scholarly journals What Happened to the Forests of Sierra Leone?

Land ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. 80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard A. Wadsworth ◽  
Aiah R. Lebbie
Keyword(s):  
West Africa ◽  
Sierra Leone ◽  
Forest Inventory ◽  
Resource Assessment ◽  
National Forest Inventory ◽  
Population Doubling ◽  
Forest Loss ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Definition Of

The last National Forest Inventory of Sierra Leone took place more than four decades ago in 1975. There appears to be no legal definition of “forest” in Sierra Leone and it is sometimes unclear whether reports are referring to the forest as a “land use” or a “land cover”. Estimates of forest loss in the Global Forest Resource Assessment Country Reports are based on the estimated rate during the period 1975 to 1986, and this has not been adjusted for the effects of the civil war, economic booms and busts, and the human population doubling (from about three million in 1975 to over seven million in 2018). Country estimates as part of the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations) Global Forest Assessment for 2015 aggregate several classes that are not usually considered as “forest” in normal discourse in Sierra Leone (for example, mangrove swamps, rubber plantations and Raphia palm swamps). This paper makes use of maps from 1950, 1975, and 2000/2 to discuss the fate of forests in Sierra Leone. The widely accepted narrative on forest loss in Sierra Leone and generally in West Africa is that it is rapid, drastic and recent. We suggest that the validity of this narrative depends on how you define “forest”. This paper provides a detailed description of what has happened, and at the same time, offers a different view on the relationship between forests and people than the ideas put forward by James Fairhead and Melissa LeachIf we are going to progress the debate about forests in West Africa, up-to-date information and the involvement of all stakeholders are needed to contribute to the debate on what to measure. Otherwise, the decades-old assumption that the area of forest in Sierra Leone lies between less than 5% and more than 75%, provides an error margin that is not useful. This, therefore, necessitates a new forest inventory.

scholarly journals Impact of Ex-Closure in above and below Ground Carbon Stock Biomass

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 130
Author(s):  
Gedion Tsegay ◽  
Xiang-Zhou Meng
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Carbon Stock ◽  
Scientific Journal ◽  
Resource Assessment ◽  
Forest Loss ◽  
Intergovernmental Panel ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Below Ground ◽  
The Impact

Globally, there is a serious issue in carbon stock due to high deforestation and the loss of land, limited carbon storage pools in aboveground and underground forests in different regions, and increased carbon emissions to the atmosphere. This review paper highlights the impact of exclosures on above and below ground carbon stocks in biomass as a solution to globally curb carbon emissions. The data has been analyzed dependent on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) guidelines, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Forest Resource Assessment report (FRA, 2020), and scientific journal publications mostly from the last decade, to show the research results of carbon stock and the impact of exclosures, particularly the challenges of deforestation and erosion of land and opportunities of area exclosures to provide a general outlook for policymakers. Overall, the world’s forest regions are declining, and although the forest loss rate has slowed, it has still not stopped sufficiently because the knowledge and practice of exclosures are limited. The global forest loss and carbon stock have decreased from 7.8 million ha/yr to 4.7 million ha/yr and from 668 gigatons to 662 gigatons respectively due to multiple factors that differ across the regions. However, a move toward natural rehabilitation and exclosures to reduce the emissions of Greenhouse Gas (GHGs) is needed. In the global production of carbon, the exclosure of forests plays an important role, in particular for permanent sinks of carbon.

