A growing number of Swedish forest owners are choosing to certify their forestry. However, there appears to be a lack of field surveys which describe differences between certified and non-certified forests concerning the degree of completed environmental considerations. In order to know to what extent certified forests contribute towards improved environmental consideration, we need studies on how large the difference is in relation to non-certified forests. Differences between certified and non-certified forest clearings were quantified through an inventory of the number of retention trees, dead trees and snags. The result showed that the retained number of the investigated parameters varied greatly between individual clearings, regardless of certification status. However, the results suggested that the certified clearings had an average higher incidence ofthe investigated parameters. In comparison to statistics of southern Sweden's average, the results also suggested that the certified clearings (from the county “Blekinge”) most of the time had a higher incidence of the investigated parameters, while the non-certified clearings most of the time had a lower incidence of the investigated parameters. The environmental considerations on neither the certified nor the non-certified clearings were found to be near the highest amount that could be required by the Swedish forestry act. This observation is interesting, especially since the certified clearings would be expected to maintain a consistently high level in relation to the law requirement.

A Certificação do Conselho de Manejo Florestal (FSC) é um instrumento de gestão que tem como objetivo estimular manejo sustentável dos produtos florestais considerando aspectos sociais, econômicos e ambientais. Nos últimos anos, os esforços em promover a certificação comunitária como ferramenta para o desenvolvimento das populações rurais enfatizou os produtos florestais não-madeireiros (PFNM´s), gerando benefícios e inúmeros desafios, inclusive o de conciliar as normas de certificação às práticas tradicionais de manejo. Mesmo considerando que os PFNM´s representem a principal fonte de renda de milhares de famílias em todo mundo, poucos trabalhos científicos têm questionado a percepção das comunidades envolvidas. Diante da experiência das Associações dos Seringueiros Porto Dias (ASPD) e dos Moradores e Agroextrativistas do Remanso de Capixaba (Amarca), ambas certificadas pelo FSC com madeira e produtos não madeireiros, este estudo objetivou avaliar a percepção a respeito deste processo nas duas comunidades do estado do Acre, na Amazônia ocidental brasileira. Os dados foram coletados por meio de entrevista estruturada, com perguntas do tipo semi-abertas e fechadas sobre as dificuldades encontradas para cumprir ações relacionadas à certificação, além de questões a respeito da satisfação, perspectiva e credibilidade do processo. Foram entrevistados 100% dos representantes das famílias das associações ASPD (n=7) e Amarca (n=10). As entrevistas foram individuais e realizadas por um único entrevistador, garantindo a independência e uniformidade das análises. As dificuldades relatadas foram tabuladas através de uma escala tipo Likert, sendo que os pontos mais críticos estão relacionados à gestão de resíduos sólidos e ao manejo de animais silvestres. O aspecto positivo mais considerado pelos entrevistados (35,3%) foi o aumento no valor comercial do produto, embora nem sempre isso ocorra. Em relação aos aspectos negativos da certificação, foi relatada a dificuldade em cumprir normas e acordos de comercialização, além do manejo mais trabalhoso. A maioria dos entrevistados não considera nenhum aspecto negativo relevante. Constatou-se que 88,23% dos entrevistados recomendam a certificação a outras comunidades não certificadas e que a intenção em dar continuidade ao processo é unânime, com restrições de melhoria na captação de novos mercados. Em relação à credibilidade no processo de certificação, 76,47% dos entrevistados acreditam que a certificação possa trazer benefícios sociais, 82,35% benefícios econômicos e 94,12% confiam nos benefício de caráter ambiental como a conservação da floresta Amazônica. Agregar valor ao produto manejado e contribuir para melhoria das condições de vida dos associados são desafios para a consolidação da certificação florestal comunitária dos PFNM´s no estado do Acre. / The certification of the Forest Stewardship Council is a management tool that aims to encourage the sustainable management of forest products considering social, economic and environmental aspects. In recent years, there have been efforts promoting community certification as a tool for developing non-timber forest products (NTFPs), hence generating many benefits and challenges, including that of reconciling the certification standards to the traditional management practices. Even considering that NTFPs are the main source of income for thousands of families worldwide, few scientific studies have questioned the perception of the communities involved. Given the experience of the Associações dos Seringueiros Porto Dias (ASPD) and of the Moradores e Agroextrativistas do Remanso de Capixaba (Amarca) associations, both certified by the FSC with NTFPs, this study aimed to assess both communities\' perception regarding this process in the state of Acre, in the brazilian Amazon forest. Data were collected through structured interviews, with semi-open and closed type questions on the difficulties encountered to comply with the actions related to certification, in addition to questions concerning the satisfaction, perspective and credibility of the process. 