Erratum: Implementation and opportunity costs of reducing deforestation and forest degradation in Tanzania

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) is viewed as an effective way to mitigate climate change by compensating stewards of forested areas for minimizing forestland conversion and protecting forest services. Opportunity costs assess the cost of foregone opportunity when preserving the forest instead of investing in an alternative activity or resource use. This paper questions the calculation method of opportunity costs using averaged economic benefits and co-benefits of different land-use transitions. We propose a nested approach to land-use transitions at the interface between landscapes and livelihoods and assessing a wide range of potential socio-ecological costs and benefits. Combining household surveys and focus groups with participatory mapping, we applied the approach in villages of Laos, Vietnam and China positioned along a broad transition trajectory from subsistence shifting cultivation to intensive commercial agriculture. By looking beyond the economics of land use, we highlight important linkages between land-use changes and livelihood differentiation, vulnerability and inequalities. Our results show the importance of addressing the impacts of land-use transitions on a wide range of potential ecological and socioeconomic costs and benefits at multiple levels.

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Costs and Carbon Sequestration Assessment for REDD+ in Indonesia

Forests ◽

10.3390/f11070770 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

pp. 770

Author(s):

Guifang Liu ◽

Qing Liu ◽

Mengxiao Song ◽

Junsheng Chen ◽

Chuanrong Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Land Use ◽

Carbon Sequestration ◽

Carbon Emissions ◽

Oil Palm ◽

Forest Degradation ◽

Opportunity Costs ◽

Forest Conversion ◽

Tropical Regions ◽

Sensitivity Assessment ◽

Gain Loss

Research Highlights: Our findings highlight that the contribution of carbon sequestration from plantations to REDD+ will remain limited, and that opportunity costs in Southeast Asia will likely increase, due to future oil palm expansion. Background and Objectives: Land use, land-use change, and forestry (LULUCF) are significant sources of carbon emissions. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreed that the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation Plus program, also known as REDD+, could contribute to carbon sinks in tropical regions. These reductions could serve as carbon credits that offset emissions from other sources. Materials and Methods: This study uses the cellular automaton technique to simulate the business-as-usual (BAU) scenario and the gain-loss method, to measure carbon emissions resulting from forest conversion. The output of the integration of the models makes it possible to evaluate one of the most important financial costs: opportunity costs. Two scenarios (with and without consideration of carbon sequestration) in rubber and oil palm plantations are examined. Results: A sensitivity assessment in Kalimantan, Indonesia, shows that carbon sequestration from plantations affects value of opportunity costs less than social discount rates. Further analysis suggests that oil palm plantations have a greater impact than rubber plantations. Conclusions: Our study provides a case that can be applied to other regions for evaluating the impacts of plantation carbon sequestration, and insights that can help local policymakers design a financially attractive REDD+ program in other forest areas of the world.

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Implementation and opportunity costs of reducing deforestation and forest degradation in Tanzania

Nature Climate Change ◽

10.1038/nclimate1119 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 1 (3) ◽

pp. 161-164 ◽

Cited By ~ 85

Author(s):

Brendan Fisher ◽

Simon L. Lewis ◽

Neil D. Burgess ◽

Rogers E. Malimbwi ◽

Panteleo K. Munishi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Forest Degradation ◽

Opportunity Costs

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The Costs of Reduction Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation. Concepts and Issues

Journal of Environmental Management and Tourism ◽

10.14505//jemt.v10.1(33).07 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 63

Author(s):

Tri WALUYO ◽

Kumba DIGDOWISEISO ◽

El Amry Bermawi PUTERA ◽

Eko SUGIYANTO

Keyword(s):

Transaction Costs ◽

Simulation Models ◽

Forest Degradation ◽

Empirical Models ◽

Opportunity Costs ◽

Double Counting ◽

Industrialized Countries ◽

Counting Problem ◽

Aggregated Data ◽

Implementation Costs

This study examines the concept of “Reduction Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation” - REDD costs by using the existence costs of Boucher (2008) such as opportunity costs, transaction costs, implementation costs, stabilization costs, and administration costs. In addition, it provides some actual issues of REDD. The study proves that global simulation models yield far higher REDD prices than empirical models, however, they can be criticized for their use of aggregated data and other simplifications. Moreover, adding implementation, administration, stabilization costs into transaction costs could potentially lead to double-counting problem. Finally, REDD is an inexpensive option compared to reducing emissions in the energy sectors of industrialized countries and has a potential to generate substantial benefits in addition to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, it is important for countries to manage these issues that can be potentially defect REDD adoption.

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Science-to-conservation disconnections in Borneo and British Columbia

The Forestry Chronicle ◽

10.5558/tfc2020-004 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 96 (01) ◽

pp. 20-26

Author(s):

F.E. “Jack” Putz

Keyword(s):

Indigenous Peoples ◽

Economic Cost ◽

Land Rights ◽

Forest Degradation ◽

Opportunity Costs ◽

Tropical Rain Forests ◽

Rain Forests ◽

Old Growth ◽

The Pacific ◽

African Oil Palm

Borneo differs fundamentally from Canada, but reflections on the struggles to improve the fates of its tropical rain forests may resonate with people engaged in the same struggles on the other side of the Pacific. I frame these reflections around the question of why my efforts as a researcher in Borneo failed to cause a change from predatory logging of old growth to conservation through improved forest management. Perhaps my most fundamental mistake was unwillingness to recognize the immense profitability of forest liquidation through multiple-premature re-entry logging, especially when followed by conversion to plantations of African oil palm or Australian acacias. Superimposed on the high opportunity costs of conservation were governance failures that diminished the effectiveness of policies set by government as well as those set by certifiers of responsible management. Conservation of the mostly remote, flooded, and steep hinterlands still covered by forest will benefit from acknowledgment of the internationally recognized intrinsic land rights of Borneo’s indigenous peoples combined with full economic cost accounting of the consequences of forest degradation and conversion. Given the global importance of old growth in Borneo, Canada, and elsewhere, global funding for conservation should be made available with safeguards such as UNESCO Biosphere designations.

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