A Teoria da Transição Florestal prevê recuperação das florestas a partir de alterações no foco da economia, onde os setores terciário e secundário substituiriam o setor primário. Críticos desta hipótese afirmam que a transição ocorre por meio do deslocamento da produção agropecuária ao exterior, enquanto os países produtores passariam por uma expansão da agricultura, perdendo cobertura florestal. Outros autores refutam o argumento de que o comércio internacional seria o principal canal de ligação entre a Transição Florestal em países importadores e o avanço das fronteiras agrícolas nos países produtores. Diante da divergência dos modelos explicativos, o presente estudo busca avaliar se o comércio internacional de commodities agrícolas promove o deslocamento das áreas de desmatamento de países importadores de commodities para países exportadores. Foram analisados dados de exportações e importações de soja em grão e óleo de palma pelos principais países nesses mercados, confrontando-os com dados de variação histórica da cobertura florestal nacional entre os anos de 1990 e 2015. Os resultados apontam que o comércio internacional de commodities agrícolas opera como um canal de realocação entre o ganho de florestas em países importadores e o desmatamento em países exportadores / The Forest Transition Theory predicts that forest recover arises from changes in the focus of the economy, where the service and industry sectors replace the agriculture sector. Critics affirm that the transition occurs through the displacement of agricultural production abroad, while producing countries would undertake agriculture an expansion and lose forest cover. Other authors refute the argument that international trade would be the main linkage between the Forest Transition occurrence in importing countries and the advance of agricultural frontiers in producing countries. Considering the divergence between explanatory models, this study seeks to assess whether the international trade of agricultural commodities promotes the displacement of deforestation areas from importing countries to commodity-exporting countries. Data of exports and imports of soya bean and palm oil from the main countries in these markets were confronted to the historical variation of national forest cover between 1990 and 2015. Results point out that international trade of agricultural commodities operates as a relocation channel between forest gains in importer countries and deforestation in exporter ones

Submitted by Sandra Pereira (srpereira@ufrrj.br) on 2016-10-25T11:21:37Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2016 - Juliana de Oliveira Tostes.pdf: 4618564 bytes, checksum: 951350c8676b3f82092fedfc3a9e0f79 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-10-25T11:21:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2016 - Juliana de Oliveira Tostes.pdf: 4618564 bytes, checksum: 951350c8676b3f82092fedfc3a9e0f79 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-02-29 / This research analyzes the temporal and spatial variables that can affect the distribution and frequency of hot spots in the state of Acre. Given the scarcity of regular spatial information and long time series for the study area, it was initially carried out a validation between air temperature and precipitation data in Global Grid Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC), University of Delaware (UDEL) and Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) with data from five Weather Stations Mainstream (EMC) to Acre and region, through an analysis of precision and accuracy of the data. Regarding precipitation, it was found that both the GPCC UDEL represented as the average variability significantly throughout the series. In relation to the air temperature standards, although the accuracy of GHCN and UDEL was low, it was satisfactory accuracy according to statistical methods. Assuming that the extreme weather events increase susceptibility to forest fires, then it was carried out an analysis of the influence of climate variability modes in generating categorized scenarios dry or wet years, based on the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) and