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The Multifunctional Role of Forests Policies, Methods and Case Studies
... Intertwined with the issue of time-profiles is the problem of identifying present values of the damage components, which implies choosing an appropriate discount rate. This choice is critical, given the several cost and welfare elements with different time-profiles (short, medium, longand sometimes perpetualterm) that have to be taken into account (Boyd, 2000;Defrancesco et al., 2008;EU Commission, 2001;Howe, 1990;Ofiara, 2002). The setting of an appropriate social discount rate has long been debated in the Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) literature. ...
... The theoretical framework of reference for the monetary evaluation in NRDA lies in individuals' utility theory (Jones and Pease, 1997;Flores and Thacher, 2002;Defrancesco et al., 2008) and looks at environmental damage as an event diminishing the welfare of the affected individuals. Welfare losses can be assessed through observation of changes in the expenditure function (Nicholson, 1995) and are at least equal to the costs that society is willing to pay in order to stop the damage, mitigate its effect, restore the resource or substitute the environmental goods and services lost because of the injury (World Bank, 1998). ...
The paper proposes a ‘component-based’ approach to guide the choice of the social discount rate in natural resources damage assessment, where time and discounting are key features. It is a multi-rate discounting scheme, which draws on concepts from dual-rate and time-declining approaches. Each damage component is discounted at a component-specific constant rate, related to its time-trajectory. Assuming a normatively defined declining schedule of rates as a starting reference, components with longer time profiles – generally represented by welfare losses – are discounted at lower rates than short-term damage components — mainly remedial costs. The rationale behind this choice is that the longer the duration of the damage component, the higher the related nonincident specific uncertainty on the resource values and the more relevant the equity issues. When estimating the total damage, the resulting implicit average discount rate depends on the duration of each component and its relative relevance in the total damage in each moment. From an operational point of view, anchoring the rates to government prescriptions would support the robustness of the damage estimates in a court of law, whereas the dual-based environmental discount rate is based on ad-hoc assumptions that are more difficult to justify.
... Many forest governance regimes have been, or are currently, shifting to multifunctional management mechanisms (La Notte, 2008), aimed at improving the applicability of one function-sided management strategies in the presence of other functions in the forestry sector. With our analysis, particular attention is given to the role of management of infrastructures in enabling the development of forest functions. ...
Abstract Many forest resource systems depend heavily on shared and coupled infrastructures in applying their management strategies. Addressing a question of sustainability for relevant contemporary social‐ecological systems (SES) can be tackled by understanding how these shared infrastructures mediate the interaction between human and ecological environment. Shared infrastructures, which are mainly composed of roads (accessibility utilities), highlight the relation between the performance of ecosystem services and the multifunctional use of the forest. However, dilemmas associated with road provision pose some problems when applied in a forest multifunctional management context, because roads potentially diminish or enhance forest functions in a complex way. In this context, maintaining, fostering, and improving multifunctional management where the development of an ecosystem function can affect the performance of others is challenging. We propose to develop a mathematical model based on a recent study that links multifunctional forest management to the multifunctionality of forest roads by using the SES and robustness frameworks. With this model, we analyze the evolution of the forest system and three key forest functions (wood production, tourism, and nature conservation) when impacted by decisions of road provision. We then examine how governance provision strategies can affect the performance of functions and how these strategies can potentially foster forest multifunctionality. This approach allows us to derive conditions of sustainability in which decisions of shared infrastructure provisions can play an important role in the functionalities and performance of the forest.
... Today forests must be managed in a much more interdependent and complex context, which requires a partnership process among all major actors and beneficiaries [Schmithüsen 2008]. For this to happen, it is essential that forest policies recognize the diversity of interests related to forest conservation and utilization as well as the need to involve major interest groups in forest management decisions through consultations in which they can express their expectations and their role in sustainable forest management [La Notte 2008]. This calls to attention the importance of soft infrastructures and their role in sustainability on the multi-functionality level. ...