100% of the representatives of the families pertaining to the ASPD (n=7) and AMARC (n=10) associations were interviewed. The interviews were individual and conducted by only one interviewer, thereby ensuring the independence and uniformity of the analyses. The difficulties reported were tabulated using a Likert scale, with the most critical points related to solid waste management and to the handling of wild animals. The positive aspect considered by most respondents (35.3%) was the increased market value of the product, although this is not always the case. Regarding the negative aspects of certification, the difficulty in meeting the standards and marketing agreements was reported, in addition to a more difficult management. Most of the respondents do not consider any negative aspect to be relevant. It was found that 88.23% of the respondents recommend certification to other non-certified communities and that the intention to continue the process is unanimous, with restrictions on the improvement of gaining new markets. Regarding the credibility in the certification process, 76.47% of the respondents believe that certification can bring social benefits, 82.35% believe in economic benefits and 94.12% believe in the environmental benefits, as for instance the preservation of the Amazon forest. Adding value to the managed products and contributing to improving the living conditions of the members are challenges for the consolidation of the community forest certification of NTFPs in the state of Acre, Brazil.

O sistema de certificação florestal FSC, cujo objetivo institucional é reduzir os impactos negativos da exploração predatória de florestas, é um mecanismo criado e governado por atores da sociedade civil. Sem dispor de poder governamental para regulamentar a forma de atuação do setor privado, o FSC define regras socioambientais de produção que são seguidas por milhares de empresas em centenas de países, representando cerca de 20% das áreas florestais produtivas. Atualmente o FSC reúne entre seus afiliados as principais organizações ambientalistas, movimentos sociais e empresas florestais do mundo. Estudar os mecanismos internos de funcionamento do FSC, utilizados para manter o apoio desta densa rede de organizações, cada qual com seus interesses específicos e muitas vezes antagônicos, de modo que consiga ser, ao mesmo tempo, uma oportunidade de ganhos para empresas privadas e uma estratégia de redução de impactos socioambientais para organizações ambientais e sociais, é o objetivo central desta dissertação de mestrado. Para isso foi analisado o desenho institucional do FSC e os mecanismos utilizados no processo de tomada de decisões, por meio de um estudo das últimas duas Assembléias Gerais do FSC (2005 e 2008), instância máxima de decisão do sistema. Este estudo foi realizado a partir de análises dos resultados das decisões tomadas nestas ocasiões, e de interpretações factuais do processo de negociação que existe entre os diferentes setores envolvidos. Estas assembléias constituem reais arenas de negociação entre os diversos atores interessados no setor florestal, sejam empresas privadas, organizações ambientalistas ou movimentos sociais, ambos com poder igualitário de voto em todas as decisões que definem o funcionamento do sistema. As análises realizadas nesta dissertação demonstraram que este desenho institucional de tomada de decisões é fundamental para a legitimação do sistema, e é em grande parte responsável por manter o apoio dos diversos setores. Ao compartilharem as decisões, prevalece um ambiente de confiança e cooperação entre os atores, que resulta em uma percepção de co-responsabilidade sobre a configuração do sistema. Esta situação não apresenta nenhum sinal de estabilidade, pelo contrário, é através das freqüentes contestações por parte dos atores que a legitimidade do sistema se reafirma periodicamente nos resultados obtidos nas Assembléias Gerais. Os resultados desta dissertação contribuem para o entendimento dos novos mecanismos de governança, onde a sociedade civil passa a ter um papel fundamental no enfrentamento dos grandes desafios globais. / The FSC forest certification system, which institutional goal is to reduce the negative impacts of predatory use of forests, is a mechanism created and managed by civil society actors. Without the governmental power to regulate the behavior of the private sector, the FSC has defined social and environmental standards that are followed by thousands of companies in hundreds of countries, representing around 