Sustainable forest management is a key issue in Malawi. Malawi is a relatively small, resource poor, densely populated country, which in some areas is close to exceeding the energy capacity of the environment to support it. Despite the importance of forestry in Malawi, there is a severe lack of knowledge about the current state of Malawi’s forest resources. Remote sensing has the potential to provide current and historical insights into forest cover change. However, Malawi faces a number of key challenges with regards to in-country remote sensing. These include technical capacity for obtaining accurate and consistent forest area and biomass estimates, with errors at acceptable levels, as well as the necessary supporting capacity development for individuals and institutions. This thesis examines how remote sensing can be used to support sustainable forestry in Malawi, by assessing the use of both optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data for mapping forest cover, forest cover change and aboveground biomass (AGB). L-band SAR data was used to try and establish a relationship between radar backscatter and biomass, which has been achieved many times in other areas. However, no correlations between any field-based forest metric and backscatter explained enough of the variability in the datasets to be used to develop empirical relationships between the variables. There were also differences between my field measured AGB and AGB values predicted by a published backscatter-biomass relationship for African dry forests. The speckle inherent in SAR imagery, the heterogeneity of Malawi’s dominant miombo savanna, and Malawi’s variable topography are likely to have played a significant role in this. Two different MODIS products were investigated for their potential for mapping forest cover change, with regards to potential REDD+ schemes. As part of this, a published equation was used to calculate the break-even point for REDD+ schemes in Malawi, using estimates of forest area and deforestation for the United Nations Forest Resources Assessment 2010. The results of this equation show that measurement error is the most important factor in determining whether or not Malawi can make REDD+ economically viable, particularly at lower levels of deforestation. While neither of the MODIS products were able to produce a verifiable forest cover change map, they do confirm that Malawi is experiencing some level of forest loss, and help to narrow down the range of possible forest loss rates Malawi is experiencing to between 1-3% net forest loss per year. Finally, this thesis examines global trends in the engagement of developing country researchers with global academic remote sensing research, to investigate differences in in-country capacity for monitoring forests using remote sensing. The results of this found that while a significant proportion of Earth observation research (44%) has developing countries as their object of research, less than 3% of publications have authors working, or affiliated to, a developing country (excluding China, India and Brazil, which are not only countries in transition, but have well established EO capacity). These patterns appear consistent over the past 20 years, despite the increasing awareness of the importance of capacity development over this period. Despite inconclusive results from the approaches examined here, remote sensing can play a role in improving understanding about the dynamics of Malawi’s forest resources. There is a need for nationwide accurate, validated forest maps that can be repeated at least on a yearly basis, and remote sensing could produced these without the resources needed to conduct full national ground inventories each year. If remote sensing is to be useful as a forest mapping tool in Malawi, it needs to provide consistent, verifiable and updatable estimates of forest cover and biomass change. This ideally needs to be achieved using free or low cost data, and by using open source or open access software, as this will better enable incountry researchers to conduct on-going forest mapping activities.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) regime has been developing a voluntary climate change mitigation mechanism that is called ‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries; and the Role of Conservation/Conservation of Forest Carbon Stocks, Sustainable Management of Forests, and Enhancement of Forest Carbon Stocks in Developing Countries’ (REDD-plus). One of the most important aspects of the implementation of REDD-plus activities is that the activities should not violate the rights of indigenous peoples that live within and near the forest areas. This research has identified at least three main approaches that can be used by indigenous peoples to protect their rights in the context of REDD-plus. The first approach is the UNFCCC approach that uses the UNFCCC regime to protect indigenous peoples in the context of REDD-plus. The second approach is the human rights approach; it uses human rights treaties and their bodies, the regional commissions and courts on human rights, as well as the UN bodies and special rapporteur that are pertinent to indigenous peoples’ issues to protect indigenous peoples in the context of REDD-plus. The third approach is the financial approach that uses the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (UN-REDD Programme) and the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) to protect indigenous peoples in the context of REDD-plus. In order to increase the protection of indigenous peoples in REDD-plus, a coherent approach needs to be created and enhanced through cooperation and coordination by the parties that are directly or indirectly involved with the three respective approaches listed above. It should be noted that the available protection for indigenous peoples in the context of REDD-plus are currently insufficient to quickly address cases where the rights of indigenous peoples have been violated in REDD-plus activities. In order to address this insufficiency, as well as to achieve a coherent approach to protecting indigenous peoples in the context of REDD-plus, the research recommends the establishment of a REDD-Plus Committee supported by a REDD-Plus Panel to develop and increase the protection of indigenous peoples in REDD-plus, should REDD-plus is placed outside the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). On the other hand, if REDD-plus is placed under the CDM then the research recommends the establishment of a Committee on REDD-Plus under the CDM and a Panel on the CDM. The existence of the pertinent committee and panel can be expected to bring benefits in the context of REDD-plus as well as in wider contexts, such as climate change, human rights, and international law through its contribution to reduce the risks of the negative effects of the fragmentation of international law.