The usefulness of forests is spread from their exploitation for timber, tourism, and other functions to maintenance of wildlife, ecological balance, and prevention of soil erosion. In achieving these goals, the essential factor is proper forest management. However, with the increasingly perceived idea that forests are characterized by complex interactions related to biological and social aspects, forest management is facing a challenge, which consists in integrating interrelations between ecological and social systems. While sustainable forest management is originally seen as a constant yield of wood supply, modern ideas of sustainability are broader in scope, embracing all goods and services of the forest. Increasingly, forests are being managed as multi-functional ecosystems. In this vein, forests are progressively seen as complex social-ecological systems (SESs), requiring adaptive and multi-functional management. In this Ph.D. thesis, we consider that the question of management application can be tackled by understanding how shared infrastructures mediate the interaction between human and ecological environment. In particular, for sustainable and multi-functional forest management, the relation between the capacity for production as well as multi-functional use is highlighted with the concept of forest’s shared infrastructures that are mainly composed of roads (accessibility utilities). However, dilemmas associated with their provision pose some problems when it is applied in a context of different forest functions with conflicting objectives. Therefore, to fully understand and integrate the role of infrastructure and their governance into ecosystem science, we base our research on three parts. We first combine the use of Ostrom’s SES framework and Anderies’ robustness framework and apply it to a specific case study (Quatre-Montagne forest, Vercors, France) to highlight how forestry institutions affect forest ecosystem, its functions, and its social arrangements. With this, we link the concept of multi-functional forest management to the multi-functionality of infrastructures. We then develop a mathematical model, based on the first partition, which analyzes the evolution of the forest system and its functions when impacted by decisions of infrastructure provision. We highlight the role of governance calling to attention their role in fostering multi-functional forest management. Finally, we apply mathematical tools such as viability theory to identify management techniques and approaches that define a first step in characterizing adaptive managements for safe operating spaces in multi-functional forests.
... The analysis of 'high' priority (HP) objectives identified in 1995-2003 applications for grants submitted across different regions in the UK has led to the findings relating respectively to the number of HP objectives per application and their relative rankings (Nijnik et al., 2005). On the first, the average number of HP objectives per application was 3, with a slight increase from 2.8 in 1995 to 3.2 in 2002. ...
... The analysis of 'high' priority (HP) objectives identified in 1995-2003 applications for grants submitted across different regions in the UK has led to the findings relating respectively to the number of HP objectives per application and their relative rankings (Nijnik et al., 2005). On the first, the average number of HP objectives per application was 3, with a slight increase from 2.8 in 1995 to 3.2 in 2002. ...
Post-productivism is a contested concept, and some argue that it should be abandoned. In this paper, a more focused definition for post-productivism is suggested. Evidence for change in forestry and agriculture that could be categorised as post-productivist is presented, in relation to both the narrower definition and to characterisations suggested by other authors. A reduced (relative) emphasis on material production, combined with an increased emphasis on the provision of environmental services, has characterised rural land use at the end of the 20th century in parts of the developed world. In this sense, post-productivism is a reality, and should not be abandoned. It may have utility in relation to our understanding of land-use change in developed countries, and in that respect to the generating of questions that would amount to a formidable research agenda.
The transition of forestry from material production to environmental objectives is analysed from the perspective of institutional economics. The research used a semi-qualitative approach wherein the quantitative method of Q-analysis was applied as relevant. New institutional frameworks and ultimately new prospects for British forestry development were identified through analysis of public opinion, forest policy and practice. The preference models developed here characterize current UK attitudes towards forest policy, providing some innovative perspectives on the areas of consensus and conflict between people regarding key directions for the future of forestry. The chapter concludes by demonstrating the importance of operationalizing social values into concrete forest management decisions by shifting from a timber management to a multiple resource management model and from a forest-focused to a people-focused concept.
Growing up in a Greek fisherman’s village gives a person a different identity than growing up in the
English countryside, even in our globalised world. Our sense of belonging is largely determined by the
environment in which we feel at home. Europe’s living landscapes is a tribute to this valuable
contribution that landscapes make to our lives. It is a rich collection of some 25 essays on various
European landscapes, ranging from the splendid baroque hunting castle of Moritzburg, with its forests
where Saxon dukes and kings once hunted, to Norway’s summer pastures, and from the French cheese
landscape of Saint-Nectaire to the Hungarian Great Plain.
