Journal articles on the topic 'Forests Commission'
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1
Elmendorf, William, Vincent Cotrone, and Joseph Mullen. "Trends in Urban Forestry Practices, Programs, and Sustainability: Contrasting a Pennsylvania, U.S., Study." Arboriculture & Urban Forestry 29, no. 4 (July 1, 2003): 237–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.48044/jauf.2003.028.
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Previous studies provided criteria and guidelines both for measuring and increasing the sustainability of urban forests. These studies have also provided evidence that difficulties existed in completing important practices (e.g., inventories, street tree ordinances, management plans), which contribute to both better urban forest programs and sustainability. In a recent study of both small town tree commissions and programs in northeastern Pennsylvania U.S., there was a marked difference between tree commission members' attitudes toward urban forestry practices and the successful completion of them. Focus groups composed of tree commission members were used to gather information on why these differences existed. Our northeastern Pennsylvania study provided evidence that local tree commissions had difficulties completing urban forestry practices for a number of reasons, including a lack of volunteer time and a need for additional support and assistance. The study also showed that small town tree commissioners viewed and defined urban forest sustainability much more practically than has been expressed in the extant literature. Questions continue about how well local urban forestry practices support sustainable urban forest programs and resources.
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Lorenz, Martin, and Volker Mues. "Forest Health Status in Europe." Scientific World JOURNAL 7 (2007): 22–27. http://dx.doi.org/10.1100/tsw.2007.17.
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Forest health status in Europe is assessed by the International Cooperative Programme on Assessment and Monitoring of Air Pollution Effects on Forests (ICP Forests). Established by the Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP) under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the ICP Forests has been monitoring forest condition in close cooperation with the European Commission (EC) for 20 years. The present paper describes the latest results of the deposition measurements on permanent monitoring plots and of the extensive defoliation sample survey. The findings reveal marked spatial patterns in bulk and throughfall depositions of nitrate (N-NO3-), ammonium (N-NH4+), and sulfate (S-SO42-), as well as an obvious decrease in bulk and throughfall deposition of sulfate. Latest analyses of defoliation data confirm previous results, indicating a high correlation with weather extremes.
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WOODWELL, GEORGE M. "Forests on a full Earth." Environmental Conservation 24, no. 3 (September 1997): 205–6. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0376892997000271.
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Objective: a return to a wholesome human habitatThe continued operation of the biosphere as a wholesome human habitat would be expected to emerge as one of several persistent collective purposes in human affairs. Daly (1993) has pointed to the challenge as accommodating the transition from an empty Earth, where resources exceed demand, to a full Earth, where demand routinely exceeds the resource. Forests are so large in every aspect of the biophysics of the human habitat that their functional integrity is intrinsic to that purpose. How can the functional integrity of forests on a full Earth best be assured on a global basis over the next decades as all pressures on the human habitat continue to soar? Such is the challenge before the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development, now completing its final hearings and preparing its report. The Commission was established in 1995 as a non-governmental group of distinguished citizens from the forested countries to do what governments had been unable to do in 1992 at the Rio Conference, namely to address the critical global and international issues of forests in the context of the emergent public interests, as opposed to continued destructive commercial exploitation. The Commission's staff and offices are in Geneva. Its report will be released in 1998.
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Da Ros, Gildo, and Maurizio Veneziani. "St. Galler Massnahmenplan Wald-Wild-Lebensraum (Essay)." Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Forstwesen 168, no. 4 (April 1, 2017): 209–12. http://dx.doi.org/10.3188/szf.2017.0209.
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The St. Gallen action plan “Forests-Wildlife-Habitat” (essay) Forests and wild ungulates coexist in nature and this coexistence is reflected in forest and hunting legislation. Planning for forestry and for hunting must ensure this coexistence with appropriate measures and optimize it in both time and space. Coexistence between forests and wild ungulates is a permanent area of tension, where escalation of tensions must be avoided. For this reason the Economy Department of the Canton of St. Gallen set up in 2012 a commission on Forests-Wildlife-Habitat, charged with preparing recommendations on how to address this issue. In the commission were represented hunting, forestry and – a new development – agriculture. In 2015, after a three-year process, the action plan for sustainable management of Forests-Wildlife-Habitat, signed by 18 cantonal associations of forestry, agriculture and hunting, could be approved by the Economy Department. The action plan proposes measures in nine areas, with the aim of optimizing ecological habitat quality, regulating game populations in function of the habitat, and improving communication, cooperation and training.