20% of the world productive forest area. Currently FSC has the support of the major environmentalist organizations, social movements and private companies in the world. The central objective of this dissertation is to study the internal FSC mechanisms, applied to maintain the support of this dense network of organizations, each of those with its specific and most of the time opposed interests, able to be, at the same time, an opportunity of benefits for private companies, and a strategy to reduce the social and environmental impacts of harvesting activities for the civil society organizations. In order to achieve this, the FSC institutional design and decision making process were assessed, through an analysis of two FSC General Assemblies (2005 and 2008). The study has evaluated the results of the decisions that were taken by the FSC members in these two occasions, and the negotiation processes between the different stakeholders that were in place for the approval of such decisions. The FSC General Assembly configures a real negotiation arena, where private companies, environmentalists and social organizations have equal voting power in all decisions that affect the functioning of the system. The analyses demonstrates that the institutional design that defines the decision making process in FSC is crucial for the legitimacy of the system, and is in great part responsible to maintain the support of such diverse stakeholders group. Once the decisions are taken collectively, there´s a prevailing environment of trust and cooperation among stakeholders, resulting in a perception of co-responsibility over the general configuration of the system. This is far away from a stable situation, but rather it´s due to the frequent conflicts among stakeholders that the system´s legitimacy is periodically reaffirmed in the FSC General Assemblies. The result of this dissertation is a contribution for the general understanding of the new governance mechanisms, where civil society plays a fundamental role in addressing the major global challenges.

<p>Forest Stewardship council (FSC) is a good example of a civil regulated environmental labelling-initiative. It is also an arena for different organisations interesting in sustainable forestry to work and handle forestry issues. FSC has allowed many private initiatives to move ahead of poor national and international environmental legislation. Instead they have turned towards the market with consumer pressure and in co-operation with companies. The sustainable forestry initiative has become a part of organisations’ ‘Environmental Responsibility’ which is a part of their ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR) work. The aim of my thesis is to describe the phenomenon of FSC, both practically and theoretically, from a stakeholder approach. I have picked out two companies which are heavily involved in the FSC practice, IKEA and Sveaskog. The two companies are important players in shaping and developing FSC. The different practices are handled as two separate case-studies. A third case-study explores FSC both on national and international basis. The following research question will be answered: From a stakeholder view, how does FSC works in practice? To describe these three forestry practices is a contribution in itself. I will also use an analysing tool inspired by stakeholder theory to make the studies’ stakeholder partnerships as clear as possible. With the knowledge exposed in answering the first question I will further ask: Can stakeholder partnerships in a civil regulated environmental practice, create sustainability? Kemp’s (2005) five dimensions for sustainability improve the understanding. Every dimension will be followed by an interpretation from my forestry practice in the previous chapter. Both IKEA and Sveaskog drives an ambitious work to create sustainable business, which will be analysed through an ethical-, social-, nature-philosophic-, economic- and legal perspective of the sustainability concept.</p><p>The thesis is analysed by an explorative methodological approach with qualitative data, since it best can encapsulate the essence of the complexity which constitutes the answers to the research questions. Each case study will be described in separate texts which make up multiple realities mentally constructed by ourselves.</p><p>The analysis shows, both for Sveaskog and IKEA, that stakeholder partnerships generate a number of things. The partnerships generate constructive interaction where new and experienced ideas are born; obligations, processes and responsibilities for their stakeholder engagement; and environmental and social benefits in terms of FSC and other civil regulations and what environmental and social benefits the work leads to. But my description and analysis of the practice and the stakeholder analysis do not answer the general question of the thesis: Can stakeholder partnerships create sustainability?</p><p>When going through the critical voices from the five dimensions of sustainability, the task of creating sustainability seems to be impossible. I have confronted the five dimensions with environmental and social responsibility practice in Sveaskog and IKEA, and found substantial efforts in each and every dimension of sustainability. This practical work seems hopeful, whether there is sustainability or not, a serious ambition and extensive goals sometimes makes a difference.</p>

