A presente pesquisa tem como tema central o impacto econômico de estratégias voltadas à inclusão de sustentabilidade socioambiental na agropecuária brasileira. Para isso foram desenvolvidas duas análises empíricas que relacionam resultado econômico e sustentabilidade. O primeiro artigo investigou como a certificação Rede de Agricultura Sustentável - Rainforest Alliance (RAS-RA) impacta o resultado econômico de fazendas produtoras de café, localizadas no Cerrado de Minas Gerais, medido pelo preço de venda, produtividade, custos, receita e margem. O pressuposto é que o padrão de certificação RAS-RA, por ter atividades voltadas à gestão, possa contribuir para a redução dos custos e, principalmente, para a elevação da produtividade, gerando benefícios pelo aumento de eficiência. Após controlar para as diferenças pré-existentes entre os grupos com e sem certificação, bem como para as diferenças ocorridas ao longo do tratamento, observou-se que a certificação aumenta a produtividade dos cafezais, embora a diferença verificada não foi estatisticamente significativa. O mesmo comportamento é identificado para todas as demais medidas. Embora a certificação não aumente a renda das fazendas, também não representa um custo extra, de tal forma que, conhecidos os benefícios sociais e ambientais da certificação é recomendável a sua adoção na região estudada. O segundo artigo, que não se limita a um produto específico, relaciona performance social e ambiental com desempenho financeiro de propriedades localizadas na região sudeste e centro-oeste, além do estado da Bahia. Espera-se que propriedades com melhor desempenho social e ambiental possam ter melhor desempenho financeiro (ou pelo menos não ter desempenho financeiro inferior) uma vez que se conhece da teoria dos stakeholders que a melhor performance social e ambiental pode gerar ganhos de eficiência, melhor qualidade da mão de obra, redução de custo, redução do custo de cumprimento legal, e melhoria na relação com o sistema financeiro que facilita o acesso ao crédito ou mesmo reduz o custo do capital. Foram utilizadas informações do banco de dados de clientes do Rabobank, o qual realiza a cada solicitação de crédito, a avaliação socioambiental e financeira dos candidatos ao empréstimo. Para a análise foram construídas quatro medidas desagregadas sendo uma social e três ambientais, além de três medidas de desempenho financeiro. Os resultados demonstraram que a melhor performance socioambiental está associada ao melhor desempenho financeiro. De forma geral, embora não seja possível determinar uma relação de causalidade, é possível afirmar que responsabilidade social e ambiental e desempenho financeiro são positivamente associados nas propriedades rurais da amostra estudada. A conclusão geral desta pesquisa é que a adoção da sustentabilidade socioambiental pode gerar benefícios econômicos para seus adotantes, embora ainda de forma limitada. Porém, tão importante quanto a existência de vantagens é a inexistência de desvantagens. Nesse sentido, é possível afirmar que práticas socioambientais não comprometeram o desempenho econômico das propriedades rurais das amostras estudadas. Esse resultado contribui para desmistificar a crença de que a aplicação de práticas sociais e ambientais compromete a viabilidade econômico-financeira das atividades agropecuárias. / This study investigates the economic impact of strategies for the inclusion of socioenvironmental sustainability on Brazilian agriculture. Two empirical analyses were carried out that related economic results and sustainability. The first article investigated how the certification of the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN-RA) affects the economic results of coffee farms, located in the Cerrado of Minas Gerais, measured by productivity, price, costs, revenue and profit margin. The assumption is that the SAN-RA certification scheme, because it has several management activities, can contribute to cost reduction and, mainly, to productivity increase, generating benefits by increasing efficiency. After controlling the pre-existing differences between the groups, with and without certification, as well as differences that occurred during the treatment, it was observed that the certification increases productivity of coffee farms, even though the difference observed was not statistically significant. The same behavior was identified for all other measures. Although certification does not raise farm revenue, it does not represent a cost increase; therefore, considering the social and environmental benefits of certification, its adoption can be recommended in the region studied. The second article, which is not limited to a specific product, relates social and environmental performance with financial performance of farms located in the southeastern and midwestern regions, as well as Bahia State. It is expected that farms with better social and environmental performance may have a better financial performance (or at least not have lower financial performance). It is known from the stakeholder theory that better social and environmental performance can generate efficiency gains, better quality, cost reduction of legal compliance, and improvement in the relationship with the financial system that facilitates access to credit or even reduces capital cost. The information used was obtained from the Rabobank client database, which performs the socio-environmental and financial evaluation of loan applicants for each credit request. For the analysis, four measures, one social and three environmentals, were constructed and three measures of financial performance. The results showed that the better socioenvironmental performance is predominantly associated with better financial performance. In general, although it is not possible to determine a causal relationship, it is possible to affirm that social and environmental responsibility and financial performance are positively associated at the farm in the sample studied. The general conclusion is that the adoption of socio-environmental sustainability can generate economic benefits, although still to a limited extent. However, as important as the existence of advantages is the absence of disadvantages. In this sense, it is possible to affirm that socio-environmental practices did not compromise the economic performance of the farms in the samples studied. This result contributes to demystifying the belief that the application of social and environmental practices compromises the economic and financial viability of agricultural activities.