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Nanavaty, Reema. "Feminise our forests: Consultation on the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development." Development in Practice 7, no. 4 (November 1997): 415–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09614529754215.
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Francini, Saverio, Costanza Borghi, Giovanni D'Amico, Stefano Santi, and Davide Travaglini. "Automatic mapping of Italian forest disturbances between 1985 and 2019 using Landsat imagery and Google Earth Engine." L’Italia Forestale e Montana 77, no. 1 (March 30, 2022): 5–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.36253/ifm-1616.
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Forests play a key role in the carbon cycle and the fight against climate change. Long-term monitoring of forest dynamics represents a key element for understanding forests transformations due to forest harvestings and disturbances including fires, wind storms, frost or drought events, and pathogen attacks. This work aims at mapping and evaluating the forest disturbances that have occurred in Italy since 1985, using Landsat satellite imagery and apposite algorithms. We predicted about 1.8 million forest disturbances occurring during the observation period. Disturbances ranged between 27.923 ha in 2014 and 261.733 ha in 1985. Most of the forest disturbances have been identified in Sicilia and Calabria. Commission errors fluctuated between 29% in 2012 and 65% in 2001 while omission errors were between 8% in 2014 and 88% in 2003. The results that we present in this work can increase our understanding of Italian forests, and serve as basis for future research, while the methodology we applied can support the production of official statistics on forest disturbances.
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Francini, Saverio, Costanza Borghi, Giovanni D'Amico, Stefano Santi, and Davide Travaglini. "Automatic mapping of Italian forest disturbances between 1985 and 2019 using Landsat imagery and Google Earth Engine." L’Italia Forestale e Montana 77, no. 1 (March 30, 2022): 5–21. http://dx.doi.org/10.36253/ifm-1616.
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Forests play a key role in the carbon cycle and the fight against climate change. Long-term monitoring of forest dynamics represents a key element for understanding forests transformations due to forest harvestings and disturbances including fires, wind storms, frost or drought events, and pathogen attacks. This work aims at mapping and evaluating the forest disturbances that have occurred in Italy since 1985, using Landsat satellite imagery and apposite algorithms. We predicted about 1.8 million forest disturbances occurring during the observation period. Disturbances ranged between 27.923 ha in 2014 and 261.733 ha in 1985. Most of the forest disturbances have been identified in Sicilia and Calabria. Commission errors fluctuated between 29% in 2012 and 65% in 2001 while omission errors were between 8% in 2014 and 88% in 2003. The results that we present in this work can increase our understanding of Italian forests, and serve as basis for future research, while the methodology we applied can support the production of official statistics on forest disturbances.
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Gregersen, H., P. A. Dewees, H. El-Lakany, B. Singer, and J. Blaser. "Global forest governance and sustainable development: reflections on the life and times of John Spears." International Forestry Review 22, no. 1 (June 1, 2020): 142–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1505/146554820829523934.
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The late John Spears' international career coincided with the emergence of global forest governance. His contributions at the World Bank, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and at the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development (WCFSD) are characterized by an unfailing call to integrate objectives towards forests and trees into broader development goals and particularly to tap the power of forests and trees to contribute to poverty alleviation.<br/> This paper describes the evolution of global forest governance since the early 1970s, especially focusing on the period when Spears was highly influential in the global forest policy debate. It gives an emphasis to the efforts the international community has made in adopting a more comprehensive perspective toward the role of forests in sustainable development. Despite this, global forest governance has recently tended to focus more narrowly on climate change at the expense of attention to the problem of poverty. While climate change is a major priority in its own right, we argue that this limited perspective needs to be overcome to unlock the full potential of forests in sustainable development, aimed at combating poverty.
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Slee, Conrad. "Forests in a Full World." Pacific Conservation Biology 9, no. 4 (2003): 309. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/pc040309.