<p>Forest Stewardship council (FSC) is a good example of a civil regulated environmental labelling-initiative. It is also an arena for different organisations interesting in sustainable forestry to work and handle forestry issues. FSC has allowed many private initiatives to move ahead of poor national and international environmental legislation. Instead they have turned towards the market with consumer pressure and in co-operation with companies. The sustainable forestry initiative has become a part of organisations’ ‘Environmental Responsibility’ which is a part of their ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR) work. The aim of my thesis is to describe the phenomenon of FSC, both practically and theoretically, from a stakeholder approach. I have picked out two companies which are heavily involved in the FSC practice, IKEA and Sveaskog. The two companies are important players in shaping and developing FSC. The different practices are handled as two separate case-studies. A third case-study explores FSC both on national and international basis. The following research question will be answered: From a stakeholder view, how does FSC works in practice? To describe these three forestry practices is a contribution in itself. I will also use an analysing tool inspired by stakeholder theory to make the studies’ stakeholder partnerships as clear as possible. With the knowledge exposed in answering the first question I will further ask: Can stakeholder partnerships in a civil regulated environmental practice, create sustainability? Kemp’s (2005) five dimensions for sustainability improve the understanding. Every dimension will be followed by an interpretation from my forestry practice in the previous chapter. Both IKEA and Sveaskog drives an ambitious work to create sustainable business, which will be analysed through an ethical-, social-, nature-philosophic-, economic- and legal perspective of the sustainability concept.</p><p>The thesis is analysed by an explorative methodological approach with qualitative data, since it best can encapsulate the essence of the complexity which constitutes the answers to the research questions. Each case study will be described in separate texts which make up multiple realities mentally constructed by ourselves.</p><p>The analysis shows, both for Sveaskog and IKEA, that stakeholder partnerships generate a number of things. The partnerships generate constructive interaction where new and experienced ideas are born; obligations, processes and responsibilities for their stakeholder engagement; and environmental and social benefits in terms of FSC and other civil regulations and what environmental and social benefits the work leads to. But my description and analysis of the practice and the stakeholder analysis do not answer the general question of the thesis: Can stakeholder partnerships create sustainability?</p><p>When going through the critical voices from the five dimensions of sustainability, the task of creating sustainability seems to be impossible. I have confronted the five dimensions with environmental and social responsibility practice in Sveaskog and IKEA, and found substantial efforts in each and every dimension of sustainability. This practical work seems hopeful, whether there is sustainability or not, a serious ambition and extensive goals sometimes makes a difference.</p>

Enquanto o mundo discute os esforços para combater as alterações climáticas globais, reconhece-se cada vez mais o papel vital das florestas na manutenção do bem-estar ecológico, social, econômico e cultural. Reafirma-se a importância da definição dos direitos de propriedade (posse e uso) sobre as florestas que pode determinar o seu destino. Para muitos países, as políticas de gestão de florestas combinam vários modos de acesso e gestão como i) áreas protegidas; ii) concessões florestais com critérios de gestão baseados em desempenho; iii) a devolução de áreas de florestas para as comunidades tradicionais e povos indígenas que farão sua gestão.O maior desafio é cumprir o planejado e implantar os diversos modos de gestão florestal para alcançar os objetivos sociais, econômicos e ambientais previstos face à pressão dos interesses econômicos internos e externos. A concessão de florestas é a forma dominante de gestão em quase todos os países da África Central e Ocidental. Ela também é o tipo dominante de exploração de florestas na Ásia (Malásia, Indonésia, Papua-Nova Guiné e Camboja). Na segunda metade dos anos 90, com o forte apoio de projetos de cooperação multilateral e de ONGs internacionais, a Bolívia introduziu a concessão florestal como um modo de conceder direitos de posse e uso sobre florestas. No Brasil, após duas tentativas fracassadas, o governo aprovou