scholarly journals Application of Landscape Approach Principles Motivates Forest Fringe Farmers to Reforest Ghana’s Degraded Reserves

Forests ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 411
Author(s):  
Emmanuel O. Acheampong ◽  
Jeffrey Sayer ◽  
Colin Macgregor ◽  
Sean Sloan
Keyword(s):  
Forest Cover ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Agricultural Expansion ◽  
Landscape Approach ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Forest Reserves ◽  
Farmer Behaviour ◽  
Fringe Communities ◽  
Forest Fringe

Research Highlights: Landscape approach principles were developed to address competing claims on resources at local scales. We used the principles to address agricultural expansion in Ghana’s forest reserves. Background and Objectives: Agricultural expansion is a major cause of Ghana’s forest-cover loss. Cultivation has totally deforested some forest reserves. The situation in Ghana illustrates the trade-off between attaining the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDG 1—reduction of poverty, and 2—achieving food security, are in conflict with SDG 15—protecting and restoring forests. We examined how farmers in forest fringe communities could be engaged in restoring degraded forests using the landscape approach and whether their livelihoods were improved through the use of this approach. Materials and Methods: The Ongwam II Forest Reserve in the Ashanti region of Ghana is encroached by farmers from two communities adjacent to the reserve. We employed the 10 principles of the landscape approach to engage farmers in restoring the degraded reserve. The flexibility of the landscape approach provided a framework against which to assess farmer behaviour. We encouraged farmers to plant trees on 10 ha of the degraded reserve and to benefit through the cultivation of food crops amongst the trees. Results: Access to fertile forest soils for cultivation was the main motivation for the farmers to participate in the reforestation project. The farmers’ access to natural and financial capital increased and they became food secure in the first year of the project’s operation. Conclusions: Effective implementation of several small-scale reforestation projects using the landscape approach could together lead to a forest transition, more trees in agricultural systems and better protection of residual natural forests while improving farmers’ livelihoods, all combining to achieve the SDGs.

scholarly journals Factors Influencing the Adoption of Agricultural Practices in Ghana’s Forest-Fringe Communities

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 266
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Opoku Acheampong ◽  
Jeffrey Sayer ◽  
Colin J. Macgregor ◽  
Sean Sloan
Keyword(s):  
Crop Yields ◽  
Agricultural Practices ◽  
Animal Manure ◽  
Extension Services ◽  
Income Source ◽  
Forest Reserves ◽  
Land Sparing ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Fringe Communities ◽  
Forest Fringe

Two-thirds of rural Ghanaians are farmers, and farming is almost the only income source for Ghana’s forest-fringe communities. Some farmers adopt some agricultural practices to augment their operations while others do not. We examined the factors that influence farmers’ adoption and intensity of adoption of agricultural practices, namely, chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, improved seeds, animal manure, and crop rotation. We surveyed the agricultural systems and livelihoods of 291 smallholder households in forest-fringe communities and developed a multivariate model (canonical correlation analysis) to test the degree to which social, economic, and institutional factors correlate with adoption and intensity of adoption of the above practices. We found that 35.4% of the farmers do not adopt any of the practices because they perceive them to be expensive, not useful, and difficult to adopt. The rest (64.6%) adopt at least one of the practices to control weeds, pests and diseases, and consequently increase crop yields. Our results indicate that farmers that perceive the aforementioned practices to be more beneficial, cultivate multiple plots, and have access to extension services adopt more of the practices. Farmer age and distance to source of inputs negatively correlate with adoption and intensity of adoption of agricultural practices. Almost two-thirds each of adopters and non-adopters do not have access to agricultural extension services and this could pose threats to the sustainability of the forest reserves within and around which the farmers cultivate. Educating farmers on agricultural practices that are forest-friendly is critical in the forest-fringe communities of Ghana. The correct application of practices could double outputs and minimize threats to forests and biodiversity through land-sparing.