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THE loss of forests globally, and particularly the rapid deforestation occurring in tropical areas is a concerning issue. Forests in a Full World is a book about the role of forests at a turning point in the human economy where natural capital has replaced human capital as the limitation to further development. This represents the "full world" which provides little space for forests and their values. The book is the product of Woods Hole Research Centre and follows on from the report: Our Forests . . . Our Future (1999) by the World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development. The book is a logically arranged collection of essays from experts in the field of forest management, which give relevant economic considerations to the sustainable use of forests. It is directed at readers with an interest in the fate of forests globally, particularly those with a desire for some technical information. The book gives reasons for deforestation in the past, the stages in which it occurs, and challenging options for increasing the role of forests in a degraded landscape.
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Bengston, David N., Jonathan Peck, Robert Olson, Melissa Barros, Richard A. Birdsey, Daniel R. Williams, Juan Carlos Leyva Reyes, and Francisco José Zamudio. "North American Forest Futures 2018–2090: Scenarios for Building a More Resilient Forest Sector." World Futures Review 10, no. 2 (February 15, 2018): 152–69. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1946756718757751.
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North American forests and forest management institutions are experiencing a wide range of significant ecological disturbances and socioeconomic changes, which point to the need for enhanced resilience. A critical capacity for resilience in institutions is strategic foresight. This article reports on a project of the North American Forest Commission to use Futures Research to enhance the resilience of forest management institutions in North America. The Aspirational Futures Method was used to develop four alternative scenarios for the future of North American forests and forestry agencies: (1) an extrapolation of current trends into the expectable future titled Stressed Forests, (2) a scenario of growing desperation titled Megadisturbances Call for Military Intervention, (3) a high aspiration future titled High Tech Transformation and Cooperation, and (4) an alternative pathway to a highly preferable future titled Cultural Transformation Embraces Indigenous Values. These scenarios will be used in discussions and futures exercises with forestry leaders to develop foresight and assure that plans are responsive to the challenges and opportunities ahead.
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Gauer, D. "The work of the Central Africa Forests Commission (COMIFAC)." International Forestry Review 8, no. 1 (March 1, 2006): 130–32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1505/ifor.8.1.130.
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Braun, Sabine, Beat Rihm, and Walter Flückiger. "Stickstoffeinträge in den Schweizer Wald: Ausmass und Auswirkungen." Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Forstwesen 163, no. 9 (September 1, 2012): 355–62. http://dx.doi.org/10.3188/szf.2012.0355.
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Inputs of nitrogen to Swiss forests: extent and effects Because of their rough surface forests are an efficient sink for nitrogen compounds emitted by industry, traffic and agriculture. Deposition maps reveal that nitrogen deposition in Swiss forests exceed 30 kg N/(ha × yr) in various regions, which is clearly higher than the critical loads set by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The calculated deposition data base on emission inventories, dispersion models, measurements of various deposition components (gaseous, aerosols, wet) as well as on balance calculations. The evaluation of the effects on forests bases on two summary reports: the workshop report of a UNECE meeting on critical loads for nitrogen held in 2010 and a summary of own nitrogen addition experiments published in 2011. The presented data suggest that in Switzerland nitrogen inputs are high enough to cause changes of forest ecosystems.
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Johnston, Brent E. "Forests and UNCED ′92: A Foundation for the Future." Forestry Chronicle 69, no. 5 (October 1, 1993): 539–44. http://dx.doi.org/10.5558/tfc69539-5.
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The conservation and protection of the world's forests has become a critical international environmental issue in recent years as the demand for forest products has increased significantly, and population growth and the rate of deforestation have reached perilous levels. These realities are challenging our stewardship of the resource.Strictly regarded in economic use terms for centuries, forests are increasingly being recognized for the social, cultural, spiritual and recreational values and benefits they furnish to humankind. At the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED ′92), convened in June 1992 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, significant global progress was achieved in altering the outdated approach to forest management reflected in the concept and practice of "sustainable yield", substituting it with the futuristic vision inherent in "sustainable forest development" (based on the paradigm envisioned in the report of the Brundt-land Commission, 1987).Canada has played an active role in advancing this change with respect to forests in the discussions leading up to and including the Conference. The key priorities expressed in Canada's National Forest Strategy, the domestic action plan which is underpinned by the shared vision of Canadian industry, labour, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and governments on sustainable forests, were advanced as our negotiating pillars in Rio. The outputs which emerged from the "Earth Summit" proceedings in the Conventions on Climate Change and Biological Diversity, Agenda 21, and particularly, the Guiding Principles on Forests, are all intimately linked with this Canadian position and constitute the groundwork for future dialogue and action on sustaining the planet's forests.