Harmonic and Spectral (AHE). It was found that the AHE is not able to identify the intensity of the events, but was satisfactory in the signal cycles identifying the anomaly, i.e., whether the abnormality SPI was positive or negative. It was found that the Atlantic signal had greater influence on the precipitation of the Pacific. For the regions that correspond to Groups 1, 2 and 3 there was an inverse pattern for precipitation in relation to ENSO compared to the North and East Amazon. Thus, it identified negative precipitation anomalies during La Ni?a and El Ni?o events during positive events for the dry and rainy seasons. For the area corresponding to the effect Group 4 was otherwise. The natural climate variability patterns identified in this study may contribute to the establishment of strategies for prevention and adaptation to extreme events. Finally, in Chapter 3 was carried out an analysis of the spatial and temporal patterns of the fire in Acre, through a discussion of various climatic, environmental and anthropogenic variables that contribute to its occurrence. Thus, through the Random Forest algorithm were generated susceptibility maps that estimated the probability of fires and burned in the state. . It was found that although drought triggers an increase in the number of hot spots, its spatial pattern is more related to human factors such as the proximity areas already cleared. / A presente pesquisa analisa as vari?veis temporais e espaciais que podem afetar a distribui??o e frequ?ncia dos focos de calor no estado do Acre. Diante da escassez de dados regularmente espacializados e com longa s?rie temporal para a ?rea de estudo, inicialmente foi realizada uma valida??o entre os dados de temperatura do ar e precipita??o em grade do Global Precipitation Climatology Centre (GPCC), Universidade de Delaware (UDEL) e Global Historical Climatology Network (GHCN) com dados de cinco Esta??es Meteorol?gicas Convencionais (EMC) para o Acre e regi?o, atrav?s de uma an?lise da precis?o e exatid?o dos dados. Em rela??o ? precipita??o, verificou-se que tanto o GPCC quanto da UDEL representaram significativamente as variabilidades m?dias ao longo da s?rie. Em rela??o aos padr?es da temperatura do ar, embora a precis?o do GHCN e da UDEL tenha sido baixa, a exatid?o foi satisfat?ria segundo os m?todos estat?sticos. Partindo do pressuposto que os eventos clim?ticos extremos aumentam a suscetibilidade a inc?ndios florestais, em seguida foi realizada uma an?lise da influ?ncia dos modos de variabilidade clim?tica na gera??o de cen?rios categorizados de anos secos ou ?midos, baseado no ?ndice de Precipita??o Padronizado (SPI) e na An?lise Harm?nica e Espectral (AHE). Verificou-se que a AHE n?o foi capaz de identificar a intensidade dos eventos, mas mostrou-se satisfat?ria na identifica??o dos ciclos de sinal da anomalia, ou seja, se anomalia do SPI foi positiva ou negativa. Verificou-se que o sinal do Atl?ntico teve maior influ?ncia sobre a precipita??o do que o Pac?fico. Para as regi?es que correspondem os Grupos 1, 2 e 3 observou-se um padr?o inverso para a precipita??o em rela??o ao ENOS, quando comparado com a Amaz?nia Norte e Oriental. Assim, foram identificadas anomalias negativas de precipita??o durante eventos de La Ni?a e positivas durante eventos de El Ni?o para as esta??es seca e chuvosa. Para a regi?o que corresponde ao Grupo 4 o efeito foi contr?rio. Os padr?es de variabilidade natural do clima identificados nesse trabalho podem contribuir para o estabelecimento de estrat?gias de preven??o e adapta??o aos eventos extremos. Finalmente, no Cap?tulo 3 foi realizada uma an?lise sobre o padr?o espacial e temporal do fogo no Acre, atrav?s de uma discuss?o sobre diversas vari?veis clim?ticas, ambientais e antr?picas que contribuem para a sua ocorr?ncia. Assim, por meio do algoritmo Random Forest foram gerados mapas de suscetibilidade que estimaram a probabilidade de ocorr?ncia de inc?ndios e queimadas no estado. Verificou-se que, embora a estiagem propicie um aumento do n?mero de focos de calor, o seu padr?o espacial est? mais relacionado a fatores antr?picos, tais como a proximidade de ?reas j? desmatadas.