Cette thèse explore la dynamique entre la politique environnementale internationale et l’éco-philosophie, c’est-à-dire le nexus entre les entités humaines et non humaines. Sur le plan empirique, cette recherche analyse comment le REDD+, un mécanisme adopté par la communauté internationale en 2007, construit et répond à un crime environnemental spécifique, les émissions résultant du déboisement et de la dégradation des forêts. La combinaison sur le plan théorique, de l’éco-philosophie, de la criminologie verte et des concepts foucaldiens de discours, de pouvoir et de savoir, et le recours à une méthodologie inspirée de la généalogie foucaldienne permettent d’explorer et de révéler les interactions entre les réseaux de pouvoirs et de savoirs dans la production discursive. In casu, le discours du REDD+ construit les forêts comme des biens multifonctionnels à protéger en raison de leur valeur instrumentale, le déboisement et leur dégradation comme une problématique anthropique complexe et technique, et la solution à celle-ci comme un mécanisme technique à géométrie variable. En procédant de la sorte, le REDD+ établit une nouvelle norme éco-philosophique, le technocentrisme. Par conséquent, les intérêts des entités non humaines sont une nouvelle fois relégués au second plan. De plus, le discours du REDD+ est discursivement ambivalent à l’égard des entités humaines : ils renforcent les intérêts des Etats, des entreprises actives dans le secteur de la technologie et des scientifiques et déforcent particulièrement ceux des communautés locales et des peuples autochtones des pays en développement.

In this thesis, I analyze the potential for a REDD+ program to succeed in Uganda at this time, and I explore why this may or may not be possible. REDD+, which stands for Reducing Deforestation and Forest Degradation, aims to enhance carbon stocks while also conserving and sustainably managing forests. In doing so, REDD+ not only works to offset carbon emission levels and conserve forests and forest biodiversity, but also provides financial benefits to REDD+ participant countries, thus improving the livelihoods of local people living adjacent to forests. This program is widely regarded as the most effective and least risky solution to deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries, however, I argue that this may not be the case. Government documents reveal a rather simplistic and idealistic view of the policy, its implementation process, and desired outcomes, while specific case studies in countries outside of Uganda in which the REDD+ program has been implemented or is in the process of being implemented reveal unaddressed concerns with the mechanism itself and within the surrounding communities. Based on my research, I believe that if the recommendations that I propose are not included in the REDD+ preparation and implementation phases, the REDD+ mechanism is not only predestined to fail, but also to harm the most at-risk stakeholders that it is meant to benefit.

Reducing deforestation and degradation (REDD+) under the rubric of payment for ecosystem services (PES) is being promoted as the most cost-effective mechanism for reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. This process of commodifying forest services will redefine the rhetoric of decentralised forest governance that has evolved in developing countries over the last two decades. This thesis uses ethnographic case studies in two forest villages in West Bengal state in India, along with 294 household surveys and 76 interviews, to examine the impending changes in socio-economic and political arenas with the adoption of a market mechanism like REDD+. I undertook a pilot study for one month in October 2009, which was followed by my main field work in two phases: February to July 2010 and November 2010 to February 2011. First, the analysis of livelihood dependence of forests dwellers shows unequal extraction of forest products by various wealth classes under the current socio-economic and political structures of village societies. Rich and medium class families with their higher assets were higher net users of forests, while poor households had a critical dependence on forests for their daily survival. Second, I examine the impact of livelihood dependence on forests. A majority of key informants did not see the current extraction of forest products, for example, for meeting local subsistence and commercial needs as major detriments to forest and carbon conservation. However, I argue that a number of legal provisions and official guidelines could potentially impose restrictions on the ongoing forest use pattern as a result of REDD+. Third, by comparing the functioning of the village council (with a special focus on the implementation of India’s National Employment Guarantee Scheme) with forest protection committees, I reflect upon the limitations in the decentralised forest management that emerge from the institutional design of the programme. I show that the decentralised forest governance suffers from lack of accountability and transparency over the control of forests by the Forest Department. Finally, this thesis suggests that the institutional design for REDD+ at the national level needs to be based on the democratic partnership of local institutions and the state.