A presente pesquisa tem como tema central o impacto econômico de estratégias voltadas à inclusão de sustentabilidade socioambiental na agropecuária brasileira. Para isso foram desenvolvidas duas análises empíricas que relacionam resultado econômico e sustentabilidade. O primeiro artigo investigou como a certificação Rede de Agricultura Sustentável - Rainforest Alliance (RAS-RA) impacta o resultado econômico de fazendas produtoras de café, localizadas no Cerrado de Minas Gerais, medido pelo preço de venda, produtividade, custos, receita e margem. O pressuposto é que o padrão de certificação RAS-RA, por ter atividades voltadas à gestão, possa contribuir para a redução dos custos e, principalmente, para a elevação da produtividade, gerando benefícios pelo aumento de eficiência. Após controlar para as diferenças pré-existentes entre os grupos com e sem certificação, bem como para as diferenças ocorridas ao longo do tratamento, observou-se que a certificação aumenta a produtividade dos cafezais, embora a diferença verificada não foi estatisticamente significativa. O mesmo comportamento é identificado para todas as demais medidas. Embora a certificação não aumente a renda das fazendas, também não representa um custo extra, de tal forma que, conhecidos os benefícios sociais e ambientais da certificação é recomendável a sua adoção na região estudada. O segundo artigo, que não se limita a um produto específico, relaciona performance social e ambiental com desempenho financeiro de propriedades localizadas na região sudeste e centro-oeste, além do estado da Bahia. Espera-se que propriedades com melhor desempenho social e ambiental possam ter melhor desempenho financeiro (ou pelo menos não ter desempenho financeiro inferior) uma vez que se conhece da teoria dos stakeholders que a melhor performance social e ambiental pode gerar ganhos de eficiência, melhor qualidade da mão de obra, redução de custo, redução do custo de cumprimento legal, e melhoria na relação com o sistema financeiro que facilita o acesso ao crédito ou mesmo reduz o custo do capital. Foram utilizadas informações do banco de dados de clientes do Rabobank, o qual realiza a cada solicitação de crédito, a avaliação socioambiental e financeira dos candidatos ao empréstimo. Para a análise foram construídas quatro medidas desagregadas sendo uma social e três ambientais, além de três medidas de desempenho financeiro. Os resultados demonstraram que a melhor performance socioambiental está associada ao melhor desempenho financeiro. De forma geral, embora não seja possível determinar uma relação de causalidade, é possível afirmar que responsabilidade social e ambiental e desempenho financeiro são positivamente associados nas propriedades rurais da amostra estudada. A conclusão geral desta pesquisa é que a adoção da sustentabilidade socioambiental pode gerar benefícios econômicos para seus adotantes, embora ainda de forma limitada. Porém, tão importante quanto a existência de vantagens é a inexistência de desvantagens. Nesse sentido, é possível afirmar que práticas socioambientais não comprometeram o desempenho econômico das propriedades rurais das amostras estudadas. Esse resultado contribui para desmistificar a crença de que a aplicação de práticas sociais e ambientais compromete a viabilidade econômico-financeira das atividades agropecuárias. / This study investigates the economic impact of strategies for the inclusion of socioenvironmental sustainability on Brazilian agriculture. Two empirical analyses were carried out that related economic results and sustainability. The first article investigated how the certification of the Sustainable Agriculture Network (SAN-RA) affects the economic results of coffee farms, located in the Cerrado of Minas Gerais, measured by productivity, price, costs, revenue and profit margin. The assumption is that the SAN-RA certification scheme, because it has several management activities, can contribute to cost reduction and, mainly, to productivity increase, generating benefits by increasing efficiency. After controlling the pre-existing differences between the groups, with and without certification, as well as differences that occurred during the treatment, it was observed that the certification increases productivity of coffee farms, even though the difference observed was not statistically significant. The same behavior was identified for all other measures. Although certification does not raise farm revenue, it does not represent a cost increase; therefore, considering the social and environmental benefits of certification, its adoption can be recommended in the region studied. The second article, which is not limited to a specific product, relates social and environmental performance with financial performance of farms located in the southeastern and midwestern regions, as well as Bahia State. It is expected that farms with better social and environmental performance may have a better financial performance (or at least not have lower financial performance). It is known from the stakeholder theory that better social and environmental performance can generate efficiency gains, better quality, cost reduction of legal compliance, and improvement in the relationship with the financial system that facilitates access to credit or even reduces capital cost. The information used was obtained from the Rabobank