Monitoring the performance of community forestry to achieve REDD+ goals through geospatial methods

Measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) is included in the Cancun, Mexico, in 2010 under climate change agreements, as one of the most critical elements necessary for the successful implementation of any reducing of emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+) mechanism. Community forestry is recognised as a successful model for conserving forests, raising awareness among local people and decentralising the forest governance practices. In the world, Nepal is considered as a leader in community-based forest management. This study conducted in 16 community forests (2384.76 ha) of Kayar Khola watershed (8002 ha) of Chitwan district, Nepal. In this paper, satellite images IKONOS-2 (2002) and GeoEye-1 (2009 & 2012) were used which have 1 m and 0.5 m ground spatial distance (GSD) respectively. Geographic information system (GIS) participatory approach was embraced for the boundaries delineation of community forests. Geographic object-based image analysis (GEOBIA) classification technique was performed and overall accuracy 94 % with 92.91 % producer’s and 96.2 % user's accuracies. Through change matrix method, 25.49 ha and 1.08 ha area deforested while 179.84 ha and 33.24 ha reforested in two time periods 2002–2009 and 2009–2012 respectively. Overall within 16 community forests, “Close broadleaved to Open broadleaved” 4.42 ha and 4 ha area is transferred between 2002–2009 and 2009–2012 respectively. While "Open broadleaved to Close broadleaved" 29.25 ha and 31.1 ha area is converted in seven years (2002–2009) and in three years (2009–2012) respectively. Coefficient of determination (R2) 0.833 achieved through a line-intercept transect between number of segmented and observed tree crowns. Maximum numbers of the counted trees exist below 20 m2, which show the forest of the study area is not mature and has capacity to sequestrate more and more carbon in coming years. A linear regress model obtained (AGB = 0.0543*CPA – 62.078 with R2 = 0.76) by plotting the delineated crowns from satellite image and field based biomass values at 1ha grid. The present study was conducted in order to analyse, the performance of community forestry to achieve REDD+ goals by considering a sample of pilot project site in Nepal.

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An Analysis of Local Participation in Community Forestry: The Case of Tinto and Bimbia-Bonadikombo Community Forest, Cameroon

Sustainability in Environment ◽

10.22158/se.v1n2p85 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 85

Author(s):

Mbunya Francis Nkemnyi

Keyword(s):

Local Community ◽

Community Forestry ◽

Implementation Process ◽

Successful Implementation ◽

Feedback Systems ◽

Community Members ◽

Theoretical Formulation ◽

Local Participation ◽

Community Forests ◽

Participatory Policy

Local participation in forest management remains a fundamental challenge to be solved despite the growing political and academic interest in participatory management. This study analyzed how community forestry implementation in Cameroon has affected the participation of local people using two case studies. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were the main methods in data collection. The main findings revealed that majority of local community members (73.3%) were less informed of the purpose of community forestry. This limited participatory efforts in the implementation process. The creation and management process of the community forests were more focused on engaging influential actors rather than enabling social justice as proposed by the legislation. Marginalization of local community members, which community forestry was created to resolve was still evident. This study argues that although participatory policies are usually designed to benefit the less privileged, the outcomes most often do not match the purpose. There is need for participatory policy debates and development to go beyond theoretical formulation to crafting mechanisms and feedback systems that could ensure successful implementation and follow up.

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Monitoring above-ground forest biomass: A comparison of cost and accuracy between LiDAR assisted multisource programme and field-based forest resource assessment in Nepal

Banko Janakari ◽

10.3126/banko.v23i1.9463 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 23 (1) ◽

pp. 12-22 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

PN Kandel

Keyword(s):