This study attempted a holistic synthesis of the problems of Sustainable Development (SD) and Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) in the dry deciduous forests of south western Zambia. There are scale-based implications across the entire range of actions required for SFM and REDD+ implementation in tropical forests. Addressing scale mismatches in ecological, social and socio-ecological systems is essential and may help resolve epistemological differences in interdisciplinary research. The importance of local context to SD and SFM supported a case study approach to the social-ecological system. Leaf phenology shows regional variation in deciduousness and varies spatially on a local scale. This highlights the need for researching the eco-physiological source of this variation to assess the effects of climate change on forest phenology. Livelihood analysis in forest communities showed that high levels of social and natural capital confer community resilience to climate change. Land use change was mapped between 1975 and 2005. Zambezi Teak forests decreased in area by 54% between 1975 and 2005. However, changes in area weighted Above Ground Biomass (AGB) are negligible because Zambezi Teak forests are replaced by other woody vegetation. The differences in AGB between plot-based field measurements of AGB and published global biomass maps mean that these maps are not useful for REDD+ projects at the project scale (~10,000 ha). Governance arrangements for Zambezi Teak forests differ between Zambia and Zimbabwe. Although the forests in Zimbabwe have an age structure skewed towards smaller age classes than forests in Zambia, possibly indicating a recovery from logging, this study has not accounted for other covariates which determine forest condition. This research emphasises the importance of case studies for building a global database for inclusion in a meta-analysis, and for the contextual focus which a holistic approach brings to the action-based agenda at the heart of SD and SFM.

International bi-lateral agreements to support the conservation of rainforests in order to mitigate climate change are growing in prevalence. Through the concept of REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) these look to incentivise developing countries to maintain their natural forests. Guyana and Norway formed such an agreement in 2009, establishing Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). In this research I examine the extent to which the government of Guyana has achieved in facilitating the participation and inclusion of Guyana’s indigenous population within the LCDS. This is conducted through a single site case study, focussing on the experiences and perceptions from the Amerindian community of Chenapou. I conducted 30 interviews with members of the community, supporting this with participant observation and an analysis of relevant documents. I find that a deficit of adequate dialogue and consultation has occurred in the six years since the LCDS was established. Moreover, I identify that key indigenous rights, inscribed at both a national and international level, have not been upheld in respect to the community of Chenapou within the LCDS. These findings largely support prior research, identifying a consistent failure of the LCDS to achieve genuine participation and the distinct marginalisation of Amerindian communities. It is suggested that the status quo of marginalisation of Amerindian forest users in Guyana is reinforced within the LCDS. Critique is made of the LCDS model and the perceived failure to act on previous research. It is suggested that contextualised governance, which supports the engagement of marginal forest dependent communities, is required if the LCDS and REDD+ programmes are to be effective. Failure to do so can be deleterious for all interested parties.

No description available.