client database, which performs the socio-environmental and financial evaluation of loan applicants for each credit request. For the analysis, four measures, one social and three environmentals, were constructed and three measures of financial performance. The results showed that the better socioenvironmental performance is predominantly associated with better financial performance. In general, although it is not possible to determine a causal relationship, it is possible to affirm that social and environmental responsibility and financial performance are positively associated at the farm in the sample studied. The general conclusion is that the adoption of socio-environmental sustainability can generate economic benefits, although still to a limited extent. However, as important as the existence of advantages is the absence of disadvantages. In this sense, it is possible to affirm that socio-environmental practices did not compromise the economic performance of the farms in the samples studied. This result contributes to demystifying the belief that the application of social and environmental practices compromises the economic and financial viability of agricultural activities.

An investigation into the effects of deforestation and habitat fragmentation on a central Amazonian frog community was carried out on the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, (BDFFP) based in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Three aspects of deforestation were investigated: the effects of fragmentation and reserve size, the influence of matrix habitat and the effects offorest edge on frogs in 10- hectare isolates. Very few frogs species were lost from fragments (regardless of size) following fragmentation and isolation for 7-10 years. Instead, frog species richness increased, with an average increase in 10 species per fragment. The increase in species was brought about by an increase in matrix associated species, some of which were present in the absence of their preferred breeding habitat. Different frog species had varied responses to fragmentation. The abundance of Eleutherodactylus fenestratus, a terrestrial breeder, increased significantly as fragment size decreased, and its abundance was significantly higher in both large and small fragments than in continuous forest. Colostethus stepheni, a semi-terrestrial breeder, was less abundant in fragments than continuous forest. Finally, Eleutherodactylus zimmermanae and Osteocephalus sp.A did not differ significantly in abundance among fragments, or between fragments and continuous forest. Multiple regression analysis indicated that variation in litter depth and canopy cover may explain the observed increase in E. fenestratus abundance in small fragments. Breeding success of pool breeders attracted to artificial pools was variable, but there was no evidence of reduced breeding success in fragments relative to primary forest. Overall, fragmentation appeared to affect the frog community less severely than other taxonomic groups. Species richness in tropical forest remnants showed a tendency to increase as a result of fragmentation, and only one of four species exhibited lowered abundance in fragments. The effects of fragmentation and subsequent small isolated populations of frog species in fragments was alleviated somewhat by the ability of central Amazonian frogs to utilise matrix habitat. Litter frogs, wallow breeders and upland forest pool breeders all displayed an ability to permeate, and in most cases become residents of matrix habitat. Both matrix with a history of cut and burn and matrix which was only cut supported a similar frog community. Thus, for central Amazonian frogs isolates were not truly isolated due to the ability of frogs to utilise matrix habitat. Litter frogs in 10- hectare isolates displayed an independence from edge related abiotic and biotic gradients. This independence was true for frog species richness, abundance and composition. Consequently, forest fragments are in effect larger for frogs than for other taxa who are constrained by edge effects to exist only within the core of large fragments. Colostethus stepheni was one species found to be negatively affected by habitat fragmentation. Abundance of Colostethus stepheni was significantly lower in fragments and matrix habitat compared to primary continuous forest. This species was also found to be sensitive to edge, with higher abundances recorded as distance from the edge increased. The community level approach adopted in this study, as opposed to intensive investigation of single species, may well have overlooked other' sensitive' species which show more subtle responses to habitat fragmentation than that of Colostethus stepheni. The ability to use matrix and the relative independence from edge related phenomena accounts for the resilience of central Amazonian frogs in a disturbed and fragmented landscape. However, with respect to matrix habitat, forest surveyed in this study has not been repeatedly cut or cut and burnt (with the exception of pasture-land where the frog community is depauperate). In other areas of the Amazon, away from the experimental plots of the BDFFP, matrix habitat is destroyed more frequently. More work is needed to determine the ability of central Amazonian frogs to utilise matrix habitat which is disturbed more frequently.