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Sears, Robin R., Liliana M. Dávalos, and Gonçalo Ferraz. "Missing the Forest for the Profits: The Role of Multinational Corporations in the International Forest Regime." Journal of Environment & Development 10, no. 4 (December 1, 2001): 345–64. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/10704965-0101004-03.
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The international community has placed great hope and invested considerable time in exploring a global forest convention through the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development's Intergovernmental Forum on Forests and the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests process under the Commission on Sustainable Development. Multinational corporations control almost 40% of the world market in forest products, constituting a major stakeholder in global forest policy. The few cases of direct intervention by multinational corporations at international fora suggest their interests are expressed elsewhere. The authors identify and discuss three types of intervention in the existing forest regime: avoidance, enforcement-driven compliance, and performance-driven compliance. The regime has not achieved performance-driven compliance from multinational corporations because the regime itself is weak and has little support from states internationally and domestically. The authors suggest that multinational corporations have been so effective at avoiding or conditioning compliance that incentives for complying fully with the regime are nil.
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Haley, David, and Jeanette Leitch. "The Future of Our Forests: Report of the British Columbia Forest Resources Commission: A Critique." Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de Politiques 18, no. 1 (March 1992): 47. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3551554.
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Reynolds, B. "Continuous cover forestry: possible implications for surface water acidification in the UK uplands." Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 8, no. 3 (June 30, 2004): 306–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/hess-8-306-2004.
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Abstract. The effects of widespread conifer afforestation on the acidity of lakes and streams in the acid sensitive uplands of the UK has been researched extensively and has contributed to the development and implementation of national forest management guidelines (e.g. Forest and Water Guidelines; Forestry Commission, 1993). However, a recent policy document (Woodlands for Wales; National Assembly for Wales, 2000) has proposed a major shift in the management of 50% of the Forestry Commission estate in Wales from the current system of patch clearfelling to Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF). This scale of change is without precedent in the UK; no studies in the UK forest environment have examined the likely environmental impacts of CCF. However, the wealth of environmental data from studies of UK forests managed by patch clearfelling enables an assessment of the impact of a change to CCF on three issues of particular relevance to surface water acidification in the uplands; forest harvesting, soil base cation depletion and atmospheric pollutant deposition. Whilst there is uncertainty as to how even-aged stands will be transformed to CCF in the UK, guiding principles for CCF on acidic and acid sensitive sites should focus on those aspects of management which minimise nitrate leaching, encourage base cation retention within the soil-plant system and enhance base cation inputs from external (atmospheric) and internal sources (weathering). CCF may provide opportunities to achieve this by reducing the scale of clearfelling, increasing species diversity, changing the structure of plantation forests and maintaining uninterrupted woodland cover. Keywords: acidification, forestry, continuous cover forestry, clearfelling
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Shimizu, Katsuto, Tetsuji Ota, and Nobuya Mizoue. "Accuracy Assessments of Local and Global Forest Change Data to Estimate Annual Disturbances in Temperate Forests." Remote Sensing 12, no. 15 (July 29, 2020): 2438. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs12152438.
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Forest disturbances are generally estimated using globally available forest change maps or locally calibrated disturbance maps. The choice of disturbance map depends on the trade-offs among the detection accuracy, processing time, and expert knowledge. However, the accuracy differences between global and local maps have still not been fully investigated; therefore, their optimal use for estimating forest disturbances has not been clarified. This study assesses the annual forest disturbance detection of an available Global Forest Change map and a local disturbance map based on a Landsat temporal segmentation algorithm in areas dominated by harvest disturbances. We assess the forest disturbance detection accuracies based on two reference datasets in each year. We also use a polygon-based assessment to investigate the thematic accuracy based on each disturbance patch. As a result, we found that the producer’s and user’s accuracies of disturbances in the Global Forest Change map were 30.1–76.8% and 50.5–90.2%, respectively, for 2001–2017, which corresponded to 78.3–92.5% and 88.8–97.1%, respectively in the local disturbance map. These values indicate that the local disturbance map achieved more stable and higher accuracies. The polygon-based assessment showed that larger disturbances were likely to be accurately detected in both maps; however, more small-scale disturbances were at least partially detected by the Global Forest Change map with a higher commission error. Overall, the local disturbance map had higher forest disturbance detection accuracies. However, for forest disturbances larger than 3 ha, the Global Forest Change map achieved comparable accuracies. In conclusion, the Global Forest Change map can be used to detect larger forest disturbances, but it should be used cautiously because of the substantial commission error for small-scale disturbances and yearly variations in estimated areas and accuracies.