(A review) Vegetation and biotopes of the National Park “Narochansky” with the Map of terrestrial vegetation (S. 1 : 60 000) and the Map of biotopes (S. 1 : 60 000)

2019 ◽  
pp. 68-72
Author(s):  
E. A. Volkova
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Practical Importance ◽  
Vegetation Mapping ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Terrestrial Vegetation ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
National Academy Of Sciences ◽  
Experimental Botany ◽  
High Level

A monograph “Vegetation and biotopes of the “Narochansky” National Park was published in Minsk, Belarus in 2017, edited by A. V. Pugachevsky (Grummo et al., 2017). It includes the Map of terrestrial vegetation (S. 1 : 60 000) and the Map of biotopes (S. 1 : 60 000). Some small-scale maps such as the Map of changes in forest cover of the “Narochansky” National Park for the period 1985–2016, the Map of forest loss in the “Narochansky” National Park for the period 1985–2016 and a series of inventory and analytical maps on the basin of the Naroch Lake are given. This monograph can be considered as a small regional Atlas with detailed explanatory texts to the maps. It presents the experience on vegetation mapping accumulated in the Laboratory of Geobotany and Vegetation mapping of the Institute of Experimental Botany of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Despite some critical comments, mainly concerning the biotope map, this publication of Belarusian geobotanists deserves an approval. They received the full answers to the questions posed: “What do we protect?” and “What is a current state of the vegetation of the National Park and the main trends of its dynamics? Cartographic design is made at a high level; the maps have both scientific and practical importance in the planning of environmental and economic activities.

Small-scale vegetation mapping of large territories: perspectives of using modern remote sensing and GIS technologies, the Indian experiences

1996 ◽  
pp. 51-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. V. M. Unni
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Satellite Remote Sensing ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Vegetation Map ◽  
Gis Technologies ◽  
Forest Cover Mapping

The recognition of versatile importance of vegetation for the human life resulted in the emergence of vegetation science and many its applications in the modern world. Hence a vegetation map should be versatile enough to provide the basis for these applications. Thus, a vegetation map should contain not only information on vegetation types and their derivatives but also the geospheric and climatic background. While the geospheric information could be obtained, mapped and generalized directly using satellite remote sensing, a computerized Geographic Information System can integrate it with meaningful vegetation information classes for large areas. Such aft approach was developed with respect to mapping forest vegetation in India at. 1 : 100 000 (1983) and is in progress now (forest cover mapping at 1 : 250 000). Several review works reporting the experimental and operational use of satellite remote sensing data in India were published in the last years (Unni, 1991, 1992, 1994).

scholarly journals Drivers of Bornean Orangutan Distribution across a Multiple-Use Tropical Landscape

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 458
Author(s):  
Sol Milne ◽  
Julien G. A. Martin ◽  
Glen Reynolds ◽  
Charles S. Vairappan ◽  
Eleanor M. Slade ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Cover ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
Multiple Use ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Bornean Orangutan ◽  
Aerial Surveys ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Fig Trees ◽  
Abundance And Distribution

Logging and conversion of tropical forests in Southeast Asia have resulted in the expansion of landscapes containing a mosaic of habitats that may vary in their ability to sustain local biodiversity. However, the complexity of these landscapes makes it difficult to assess abundance and distribution of some species using ground-based surveys alone. Here, we deployed a combination of ground-transects and aerial surveys to determine drivers of the critically endangered Bornean Orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus morio) distribution across a large multiple-use landscape in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo. Ground-transects and aerial surveys using drones were conducted for orangutan nests and hemi-epiphytic strangler fig trees (Ficus spp.) (an important food resource) in 48 survey areas across 76 km2, within a study landscape of 261 km2. Orangutan nest count data were fitted to models accounting for variation in land use, above-ground carbon density (ACD, a surrogate for forest quality), strangler fig density, and elevation (between 117 and 675 m). Orangutan nest counts were significantly higher in all land uses possessing natural forest cover, regardless of degradation status, than in monoculture plantations. Within these natural forests, nest counts increased with higher ACD and strangler fig density, but not with elevation. In logged forest (ACD 14–150 Mg ha−1), strangler fig density had a significant, positive relationship with orangutan nest counts, but this relationship disappeared in a forest with higher carbon content (ACD 150–209 Mg ha−1). Based on an area-to-area comparison, orangutan nest counts from ground transects were higher than from counts derived from aerial surveys, but this did not constitute a statistically significant difference. Although the difference in nest counts was not significantly different, this analysis indicates that both methods under-sample the total number of nests present within a given area. Aerial surveys are, therefore, a useful method for assessing the orangutan habitat use over large areas. However, the under-estimation of nest counts by both methods suggests that a small number of ground surveys should be retained in future surveys using this technique, particularly in areas with dense understory vegetation. This study shows that even highly degraded forests may be a suitable orangutan habitat as long as strangler fig trees remain intact after areas of forest are logged. Enrichment planting of strangler figs may, therefore, be a valuable tool for orangutan conservation in these landscapes.