Abstract. In Peru, the population of a very rare monkey species called the red uakari (Cacajao calvus ucayalii) lives in the Amazon rainforest in an area called Loreto. The natural resources of Loreto have been exploited due to large anthropogenic pressure which has affected the biodiversity. This thesis focuses on two areas that are now protected; one conservation concession and one community-based conservation reserve, each led by two biologists and researchers. The theory of the tragedy of the commons – a concept first described by Garrett Hardin in an article in the scientific journal Science in 1968 – will be taken into consideration and analysed when studying the common gains to protect the forest, as well as the over usage of resources. This thesis investigates in a qualitative way the risks of overexploiting the rainforest and the actions taken to preserve it, and hence saving the red uakari from becoming extinct. A combination of semi-structured interviews with the two biologists and content analysis of some of their work, amongst others, will assist in the outcome of this thesis, which is intended to be used for future protection of inhabited lands in rainforests that run the risk of being overexploited due to external commercial interests. The supposition of my study was to get a better understanding of community-based action to protect a specific space in an area that is under a great deal of external pressure and it shows that collective action and involvement of local community often has positive outcome.

The green python Morelia viridis is a most striking animal. Individuals are born either brick red or bright yellow and both colours change to green as adults. These colours and the remarkable colour change have long made them of interest to biologists and in demand for the pet trade. Despite this interest nothing is known of their distribution, biology or ecology in the wild. Here I address this knowledge gap by presenting results from the first detailed study of the species, at Iron Range on eastern Cape York Peninsula, Australia.¶ Individual growth was described by the von Bertalanffy growth curve, with a maximum predicted size of 1.35 metres snout-vent length. Males matured at 2.4 years and females at 3.6 years, and growth was indeterminate after approximately 12 years. The colour change from yellow to green occurs at 55 centimetres, which corresponds to individuals approximately a year old. There was no sexual dimorphism in adults, however juvenile females had larger heads than juvenile males. Adult sized individuals comprised ~50% of the population.¶ Females had a home range of 6.2 ± 1.9 ha (mean ± SE), which was positively correlated with their snout-vent length. Males adopted a roaming strategy through suitable habitat while juveniles were restricted to areas where more light reached the ground. There was overlap between multiple female home ranges, and between female home ranges and the movement paths of males. There were no differences in the distances moved by males and females of any size, although the variation in movement distances was greater in the dry season than the wet season.¶ Green pythons are obligate ambush predators which eat a variety of prey. They show an ontogenetic shift from invertebrates and terrestrial, diurnal reptiles to birds and terrestrial, nocturnal mammals. This diet change is concurrent with a shift in the time of hunting, and the location and characteristics of ambush sites. Yellow individuals were usually found within ten metres of the ground, while green individuals used the full vegetation strata and were often found in the canopy.¶ The three colour morphs of the green python appear to be adaptive for camouflage rather than intraspecific communication, as conspicuousness of each morph was always greater to a predator than to that of a conspecific. Using advanced light analysis techniques I show that each colour morph is adaptive for camouflage from visually orientated avian predators under different environmental conditions. Yellow and red morphs are half as conspicuous as green individuals would be in locations near the ground where juveniles hunt during the day. Green was the least conspicuous morph in only the canopy, where it was half as conspicuous as either the red or yellow morph. In both leafy and non-leafy sub-canopy environments green individuals were more conspicuous than both yellow and red morphs. Red morphs were least conspicuous in only the non-leafy sub-canopy environment. The conspicuousness of green males decreased with age, but this was not the case with green females. Predation of plasticine models of the three colour morphs showed that red models were ten times more likely to be predated than either green or yellow morphs, however the model colours did not always match the real morph colours.¶ There is a large predicted global distribution in Papua New Guinea, including some offshore islands, however the Australian range is restricted to small areas of eastern Cape York Peninsula. In Australia green pythons occurred in nine regional ecosystems, with most records for the closed semi-deciduous mesophyll vine forest ecosystem. A mark-recapture study at Iron Range captured 101 individuals 147 times over two wet seasons, which equates to a population size of 227 ± 81 individuals in the study area of 51 hectares. Based on the known population structure at this site only 114 (or 50%) of these individuals are adult. Although green pythons have a high density at the one intensely studied site and are predicted to occur over a large geographic area, my data are insufficient to conclude that the species is not vulnerable.

