Penegakan Hukum oleh Kepolisian Resor Langkat terhadap Pembalakan Liar (Illegal Logging) di Wilayah Hukum Polres Langkat

Human activities that cause environmental damage, one of which is illegal logging or illegal logging, which is an act of exploitation by humans on forests, causing damage to forest ecosystems. This study aims to determine the factors that cause illegal logging in the Langkat Police jurisdiction and the policies carried out by the Police in law enforcement against illegal logging in the Langkat Police jurisdiction. The research method used is descriptive method, using qualitative descriptive data analysis techniques. The results showed that the factors that caused illegal logging in Langkat Regency were internal factors, consisting of economic factors and the lack of public awareness of the environment, and external factors, consisting of high wood prices, high wood demand, weak supervision, law enforcement is not strict. The policies carried out by the Langkat Police in law enforcement against the crime of illegal logging consist of penal policies, namely reporting illegal logging, following up on illegal logging, going to illegal logging locations, securing evidence, catching illegal timber trucks. Non-penal policies include socializing the prohibition of illegal logging, increasing community participation, supervising timber trucks, examining suspects, developing cases, and transferring files.

Log Transport in the Limestone Alps, Austria: Where Did the Timber Go?

Wood is one of the most important sustainable natural resources. Throughout centuries, large cities as well as regions of very high wood demand (for example, areas of salt production and iron processing) had to be supplied with wood for building and burning. One of the largest forests in Austria can be found in the National Park covering the range of mountains called “Limestone Alps.” Within this region, a wide network of dams was set up to transport single logs (“Holztrift”). Due to the dendrochronological dating of the surviving dams, regional chronologies spanning a length of almost 600 years for Norway spruce, Silver fir and European larch were set up. These chronologies serve as the background for dendro-provenancing timber. Dendro-provenancing checks the similarities between samples and different regional chronologies. The highest statistical figures give hints of the origins of the wood. Archival analyses show that many logs were transported to Vienna as rafts. For example, in 1865, more than 1504 rafts arrived in Vienna, all from different origins. The logs were used as building material as well as for burning. Further archival analyses showed that logs from this region were also used for building the roof of the Hofburg Castle in Vienna. Several hundred samples from the roof construction were dendrochronologically dated and used for dendro-provenancing. The origin of the logs was confirmed to be the wider region of the Northern alpine foothills. This meant that rafts from the rivers Alm and Traun as well as from the rivers Steyr and Enns had floated down to Vienna.

Assessment on the Suitability of Planting Non-Native Peatlands Species Falcataria moluccana (Miq.) Barneby & Grimes in Rewetted Peatlands

Sengon (Falcataria moluccana), a fast-growing timber tree that naturally grows on mineral soils, is currently promoted in peatlands. This study aimed to (1) experimentally test the response of sengon seedlings in waterlogged conditions in the nursery; (2) describe and analyze the biophysical condition of a sengon plantation and its growth; (3) describe sengon farm practices on peatlands; and (4) identify key actor’s perception on planting sengon on peatlands. This study combined an experiment in nursery, field measurements, and key-informant interviews. The nursery experiment showed that peat soil affected seedling’s growth: survival rates decreased by 25–33% after 3 months of inundation. Sengon growth at age 1–5-years-old in peat soil was slower than that on mineral soils. Sengon growth in peatland was influenced by peat depth and peat maturity. Sengon plantation in Central Kalimantan was driven by market availability and industrial wood demand. Fourty-three percent of respondents thought sengon does not grow well in peat soils, but 57% of respondents thought that additional soil treatment will enhance site suitability. Based on key-informants’ experience, 64% disagree with sengon development in peatlands. Our study provides evidence that sengon is predominantly not suitable to be planted on peatlands. Therefore, cautions need to be taken when planting sengon on peatland areas.

Growth Rates of Poplar Cultivars across Central Asia

Research Highlights: Despite a long tradition of using poplars as wood source across Central Asia, recent international breeding developments have not penetrated that region yet. This study therefore explored growth performance of 30 local and international poplar cultivars. Background and Objectives: The Central Asian countries are forest poor countries, which need to cover the domestic wood demand through costly imports. Therefore, fast growing trees, such as poplars, are gaining increasing attention as option to grow wood domestically. The most common cultivars date back to Soviet Union times. As recent breeding developments have not reached the region, this study aims at investigate the growth performance of a number of newly developed poplar cultivars. Materials and Methods: The investigated cultivars were planted as cuttings across nine sites in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Tajikistan between 2018 and 2020. Results: Under warm climate conditions, i.e., low elevations, P. deltoides x nigra hybrids attained highest stem volumes and biomass yields, up to 16.9 t/ha*a after two years, followed by P. nigra xmaximoviczii hybrids. One of the P. deltoides xnigra hybrids reached a tree height of 10.5 m after three years. On higher elevations, e.g., in the Pamirs and in Naryn, P. maximoviczi x trichocarpa hybrids and P. trichocarpa cultivars grew faster than the former hybrids. Conclusions: The cultivars explored in this study should be included into plantations or agroforestry systems that are being established, provided that land users are able to thoroughly control weeds and ensure nutrient and water supply. If sufficient weed control, nutrient supply, or water supply cannot be ensured, then land users should opt for local cultivars (e.g., Mirza Terek) or the P. nigra xmaximoviczii hybrids or P. trichocarpa, in order to avoid failure.