A Teoria da Transição Florestal prevê recuperação das florestas a partir de alterações no foco da economia, onde os setores terciário e secundário substituiriam o setor primário. Críticos desta hipótese afirmam que a transição ocorre por meio do deslocamento da produção agropecuária ao exterior, enquanto os países produtores passariam por uma expansão da agricultura, perdendo cobertura florestal. Outros autores refutam o argumento de que o comércio internacional seria o principal canal de ligação entre a Transição Florestal em países importadores e o avanço das fronteiras agrícolas nos países produtores. Diante da divergência dos modelos explicativos, o presente estudo busca avaliar se o comércio internacional de commodities agrícolas promove o deslocamento das áreas de desmatamento de países importadores de commodities para países exportadores. Foram analisados dados de exportações e importações de soja em grão e óleo de palma pelos principais países nesses mercados, confrontando-os com dados de variação histórica da cobertura florestal nacional entre os anos de 1990 e 2015. Os resultados apontam que o comércio internacional de commodities agrícolas opera como um canal de realocação entre o ganho de florestas em países importadores e o desmatamento em países exportadores / The Forest Transition Theory predicts that forest recover arises from changes in the focus of the economy, where the service and industry sectors replace the agriculture sector. Critics affirm that the transition occurs through the displacement of agricultural production abroad, while producing countries would undertake agriculture an expansion and lose forest cover. Other authors refute the argument that international trade would be the main linkage between the Forest Transition occurrence in importing countries and the advance of agricultural frontiers in producing countries. Considering the divergence between explanatory models, this study seeks to assess whether the international trade of agricultural commodities promotes the displacement of deforestation areas from importing countries to commodity-exporting countries. Data of exports and imports of soya bean and palm oil from the main countries in these markets were confronted to the historical variation of national forest cover between 1990 and 2015. Results point out that international trade of agricultural commodities operates as a relocation channel between forest gains in importer countries and deforestation in exporter ones

<p>The aim of this thesis is to identify how forest management in Tanzania can contribute to global climate change mitigation while improving livelihoods of forest-dependent communities.</p><p>A mechanism for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) is meant to slow increases of atmospheric CO₂ while channelling funds to developing countries. In Tanzania, pioneering work in participatory forest management (PFM) has promoted local-level control over forest resource use. The purpose of this study is to contribute to a linkage between REDD and PFM that maximises benefits for communities, forests and global climate.</p><p>Three PFM projects with relation to REDD have been studied, primarily using semi-structured interviews with villagers, district officials, project facilitators, researchers, consultants and policy-makers. Analysis consists of comparing experiences at different levels and putting them in the theoretical context of climate change and forest conservation.</p><p>The study identifies several issues: local and central government institutions cannot ensure equitable benefit sharing; cross-sectoral co-ordination to address fundamental causes of the problems is lacking; participation of local communities is not satisfactory.</p><p>However, the process is at an early stage. Current activities will hopefully contribute to a future framework that properly addresses these and other obstacles. If this is accomplished, PFM and REDD can complement each other in a positive way.</p>

Societies frequently implement land use policies to regulate resource extraction or to regulate development. However, two important policy questions remain unresolved. First, how effective are land use regulations? Second, how do land use regulations affect socioeconomic conditions? Three issues complicate the evaluation of land use policies: (1) overt bias may lead to incorrect estimates of policy effects if implementation is nonrandom; (2) the policy may affect outcomes in neighboring unregulated lands; and (3) unobservable differences between regulated and unregulated lands may lead to biased assessments. Previous evaluations of land use policies fail to address these sources of bias simultaneously. In this dissertation, I develop an approach, using matching methods, which jointly accounts for these complications. I apply the approach to evaluate the effects of Costa Rica s protected areas on land use and socioeconomic outcomes between 1960 and 2000. I find that: (1) protection prevented the deforestation of only 10 percent or less of protected forests; (2) protection resulted in reforestation of only 20 percent of non-forest areas that were protected; (3) protection had little effect on land use outside protected areas, most likely because, as noted above, protected areas had only small effects on land use inside protected areas; and (4) there is little evidence that protected areas had harmful impacts on the livelihoods of local communities: on the contrary, I find that protection had small positive effects on socioeconomic outcomes. Furthermore, the methods traditionally used to conduct such evaluations are biased. In contrast to the findings above, those conventional methods overestimated the amount of avoided deforestation and erroneously implied that protection had negative impacts on the livelihoods of local communities. This dissertation contributes to policymaking by providing empirical measures of protected area effectiveness. Although annual global expenditures on protected areas are about $6.5 billion, little is known to date about the returns on these investments. This study also indicates that policymakers should give careful consideration to current proposals to compensate communities living in or around protected areas: contrary to widely held assumptions, the findings suggest that protection may not have harmful effects on socioeconomic outcomes.

