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Articles containing the keyword 'deforestation'

Category : Article

article id 5248, category Article
Markku Simula. (1985). Forestry and development - a global viewpoint. Silva Fennica vol. 19 no. 4 article id 5248. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.a15427
Keywords: sustainable forestry; forestry; deforestation; developing countries; forest resources; air pollution; developed countries; tropical forests
Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

The area of world forests is gradually declining because of various human activities, such as shifting cultivation, uncontrolled logging and industrial pollution. Continuation of the trends would have detrimental ecological, economic and social effects on global scale. The diversity of the problem is wide. The situation in the tropical developing countries differs from that in the industrialized world. With the present rates of population growth and unchanged forest policies, the fuelwood shortage in developing countries is rapidly aggravating. The need for more agricultural land tends to prejudice conscious efforts to increase wood production.

The industrialized countries are experiencing problems in introducing forest policy means to maintain sufficient timber supply. Rapidly increasing pollution problem cause a serious hazard to the existence of the whole forest ecosystem. Forestry has primarily been a national issue of relatively low priority in political decision-making, which has resulted in insufficient action to remedy the situation at national and international level.

The renewability of forest resources represents a strategic asset, the importance of which is bound to increase in the long-run potential for badly needed economic and social change in the world’s poor rural areas will be lost.

The PDF includes a summary in Finnish.

  • Simula, E-mail: ms@mm.unknown (email)
article id 4435, category Article
Lauri Ilvessalo. (1926). Metsien säilymisen turvaaminen Karjalan kannaksen Suomenlahden rannikolla. Silva Fennica no. 2 article id 4435. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.a8383
English title: Ensuring preservation of forests on the coast of Gulf of Finland in the Karelian Isthmus.
Original keywords: Etelä-Suomi; metsien hävittäminen; männikkö; ylihakkuu; metsänkäyttö; hakkuut
English keywords: Pinus sylvestris; Scots pine; deforestation; forest utilization; Southern Finland; overcutting; fellings
Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info

Metsähallitus (Forest Service) commissioned a study about condition of forests on the coast of Gulf of Finland in the Karelian Isthmus. The study was made because of a growing concern on overcutting of the private forests in the area. Dominant tree species in the area is Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.). In fresh mineral soil sites Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst.) grows in mixed forest with pine or as pure stands. The forests are in average 50 to 70 years old. Younger or older stands are less frequent.

At the beginning of 18th century the local peasants sold plots for Russians, and a villa area was created along the coast. When Finland became independent, many of the properties changed owners. Timber harvesting of the forests increased and many small sawmills increased the demand of wood. Because of the cuttings, productivity of the forests decreases and danger for wind damage in the forests increases.

The author suggests that legislation created to prevent deforestation as well as counselling should be applied to improve forest management. In addition, a protective area should be formed in the Karelian Isthmus where forest preserving directives should be followed.

A summary in German is included in the PDF.

  • Ilvessalo, E-mail: li@mm.unknown (email)

Category : Research article

article id 10373, category Research article
Chintan Sheth, Aparajita Datta, Devathi Parashuram. (2020). Persistent loss of biologically-rich tropical forests in the Indian Eastern Himalaya. Silva Fennica vol. 54 no. 3 article id 10373. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.10373
Keywords: deforestation; Arunachal Pradesh; biodiversity hotspot; Buceros bicornis; hornbill nest trees; illegal logging; north-east India
Highlights: We found a high rate of deforestation occurring in a state managed reserve forest in Indian Eastern Himalaya; Fine-scale analysis showed considerable forest loss around nesting trees for hornbills; Forest monitoring, protection and honest governance are required to effectively protect forests in the Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspot.
Abstract | Full text in HTML | Full text in PDF | Author Info

Using fine-resolution satellite imagery from multiple satellite data products, we assessed the change in forest cover of a state-managed Reserve Forest (RF) located in India’s Eastern Himalaya biodiversity hot-spot. 4.6% of forest cover was lost from Papum RF between 2013 and 2017 at the rate of 8.2 km2 year–1. Three species of hornbills: Great Hornbill Buceros bicornis Linnaeus, 1758, Wreathed Hornbill Rhyticeros undulatus (Shaw, 1811) and Oriental Pied Hornbill Anthracoceros albirostris (Shaw, 1808), that are functionally important are found here with nesting habitat in the areas affected by illegal logging. Therefore, we assessed the habitat loss within a 1 km radius around 29 nest trees. From 2011 to 2019, forest cover declined from 38.55 km2 to 21.94 km2 around these hornbill nest trees. Illegal logging is the main driver that is depleting forest cover within this important bird area. Our results highlight the ongoing threats to biologically-rich forests and the need for urgent measures to halt this loss. We suggest that this study has practical implications for the monitoring and governance of state-managed forests in Arunachal Pradesh.