Case studies on environmental governance are essential to improve comprehension on howto implement international agreements. This study focuses on seven social safeguards relevant toREDD+. The existence of these social safeguards is examined in Mexico’s watershed managementprogram in La Sierra Madre and La Costa of Chiapas. The watershed management program is anotherPayment for Ecosystem Services (PES) scheme similar to REDD+. Questionnaires and interviews wereused to conduct primary research with participants of the water management program. Upon theexamination of the collected data the safeguards were analysed on their sufficiency for REDD+.REDD+ itself could not be examined as it is still in the stage of preparation at the time of the research.Results varied between each safeguards. A complaint mechanism does exist but is underutilized andgenerally dysfunctional. Local knowledge is considered and used as the watershed managementprogram has a flat hierarchy of decision-making. However this is only the case at the lowestinstitutional level of the Comités de Cuenca. The higher the level the less likely it is that localknowledge will be considered. This is reflected in the social safeguard of full and effectiveparticipation, which is only fulfilled at the lowest level. There are no barriers to participation when itcomes to implementing and evaluating the mechanism on a local scale. However the design of it isdone on institutional levels beyond the reach of locals. The application of free, prior and informedconsent is upheld within the mechanism, as everyone participates by his or her own free choice.Marginalized stakeholders such as women, indigenous people and youth are also free to participate;unfortunately, little is done to encourage them to do so. As a result few to none are present, turning theComités de Cuenca into decision-making bodies for comparably wealthy and influential citizens at thelocal scale. The benefits acquired from the mechanism mostly go to e.g. work-committees where muchof the funds are distributed as income to temporary workers from the local community. According toparticipants of the Comités and managers alike, the decision-making process is equal to the waydecisions were made before the arrival of the mechanism.It could be observed that some social safeguards are in place, however, none of them sufficiently forREDD+. In regards to implementation of REDD+ the most challenging social safeguard will be theconcept of “free, prior and informed consent”. This holds true as long as REDD+ will be implementednationally. If that will be the case the government would have to convince locals across the country toparticipate in REDD+, including those that already announced their opposition in the Declaration ofPatihuitz (Declaration of Patihuitz 2011). Without legitimization there will be little participation andcommitment on the side of local people, which is crucial to make REDD+ work. Hence it isrecommended that the mechanism takes a process-oriented focus in order to legitimize the mechanism. / implement international agreements. At the 16th Climate Change Conference, the United Nationsformally agreed to launch a new Payment for Ecosystem Services (PES) scheme called ReducingEmission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). Controversy exists concerning socialand environmental safeguards, which are additional rules aimed at preventing harm to civil society andnature. This study focuses on seven social safeguards that could be identified through a review ofinternational law. These are: complaint mechanism; consideration and usage of local knowledge; fulland effective participation; application of free, prior and informed consent; inclusion of marginalizedstakeholders; equitable benefit-sharing; and the use of traditional methods for decision-making.This study examines the existence of these social safeguards in Mexico’s watershed managementprogram of La Sierra Madre and La Costa of Chiapas. The watershed management program is anotherPES scheme similar to REDD+. Questionnaires and interviews were used as a means to conductprimary research with participants of the water management program. Upon the examination of thecollected data the safeguards were analysed on their sufficiency for REDD+. REDD+ itself could notbe examined as it is still in the stage of preparation at the time of the research.It could be observed that some social safeguards are in place, however, none of them sufficiently forREDD+. In regards to the implementation of REDD+ the most challenging social safeguard will be theconcept of “free, prior and informed consent”. This holds true as long as REDD+ will be implementednationally. If that will be the case the government would have to convince locals across the country toparticipate in REDD+, including those that already announced their opposition in the Declaration ofPatihuitz (Declaration of Patihuitz 2011).As REDD+ is another governmental mechanism it needs to fulfil specific requirements in theChiapanecan context in order to function properly. One of the most important foundations is to createtrust between stakeholders which has been lost during decades of conflict and corruption. This trust canbe established by committing to the guidelines of the social safeguards with particular focus on theinclusion of marginalized stakeholders and transparency. Hence it is recommended that the mechanismtakes a process-oriented focus in order to legitimize the mechanism. Without legitimization there willbe little participation and commitment from local people, which is crucial to make REDD+ work.

Deforestation contributes approximately 20 percent of global annual carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Increased CO2 is thought to contribute to increased global temperatures. Proposals have been brought forward to use carbon finance to compensate developing countries for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD). International negotiations at the UN Climate Change Convention in Copenhagen in December 2009 will determine if REDD Offsets will be included in a post-Kyoto Protocol framework. At the time of writing, Canada proposes to achieve a 20 percent reduction in greenhouse emissions below 2006 levels by 2020 through an intensity based cap-and-trade scheme. International forestry-based offsets are specifically excluded from the proposed Canadian regulatory scheme. The international demand for REDD Offsets will likely grow with acceptance under the proposed US scheme, and others. With proper regulations, international REDD Offsets could be included in the proposed Canadian regulatory system providing benefit to regulated entities and the developing world.