Monitoring of small rock pools reveals differential effects of chronic anthropogenic disturbance on birds and mammals in the Calakmul region, southern Mexico

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Carlos M. Delgado-Martínez ◽  
Fredy Alvarado ◽  
Melanie Kolb ◽  
Eduardo Mendoza
Keyword(s):  
Species Richness ◽  
Anthropogenic Disturbance ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Biosphere Reserve ◽  
Bird Diversity ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Rock Pools ◽  
Southern Mexico ◽  
Wildlife Species ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Great attention has been drawn to the impacts of habitat deforestation and fragmentation on wildlife species richness. In contrast, much less attention has been paid to assessing the impacts of chronic anthropogenic disturbance on wildlife species composition and behaviour. We focused on natural small rock pools (sartenejas), which concentrate vertebrate activity due to habitat’s water limitation, to assess the impact of chronic anthropogenic disturbance on the species richness, diversity, composition, and behaviour of medium and large-sized birds and mammals in the highly biodiverse forests of Calakmul, southern Mexico. Camera trapping records of fauna using sartenejas within and outside the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve (CBR) showed that there were no effects on species richness, but contrasts emerged when comparing species diversity, composition, and behaviour. These effects differed between birds and mammals and between species: (1) bird diversity was greater outside the CBR, but mammal diversity was greater within and (2) the daily activity patterns of birds differed slightly within and outside the CBR but strongly contrasted in mammals. Our study highlights that even in areas supporting extensive forest cover, small-scale chronic anthropogenic disturbances can have pervasive negative effects on wildlife and that these effects contrast between animal groups.

scholarly journals Teaching the Whitefella—The Role of Cultural Tourism in Opening Remote Indigenous Art Centres to Non-Indigenous Visitors

Arts ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 135
Author(s):  
Chrischona Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Communities ◽  
Cultural Tourism ◽  
Tourism Industry ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Indigenous Art ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Arts Festival ◽  
Grassroots Level ◽  
Territory Government

This article explores how a remote Aboriginal-owned and -run art centre, Ikuntji Artists in Haasts Bluff, has developed grassroots-level cultural tourism. While not many remote Indigenous art centres engage with the tourism industry, Aboriginal tourism engagement has only recently been identified by the Northern Territory Government as a major business development area. Steered by the member artists and the board, the art centre has been able to create a range of workshops and activities that can be offered to small-scale tour operators. Over the past five years, an arts festival and various workshops for university field students and other small tour operators have been hosted. Member artists, staff and the board as well as the community see cultural tourism as an opportunity to share their culture by way of teaching visitors about the Luritja language, culture and country. Thus, this article argues that art centres can engage meaningfully in cultural tourism and support remote Indigenous communities in the sustainable development of cultural tourism.

scholarly journals The Effectiveness of China’s National Forest Protection Program and National-level Nature Reserves, 2000 to 2010

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guopeng Ren ◽  
Stephen S. Young ◽  
Lin Wang ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
Yongcheng Long ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Forest Cover ◽  
National Level ◽  
Mainland China ◽  
Canopy Cover ◽  
Nature Reserves ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Forest Protection ◽  
Deforestation Rate ◽  
Deforestation Rates

