modest sink of carbon from 1984 to 2000 (10.8 6 2 Mg C·ha 21 ·yr 21 ; a positive flux indicates carbon loss b...

Radon-222 (Rn-222) is used as a transport tracer of forest canopy–atmosphere CO2 exchange in an old-growth, tropical rain forest site near km 67 of the Tapajós National Forest, Pará, Brazil. Initial results, from month-long periods at the end of the wet season (June–July) and the end of the dry season (November–December) in 2001, demonstrate the po...

The net ecosystem exchange of carbon dioxide was measured by eddy covariance methods for 3 years in two old-growth forest sites near Santarém, Brazil. Carbon was lost in the wet season and gained in the dry season, which was opposite to the seasonal cycles of both tree growth and model predictions. The 3-year average carbon loss was 1.3 (confidence...

Community perceptions are used to assess the effects of logging on non-timber forest product (NTFP) extraction in a case study Community in the Tapajos-Arapiuns Extractive Reserve, Para, Brazil. Rapid rural appraisal (RRA) is used to explore changes in community harvests of, and access to, the most important NTFPs. Community estimates showed a decl...

We are using long-term eddy covariance to directly measure the effects of selective logging on the energy and trace gas exchange of a tropical forest, as a component of the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA). We began measurements in June 2000 from a 65 m tall tower in a primary evergreen stand in the Tapajos National For...

We have been investigating the effects of selective logging on the exchanges of CO2 and energy by an old-growth forest in the Tapajos National Forest (TNF), Par Brazil. Our study can be thought of as a large experimental manipulation, where we use a range of techniques, including eddy covariance, biometry and chamber gas exchange, to monitor forest...

The recent use of eddy covariance to measure the net exchange of CO2 between the atmosphere and a tropical forest in Santarem Para, Brazil, has indicated a substantial decline in forest photosynthesis in the afternoon, even after taking light differences into account. Afternoon declines in leaf-level gas exchange have been reported for many ecosyst...

We are using measurements of litterfall to study the Leaf Area Index (LAI) of the selectively logged site in the Tapajos National Forest, Santarém, Par , as a component of the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA). The surface fluxes of water, energy and CO2 between the atmosphere and ecosystems are largely controlled by the...

We are using long-term eddy covariance to directly measure the effects of selective logging on the energy and trace gas exchange of a tropical forest, as a component of the Large Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA). We began measurements in June 2000 above a primary evergreen stand in the Tapajos National Forest (km 83), Para, B...

A 35-year controlled burning experiment in Minnesota oak savanna showed that fire frequency had a great impact on ecosystem carbon (C) stores. Specifically, compared to the historical fire regime, fire suppression led to an average of 1.8 Mg·ha 1 ·yr 1 of C storage, with most carbon stored in woody biomass. Forest floor carbon stores were also sign...