Spatial Scales ◽

Satellite Image ◽

Forest Degradation ◽

Resource Assessment ◽

Forest Monitoring ◽

Forest Resource ◽

Community Forests ◽

Biomass Estimate ◽

Monitoring Costs ◽

Cost Efficient

Analyzing forest monitoring costs and accuracy of forest carbon stock estimates are important criteria in the framework of Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD), because Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) system has been seen as an investment that aims to generate financial benefits to forest owners. Thus, comparisons of cost efficiency and accuracy were carried out between the LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) Assisted Multisource Programme (LAMP) and the field-based multisource Forest Resource Assessment (FRA) applied in the 23500 km2 Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) of Nepal in 2011 to estimate Above Ground Biomass (AGB). The model-based LAMP was applied by integrating 5% LiDAR sampling, wall to wall RapidEye satellite image and field sample plot inventory. The design-based FRA was carried out to generate comprehensive forest resource information. Administrative and initial variable costs of both approaches were calculated separately, and converted to unit costs for comparison. To compare the subsequent forest monitoring costs, cumulative costs were derived on the basis of the calculated present variable items and expenditures. The accuracies were calculated by using mean error of mean biomass estimates (tons/ha) at different spatial scales ranging from 1 to 350,000 ha forests. Design-based FRA was found to be cost-efficient (USD 0.22/ha) as compared to the LAMP approach (USD 0.28/ha) for baseline data collection, whereas administrative cost of multisource FRA (USD 0.26/ha) was significantly higher. Although a huge amount of data were generated through multisource FRA in each cycle, the LAMP approach appears to be cost-efficient to estimate AGB in subsequent forest inventory. The mean errors in the LAMP-derived mean biomass estimate were significantly smaller at all spatial resolutions than the FRA-plot-derived mean biomass estimate. The study concludes that spatial accuracy of LAMP is good enough to estimate biomass stock of Community Forests (CFs) where average size of CF is 150 ha in the study area. Banko Janakari, Vol. 23, No. 1, Page 12-22 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/banko.v23i1.9463

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Towards active utilisation of community forestry: Silvo-institutional model for sustainable forest management in Nepal

Banko Janakari ◽

10.3126/banko.v27i3.20557 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 120-129 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

N. S. Paudel ◽

H. Ojha ◽

K. Shrestha ◽

E. Cedamon ◽

R. Karki ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Action Research ◽

Forest Management ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Community Forestry ◽

Successful Implementation ◽

Institutional Barriers ◽

Community Forests ◽

Institutional Model

This paper explains what we term the ‘silvo-institutional model’ for a more productive, sustainable and equitable management of community forests in Nepal. The paper draws on four years of action research in six research sites of Kavre and Lamjung districts, complemented by the review of silviculture-based forest management by Government of Nepal in various parts of the country. The findings indicate that first, early silviculture-based forest management initiatives have failed because they did not adequately consider the policy and institutional dimensions. Second, current initiatives, while looked promising for the active utilisation of community forests, have faced with complex regulatory and institutional barriers. We argue that a new ‘silvoinstitutional model’, which combines technological and institutional dimensions, has a potential to increase the prospect of successful implementation of silviculture-based forest management.Banko JanakariA Journal of Forestry Information for NepalSpecial Issue No. 4, 2018, Page: 120-129

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Generation and utilization of community fund in small-scale community forest management in the Terai region of Nepal

Banko Janakari ◽

10.3126/banko.v17i2.2156 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 17 (2) ◽

pp. 55-61 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Maheshwar Dhakal ◽

Misa Masuda

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Community Development ◽

Community Forestry ◽

Small Scale ◽

Successful Implementation ◽

Community Forests ◽

Development Costs ◽

Community Fund ◽

Operation Cost

It has been widely recognized that constantly increasing community fund is one of the indicators of successful implementation of community forestry program in Nepal. However, a very few people know how the fund is collected under the program and it has been utilized so far. The paper is based on the generation and utilization of community fund of two-community forests in the Terai region. The community forests of the region have collected large amount of community fund annually from the sale of forest products and non-forestry sources as well. The study revealed that along with community fund increasing, office operation cost has been constantly increasing while utilizing the fund, whereas promotion of forest management and community development costs are essential for long-term sustainability of the program. Therefore, the study concluded that only the minimization of office operation cost could increase the forest management and community development costs based on the principle of trade-off, which is crucial to keep the people intact in community forestry program and its long-term sustainability. Keywords: community forestry, community fund, Terai, Nepal doi: 10.3126/banko.v17i2.2156 Banko Janakari, Vol. 17, No. 2, 55-61

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Effects of forest certification towards sustainable community forestry in Nepal

Banko Janakari ◽

10.3126/banko.v17i1.654 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 11-16 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Pem N Kandel

Keyword(s):