Les termites forment un groupe animal important en milieu tropical, où leur richesse spécifique est plus élevée que dans n’importe quel autre écosystème. Ils se nourrissent de matière organique végétale à différent état de décomposition, du bois dur à la matière organique minérale du le sol. Cette diversification du régime alimentaire ne se produit que chez les Termitidae, parfois appelés « termites supérieurs », alors que les autres familles se nourrissent exclusivement de bois ou d’herbe. Les termites humivores sont extrêmement abondants en Amérique du Sud et en Afrique tropicale, mais sont relativement peu étudiés par rapport aux termites xylophages. C’est particulièrement vrai pour le groupe Anoplotermes, qui représente le groupe de termites le moins bien connu. Ce travail vise à faire la lumière sur l’écologie et la diversité de ce groupe strictement humivore, et comprend les sections suivantes : (1) Des échantillonnages standardisés dans sept sites de Guyane Française ont révèle, avec quelques exceptions, que les termites xylophages sont relativement peu spécialisés à un site. Au contraire, les espèces du groupe Anoplotermes, ainsi que les termites humivores en général, sont spécialisés à un type de forêt. Cette spécialisation contribue plus que probablement à la diversification écologique, et donc, à une augmentation de la richesse spécifique des termites humivores. (2) En utilisant les ratios d’isotopiques δ13C et δ15N, nous avons aussi trouvé qu’il existe une spécialisation des espèces le long d’un gradient d’humification chez le groupe Anoplotermes, de l’interface entre le bois pourri et le sol au sol pauvre en matière organique. Donc, au moins deux facteurs favorisent la richesse spécifique du groupe Anoplotermes dans le sol, malgré le manque d’évidence pour une séparation spatiale et temporelle entre les espèces. Cette spécialisation spécifique réduit la compétition interspécifique aux espèces se nourrissant de matière organique au même état de décomposition. (3) Ce mécanisme n’est probablement pas restreint aux espèces du groupe Anoplotermes et le ratio isotopique δ15N varie considérablement entre les termites humivores de manière générale. Les termites humivores comptent des espèces avec des régimes alimentaires différents ne partageant pas toujours les mêmes niches écologiques. Cette diversification du régime alimentaire ne c’est pas produit de manière aléatoire durant l’évolution des termites et les espèces proches tendent à se nourrir du même substrat. (4) Au niveau intraspécifique, il semble que la compétition contraigne la dynamique des colonies. En effet, chez A. banksi, nous avons trouvé que les nids matures sont surdispersés. Les nouveaux nids se trouvent principalement à une certaine distance des nids établis, plus particulièrement dans les trous laissés par les nids morts. Si ce patron est le résultat d’une sélection des sites de nidification, ou plutôt d’une exclusion compétitive reste sujet à discussion, mais met néanmoins en évidence la présence de compétition chez les termites humivores du groupe Anoplotermes. (5) Au vu de la richesse spécifique locale du groupe Anoplotermes, le nombre d’espèces décrites reste remarquablement bas. Après inspection du matériel type, seuls 30 espèces du groupe se sont avérés valides en Amérique du Sud, alors que 80% des espèces que nous avons collectées sont nouvelles pour la science. Cette disproportion entre ce qui est connu et la diversité réelle du groupe, met en évidence le besoin de réaliser des études supplémentaires pour améliorer la connaissance de ce groupe peu connu, le groupe Anoplotermes.

No description available.

Rainforests are of great importance to global carbon cycling, but the importance of deforestation and change in land use is poorly understood due to a lack of studies quantifying the difference in carbon fluxes between original rainforest and agricultural land. Furthermore, the aquatic outgassing of neotropical systems have been proven to have greater impact on global carbon cycling than previously anticipated (Richey et al 2002).In this study we investigated the aquatic concentration and daily diffusive gas flux of CO2 and CH4 from 4 pristine sites and 4 impacted sites, respectively, in 4 streams running along a gradient of anthropological impaction in the Atlantic Rainforest, Brazil. Statistically significant differences between pristine and impacted sites were found in all streams for both CO2 and CH4. On average, the impacted sites were found to be emitting almost three times as much C into the atmosphere as the pristine sites, mainly owing to CO2 emissions (14172±5226 mg C m-2 d-1). Exploring an area of the neotropical carbon cycle that is not yet fully understood, the study draws attention to the significant difference in aquatic outgassing from rivers observed at different impaction levels and highlights the need for further field studies.