This dissertation creates two new theoretical tools to analyze connections between politics and environmental change. The first section develops the concept of Northern ‘shadow ecologies’ to understand the environmental impact of a Northern state on Southern resource management. A Northern shadow ecology is the aggregate environmental impact of government aid and loans; corporate investment and technology transfers; and trade, including purchasing practices, consumption, export and consumer prices, and import tariffs. After outlining Japan’s shadow ecology, the next part constructs an analytical lens to uncover salient Southern political causes of timber mismanagement. This spotlights modern patron-client links between Southern officials and private operators that debilitate state capacity to implement resource policies. Using these analytical tools, and building on extensive primary sources and more than 100 in-depth interviews, the remainder of the thesis examines the two most important factors driving commercial timber mismanagement in Indonesia, Borneo Malaysia, and the Philippines: pervasive patron-client ties between Southeast Asian officials and timber operators; and the residual and immediate environmental impact of Japan. In a continual struggle to retain power in societies with fragmented social control, Southeast Asian state leaders build potent patron-client networks that syphon state funds, distort policies, and undermine supervision of state implementors. In this setting, the state is often unable to enforce timber management rules as implementors -- in exchange for gifts, money, or security -- ignore or assist destructive and illegal loggers, smugglers, and tax evaders. Japan’s shadow ecology has expedited timber mismanagement, and left deep environmental scars that impede current efforts to improve timber management. Post-1990 Japanese government and corporate policy changes to integrate environmental concerns have marginally improved forestry ODA, and contributed to token corporate conservation projects. As well, there is now less Japanese investment, technology, and credit linked to logging. But massive timber purchases from unsustainable sources, wasteful consumption, timber prices that ignore environmental and social costs, import barriers that deplete Southern revenues, and the residual impact of past Japanese practices continue to accelerate destructive logging in Southeast Asia. Sustainable tropical timber management will require fundamental changes to Japan’s shadow ecology. It is also imperative to confront Southern political forces driving deforestation. While reforms will certainly face formidable -- perhaps insurmountable -- political and economic barriers, unless the world community tackles these issues, the remaining primary forests of Southeast Asia will soon perish.

Stretches of forest along the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers have been classified as a unique forest type in the vegetation of South Africa and are considered as being "critically endangered" by the South African Biodiversity Institute. Roughly 400 hectares of this riverine forest area inside the western section of the Mapungubwe National Park (MNP), a UNESCO World Heritage site, were deforested and therefore degraded due to previous agricultural cultivation practices. Given the extent of forest degradation that has occurred, the restoration of this area by means of the re–vegetation of indigenous trees to its former composition is one of the objectives of the MNP's management plan. The successful establishment of tree seedlings, especially in semi–arid systems, is however presented with a wide range of constraints and limiting conditions, which often result in very high mortality rates during restoration projects. An experimental exclosure, as identified by South African National Parks (SANParks), was therefore fenced off inside the degraded old lands to act as a demonstration site for the restoration of indigenous trees. A pilot study conducted in 2006, involved the transplantation of selected indigenous tree species with the aim of evaluating suitable re–vegetation technologies. The research contained in this dissertation was also conducted inside the experimental exclosure, where recommendations derived from the pilot study were evaluated, including the assessment of new re–vegetation technologies to enhance the establishment of the indigenous trees. This study was therefore a follow–up project which involved both field– and greenhouse trials. Seedlings of the following species were either transplanted into the experimental exclosure (field trial) or cultivated inside a controlled environment in the greenhouse at the North–West University: Acacia xanthophloea Benth. (fever tree), Berchemia discolor (Klotzsch) Hemsl. (brown–ivory), Combretum imberbe Wawra (leadwood), Faidherbia albida (Delile) A. Chev. (ana tree), Philenoptera violacea (Klotzsch) Schrire (apple–leaf), Salvadora australis Schweick. (narrow–leaved mustard tree) and Xanthocercis zambesiaca (Baker) Dumaz–le–Grand (nyala tree). During the follow–up study the effects of various enhancement treatments were tested regarding the survival, growth and physiological performance of seedlings in both the field– and greenhouse trials. The enhancement treatments consisted of the addition of compost and indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). In addition, seedlings transplanted during the pilot study, which did not include enhancement treatments, were also monitored for establishment and growth. The potential use of established Acacia tortilis Hayne trees to