Small-scale forest-based enterprises (SSFBEs) are enterprises that utilize any material or product that is derived from forests, woodlands, or trees outside of forests and woodlands for income generation. Characteristically, they are small, rural, household-based operations that are technologically simple, requiring limited skills and little capital investment. Little attention has been paid to the importance of these enterprises in supporting rural livelihood in developing countries. At the same time, the income earned from SSFBEs provides an incentive for forest dwellers to manage their resources at a sustainable level, as well as helping to alleviate rural poverty. SSFBEs are, however, not without their problems. They face unstable markets, lack of raw materials, few financial resources, poor market access, and constraints on forest use and control, to name a few. The purpose of this paper is to provide a qualitative overview of SSFBEs by discussing their role in and importance to rural communities in developing countries, their significance in poverty alleviation and forest conservation, problems they face, and possible solutions. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

Collaborative forest governance is viewed as promising for sustainable forestry because it allows forest-based communities to participate directly in management activities and benefit from resource use or protection. Forest-based communities are important because they provide contextual knowledge about the forestry resources being managed. Collaborative forest governance can be strengthened through social learning. Despite significant research on social learning in environmental governance, it is not clear how social learning evolves over time, who has access to social learning opportunities, who influences social learning, and whether learning influences management effectiveness. This study investigated the contributions of social learning to collaborative forest governance in two forest-based organizations: Harrop-Procter Community Forest in Canada, and Kapeka Integrated Conservation Development Agency in Uganda. Data were collected using personal interviews, key person interviews, focus group meetings, and participant observation. Results revealed that in both organizations, participants started engaging in forest management with limited information and learned as they engaged in various activities. In addition, for both organizations, government set the context for what was learned through forest policy. Nevertheless, learning was influenced by the governance structure chosen in the Canadian case whereas learning was influenced by non-governmental organizations in the Ugandan case. As the Canadian organization became effective at complying with forestry legislation over time, learning opportunities and outcomes became more restricted, especially for women. Meanwhile at the Ugandan organization, learning opportunities and outcomes remained restricted for illiterate people irrespective of their gender. In conclusion, this study’s findings suggest that the prevalent view that social learning increases collaboration and collective action in forest resource management cannot be assumed.

Interest in using woody biomass from forestlands for energy production has reemerged in recent years. In Kentucky, bioenergy has great potential to help reduce reliance on fossil fuels. However, questions still remain about economic and other social effects associated with forest-based bioenergy production. This study investigates some of the economic implications of harvesting woody biomass for bioenergy production alongside traditional forest products in Kentucky. Results show that forest-based bioenergy can increase financial return to nonindustrial private forest owners. This study also investigates social impacts and drivers of forest-based bioenergy in Kentucky. Results indicate that a variety of issues will have to be dealt with in order for bioenergy production from forestlands to be viable in Kentucky.

The timberlands in the South provide a large resource base for forest-based industry. This resource base is utilized to provide major contributions to the southern economy. Aruna et al. (1997) examined southern forest-based industry economic contributions from the early 1990?s. This study examined the change in economic contributions primarily using 2001 data. In 1992, southern forest-based industries provided 633,367 (full- and part-time) jobs and this increased to 718,176 in 2001, accounting for only 1.3% of the total employment in the South versus 1.5%. Forest-based earnings in the South experienced a real increase of $181 million (1990 dollars) from 1990 to 1998 and accounted for 1.7% of total southern U.S. earnings in both years. The value of shipments attributed to southern forest-based industries increased $22.8 billion in real 1991 dollars which translated into a real increase of $11.0 billion (1991 dollars) in valueded between 1991 and 2001. In 2001, value of shipments increased to 9.6% of the South?s total from 7.8% in 1991 and valueded increased from 8.0% in 1991 to 9.1% in 2001. Although there were increases in the economic contributions of southern forest-based industries, overall there was little in the way of relative change over this time period.