Life Cycle Assessment of Agricultural Wood Production—Methodological Options: a Literature Review

In Europe, poplar and other fast-growing tree species are considered valuable resources for meeting the required wood demand of the rising bioeconomy. The agricultural technique of short rotation coppice (SRC) has gained relevance to ease the pressure of the demand for wood from forests. Previous studies have implemented the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology to evaluate such systems’ potential environmental impacts. These studies present different outcomes, though a general pattern on the potential benefit of SRC is observed. The variation of relevant methodological options, such as goal and scope, system boundary, functional unit, reference system, data source, characterization models, and impact categories assessed can significantly affect the results. A consequence of this discrepancy is its effect on results’ interpretation, making the absolute comparison of case studies challenging and hindering the understanding of the potential impacts of SRC LCAs in support of developing a sustainable bioeconomy. Therefore, the current research attempts to understand the methodological implementation of LCA in assessing SRC value chains. Through literature research, studies are analyzed based on the four LCA phases. One of the results of this study shows how most of the articles focus on assessing the impact category related to climate change, while other environmental issues that are particularly relevant for agricultural woody biomass systems are seldomly evaluated. By discussing the state of the art of SRC LCA, this review paper attempts to suggest improvements that will allow future LCA studies to reach a more comprehensive understanding of the overall environmental impact of SRC systems.

Transgenic poplar gene flow monitoring in China.

Poplar is cultivated widely for pulpwood, firewood, and timber. Transgenic poplar may be part of a solution for wood demand in China. Because transgene escape is an important part of ecological security evaluation of transgenic plants, in this chapter we discuss a real transgenic poplar case study. In this case study, mature transgenic male Populus nigra plants harbored a Bacillus thuringiensis toxin gene (i.e. Bt poplar). A plantation of these plants served as a testbed for a relevant example for gene flow monitoring in China. Furthermore, we discuss environmental risk assessment (ERA) of these transgenic plants. While transgenes can drift to related species through natural and controlled pollination, the probability of transgene drift appears to be very low in the field. The resultantBt poplar seeds occurred at a frequency from about 0.15% at 0 m to about 0.02% at 500 m away from the Bt poplar. The Bt poplar progeny seeds had decreased germination within 3 weeks in the field (from 68% to 0%), compared with the 48% germination rate after 3 weeks at 4°C. The survival rate of seedlings in the field was 0% without any treatments, but increased to 1.7% under four combined treatments (clean and trim, watering, weeding, and cover with plastic to retain moisture) after being seeded in the field for 8 weeks. Hybrid offspring appeared to possess segregated traits following artificially controlled pollination. While hybrids of transgenic poplar and non-transgenic poplar can be excellent germplasm, gene flow should be monitored. Transgene expression in grafted scion and rootstock of transgenic poplar is reviewed. The transgenic poplar studied appears to be safe; no ecological or environmental harm has been observed in China.

An investigation of selected properties of teak wood from 9-year-old plantation forest in Indonesia

An investigation of selected properties of teak wood from 9-year-old plantation in Indonesia. Teak (Tectona grandis L.f) listed in standard EN 13556:2003 (code TEGR) is known as the most popular species in tropical countries, especially in Indonesia. It has not only good qualities in physical properties and mechanical properties, but it also has an aesthetics pattern. The best teak wood is usually more than 80 years old. It is too long a period of time and cannot fulfil the current wood demand. To fulfil the increasing demand, researchers in Indonesia have developed short rotation teak wood. However, the quality of this wood is rather low. The objectives of this study were to obtain complete information about mechanical, physical and acoustic properties of 9-year-old teak wood, to compare its properties with conventional teak wood and to evaluate the optimal utilization of 9 years-old teak wood based on its properties.

Analysis of Flexural Strength Test Results of Coconut Fiber and Corn Husk Composite for Hanging Rack

The wood demand for construction, buildings and furniture is always increasing, while the availability of wood continues to decline with the growth of the wood industry. The purpose of this study was to determine the best flexural strength of the variation of composite board resin material with filler fibers of Coconut Fiber and Corn Husk (CFCH) with comparative specimens of particle boards and Sengon wood. Preparation of composite specimens from Yucalac 157 BQTN-EX polyester resin type added by CFCH fillers with different weight fractions, composite specimens were made accordance with ASTM-D 7264 standard size. Analysis of test data using One-wayAnova approach. The best percentage results on the composition of the weight of the hanging rackcomposite with the ratio of filler CFCH was 4.5%: 4.5% (1: 1) with 91% hardener resin, and the weight fractions of CFCH was affected to the flexural strengthcomposite, because Fcalculated> Ftable (15.05 > 5.14).