Forest Management ◽

Sustainable Forest Management ◽

Community Forestry ◽

Forest Certification ◽

Managed Forests ◽

Forest Stewardship Council ◽

Community Forests ◽

Sustainable Community ◽

Forest Stewardship ◽

Forest Users

In early 2005, 10,045 ha Community Forests (CFs) were certified in Bajhang and Dolakha districts of Nepal by using the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification scheme. After two years of forest certification, subsequent questions are being asked such as: What benefits have certification brought for the Forest Users Groups (FUGs)? What tangible differences are there in forest management system because of forest certification? and What lessons have been learnt from the certified forests? In an attempt to answer these questions, a study was carried out in April 2007 in Dolakha district where 11 (2,182 ha) community managed forests were certified in 2005. On the basis of field study from two certified forests (Vitteripakha and Suspa) of the district, this paper analyzes the effects of forest certification and its implications for enhancing Sustainable Community Forestry (SCF) in Nepal. Key words: Sustainable forest management, forest certification, community forestry Banko Janakari: A journal of forestry information for Nepal Vol.17(1) 2007 pp.11-16

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Enhancing REDD+ Outcomes through Improved Governance of Community Forest Groups

Journal of Forest and Livelihood ◽

10.3126/jfl.v11i2.8618 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 14-26 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Bishnu Hari Poudyal ◽

Govinda Paudel ◽

Harisharan Luintel

Keyword(s):

Sustainable Management ◽

Community Forestry ◽

Forest Degradation ◽

Governance Structure ◽

Forest Governance ◽

Community Forest ◽

Crucial Issue ◽

Grassroots Level ◽

External Intervention ◽

Forest User

Since forests are both source and sink of carbon, scholars have suggested reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, including conservation and sustainable management of forest and enhancement of forest carbon stock (REDD+) to be part of climate negotiation. Studies have shown that forests can play a role in reducing emissions in a cheaper, quicker and effective way, while generating important co-benefits, including biodiversity conservation and watershed management. However, governance that shapes relations between different stakeholders at grassroots level has been shown to be a crucial issue in managing local forests in a way that sequester more carbon from, and emit less of it to, the atmosphere. The authors of this paper argue that the lessons gained at community forest user group (CFUG) level regarding forest governance could be useful in designing a REDD+ governance structure at grassroots level. For this, both positive lessons and challenges faced so far could be documented, analyzed, synthesized and shared at broader level. REDD+, being an external intervention to local communities, can bring a range of challenges that influence the governance dynamics. However, if the programme is managed carefully, CFUGs are capacitated adequately and governed collaboratively, REDD+ may bring synergistic outcomes with existing community forestry at grassroots level, particularly by bringing both environmental and livelihood benefits.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jfl.v11i2.8618 Journal of Forestry and Livelihood Vol.11(2) 2013 14-26

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Pro-poor Institutions: Creating Exclusive Rights to the Poor Groups in Community Forest Management

Journal of Forest and Livelihood ◽

10.3126/jfl.v8i2.2304 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 1-15 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Sushma Bhattarai ◽

Prakash Kumar Jha ◽

Niraj Chapagain

Keyword(s):

Community Forestry ◽

Community Forest Management ◽

Community Forest ◽

Degraded Land ◽

Policy And Practice ◽

Community Forests ◽

The Poor ◽

User Groups ◽

Community Forest User Groups ◽

Forest User

In spite of the widely accepted success of Community Forestry in reviving degraded land, it is still seen as being unable to provide tangible benefits to the poor. This paper illustrates that through continuous sharing, deliberation and negotiation among the poor and non?poor members of Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs), management of community forests can be made far more equitable than the usual scenario. Drawing from the experience on the processes and outcomes of Livelihoods and Forestry Programme (LFP), this paper brings empirical evidence of how facilitation support has enabled the poor to have more equitable access to community forests. Three key pro?poor institutional arrangements resulting from the facilitation process include: a) establishing special use rights arrangements within CFUGs for the poor, b) pro?poor silvicultural practices, and c) equitable forest product and benefit distribution mechanisms. The paper suggests some changes in policy and practice to institutionalise these outcomes. Full text is available at the ForestAction websiteDOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jfl.v8i2.2304 Journal of Forest and Livelihood 8(2) February 2009 pp.1-15

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Forest landscape restoration: state of play

Royal Society Open Science ◽

10.1098/rsos.201218 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 7 (12) ◽

pp. 201218

Author(s):

John A. Stanturf ◽

Stephanie Mansourian

Keyword(s):