Myndigheten Sveriges Geologiska Undersökning (SGU) har ett nationellt ansvar för att övervaka Sveriges grundvattennivåer. Eftersom det inte är möjligt att få ett heltäckande mätstationssystem måste grundvattennivån beräknas på vissa platser. Därför är det intressant att undersöka sambandet mellan grundvattennivån och utvald geografisk information, så kallade miljövariabler. På sikt kan maskininlärning komma att användas inom SGU för att beräkna grundvattennivån och då kan en förstudie vara till stor hjälp. Examensarbetets syfte är att genomföra en sådan förstudie genom att undersöka vilka miljövariabler som har störst betydelse för grundvattennivån och kartlägga modellosäkerheter vid grundvattenprediktering. Förstudien genomförs på sju områden inom SGUs grundvattennät där mätstationerna finns i grupper likt kluster. I förstudien används övervakad maskininlärning som i detta examensarbete innebär att medianvärden på grundvattennivån och miljövariablerna används för att träna modellerna. Med hjälp av statistisk data från modellerna kan prestandan utvärderas och justeringar göras. Algoritmen som används heter Random Forest som skapar ett klassifikations- och regressionsträd, vilket lär modellen att utifrån given indata fatta beslut som liknar männiksans beslutfattande. Modellerna ställs upp i ArcGIS Pros verktyg Forest-based Classification and Regression. På grund av områdenas geografiska spridning sätts flera separata modeller upp. Resultatet visar att det är möjligt att prediktera grundvattennivån men betydelsen av de olika miljövariablerna varierar mellan de sju undersökta områdena. Orsaken till detta lär vara geografiska skillnader. Oftast har den absoluta höjden och markens lutningsriktning mycket stor betydelse. Höjd- och avståndsskillnad till låg och hög genomsläpplig jord har större betydelse än vad höjd- och avståndsskillnad har till medelhög genomsläpplig jord. Höjd- och avståndsskillnad har större betydelse till större vattendrag än till mindre vattendrag. Modellernas r2-värde är något låga men inom rimliga gränser för att vara hydrologiska modeller. Standardfelen är oftast inom rimliga gränser. Osäkerheten har visats genom ett     90 %-igt konfidensintervall. Osäkerheterna ökar med ökat avstånd till mätstationerna och är som högst vid hög altitud. Orsaken lär vara för få ingående observationer och för få observationer på hög höjd. Nära mätstationer, bebyggelse och i dalgångar är osäkerheterna i de flesta fallen inom rimliga gränser. / The Swedish authority Geological Survey of Sweden (SGU) has a national responsibility to oversee the groundwater levels. A national network of measurement stations has been established to facilitate this. The density of measurement stations varies considerably. Since it will never be feasible to cover the entire country with measurement stations, the groundwater levels need to be computed in areas that are not in the near vicinity of a measurement station. For that reason, it is of interest to investigate the correlation between the groundwater levels and selected geographical information, so called environmental variables. In the future, SGU may use machine learning to compute the groundwater levels. The focus of this master's thesis is to study the importance of the environmental variables and model uncertainties in order to determine if this is a feasible option for implementation on a national basis. The study uses data from seven areas of the Groundwater network of SGU, where the measuring stations are in clusters. The pilot study uses a supervised machine learning method which in this case means that the median groundwater levels and the environmental variables train the models. By evaluating the model's statistical data output the performance can gradually be improved. The algorithm used is called “Random Forest” and uses a classification and regression tree to learn how to make decisions throughout a network of nodes, branches and leaves due to the input data. The models are set up by the prediction tool “Forest-based Classification and Regression” in ArcGIS Pro. Because the areas are geographically spread out, eight unique models are set up. The results show that it’s possible to predict groundwater levels by using this method but that the importance of the environmental variables varies between the different areas used in this study. The cause of this may be due to geographical and topographical differences. Most often, the absolute level over mean sea level and slope direction are the most important variables. Planar and height distance differences to low and high permeable soils have medium high importance while the distance differences to medium high permeable soils have lower importance. Planar and height distance differences are more important to lakes and large watercourses than to small watercourses and ditches.  The model’s r2-values are slightly low in theory but within reasonable limits to be a hydrological model. The Standard Errors Estimate (SSE) are also in most cases within reasonable limits. The uncertainty is displayed by a 90 % confidence interval. The uncertainties increase with increased distance to measuring stations and become greatest at high altitude. The cause of this may be due to having too few observations, especially in areas with high altitude. The uncertainties are smaller close to the stations and in valleys. / SGUs grundvattennät

Models of port development have hitherto concentrated on landward communications and the organization of maritime space in their explanation of changes in port location and activity. This study demonstrates that the level of economic development in hinterlands together with industrial and marine technology are also significant factors and indeed play leading roles in the process of port evolution. For a deeper understanding of the process of port evolution the case of Upper Norrland's ports has been investigated. An analysis of changes in port distri­bution since 1750 reveals two main processes: dispersion followed by concen­tration. The growth in the number of ports and loading places prior to 1885 was not regular but stepwise, with two rapid increases related to the relax­ation of mercantile restrictions, laissez-faire policies and the diffusion of new industrial activities. The fall in port numbers also corresponds to industrial changes and large-scale rationalizations of industry and transport systems have taken place in association with the economic changes following the two World Wars. The innovation and subsequent decline of new types of forest-based industries appear as a series of waves when their numbers are graphed. Charcoal ironworks, fine-blade water-driven sawmills, steam-powered saws, pulp mills, wallboard factories and paper mills demonstrate the succession of industrial and technological innovations. Clearly, the demand for the products of these industries, their shipping requirements and the physical needs and economics of contemporary transport have been the dominant factors in Upper Norrland's port development. On the basis of these changes, the evolution of the region's port system has been synthesized into the Upper Norrland model. Land communications have nevertheless had an important part to play in sus­taining port dominance at the mouths of the major river valleys, which have acted as corridors of penetration. This investigation shows that these gate­way ports had achieved significance long before the maximum number of scat­tered ports was reached, and it is doubtful whether the situation of a scattering of ports all of a similar status ever existed in reality. Early port dominance was sustained by later transport developments on land and in particular at sea, as river mouths provided the best sites for the construc­tion of outports and deep-water terminals. The long-term seaward migration of port activity and facilities has taken place and the Bottenhamn model demonstrates this process at the local level. The study concludes by putting the Upper Norrland and Bottenhamn models into a wider context. The world-wide influence of colonial powers and maritime nations has led to a diffusion of marine technology, and shipping require­ments must therefore have, prompted similar port developments throughout the world. / digitalisering@umu