An investigation into the effects of deforestation and habitat fragmentation on a central Amazonian frog community was carried out on the Biological Dynamics of Forest Fragments Project, (BDFFP) based in Manaus, Amazonas, Brazil. Three aspects of deforestation were investigated: the effects of fragmentation and reserve size, the influence of matrix habitat and the effects offorest edge on frogs in 10- hectare isolates. Very few frogs species were lost from fragments (regardless of size) following fragmentation and isolation for 7-10 years. Instead, frog species richness increased, with an average increase in 10 species per fragment. The increase in species was brought about by an increase in matrix associated species, some of which were present in the absence of their preferred breeding habitat. Different frog species had varied responses to fragmentation. The abundance of Eleutherodactylus fenestratus, a terrestrial breeder, increased significantly as fragment size decreased, and its abundance was significantly higher in both large and small fragments than in continuous forest. Colostethus stepheni, a semi-terrestrial breeder, was less abundant in fragments than continuous forest. Finally, Eleutherodactylus zimmermanae and Osteocephalus sp.A did not differ significantly in abundance among fragments, or between fragments and continuous forest. Multiple regression analysis indicated that variation in litter depth and canopy cover may explain the observed increase in E. fenestratus abundance in small fragments. Breeding success of pool breeders attracted to artificial pools was variable, but there was no evidence of reduced breeding success in fragments relative to primary forest. Overall, fragmentation appeared to affect the frog community less severely than other taxonomic groups. Species richness in tropical forest remnants showed a tendency to increase as a result of fragmentation, and only one of four species exhibited lowered abundance in fragments. The effects of fragmentation and subsequent small isolated populations of frog species in fragments was alleviated somewhat by the ability of central Amazonian frogs to utilise matrix habitat. Litter frogs, wallow breeders and upland forest pool breeders all displayed an ability to permeate, and in most cases become residents of matrix habitat. Both matrix with a history of cut and burn and matrix which was only cut supported a similar frog community. Thus, for central Amazonian frogs isolates were not truly isolated due to the ability of frogs to utilise matrix habitat. Litter frogs in 10- hectare isolates displayed an independence from edge related abiotic and biotic gradients. This independence was true for frog species richness, abundance and composition. Consequently, forest fragments are in effect larger for frogs than for other taxa who are constrained by edge effects to exist only within the core of large fragments. Colostethus stepheni was one species found to be negatively affected by habitat fragmentation. Abundance of Colostethus stepheni was significantly lower in fragments and matrix habitat compared to primary continuous forest. This species was also found to be sensitive to edge, with higher abundances recorded as distance from the edge increased. The community level approach adopted in this study, as opposed to intensive investigation of single species, may well have overlooked other' sensitive' species which show more subtle responses to habitat fragmentation than that of Colostethus stepheni. The ability to use matrix and the relative independence from edge related phenomena accounts for the resilience of central Amazonian frogs in a disturbed and fragmented landscape. However, with respect to matrix habitat, forest surveyed in this study has not been repeatedly cut or cut and burnt (with the exception of pasture-land where the frog community is depauperate). In other areas of the Amazon, away from the experimental plots of the BDFFP, matrix habitat is destroyed more frequently. More work is needed to determine the ability of central Amazonian frogs to utilise matrix habitat which is disturbed more frequently.

EU Forest and Conservation NGOs activities in Ghana from the perspective of public relations has been investigated. The methodology involved mixed research methods (qualitative and quantitative). Under the qualitative research approach, primary data were collected through unstructured questionnaires from the wood base and non-wood base small-scale forest enterprises, interviews were solicited from key informants including private logging companies and finally, forest fringe communities were visited and interviewed. Under the quantitative research approach, secondary data were collected through content analysis of EU institutions organisational press release, and an in-depth interview was conducted among all investigated institutions, content analysis of media houses was also collected to understand the sources of their news articles. Finally, official bulletins, published thesis, books, research articles, and journals were also consulted and used as a secondary data source for this research study. The result emanated from the administered questionnaires, in-depth interviews and focused group discussions reveals that public relations strategies and tactics can be used as a tool to enhance conservation education, manage forest crisis, empower local involvement, support livelihood programs and finally help reveal inefficiencies and bureaucracies in the state forestry sector, thereby contributing to sustainable forest management.