sua nova lei de gestão de florestas públicas em 2006. Bolívia e Brasil têm muito em comum em relação aos conflitos fundiários e desafios para impor novas regras relativas à maneira como as florestas podem ser exploradas nas suas regiões amazônicas, principalmente. Este trabalho de investigação centra-se sobre os principais obstáculos enfrentados pelas autoridades florestais bolivianas e brasileiras para implantar as concessões florestais na escala inicialmente prevista. O desenvolvimento do trabalho demandou a mobilização de duas correntes teórico-metodológicas. Por um lado, buscou-se um mapeamento dos modos pelos quais os indivíduos e grupos se apropriam e formulam regras para gerir porções de florestas. Por outro lado, a abordagem teórica da sociologia econômica, mais precisamente os trabalhos de Neil Fligstein e sua abordagem política-cultural, forneceu elementos para avaliar o processo de organização social da produção florestal madeireira nas duas regiões estudadas, que depende de quatro fatores: i) os direitos de propriedade, ii) as estruturas de governança, iii) as regras de troca e iv) as concepções de controle. A abordagem política-cultural considera a participação dos atores sociais como governos, empresas e consumidores, entre outros, e os incentivos para ações de cooperação com base nos laços cognitivos que os ligam. O estudo centrou-se na região amazônica de cada país: nas terras baixas bolivianas e, no Brasil, na região da rodovia Cuiabá-Santarém (BR-163). Isto porque estas regiões são os principais alvos para implantação de concessões florestais. Mostra-se neste estudo que sob um cenário de confusão fundiária, no qual há batalhas por pedaços dos territórios florestais e onde as alianças políticas são forjadas para favorecer outros padrões de uso das terras, a aplicação de concessões florestais em grande escala pode ser inviabilizada ou ficar bastante reduzida. / As the world is preparing to scale up its efforts to combat global climate change, groups are increasingly recognizing the vital role forests play in maintaining ecological, social, economic and cultural well-being. They are beginning to affirm more that forest tenure plays a fundamental role in determining the fate of the worlds forests. In many countries, questions are raised on whether tropical forests should be publicly, commonly or privately owned. For many countries the forest management policies will likely involve a combination of: i) protected areas of sufficient size to provide habitat protection, and in a contiguous pattern; ii) forest concessions with enforceable performance-based management criteria; iii) community forests and community forest concessions managed by communities and indigenous groups. The challenge is to undertake the land use planning commitment and implementation to achieve this in the face of pressure from internal and external interests. Forest concessions of various types are the dominant form of forest tenure in almost all the forest countries of West and Central Africa. They are also the dominant types of forest tenure in Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Cambodia). In South America, Peru and Bolivia introduced forest concession as a possible tenure model in the early 90s with the strong support of international NGOs. In Brazil, after two failed attempts, the government has passed its new forest management law in 2006. Bolivia and Brazil have much in common regarding forest tenure conflicts and challenges to enforce new rules in the forestry sector. Forest concession implementation in these countries has generated many expectations and investments in law changes.This research work focuses on the main barriers faced by Bolivian and Brazilian forest authorities in implementing forest concession on the scale initially planned. The studies required a mapping of the property rights regimes over forest and forest resources as well as a theoretical approach of economic sociology. This approach, which provides elements to evaluate the process of social market construction, is dependent upon four essential factors: property rights, governance structures, rules of exchange and conceptions of control. The political-cultural approach emphasizes the historic perspective of the markets to understand the role of dominant groups and challengers in action arenas. It also considers the participation of social actors like governments, firms and consumers, among others, and their incentives for cooperative actions based on the cognitive ties that bind them. This empiric study focused on each countrys geographically-delimited regions of Amazon: in the Bolivian lowlands region and in the Brazilian Cuiabá-Santarém Highway (namely BR-163). Thats because they are the main targets for forest concession implementation. We show in this study that under a tenure uncertainty scenario, in which there are battles for territorial pieces and political alliances are forged that prefer other land use (and forests uses also) patterns the forest concessions implementation on a large scale will be jeopardized in these territories.