Europe’s living landscapes also describes how this diverse European landscape is under threat by
agricultural intensification, fragmentation by roads and urbanisation, or abandonment. In their essays,
recognised landscape specialists focus on landscapes as they perceive them, on the practical problems
they experience, and on the solutions they have found, often together with local inhabitants. They
explore the identity of these landscapes, and the way it can be regained and reinforced.
Each chapter focuses on a unique European region, describing its geographical features, historical
functions and present characteristics. Many colourful maps and photos, as well as striking historical
photos and literary impressions, make Europe’s living landscapes an attractive book. It is meant as a
source of inspiration for policy makers, landscape managers, researchers and citizens in the pursuit of
sustainable living landscapes in Europe. It will appeal to the wider audience as well, providing many
hours of reading pleasure, ideas for future travel, and an entirely new view on the landscapes around us.
The transition of forestry from material production to environmental objectives is analysed from the perspective of institutional economics. The research used a semi-qualitative approach wherein the quantitative method of Q-analysis was applied as relevant. New institutional frameworks and ultimately new prospects for British forestry development were identified through analysis of public opinion, forest policy and practice. The preference models developed here characterize current UK attitudes towards forest policy, providing some innovative perspectives on the areas of consensus and conflict between people regarding key directions for the future of forestry. The chapter concludes by demonstrating the importance of operationalizing social values into concrete forest management decisions by shifting from a timber management to a multiple resource management model and from a forest-focused to a people-focused concept.
Planning the sustainable use of land resources and landscapes must be a process in which stakeholders and the public work
together to establish common guidelines for understanding the options of, and the implications for, future land uses. Key
aspects of this process are the establishment of meaningful knowledge bases and tools, and methodologies based on the enhanced
involvement of stakeholders in making decisions, and their subsequent implementation. The gradation of power or control in
public participation proposed by Arnstein (1969), extending from ‘citizen control’ to ‘manipulation’, provides a conceptual
basis for considering the evolution in political thinking about participation in areas such landscape planning.
This paper examines the major trends since the 1950s in social science writing on forest management in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia is simultaneously rich in and dependent on natural resources, both for local and national use or sale. Among renewable resources, forest products have played critical roles in the region's national, provincial, and local economies before, during, and after colonialism — for as long as two millennia. Their importance in international trade illustrates that Southeast Asia's forests linked the region to other parts of the world for quite some time, dispelling myths that parts of the region such as Borneo were “remote”, “primitive”, or “pristine”.
Surveys were conducted on 33 sites within National Forests in Colorado and Montana to test how forest fires affected recreation demand in the two states. Data were collected on the actual number of visits and on the intended number of visits if the area had been subject to a recent high intensity crown fire, a recent prescribed fire, or an old crown fire (all depicted in photos). A travel cost model was estimated by pooling actual and intended visitation responses in both states. Results indicate that Montana hikers take slightly more trips but have lower net benefits or consumer surplus ($12 per trip) than do Colorado visitors ($55 per trip). Also, the demand functions do not react similarly to prescribed fires. Whereas annual values in Colorado increase over time, there were no significant changes in visitation or net benefits for Montana respondents. However, demand functions do react similarly in response to crown fires, resulting in a decrease in visitation and value over time. This latter result provides evidence in support of increased fuels management as outlined by the National Fire Plan.
Groundwater nitrate moving from upland areas toward streams can be removed by denitrification in mature riparian forests, but denitrification in restored riparian forests has not been quantified. We determined denitrification rates in a restored riparian wetland below a liquid manure application site. A riparian forest buffer consisting of hardwoods along the stream and pines above the hardwoods was established according to USDA specifications. Denitrification was measured monthly using the acetylene inhibition technique on intact soil cores for 2 mo before manure application began and for 24 mo after manure application. Groundwater movement of NO⁻3-N and total Kjeldahl N were estimated biweekly. Average annual denitrification rate was 68 kg N2O-N ha⁻¹ yr⁻¹. Denitrification was significantly higher in a grassed area than in either of the forested areas. Denitrification did not differ significantly between the hardwood and pine areas. Denitrification was greater than a conservative estimate of groundwater input of total N. Denitrification rates were higher in April and May 1992 and 1993, after manure application to the upland began, compared with April and May 1991, before manure application began. These results indicate that a riparian wetland, which has not undergone hydrologic modifications, can have denitrification rates comparable to mature riparian forests. Higher denitrification rates in an adjacent grassed wetland and lack of differences in denitrification in hardwood and pine zones indicates that the high denitrification rates were due to factors other than the reforestation itself. Compared with groundwater inputs of N, denitrification was an important sink for N moving from the upland management system.
