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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 8, NUMBER 2, FEBRUARY 1995

PROFESSIONAL PUBLICATIONS...
FORESTS

Item #d95feb83

Two items from Ambio, 23(7), Nov. 1994:

"Not All African Land Is Being Degraded: A Recent Survey of Trees on Farms in Kenya Reveals Rapidly Increasing Forest Resources," P. Holmgren (Dept. Forest Soils, Swed. Univ. Agric. Sci., POB 7001, S-750 07 Uppsala, Swed.), E.J. Masakha, H. Sjöholm, 390-395. From 1986 to 1992 the annual increase in biomass was 4.7% on high potential land, where 80% of the population lives. Kenyan farmers seem to apply sustainable management practices, including tree growing. The land tenure system (privately owned agricultural land) is a significant reason.

"What Do We Know About the Siberian Forests?" A. Shvidenko (IIASA, A-2361 Laxenburg, Austria), S. Nilsson, 396-404. Gives official statistics for this region. IIASA and the Russian Academy of Sciences have begun a joint study that will include identification of suitable strategies for sustainable development of forest resources, and impacts of global change.

Item #d95feb84

"Indigenous Attitudes, Ecotourism, and Mennonites: Recent Examples in Rainforest Destruction/Preservation," L.M. Trapasso (Dept. Geog. & Geol., W. Kentucky Univ., Bowling Green KY 42101), GeoJournal, 33(4), 449-452, Aug. 1994.

Indigenous people in the three rainforests studied, in either Ecuador or Belize, desire to save the rainforest. Three ecotourism resorts in these areas represent large investment concerned with rainforest protection. But in Belize, immigrant Mennonites who who practice bulldozer agriculture are a destructive force.

Item #d95feb85

"Collective Forest Management in India," V.K. Bahuguna (Northern Circle, Kumarghat, N. Tripura, Tripura, PIN-799 264, India), V. Luthra, B.M.S. Rathor, Ambio, 23(4-5), 269-273, July 1994.

Recent government policy states that forest resource management should include the involvement of local people. Reviews how a people's organization functions at the village level, including issues dealing with common property resource management.

Item #d95feb86

"Peasant Agriculture and Global Change: A Maya Response to Energy Development in Southeastern Mexico," G.A. Collier (Dept. Anthropol., Stanford Univ., Stanford CA 94305), D.C. Mountjoy, R.B. Nigh, BioScience, 44(6), 398-407, June 1994.

Geographical information system methods indicate that macro-economic policies can have significant unexpected impacts on farming practices and land-use patterns. In the study region, peasants control 60% of the rural land and cannot be ignored in evaluating environmental policy options. The communities studied were flexible, responding quickly to macro-economic change.

Item #d95feb87

"Appreciating Agrodiversity: A Look at the Dynamism and Diversity of Indigenous Farming Practices," H. Brookfield (Res. Sch. Pacific & Asian Studies, Australian Natl. Univ., Canberra, Australia), C. Padoch, Environment, 36(5), 6-11, 37-45, June 1994.

The diversity and adaptability of indigenous farming practices should receive more attention from scientists attempting to understand why some farming practices are successful at conserving resources and others are not. The authors draw on experience with a U.N. University project (Population, Land Management and Environmental Change) that attempts to exceed the mostly regional perspectives of academic work on these topics.

Item #d95feb88

The following three articles are among seven based on a symposium at the 1992 Annual Meeting of the Ecological Society of America, in BioScience, 44(5), May 1994 (Amer. Inst. Biol. Sci., 730 11th St. NW, Washington DC 20001). The others deal with the global impact, extent and modeling of land-use change, and land-use practices in the dry zones of Africa.

"Physical and Human Dimensions of Deforestation in Amazonia," D.L. Skole (Inst. Study Earth, Oceans & Space, Univ. New Hampshire, Durham NH 03824), W.H. Chomentowski et al., 314-322. Regional trends that are influenced by large-scale external forces are mediated by local conditions.

"The Human Causes of Deforestation in Southeast Asia," D.M. Kummer (Marsh Inst., Clark Univ., Worchester MA 01610), B.L. Turner II, 323-328. The usual pattern is large-scale logging for exports, followed by agricultural expansion.

"Integrating Amazonian Vegetation, Land-Use, and Satellite Data," E.F. Moran (Anthropol. Ctr. Training & Res. Global Environ. Change, Indiana Univ. Bloomington IN 47405), E. Brondizio et al., 329-339. Information about causes of deforestation and rates of secondary succession can be used to develop future policies.

Item #d95feb89

"The Consequences of Rapid Deforestation: A North African Example," S.E. Zaimeche (8 Carson Rd., Levenshulme, Manchester M19 2PJ, UK), Ambio, 23(2), 136-140, Mar. 1994.

Discusses the possible link between recent widespread deforestation and subsequent drier conditions in a region of Algeria which has some of the last, dense, sub-humid Mediterranean forests. Social and economic changes have induced deforestation on such a large scale that erosion and soil losses are reaching unprecedented levels.