Forest Restoration ◽

Forest Products ◽

Forest Degradation ◽

Theory And Practice ◽

Tree Planting ◽

Forest Landscape ◽

Landscape Restoration ◽

Community Forests ◽

Landscape Degradation ◽

Forest Landscape Restoration

Tree planting has been widely touted as an inexpensive way to meet multiple international environmental goals for mitigating climate change, reversing landscape degradation and restoring biodiversity restoration. The Bonn Challenge and New York Declaration on Forests, motivated by widespread deforestation and forest degradation, call for restoring 350 million ha by 2030 by relying on forest landscape restoration (FLR) processes. Because the 173 million ha commitments made by 63 nations, regions and companies are not legally binding, expectations of what FLR means lacks consensus. The frequent disconnect between top-level aspirations and on-the-ground implementation results in limited data on FLR activities. Additionally, some countries have made landscape-scale restoration outside of the Bonn Challenge. We compared and contrasted the theory and practice of FLR and compiled information from databases of projects and initiatives and case studies. We present the main FLR initiatives happening across regional groups; in many regions, the potential need/opportunity for forest restoration exceeds the FLR activities underway. Multiple objectives can be met by manipulating vegetation (increasing structural complexity, changing species composition and restoring natural disturbances). Livelihood interventions are context-specific but include collecting or raising non-timber forest products, employment and community forests; other interventions address tenure and governance.

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Contextualization of Forest Governance for Implementation of REDD+ in Bangladesh

The Chittagong University Journal of Science ◽

10.3329/cujs.v41i1.51921 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 41 (1) ◽

pp. 148-177

Author(s):

Md Danesh Miah ◽

Gazi Azizul Islam

Keyword(s):

Online Survey ◽

Group Discussion ◽

Legal Protection ◽

Organizational Structures ◽

Forest Degradation ◽

Forest Governance ◽

Successful Implementation ◽

Governance System ◽

Forest Department ◽

Forestry Sector

Poor governance accelerates the deforestation and forest degradation through corruption in Bangladesh due to the enhancement of prevalent activities such as excessive collection of forests products, trafficking of logs out of reserve forests, land grabs by powerful actors, illegal encroachment of forests, etc. The study was conducted with a view to assessing the present scenario of the forest governance system based on five UN principles in Bangladesh which will be the driving force to the successful implementation of the REDD+. The study was conducted in Rangamati, Madhupur, and Sreemangal, through focus group discussion, key informants interview, and an online survey. The study shows that lack of transparency, accountability, and integrity is one of the main underlying drivers of deforestation and forest degradation. Restriction to accessing reports on fiscal activities, lack of laws and regulation concerning to public funds, lack of independent institution, ineffective monitoring and testing systems, and inadequate detection, investigation, and prosecution practices, etc. enhance the corruption in the forestry sector and the hindrances of effective REDD+ implementation in Bangladesh. The study suggested taking legal protection, engaging civil society and improving the organizational structures of the forest department to check the corruption in the forestry sector of Bangladesh. The Chittagong Univ. J. Sci. 40(1) : 148-177, 2019

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Application of near Infrared Spectroscopy On-Combine in Corn Grain Breeding

Journal of Near Infrared Spectroscopy ◽

10.1255/jnirs.459 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 69-75 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Roland Welle ◽

Willi Greten ◽

Thomas Müller ◽

Gary Weber ◽

Hartwig Wehrmann

Keyword(s):

Grain Yield ◽

Dry Matter ◽

Near Infrared ◽

Reference Method ◽

Nir Spectroscopy ◽

Coefficient Of Determination ◽

Successful Implementation ◽

Grain Moisture ◽

Yield Determination ◽

Corn Grain

Improving maize ( Zea mays L.) grain yield and agronomic properties are major goals for corn breeders in northern Europe. In order to facilitate field grain yield determination we measured corn grain moisture content with near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy directly on a harvesting machine. NIR spectroscopy, in combination with harvesting, significantly improved quality and speed of yield determination within the very narrow harvest time window. Moisture calibrations were developed with 2117 samples from the 2001 to 2003 crop seasons using six diode array spectrometers mounted on combines. These models were derived from databases containing spectra from all instruments. Spectrometer-specific calibrations cannot be used to predict samples measured on other instruments of the same type. Standard error of cross-validation ( SECV) and coefficient of determination ( R2) were 0.56 and 0.99%, respectively. Moisture standard errors of prediction ( SEPs) for the six instruments, using varying independent sample sets from the 2004 harvest, ranged between 0.59% and 0.99% with R2 values between 0.92 to 0.98. The six instruments produced the same dry matter predictions on a common sample set as indicated by high R2 and low biases among them, hence there was no need to apply specific standardisation algorithms. Moisture NIR spectroscopy determinations were significantly more precise than those obtained using the reference method. Analysis of variance revealed low least significant differences and high heritabilities. High precision and heritability demonstrate successful implementation of on-combine NIR spectroscopy for routine dry matter (yield) measurements.

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