Forest Stewardship council (FSC) is a good example of a civil regulated environmental labelling-initiative. It is also an arena for different organisations interesting in sustainable forestry to work and handle forestry issues. FSC has allowed many private initiatives to move ahead of poor national and international environmental legislation. Instead they have turned towards the market with consumer pressure and in co-operation with companies. The sustainable forestry initiative has become a part of organisations’ ‘Environmental Responsibility’ which is a part of their ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR) work. The aim of my thesis is to describe the phenomenon of FSC, both practically and theoretically, from a stakeholder approach. I have picked out two companies which are heavily involved in the FSC practice, IKEA and Sveaskog. The two companies are important players in shaping and developing FSC. The different practices are handled as two separate case-studies. A third case-study explores FSC both on national and international basis. The following research question will be answered: From a stakeholder view, how does FSC works in practice? To describe these three forestry practices is a contribution in itself. I will also use an analysing tool inspired by stakeholder theory to make the studies’ stakeholder partnerships as clear as possible. With the knowledge exposed in answering the first question I will further ask: Can stakeholder partnerships in a civil regulated environmental practice, create sustainability? Kemp’s (2005) five dimensions for sustainability improve the understanding. Every dimension will be followed by an interpretation from my forestry practice in the previous chapter. Both IKEA and Sveaskog drives an ambitious work to create sustainable business, which will be analysed through an ethical-, social-, nature-philosophic-, economic- and legal perspective of the sustainability concept. The thesis is analysed by an explorative methodological approach with qualitative data, since it best can encapsulate the essence of the complexity which constitutes the answers to the research questions. Each case study will be described in separate texts which make up multiple realities mentally constructed by ourselves. The analysis shows, both for Sveaskog and IKEA, that stakeholder partnerships generate a number of things. The partnerships generate constructive interaction where new and experienced ideas are born; obligations, processes and responsibilities for their stakeholder engagement; and environmental and social benefits in terms of FSC and other civil regulations and what environmental and social benefits the work leads to. But my description and analysis of the practice and the stakeholder analysis do not answer the general question of the thesis: Can stakeholder partnerships create sustainability? When going through the critical voices from the five dimensions of sustainability, the task of creating sustainability seems to be impossible. I have confronted the five dimensions with environmental and social responsibility practice in Sveaskog and IKEA, and found substantial efforts in each and every dimension of sustainability. This practical work seems hopeful, whether there is sustainability or not, a serious ambition and extensive goals sometimes makes a difference.

Forest Stewardship council (FSC) is a good example of a civil regulated environmental labelling-initiative. It is also an arena for different organisations interesting in sustainable forestry to work and handle forestry issues. FSC has allowed many private initiatives to move ahead of poor national and international environmental legislation. Instead they have turned towards the market with consumer pressure and in co-operation with companies. The sustainable forestry initiative has become a part of organisations’ ‘Environmental Responsibility’ which is a part of their ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ (CSR) work. The aim of my thesis is to describe the phenomenon of FSC, both practically and theoretically, from a stakeholder approach. I have picked out two companies which are heavily involved in the FSC practice, IKEA and Sveaskog. The two companies are important players in shaping and developing FSC. The different practices are handled as two separate case-studies. A third case-study explores FSC both on national and international basis. The following research question will be answered: From a stakeholder view, how does FSC works in practice? To describe these three forestry practices is a contribution in itself. I will also use an analysing tool inspired by stakeholder theory to make the studies’ stakeholder partnerships as clear as possible. With the knowledge exposed in answering the first question I will further ask: Can stakeholder partnerships in a civil regulated environmental practice, create sustainability? Kemp’s (2005) five dimensions for sustainability improve the understanding. Every dimension will be followed by an interpretation from my forestry practice in the previous chapter. Both IKEA and Sveaskog drives an ambitious work to create sustainable business, which will be analysed through an ethical-, social-, nature-philosophic-, economic- and legal perspective of the sustainability concept. The thesis is analysed by an explorative methodological approach with qualitative data, since it best can encapsulate the essence of the complexity which constitutes the answers to the research questions. Each case study will be described in separate texts which make up multiple realities mentally constructed by ourselves. The analysis shows, both for Sveaskog and IKEA, that stakeholder partnerships generate a number of things. The partnerships generate constructive interaction where new and experienced ideas are born; obligations, processes and responsibilities for their stakeholder engagement; and environmental and social benefits in terms of FSC and other civil regulations and what environmental and social benefits the work leads to. But my description and analysis of the practice and the stakeholder analysis do not answer the general question of the thesis: Can stakeholder partnerships create sustainability? When going through the critical voices from the five dimensions of sustainability, the task of creating sustainability seems to be impossible. I have confronted the five dimensions with environmental and social responsibility practice in Sveaskog and IKEA, and found substantial efforts in each and every dimension of sustainability. This practical work seems hopeful, whether there is sustainability or not, a serious ambition and extensive goals sometimes makes a difference.