A sampling design for a large area forest inventory: case Tanzania

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (8) ◽  
pp. 931-948 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erkki Tomppo ◽  
Rogers Malimbwi ◽  
Matti Katila ◽  
Kai Mäkisara ◽  
Helena M. Henttonen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Forest Inventory ◽  
Sampling Design ◽  
National Forest Inventory ◽  
Sampling Errors ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Forest Inventories ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization

Methods for constructing a sampling design for large area forest inventories are presented. The methods, data sets used, and the procedures are demonstrated in a real setting: constructing a sampling design for the first national forest inventory for Tanzania. The approach of the paper constructs a spatial model of forests, landscape, and land use. Sampling errors of the key parameters as well as the field measurement costs of the inventory were estimated using sampling simulation on data. Forests and land use often vary within a country or an area of interest, implying that stratified sampling is an efficient inventory design. Double sampling for stratification was taken for the statistical framework. The work was motivated by the approach used by The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in supporting nations to establish forest inventories. The approach taken deviates significantly from the traditional FAO approaches, making it possible to calculate forest resource estimates at the subnational level without increasing the costs.

scholarly journals Shared Global Vision for Groundwater Governance 2030 and A Call for Action

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marina Rubio
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Association ◽  
Political Awareness ◽  
Call To Action ◽  
Groundwater Governance ◽  
Cultural Organization ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Global Vision ◽  
Definition Of

Five international organisations cooperated in the project ‘Groundwater Governance: A Global Framework for Action’ (2011-2016): Global Environment Fund (GEF), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), United Nations Economic, Social and Cultural Organization International Hydrological Program (UNESCO IHP), International Association of Hydrogeologists (IAH) The present document presents the Vision resulting of a consultative process and the definition of ‘Groundwater Governance’ and its components. It provides a synthetic overview of the enabling frameworks and guiding principles of the Framework for Action prepared by the project. Conscious of the need to raise political awareness at global level and to act with urgency to improve groundwater governance, the five institutions make an urgent call to action if trends in the state of this resource are to be reversed. Governance Groundwater

scholarly journals Composite Estimators for Growth Derived from Repeated Plot Measurements of Positively-Asymmetric Interval Lengths

Forests ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francis Roesch
Keyword(s):  
Data Aggregation ◽  
Forest Inventory ◽  
National Forest Inventory ◽  
Statistical Properties ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Forest Inventory And Analysis ◽  
User Expectations ◽  
Standard Set ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Interval Lengths

The statistical properties of candidate methods to adjust for the bias in growth estimates obtained from observations on increasing interval lengths are compared and contrasted against a standard set of estimands. This standard set of estimands is offered here as a solution to a varying set of user expectations that can arise from the jargon surrounding a particular data aggregation procedure developed within the USDA’s Forest Inventory and Analysis Program, specifically the term “average annual” growth. The definition of a standard set of estimands also allows estimators to be defined and the statistical properties of those estimators to be evaluated. The estimators are evaluated in a simulation for their effectiveness in the presence of a simple distribution of positively-asymmetric measurement intervals, such as what might arise subsequent to a reduction in budget being applied to a national forest inventory.

Towards a Redefinition of the Food Security Concept in the Light of Climate Change

2021 ◽  
Vol 23 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 283-293
Author(s):  
Monika Adamczak-Retecka ◽  
Olga Śniadach
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Access To Food ◽  
Physical Access

Abstract In recent years climate change and its impacts have become a separate field of inquiry. Climate-related risks to food security, water supply, biodiversity and human health are expected to increase with further global warming. The purpose of this study is to show how the definition of food security in particular has changed in times of climate change. It is a multidimensional phenomenon that has no legal definition so far. Associated mainly with physical access to food, food security was identified as a global problem by Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1975 at the Word Food Conference. At the European Union level, food security is strictly connected with the Common Agriculture Policy. One of the new aims of that policy is to make agriculture more sustainable and responsive to current and future challenges, including climate variability. There is the dual challenge of both adapting production systems to new conditions and reducing greenhouse gases produced by agriculture.

scholarly journals Land category in the National Forest Inventory of the Czech Republic

2010 ◽  
Vol 58 (5) ◽  
pp. 223-232
Author(s):  
Miloš Kučera
Keyword(s):  
Czech Republic ◽  
Forest Inventory ◽  
National Forest Inventory ◽  
National Forest ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Land Classification ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Definition Of