facilitate growth and establishment and to act as "nursing plants", was also assessed. In addition, various pre–sowing treatments were also applied to seeds of selected tree species in the greenhouse to assess the germination rate. The survivorship and growth of seedlings in both the field– and greenhouse trial were determined by using three growth parameters, namely "stem diameter at the base", "stem diameter 30 cm from the base", and "height of the tree in its natural growth form". Chlorophyll fluorescence induction (JIP test) was measured on seedlings in both trials, using the multi–parametric expression, namely performance index (PIABS), as a measure of the overall vitality of the plants of each species–treatment combination. Physical and chemical analyses were carried out on the soil inside the experimental exclosure. Basic descriptive statistics were used to analyse seedling survival and germination rates, and a two–way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the statistical significant effects of the various enhancement treatments on diameter growth in each species (p < 0.05). Fluorescence data were processed using the Biolyzer software and significant effects in each species were determined using the Student's t–test (p < 0.05). Multivariate data ordinations using the CANOCO package were used to determine the differences in soil types inside the experimental exclosure. Moisture stress due to transplantation shock, competition with dense grass cover and herbivory, resulted in an overall 55.8% seedling survival rate and negative stem diameter growth for transplanted seedlings in the field. In comparison, seedlings cultivated in the greenhouse had much higher survival rates and showed positive stem diameter growth. Most species in the greenhouse showed higher growth rates and significantly higher vitality values when planted with enhancement treatments. The responses of transplanted seedlings to the enhancement treatments were very species–specific in the field trials. Based on these results, it was concluded that the enhancement treatments were beneficial with regard to the establishment and growth of most of the species. The beneficial effect was however cancelled out by the various abiotic and biotic factors encountered in the natural environment. Seedlings transplanted in the understory of established pioneer A. tortilis trees had much lower survival rates as the extensive root system of A. tortilis most likely out–competed the transplanted seedlings for moisture and nutrients. Many seedlings were also predated by insects or small mammals which reduced the growing potential. The germination trials recorded the highest germination rates for most species when germinated in the compost–containing treatments. These trials also indicated that all of the investigated species showed higher survival rates when pre–sowing treatments, such as soaking, mechanical scarification and removing the seed from fruit, were applied. Various recommendations emphasising long–term monitoring, proper maintenance and after–care of future restoration efforts are made. These include experimental layout of exclosure plots and pretransplantation treatments of seedlings while cultivated in the nursery. During this study, the experimental exclosure was also used as a demonstration site for training and capacity building for SANParks personnel and students from academic institutions. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Environmental Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Stretches of forest along the Limpopo and Shashe Rivers have been classified as a unique forest type in the vegetation of South Africa and are considered as being "critically endangered" by the South African Biodiversity Institute. Roughly 400 hectares of this riverine forest area inside the western section of the Mapungubwe National Park (MNP), a UNESCO World Heritage site, were deforested and therefore degraded due to previous agricultural cultivation practices. Given the extent of forest degradation that has occurred, the restoration of this area by means of the re–vegetation of indigenous trees to its former composition is one of the objectives of the MNP's management plan. The successful establishment of tree seedlings, especially in semi–arid systems, is however presented with a wide range of constraints and limiting conditions, which often result in very high mortality rates during restoration projects. An experimental exclosure, as identified by South African National Parks (SANParks), was therefore fenced off inside the degraded old lands to act as a demonstration site for the restoration of indigenous trees. A pilot study conducted in 2006, involved the transplantation of selected indigenous tree species with the aim of evaluating suitable re–vegetation technologies. The research contained in this dissertation was also conducted inside the experimental exclosure, where recommendations derived from the pilot study were evaluated, including the assessment of new re–vegetation technologies to enhance the establishment of the indigenous trees. This study was therefore a follow–up project which involved both field– and greenhouse trials. Seedlings of the following species were either transplanted into the experimental exclosure (field trial) or cultivated inside a controlled environment in the greenhouse at the North–West University: Acacia xanthophloea Benth. (fever tree), Berchemia discolor (Klotzsch) Hemsl. (brown–ivory), Combretum imberbe Wawra (leadwood), Faidherbia albida (Delile) A. Chev. (ana tree), Philenoptera violacea (Klotzsch) Schrire (apple–leaf), Salvadora