Syftet med detta projekt är att med hjälp av en materialinriktad designprocess skapa en produkt av biokompositmaterialet OrganoComp® för att demonstrera dess styrkor och möjligheter. Arbetet kommer att följa metoden ”Material Driven Design (MDD)”, vilket betyder att processen kommer att börja med en noggrann studie av materialet – dels tekniskt och ur ett användarcentrerat perspektiv, men även jämförelsemässigt mot andra material. Insikterna från dessa studier kommer sedan trattas ner och sammanfattas i en ”designintention” som ska sätta målet för designarbetet. Slutligen kommer ett antal koncept som uppfyller designintentionen arbetas fram, varav ett koncept – ett litet, ihopvikbart och nedbrytbart paraply/regnskydd kommer att väljas ut som det slutgiltiga. Paraplyet visar på materialets vattenavvisande egenskaper, i kombination med hårdhet och vikbarhet.  Målet med projektet är att skapa en demonstrator som även har potential att bli en användbar produkt i framtiden, och samtidigt ge företaget OrganoClick nya insikter och flera förslag på nya användningsområden för sitt material.

Die vermiedene tropische Entwaldung und zusätzliche Aufforstungen sind von zentraler Bedeutung für die Klimawandelvermeidung, üben aber zusätzlichen Druck auf die globalen Landressourcen zur Produktion von Nahrungsgütern, Futtermittel, Fasern, Bioenergie und Rundholz dar. Die Ziele der Studie beziehen sich auf die Analyse der Verzichtskosten in der Land- und Forstwirtschaft sowie das Potential zur Klimawandelvermeidung in globalen Wäldern durch normative und marktbasierte Klimaschutzprogramme. Das globale ökonomische Landnutzungsmodell ''Model of Agricultural Production and its Impact on the Environment'' (MAgPIE) wurde um eine konsistente Landnutzungsdatenbank und den Forstsektor erweitert. Es simuliert die räumlich-explizite Landnutzung und deren Änderungen während die Kosten land- und forstwirtschaftlicher Produktion unter gegebener Nachfrage nach Gütern geschätzt werden. Szenarien zu Klimaschutzmaßnahmen werden verglichen mit Referenzszenarien über Zeithorizonte bis zum Jahr 2100. Die Ergebnisse verweisen auf ein begrenztes Mitigationspotential normativen tropischen Waldschutzes zu geringen zusätzlichen Kosten in der Landwirtschaft. Lateinamerika profitiert von ausreichenden Landreserven und geringem Anstieg in der Güternachfrage und geringer Referenzentwaldung. Die Verlagerung von Emissionen durch regionalen Waldschutz hat Auswirkungen auf die sektoralen Produktionskosten und verringert das globale ökonomische Potential. Die Schlussfolgerungen betreffen 1) den Bedarf an substantieller Ertragssteigerung in Sub-Sahara Afrika als Voraussetzung für die erfolgreiche Umsetzung vermiedener Entwaldung, 2) die erhöhte Gefahr der Verlagerung von Emissionen aus Entwaldung durch die Umsetzung regionaler Klimaschutzprogramme und der Liberalisierung des Holzhandels, 3) das hohe ökonomische Potential integrierter Klimaschutzprogramme zu moderaten Verzichtskosten, sowie 4) die Notwendigkeit zusätzlicher Forschung bezüglich der Unsicherheiten in Parametern und Modellprozessen. / Avoiding tropical deforestation and additional afforestation are of primary importance for climate change mitigation but exert additional pressure on global land resources for the production of food, feed, fibre, bioenergy and timber. The study objectives relate to the analysis of the foregone economic benefits, the opportunity costs, in agriculture and forestry and the climate change mitigation potential of global forests in normative and market-based programmes. The global economic ‘Model of Agricultural Production and its Impact on the Environment'' (MAgPIE) has been extended by a consistent land use database and the forestry sector. It simulates spatially-explicit land use and land use changes while estimating the costs of production in agriculture and forestry to satisfy a prescribed demand. Climate change mitigation scenarios are contrasted to baselines for time horizons up to the year 2100. The results show the limited mitigation potential of normative forest conservation in tropical regions at low additional costs in agriculture. Latin America benefits from sufficient land endowments and low increases in crop demand leading to relatively low baseline deforestation. The displacement of carbon emissions between regions impacts the regional agriculture and forestry production costs and reduces the global economic potential. The conclusions pertain to the 1) need for high rates of yield increase in Sub-Saharan Africa as a precondition for successfully avoided deforestation, 2) increased threat of regional carbon emission leakage from implementing mitigation programmes and liberalized trade of timber, 3) high economic potential of climate change mitigation from integrating afforestation and avoided deforestation at moderate costs, and 4) additional research needs to account for significant uncertainties from growth and cost parameters and model processes.