scholarly journals Open source solutions to improve the quality of sustainable forest management

2019 ◽  
Vol 290 ◽  
pp. 11003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iulian Alexandru Bratu

Climate change is becoming more acute, including in terms of individual perception. Forest, as an ecosystem, has a special role to play in mitigating climate change, protecting the soil, water and air. There are forests of scientific interest, preservation of the Eco fund and forest Geno fund, as well as recreational forests, so that the ecological functions are fulfilled in the optimum. Also, alongside the social function, green energy generation is one of the main attributes of the forest. In addition to preserving biodiversity, the forestry administration has as objectives the provision of the necessary resources for the short, medium and long-term development of local communities. Forest management that harmoniously combines ecological, economic and social functions cannot be sustained, at least in the information age, without relying on information technology. This article aims to address the issue of information technology in the forest administration, identifying needs and providing viable, high quality, open source solutions.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iulian Alexandru BRATU

Abstract Climate change is becoming more acute, including in terms of individual perception. Forest, as an ecosystem, has a special role to play in mitigating climate change, protecting the soil, water and air. There are forests of scientific interest, preservation of the Eco fund and forest Geno fund, as well as recreational forests, so that the ecological functions are fulfilled in the optimum. Also, alongside the social function, green energy generation is one of the main attributes of the forest. In addition to preserving biodiversity, the forestry administration has as objectives the provision of the necessary resources for the short, medium and long-term development of local communities. Forest management that harmoniously combines ecological, economic and social functions cannot be sustained, at least in the information age, without relying on information technology. This article aims to address the issue of information technology in the forest administration, identifying needs and providing viable, high quality, open source solutions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matieu Henry ◽  
Zaheer Iqbal ◽  
Kristofer Johnson ◽  
Mariam Akhter ◽  
Liam Costello ◽  
...  

Abstract Background National forest inventory and forest monitoring systems are more important than ever considering continued global degradation of trees and forests. These systems are especially important in a country like Bangladesh, which is characterised by a large population density, climate change vulnerability and dependence on natural resources. With the aim of supporting the Government’s actions towards sustainable forest management through reliable information, the Bangladesh Forest Inventory (BFI) was designed and implemented through three components: biophysical inventory, socio-economic survey and remote sensing-based land cover mapping. This article documents the approach undertaken by the Forest Department under the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change to establish the BFI as a multipurpose, efficient, accurate and replicable national forest assessment. The design, operationalization and some key results of the process are presented. Methods The BFI takes advantage of the latest and most well-accepted technological and methodological approaches. Importantly, it was designed through a collaborative process which drew from the experience and knowledge of multiple national and international entities. Overall, 1781 field plots were visited, 6400 households were surveyed, and a national land cover map for the year 2015 was produced. Innovative technological enhancements include a semi-automated segmentation approach for developing the wall-to-wall land cover map, an object-based national land characterisation system, consistent estimates between sample-based and mapped land cover areas, use of mobile apps for tree species identification and data collection, and use of differential global positioning system for referencing plot centres. Results Seven criteria, and multiple associated indicators, were developed for monitoring progress towards sustainable forest management goals, informing management decisions, and national and international reporting needs. A wide range of biophysical and socioeconomic data were collected, and in some cases integrated, for estimating the indicators. Conclusions The BFI is a new information source tool for helping guide Bangladesh towards a sustainable future. Reliable information on the status of tree and forest resources, as well as land use, empowers evidence-based decision making across multiple stakeholders and at different levels for protecting natural resources. The integrated socio-economic data collected provides information about the interactions between people and their tree and forest resources, and the valuation of ecosystem services. The BFI is designed to be a permanent assessment of these resources, and future data collection will enable monitoring of trends against the current baseline. However, additional institutional support as well as continuation of collaboration among national partners is crucial for sustaining the BFI process in future.