The article deals with the land categorization with special focus on the definition of category FO­REST in the National Forest Inventory of the Czech Republic (NFI CR). Definitions of land categories used in the first cycle of forest inventory in 2001–2004 are evaluated. The first task is to assess the appropriateness of existing land categorization and definition of category FOREST in terms of suitability of used parameters defining individual categories and their values. Their compatibility with international definitions of category FOREST is also assessed. The second task is, based on data from the first cycle of NFI CR, to calculate the area of category FOREST according to the international definition of European National Forest Inventory Network (ENFIN) and to determine whether the area of category FOREST is the same or varies from the area according to the definition FOREST defined in NFI CR.In the first part there is a list of used land classifications in the Czech Republic and there are also described used international classifications. Land categorization and definitions according ENFIN are presented. Further the parameters are chosen in the national definition of NFI CR, which are compared with analogous parameters defined by ENFIN, indicating differences. Subsequently, the area of category FOREST is calculated according to the parameters of national definition and ENFIN definition. Finally, suggestions are given for the land classification into categories for the second cycle of NFI CR, including the appropriate parameters and their values for the definition of category FOREST. Possible ways of their implementation into the methodology of NFI CR are listed.

scholarly journals Increasing biomass carbon stocks in trees outside forests in China over the last three decades

2014 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4115-4122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. D. Guo ◽  
H. F. Hu ◽  
Y. D. Pan ◽  
R. A. Birdsey ◽  
J. Y. Fang
Keyword(s):  
Forest Inventory ◽  
Initial Period ◽  
Forest Biomass ◽  
National Forest Inventory ◽  
Forest Land ◽  
Trees Outside Forests ◽  
C Cycle ◽  
C Stocks ◽  
C Stock ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract. Trees outside forests (TOF) play important roles in national economies, ecosystem services, and international efforts for mitigating climate warming. Detailed assessment of the dynamics of carbon (C) stocks in China's TOF is necessary for fully evaluating the role of the country's trees in the national C cycle. This study is the first to explore the changes in biomass C stocks of China's TOF over the last three decades, using the national forest inventory data in six periods from 1977 to 2008. According to the definition of the forest inventory, China's TOF could be categorized into three groups: woodlands, shrubberies, and trees on non-forest land (including four-side greening trees, defined in the article, and scattered trees). We estimated biomass C stocks of woodlands and trees on non-forest land by using the provincial biomass-volume conversion equations derived from the data of low-canopy forests, and estimated the biomass C stocks of shrubberies using the provincial mean biomass density. Total TOF biomass C stock increased by 62.7% from 823 Tg C (1 Tg = 1012 g) in the initial period of 1977–1981 to 1339 Tg C in the last period of 2004–2008. As a result, China's TOF have accumulated biomass C of 516 Tg during the study period, with 12, 270, and 234 Tg in woodlands, shrubberies, and trees on non-forest land, respectively. The annual biomass C sink of China's TOF averaged 19.1 Tg C yr−1, offsetting 2.1% of the contemporary fossil-fuel CO2 emissions in the country. These estimates are equal to 16.5–20.7% of the contemporary total forest biomass C stock and 27.2% of the total forest biomass C sink in the country, suggesting that TOF are substantial components in China's tree C budget.

Food waste and dynamic complex systems: The case of Peru and a solution model proposal Part 1: Peruvian Anchoveta (Engraulis ringens)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos A Almenara
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
Complex Systems ◽  
Revenue Management ◽  
Food Waste ◽  
Intelligent Systems ◽  
Solution Model ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Engraulis Ringens ◽  
The United Nations

[THE MANUSCRIPT IS A DRAFT] According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO, 2020), food waste and losses comprises nearly 1.3 billion tonnes every year, which equates to around US$ 990 billion worldwide. Ironically, over 820 million people do not have enough food to eat (FAO, 2020). This gap production-consumption puts in evidence the need to reformulate certain practices such as the controversial monocropping (i.e., growing a single crop on the same land on a yearly basis), as well as to improve others such as revenue management through intelligent systems. In this first part of a series of articles, the focus is on the Peruvian anchoveta fish (Engraulis ringens).

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