There is profound interest in knowing the degree to which China’s institutions are capable of protecting its natural forests and biodiversity in the face of economic and political change. China’s two most important forest protection policies are its National Forest Protection Program (NFPP) and its National-level Nature Reserves (NNRs). The NFPP was implemented in 17 provinces starting in the year 2000 in response to deforestation-caused flooding. We used MODIS data (MOD13Q1) to estimate forest cover and forest loss across mainland China, and we report that 1.765 million km2or 18.7% of mainland China was covered in forest (12.3%, canopy cover > 70%) and woodland (6.4%, 40% ≤ canopy cover < 70%) in 2000. By 2010, a total of 480,203 km2of forest+woodland was lost, amounting to an annual deforestation rate of 2.7%. The forest-only loss was 127,473 km2, or 1.05% annually. The three most rapidly deforested provinces were outside NFPP jurisdiction, in the southeast. Within the NFPP provinces, the annual forest+woodland loss rate was 2.26%, and the forest-only rate was 0.62%. Because these loss rates are likely overestimates, China appears to have achieved, and even exceeded, its NFPP target of reducing deforestation to 1.1% annually in the target provinces. We also assemble the first-ever polygon dataset for China’s forested NNRs (n=237), which covered 74,030 km2in 2000. Conventional unmatched and covariate-matching analyses both find that about two-thirds of China’s NNRs exhibit effectiveness in protecting forest cover and that within-NNR deforestation rates are higher in provinces that have higher overall deforestation.

Forest floor mass and nutrients in two chronosequences of plantations: Jack pine vs. black spruce

1998 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helmut Krause
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Cycling ◽  
Picea Mariana ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Pinus Banksiana ◽  
Forest Cover ◽  
Black Spruce ◽  
Jack Pine ◽  
Pine Plantations ◽  
Nutrient Concentrations ◽  
Natural Forests

The purpose of this study was to determine whether change of forest cover had an effect on the development of the organic surface horizons, particularly on those variables that influence nutrient cycling and forest productivity. Jack pine (Pinus banksiana Lamb.) and black spruce (Picea mariana [Mill.] B.S.P.) plantations were selected from among the youngest to oldest (2–16 yr) within a 100 km2 area in southeastern New Brunswick. Natural forests were also included as benchmark sites. The forest floor and tree foliage was sampled and trees measured on 0.05-ha plots. The forest floor samples were used to determine organic mass, nutrient contents and pH. In pine plantations, organic matter accumulated rapidly during the period of exponential tree growth, but leveled off at about 45 Mg ha–1. This was within the range of benchmark sites with mixed conifer-hardwood cover. In spruce plantations, the forest floor mass ranged upward to 77 Mg ha–1. Development was strongly influenced by the nature of the previous forest. Spruce forest floors were on average more acid and had lower nutrient concentrations, particularly N and Ca. The observed differences suggest that nutrients are recycled more rapidly in the pine plantations, partly explaining the superior growth of the latter. Key words: Forest floor, Kalmia angustifolia L., Picea mariana (Mill.) B.S.P., Pinus banksiana Lamb., nutrient cycling, plantation forest

Study of Poplar and Bamboo based Agroforestry System

2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-70
Author(s):  
Kapil Joshi ◽  
◽  
Vrushali Gade ◽  
Ashwini Apet ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Integrated Management ◽  
Agroforestry System ◽  
Environmental Conservation ◽  
Wood Products ◽  
Population Pressure ◽  
Natural Forests ◽  
Resource Base ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
The People ◽  
Agro Forestry

Food insecurity and poverty have been affecting the livelihood of the rural poor since ages. It is posing a major challenge to the sustainable development of a developing country like India. In such countries, land and soil degradation has emerged as an offshoot of excessive population pressure over the limited resources. Agricultural production in the developing countries has seldom matched the needs of the people. Agro forestry has the potential to arrest land degradation and improve site productivity through interaction with trees, soil, crops and livestock. Agro forestry is also a potential option for improving rural livelihood and enhancing integrated management of the natural resource base. Agro forestry systems can play an important role in carbon mitigation programmes through carbon sequestration and can reduce the pressure on existing natural forests by providing fuel, fodder, timber and wood products to the farmers. The current interest in agro forestry in India has transformed the land-use system in terms of economic sustainability. This article briefly reviews about the concept of Poplar and Bamboo based agro forestry systems as adopted extensively by the farmers on a commercial and environmental conservation scale. These systems play a significant role to meet the economic, social and environmental concerns of the villagers.

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