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The Cost plus Net Value Change (C+NVC) model provides the theoretical foundation for wildland fire economics and provides the basis for the National Fire Management Analysis System (NFMAS). The C+NVC model is based on the earlier least Cost plus Loss model (LC+L) expressed by Sparhawk (1925). Mathematical and graphical analysis of the LC+L model illustrates two errors in model formulation. First, suppression is incorrectly modeled as a model output. Second, suppression and primary protection are incorrectly modeled as negatively correlated. These errors are shown to be perpetuated by the contemporary C+NVC model and to have serious implications for the model's capacity to correctly identify the most efficient level of fire management expenditure. A corrected graphical representation of the C+NVC model is presented, which allows the most efficient level of fire management expenditure to be correctly identified.
Early spring nitrogen cycling in temperate forests is dynamic and important to site fertility and retention of N in these ecosystems. In this study, we combined short-term (2 d) ^1^5N-based measurements of plant uptake, microbial nitrification, denitrification, and immobilization with more conventional measurements of these processes over an 8-wk period from early March to early May within a temperature forest landscape unit in Michigan, USA. Measurements were made in two landscape positions, a summit position with a well-drained soil and a toe-slope position with a poorly drained soil. While soil mineral N levels showed little spatial and temporal variation over the 8-wk period, nitrification rates, microbial biomass (chloroform-labile) N, and denitrification were highly variable. The poorly drained soil consistently had high levels of nitrification and denitrification relative to the well-drained soil. Pools of microbial biomass N increased by a factor of 10 over the 8-wk period in both soils, but were relatively stable during April, when the ^1^5N experiment was conducted. Microbial biomass appeared to be the key regulator of the fate of added ^1^5N. In the well-drained soil, the largest movement of N was into microbial biomass and total soil N. As a result of this strong immobilization, there was relatively little nitrification and denitrification of ^1^5N in the well-drained soil. In the poorly drained soil, there was no apparent movement of ^1^5N into microbial biomass. As a consequence, availability of ^1^5NH"4^+ to nitrifiers was high, and rates of nitrification were very high. Accumulation of NO"3^- in the poorly drained soil, along with high soil moisture, forested high denitrification N losses. The results suggest that N retention processes and the fate of either atmospherically or agriculturally derived N inputs will likely show strong temporal and spatial variation during the early spring period in temperate forest landscapes.
Riparian forests are in a unique position in the landscape since they form a transition between uplands and aquatic systems. These ecosystems may be highly susceptible to nitrogen (N) saturation since they may be subject to high inputs of N from upland areas. We measured potential net N mineralization and nitrification, soil inorganic N levels, microbial biomass carbon (C) and N content, and the N content of litter as indicators of N saturation in two riparian zones on the eastern and western sides of a stream. The sites had similar soils, vegetation, and hydrology, but differing upland land use. The eastern or @'enriched@' site was downgradient of a dense residential housing development (built in the 1950s) that produced high groundwater nitrate (NO"3^-) concentrations. The western or @'control@'site had an undeveloped upland. Our objectives were (1) to evaluate if groundwater NO"3^- loading had induced changes in surface soil N-cycle processes that are symptoms of N saturation in the enriched site and (2) to evaluate these changes in relation to inputs and outputs of N to the site. Soil inorganic-N levels, litter N content, and potential net N mineralization and nitrification were significantly higher on the enriched site relative to the control site, suggesting that the enriched site and N saturated. However, input-output analysis indicated that the enriched site was still a sink for upland derived NO"3^-. High rates of denitrification and storage of N in soil organic matter appear to moderate N saturation on the enriched site.