Enquanto o mundo discute os esforços para combater as alterações climáticas globais, reconhece-se cada vez mais o papel vital das florestas na manutenção do bem-estar ecológico, social, econômico e cultural. Reafirma-se a importância da definição dos direitos de propriedade (posse e uso) sobre as florestas que pode determinar o seu destino. Para muitos países, as políticas de gestão de florestas combinam vários modos de acesso e gestão como i) áreas protegidas; ii) concessões florestais com critérios de gestão baseados em desempenho; iii) a devolução de áreas de florestas para as comunidades tradicionais e povos indígenas que farão sua gestão.O maior desafio é cumprir o planejado e implantar os diversos modos de gestão florestal para alcançar os objetivos sociais, econômicos e ambientais previstos face à pressão dos interesses econômicos internos e externos. A concessão de florestas é a forma dominante de gestão em quase todos os países da África Central e Ocidental. Ela também é o tipo dominante de exploração de florestas na Ásia (Malásia, Indonésia, Papua-Nova Guiné e Camboja). Na segunda metade dos anos 90, com o forte apoio de projetos de cooperação multilateral e de ONGs internacionais, a Bolívia introduziu a concessão florestal como um modo de conceder direitos de posse e uso sobre florestas. No Brasil, após duas tentativas fracassadas, o governo aprovou sua nova lei de gestão de florestas públicas em 2006. Bolívia e Brasil têm muito em comum em relação aos conflitos fundiários e desafios para impor novas regras relativas à maneira como as florestas podem ser exploradas nas suas regiões amazônicas, principalmente. Este trabalho de investigação centra-se sobre os principais obstáculos enfrentados pelas autoridades florestais bolivianas e brasileiras para implantar as concessões florestais na escala inicialmente prevista. O desenvolvimento do trabalho demandou a mobilização de duas correntes teórico-metodológicas. Por um lado, buscou-se um mapeamento dos modos pelos quais os indivíduos e grupos se apropriam e formulam regras para gerir porções de florestas. Por outro lado, a abordagem teórica da sociologia econômica, mais precisamente os trabalhos de Neil Fligstein e sua abordagem política-cultural, forneceu elementos para avaliar o processo de organização social da produção florestal madeireira nas duas regiões estudadas, que depende de quatro fatores: i) os direitos de propriedade, ii) as estruturas de governança, iii) as regras de troca e iv) as concepções de controle. A abordagem política-cultural considera a participação dos atores sociais como governos, empresas e consumidores, entre outros, e os incentivos para ações de cooperação com base nos laços cognitivos que os ligam. O estudo centrou-se na região amazônica de cada país: nas terras baixas bolivianas e, no Brasil, na região da rodovia Cuiabá-Santarém (BR-163). Isto porque estas regiões são os principais alvos para implantação de concessões florestais. Mostra-se neste estudo que sob um cenário de confusão fundiária, no qual há batalhas por pedaços dos territórios florestais e onde as alianças políticas são forjadas para favorecer outros padrões de uso das terras, a aplicação de concessões florestais em grande escala pode ser inviabilizada ou ficar bastante reduzida. / As the world is preparing to scale up its efforts to combat global climate change, groups are increasingly recognizing the vital role forests play in maintaining ecological, social, economic and cultural well-being. They are beginning to affirm more that forest tenure plays a fundamental role in determining the fate of the worlds forests. In many countries, questions are raised on whether tropical forests should be publicly, commonly or privately owned. For many countries the forest management policies will likely involve a combination of: i) protected areas of sufficient size to provide habitat protection, and in a contiguous pattern; ii) forest concessions with enforceable performance-based management criteria; iii) community forests and community forest concessions managed by communities and indigenous groups. The challenge is to undertake the land use planning commitment and implementation to achieve this in the face of pressure from internal and external interests. Forest concessions of various types are the dominant form of forest tenure in almost all the forest countries of West and Central Africa. They are also the dominant types of forest tenure in Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Cambodia). In South America, Peru and Bolivia introduced forest concession as a possible tenure model in the early 90s with the strong support of international NGOs. In Brazil, after two failed attempts, the government has passed its new forest management law in 2006. Bolivia and Brazil have much in common regarding forest tenure conflicts and challenges to enforce new rules in the forestry sector. Forest concession implementation in these countries has generated many expectations and investments in law changes.This research work focuses on the main barriers faced by Bolivian and Brazilian forest authorities in implementing forest concession on the scale initially planned. The studies required a mapping of the property rights regimes over forest and forest resources as well as a theoretical approach of economic sociology. This approach, which provides elements to evaluate the process of social market construction, is dependent upon four essential factors: property rights, governance structures, rules of exchange and conceptions of control. The political-cultural approach emphasizes the historic perspective of the markets to understand the role of dominant groups and challengers in action arenas. It also considers the participation of social actors like governments, firms and consumers, among others, and their incentives for cooperative actions based on the cognitive ties that bind them. This empiric study focused on each countrys geographically-delimited regions of Amazon: in the Bolivian lowlands region and in the Brazilian Cuiabá-Santarém Highway (namely BR-163). Thats because they are the main targets for forest concession implementation. We show in this study that under a tenure uncertainty scenario, in which there are battles for territorial pieces and political alliances are forged that prefer other land use (and forests uses also) patterns the forest concessions implementation on a large scale will be jeopardized in these territories.

DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) must be extracted from the cell before it can be amplified using the PCR (Polymerase Chain Reaction) to generate an STR (Short Tandem Repeat) profile. Although extraction methods such as binding DNA to silica remove PCR inhibitors, they have complex procedures that can lead to partial DNA loss. Evaluating the efficiency of an extraction method can be difficult, as the original amount of input DNA may be unknown. Knowledge of the amount of DNA expected to be present in a sample can provide quantitative information on an extraction method’s efficiency, as the recovery of DNA from a DNA extraction process can be calculated using the expected DNA value. Theoretically, while using a direct lysis extraction method, all the cells in the sample are lysed and present in that single tube, so quantitative PCR (qPCR) values of samples extracted using a direct lysis method such as forensicGEMTM can be used as an expected yield value. Validation studies determine if a method is reliable, reproducible, and robust. An internal validation study, following the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Quality Assurance Standards (QAS) for Forensic DNA Analysis Methods, was performed for the Maxwell® FSC instrument, a robotic DNA extraction instrument designed to remove PCR inhibitors from forensic samples. Results from this study were compared to results obtained on a previously validated Maxwell® 16 instrument. The validation study was successful, as the study demonstrated the instrument could process known/non-probative evidentiary samples, is sensitive, precise, accurate, can process mixture samples, and had no detectable contamination in the process. An added study, done post validation, compared the amount of DNA obtained using a “direct lysis method” with the amount of DNA obtained using samples equivalent to those used in the instrument validation. However, upon comparing the amount of DNA recovered using the Maxwell® FSC instrument to the amount of DNA obtained using a direct lysis method, which in theory would recover 100% of the DNA, the percent yield for serially diluted blood samples was low. Only 10.79% of the DNA was recovered for the 1:10 dilution, 14.44% was recovered for the 1:100 dilution, and 8.00% was recovered for the 1:1000 dilution. The DNA IQTM System – Small Sample Casework kit uses the same chemistry and the same reagents as the Maxwell® FSC DNA IQTM Casework Kit. To provide additional data on DNA recovery, the Maxwell® FSC Study was replicated using the DNA IQTM System – Small Sample Casework Kit, following the manufacturer’s instructions for manual extractions. The study showed that about 77.71% of the DNA is lost when using neat samples, 96.88% is lost for the 1:10 dilution samples, 95.22% is lost for 1:100, and 99.00% for 1:1000. Steps from the DNA IQTM System – Small Sample Casework Protocol were identified where, potentially, the DNA loss could have occurred. These included DNA left in the waste products, DNA left on the swatch, and DNA left on the Resin after elution. Study data identify experimentally two major sources of DNA loss: the waste and the swatch. When quantifying the “waste,” for almost every individual sample, more DNA remained in the waste than was found in the initial extract using the DNA IQTM System – Small Sample Casework Kit. The high amounts of DNA in the waste indicates that the DNA IQ™ Resin does not bind to all the available nucleic acid in the solution. The data and other data characterizing DNA loss at particular steps of the protocol are described in this study. Modifications to the protocol are described, which were made, in an attempt, to increase the amount of DNA bound to the Resin that could subsequently be recovered. Laboratories that use DNA IQTM reagents need to be aware that a significant amount of the sample may be lost when following the procedure. Preliminary results indicate that yield can be improved by modifying the procedure to either increase the Resin volume, increase the incubation temperature, or recapture DNA from the first waste.