  • Sheth, #4 Ananda Nilaya, 4th Main Road, Siddhivinayaka Layout, Bengaluru 560097, Karnataka, India E-mail: chintz604@gmail.com
  • Datta, Nature Conservation Foundation, 1311,“Amritha”, 12th Main, Vijayanagar 1st Stage, Mysore 570017, Karnataka, India E-mail: aparajita@ncf-india.org (email)
  • Parashuram, Nature Conservation Foundation, 1311,“Amritha”, 12th Main, Vijayanagar 1st Stage, Mysore 570017, Karnataka, India; Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, CB2 3EN, United Kingdom E-mail: dp608@cam.ac.uk

Category : Review article

article id 632, category Review article
William F. Hyde, Gunnar Köhlin. (2000). Social forestry reconsidered. Silva Fennica vol. 34 no. 3 article id 632. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.632
Keywords: deforestation; community forestry; developing countries; forest resources; rural development; welfare
Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info
This paper reviews the expectations for forestry’s contribution to rural development – and for its special contributions to the most disadvantaged, to women and the landless users of the forest commons. A growing literature challenges some of these expectations; in particular, certain expectations about cultural differences and physical stocks as explanatory factors for patterns of household behavior. This literature could also be used to support a call for sharper definitions of deforestation, improved indicators of the effects of forest resources on the rural poor, and improved design of forest policy interventions. Our paper reviews the literature, suggests some unifying themes, and identifies the critical issues that remain unanswered. The primary contention arising from this literature is that households follow systematic patterns of economic behavior in their consumption and production of forest resources, and that policy interventions in social forestry should be analyzed with regard to markets, policies, and institutions. Markets for forest resources generally exist in some form – although they may be thin. Successful forestry projects and policies require careful identification of the target populations and careful estimation of market and market-related effects on the household behavior of these populations. Institutional structures that assure secure rights for scarce forest resources are uniquely important in a forest enviornment often characterized by open access resources and weak government administration. Social and community forestry, improved stoves, improved strains of multi-purpose trees, and even private commercial forest operations can all improve local welfare, but only where scarcity is correctly identified and the appropriate institutions are in place. An increasing number of observations of afforestation from developing countries around the world is evidence that forestry activities do satisfy these conditions in selective important cases. The critical point for policy is to identify the characteristics of these successful cases that are predictive of other cases where new forestry activities can be welfare enhancing.
  • Hyde, Centre for International Forestry Research, Bogor, Indonesia E-mail: wfhyde@aol.com (email)
  • Köhlin, Göteborg University, Göteborg, Sweden E-mail: gk@nn.se

Category : Research note

article id 136, category Research note
Tomasz D. Mazgajski, Michal Zmihorski, Katarzyna Abramowicz. (2010). Forest habitat loss and fragmentation in Central Poland during the last 100 years. Silva Fennica vol. 44 no. 4 article id 136. https://doi.org/10.14214/sf.136
Keywords: afforestation; fragmentation; landscape history; forest continuity; deforestation; ancient forest
Abstract | View details | Full text in PDF | Author Info
The process of habitat fragmentation consists of two components – habitat loss and fragmentation per se. Both are thought to be among the most important threats to biodiversity. However, the biological consequences of this process such as species occurrence, abundance, or genetic structure of population are driven by current, as well as previous, landscape configurations. Therefore, historical analyses of habitat distribution are of great importance in explaining the current species distribution. In our analysis, we describe the forest fragmentation process for an area of 178 km2 in the northern part of Mazowsze region of central Poland. Topographical maps from the years 1890, 1957 and 1989 were used. Over the 100-year period, forest coverage in this area changed from 17% to 5.6%, the number of patches increased from 19 to 42, while the area of the forest interior decreased from 1933 ha to 371 ha. The two components of fragmentation were clearly separated in time. Habitat loss occurred mainly during the first period (1890–1957) and fragmentation per se in the second (1957–1989). Moreover, we recorded that only 47.7% of all the currently (in 1989) afforested areas constitute sites where forests previously occurred (in 1890 and 1957). For forest dwelling organisms characterized by low dispersal abilities, the effective forest coverage seems to be a half of the real forest area in the studied landscape. New afforestations should be planned especially to increase those patches which contain ancient forest, where various plants and animals sensitive to fragmentation may have survived.
  • Mazgajski, Polish Academy of Sciences, Museum & Institute of Zoology, Wilcza 64, PL 00-679 Warsaw, Poland E-mail: mazgaj@miiz.waw.pl (email)
  • Zmihorski, Polish Academy of Sciences, Museum & Institute of Zoology, Wilcza 64, PL 00-679 Warsaw, Poland E-mail: mz@nn.pl
  • Abramowicz, Department of Ecology, University of Warsaw, Banacha 2, PL 02-097 Warsaw, Poland E-mail: ka@nn.pl

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