Author(s):  
Kezang Choden ◽  
Bhagat Suberi ◽  
Purna Chettri

Forests are natural carbon reservoirs that play an important role in the global carbon cycle for storing large quantities of carbon in vegetation and soils. Carbon stored in pool helps in mitigating climate change by carbon sequestration. The vulnerable countries to changing climate such as Bhutan, Nepal, and India require a full understanding of carbon dynamics as well as baseline data on carbon stock potential to mitigate anticipated risks and vulnerabilities (RVs) through climate change. The scope of such RVs are trans boundary in nature, however, the comparative studies at regional scale are still scanty. Therefore, the aim of this review is to assess the carbon stock potentials of selected forest types in the eastern Himalayan area, with an emphasis on Bhutan, India, and Nepal. This review paper is based on published articles, information from websites and considerable data from National forestry reports of India and Bhutan; emphasizing on aboveground biomass and soil organic carbon stock. The review showed that carbon stock potential is highly dependent on stand density, above-ground biomass, species richness and forest types. The sub-tropical forest was found to have larger carbon capacity and sequestration potential. SOC concentration and tree biomass stocks were significantly higher at the high altitude where there is less human disturbance. In general, forest coverage has increased compare to previous year in Bhutan, India and Nepal which ultimately leads to higher carbon stock potential. It is mainly due to strong policies and different strategies for conservation of forest management have reduced mass destruction despite a growing population. Despite the rules, deforestation continues to occur at various scales. However, it can be stated that the government and citizens are working hard to increase carbon stock potential, mostly through afforestation and community forest creation. In addition, it is recommended to practice sustainable forest management, regulated and planned cutting of trees and proper forest products utilization.


2005 ◽  
Vol 81 (5) ◽  
pp. 653-654 ◽  
Author(s):  
Greg A McKinnon ◽  
Shelley L Webber

Key words: forests, climate change, vulnerability, adaptation, sustainable forest management


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (17) ◽  
pp. 4722 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamalakanta Sahoo ◽  
Richard Bergman ◽  
Sevda Alanya-Rosenbaum ◽  
Hongmei Gu ◽  
Shaobo Liang

Climate change, environmental degradation, and limited resources are motivations for sustainable forest management. Forests, the most abundant renewable resource on earth, used to make a wide variety of forest-based products for human consumption. To provide a scientific measure of a product’s sustainability and environmental performance, the life cycle assessment (LCA) method is used. This article provides a comprehensive review of environmental performances of forest-based products including traditional building products, emerging (mass-timber) building products and nanomaterials using attributional LCA. Across the supply chain, the product manufacturing life-cycle stage tends to have the largest environmental impacts. However, forest management activities and logistics tend to have the greatest economic impact. In addition, environmental trade-offs exist when regulating emissions as indicated by the latest traditional wood building product LCAs. Interpretation of these LCA results can guide new product development using biomaterials, future (mass) building systems and policy-making on mitigating climate change. Key challenges include handling of uncertainties in the supply chain and complex interactions of environment, material conversion, resource use for product production and quantifying the emissions released.


2010 ◽  
Vol 40 (11) ◽  
pp. 2248-2255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole L. Klenk ◽  
Anna Dabros ◽  
Gordon M. Hickey

This research note presents the results of a bibliometric analysis that was conducted to better understand the impact that Sustainable Forest Management Network (SFMN) funded research had in the forest-related social and Aboriginal research communities. We applied two indicators of research impact: (i) research outputs and (ii) citations. Our results suggest that the SFMN’s research outputs were highest in the fields of economics, sociology, and political science and law. The number of research articles that acknowledged the SFMN was 30% of the total research output of the SFMN-funded Principal Investigators. These articles represented 3% of the social science articles published in the Forestry Chronicle (the journal most frequently used by SFMN-funded Principal Investigators). Research output related to Aboriginal forestry indicated that the SFMN had a significant influence on the development of the field. Our citation analysis indicated that the average number of citations per SFMN-acknowledged publication in the social sciences was approximately the same as the international impact standard in the field. These results suggest that the SFMN-funded research in the social sciences compared very well with the international research standards in forest-related social sciences.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document