australis Schweick. (narrow–leaved mustard tree) and Xanthocercis zambesiaca (Baker) Dumaz–le–Grand (nyala tree). During the follow–up study the effects of various enhancement treatments were tested regarding the survival, growth and physiological performance of seedlings in both the field– and greenhouse trials. The enhancement treatments consisted of the addition of compost and indigenous arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF). In addition, seedlings transplanted during the pilot study, which did not include enhancement treatments, were also monitored for establishment and growth. The potential use of established Acacia tortilis Hayne trees to facilitate growth and establishment and to act as "nursing plants", was also assessed. In addition, various pre–sowing treatments were also applied to seeds of selected tree species in the greenhouse to assess the germination rate. The survivorship and growth of seedlings in both the field– and greenhouse trial were determined by using three growth parameters, namely "stem diameter at the base", "stem diameter 30 cm from the base", and "height of the tree in its natural growth form". Chlorophyll fluorescence induction (JIP test) was measured on seedlings in both trials, using the multi–parametric expression, namely performance index (PIABS), as a measure of the overall vitality of the plants of each species–treatment combination. Physical and chemical analyses were carried out on the soil inside the experimental exclosure. Basic descriptive statistics were used to analyse seedling survival and germination rates, and a two–way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the statistical significant effects of the various enhancement treatments on diameter growth in each species (p < 0.05). Fluorescence data were processed using the Biolyzer software and significant effects in each species were determined using the Student's t–test (p < 0.05). Multivariate data ordinations using the CANOCO package were used to determine the differences in soil types inside the experimental exclosure. Moisture stress due to transplantation shock, competition with dense grass cover and herbivory, resulted in an overall 55.8% seedling survival rate and negative stem diameter growth for transplanted seedlings in the field. In comparison, seedlings cultivated in the greenhouse had much higher survival rates and showed positive stem diameter growth. Most species in the greenhouse showed higher growth rates and significantly higher vitality values when planted with enhancement treatments. The responses of transplanted seedlings to the enhancement treatments were very species–specific in the field trials. Based on these results, it was concluded that the enhancement treatments were beneficial with regard to the establishment and growth of most of the species. The beneficial effect was however cancelled out by the various abiotic and biotic factors encountered in the natural environment. Seedlings transplanted in the understory of established pioneer A. tortilis trees had much lower survival rates as the extensive root system of A. tortilis most likely out–competed the transplanted seedlings for moisture and nutrients. Many seedlings were also predated by insects or small mammals which reduced the growing potential. The germination trials recorded the highest germination rates for most species when germinated in the compost–containing treatments. These trials also indicated that all of the investigated species showed higher survival rates when pre–sowing treatments, such as soaking, mechanical scarification and removing the seed from fruit, were applied. Various recommendations emphasising long–term monitoring, proper maintenance and after–care of future restoration efforts are made. These include experimental layout of exclosure plots and pretransplantation treatments of seedlings while cultivated in the nursery. During this study, the experimental exclosure was also used as a demonstration site for training and capacity building for SANParks personnel and students from academic institutions. / Thesis (M.Sc. (Environmental Science))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was not a conquest of man over nature as some historians have suggested and the driving of the last spike did not cement that victory. By studying the CPR from an environmental perspective, it becomes obvious that the relationship between the people and the environment in the mountains was two-fold: workers had an effect on the environment through fires, deforestation, excavation, and blasting, and the environment likewise had an effect on workers through the hardships of weather, challenging terrain, avalanches, and floods. Shortcuts, such as steep grades and wooden bridges, taken by the CPR throughout construction to save money and time, as well as the poor route choice, had unintended consequences for the operation of the railway. Massive deforestation and fires had repercussions for the watershed of the eastern Rocky Mountains and the choice of Rogers Pass meant that the CPR had to deal with numerous avalanches and deep snow. Steep grades and lines that were easily flooded or open to avalanches resulted in the deaths of numerous workers and expensive repairs to engines and the track. The construction of the CPR also had a notable impact on western Canada as it opened up the land to tourism, settlement, agriculture, and the lumber and mining industries. In building and operating the line, the CPR had to learn to adapt to the environment in order to carry out repairs quickly and get trains through.

No description available.