Increasing public pressure on Canada's land resources to produce a greater variety of social values indicates an urgent need for integrated resources management. This, in turn, requires a reorientation in the traditional "single resource" thinking of foresters and others. However, it is believed that the current major impediments to developing integrated resource management are to be found in the attitudes and opinions which prevail in the administrative centres of government in respect to social, political, economic, legal, and other matters. Integrated resource management is fundamentally a social concept and a prerequisite to long-term progress in this area is a better knowledge and awareness of the social-environmental needs of society on the part of all resource personnel. Foresters are closely identified in the public mind with responsibilities in wildland management and should be actively concerned with integrated resource management.
The management of fuel loading is a vitally important activity in fire prevention programmes in Mediterranean forest ecosystems. The study and analysis of the issue, and the relevant planning and operational management activities have been established as a permanent requirement, both in time and space. The control of fuel loading makes it possible to obtain a spatialized reduction in the energetic intensity of potential fires where control and maintenance operations have been undertaken, and allows fire suppression resources to be moved around in a safe and efficient manner. Control methods based on the mechanical removal and subsequent disposal of the residue have traditionally been, and continue to be the most common means of forest management. The progressive introduction of results based management drawing on scientific investigation in subjects such as fire behavior and the effects on the natural environment, opens up the possibility of gradually introducing the use of fire in Mediterranean areas in the form of prescribed burning as an extremely efficient tool in programmes aimed at controlling fuel loading. Expertise in forestry models of prescribed burning management provide for the safe, ecological, efficient and effective use of fire as a very useful tool in preparing forest ecosystems to prevent fire. Data is currently data available from a management and experimental project co-financed by the European Union and the Junta de Andalucía (1997-2000) which studied methods of applying prescribed burning in Mediterranean ecosystems. Efforts should subsequently be aimed at progressively introducing the methods developed in the management programmes funded out of annual budgets by the government agencies responsible for the prevention of forest fires. An analytical study providing comparative cost data for mechanical systems and prescribed burning, with special emphasis on describing the properties of the distinct kinds of management based on fuel modeling criteria, will facilitate the incorporation, and therefore the applicability of fire as a tool in the removal of excess fuel loading. This paper considers the costs of both systems and presents a decision matrix to be consulted when activities are planned with the aim of dealing with fuel loading in Mediterranean ecosystems. Before turning to the above-mentioned focus on the costs of the two systems of fuel loading control, it is necessary to set out the methodology employed in designing the fundamental technical requirements to be taken into account when faced with the task of drawing up a region-wide plan with a view to long-term permanency. Such a plan involves setting up a system directed at specific units in the area drawing on support from the 2 Professor, Fire Sciences, University of Córdoba, Avda. Menendez Pidal, s/n Apdo 3048 14080 Córdoba, España; email: ir1rosif@uco.es. Session 6B—Economic Analysis in the Control of Fuel Loading—Rodríguez y Silva governmental procedures and funding required to ensure the ordered management of yearly burning programmes. The shift within the regional burning plan to the use of prescribed burning, guided by the requirement that it be ecologically acceptable and involve spatial-temporal distribution, represents a transfer of the studies and experience accumulated through investigation to their practical implementation in real world forest management situations as a preventative and frequent tool in the fight against forest fires.
Local watershed organisations, including Landcare groups in Australia, are an important element of efforts to better manage our natural resources. Much has been written documenting the activities and outcomes of Landcare groups. Notwithstanding these important efforts, there has been little attention given to the important issue of how to sustain these organisations over time. In this paper we address this gap and identify five principles for sustaining effective watershed groups. In developing these principles we hoped to strengthen the conceptual foundation of these initiatives; help structure citizen-agency interactions; and provide a framework for the evaluation of watershed programs. Although we have examined local watershed groups in other countries, particularly in the state of Oregon in the United States, we have largely drawn upon our research and experience with Landcare. Conclusions: Our first principle is that these groups must be established at a local scale using social as well as biophysical boundaries. It is also critical that these organisations are embedded within a supportive institutional framework that identifies realistic roles for private landowners, local organisations and regional planning bodies. Our third principle is that without broad stakeholder representation, the perceived benefits of participation are quickly forfeited. It is also unrealistic to expect an effective network of local groups to be sustained without substantial investment by government to provide for program management, group coordination and cost-sharing for on-ground work. Our final principle is that there must be the commitment and skills within a program to establish processes that build trust and competency amongst citizens and agencies. These principles should also provide a foundation for the critical evaluation of local watershed or sub-catchment group programs.