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Trpeski, Pavle, Samir Ajdini, and Almendina Mehmedi. "PREVENTION AND AVOIDANCE OF FIRES WITH INNOVATIVE MEANS IN THE PUBLIC INSTITUTION MAVROVO." Knowledge International Journal 34, no. 5 (October 4, 2019): 1517–22. http://dx.doi.org/10.35120/kij34051517t.
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Forests are the lungs of the planet Earth. As in all countries, one of the natural treasures of RSM is the forests in our country. protection of forests is the responsibility of state owned forest enterprises and national parks that manage them. Forests today have numerous risks where they are reduced or destroyed and one of the major risks is forest fires which we as a state cannot afford. and we are exempt.Forest fires are the spontaneous and uncontrolled spread of fire in the natural environment. The size of the burned area and the severity of the fire depend on the type of vegetation affected by the fire. The dimensions of these natural disasters are often of such magnitude as are visible from space, such as the fires in Siberian rainforest and the Amazon this year. Characteristic of forest fires is the very rapid spread and sudden changes of direction due to weather conditions.The strategy for combating forest fires includes their prevention to prevent, early detect and suppress and to develop means to effectively combat this type of natural disaster.European Commission reports on forest fires in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa for 2017 say more than 1.2 million hectares of forest and land in Europe have been destroyed - more than the total area of Cyprus.The forest fires killed 127 civilians and firefighters and caused nearly 10 billion euros in economic damage.Mavrovo National Park undertakes fire prevention measures in the area covered primarily by appropriate forest endangerment plans, operational fire protection measures as well as innovative means of drone drone use in the area. as part of the ASPires Advanced Forest Fire Prevention and Early Detection Systems that control the area for early fire warning.The strategy for combating forest fires includes their prevention to prevent, early detect and suppress and to develop means to effectively combat this type of natural disaster.
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Zastocki, Dariusz, Hubert Lachowicz, Jarosław Sadowski, and Tadeusz Moskalik. "Changes in the Assortment and Species Structure of Timber Harvested from the Polish Managed Part of Białowieża Forest." Sustainability 10, no. 9 (September 14, 2018): 3279. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su10093279.
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The subject of the research, which is the Polish managed part of Białowieża Forest together with Białowieża National Park, a remnant of primeval forests, is one of the most valuable forest areas in Europe. This article presents the history of the use of these forests. The assortment and species structure of the harvested timber was analyzed in detail for the Białowieża, Browsk, and Hajnówka Forest Districts from 2008 to 2017. The research is based on data from the State Forests Information System (SILP) and Forest Management Plans (PUL), as well as Nature Conservation Programs (POP). The volume of harvested timber was diversified. In 2011–2013, it was limited by a decision of the Minister of the Environment from 110,000 m3 in 2010 to 48,500 m3. This contributed to the increase of the European spruce bark beetle gradation, causing the death of spruce stands. By an annex to the Forest Management Plan issued in 2016, the Minister of the Environment increased the amount of the timber harvest. In 2017, it amounted to almost 190,000 m3, where 91% of the harvested volume was spruce, but the wood was markedly inferior in technical quality compared to previous years. Such a large increase in harvesting aroused the opposition mainly of environmental organizations and the European Commission. In April 2018, the EU Court of Justice decided that Poland violated EU law by increasing the number of felled trees in Białowieża Forest. After this decision, the Minister of the Environment repealed the earlier decision, the basis for conducting the increased wood harvesting in Białowieża Forest. Changes in the timber harvested in terms of volume, quality, and assortment, are due to the specificity of managing environmentally valuable areas. This relates to the many limitations on commercial forestry, which must take into account the need to protect nature and the legal acts regulating timber harvesting.
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Mühlemann, Pierre. "Suivi forestier de Rio: Activités, évaluation des résultats, perspectives | Rio Follow-up: Activities, Assessment of Results, Perspectives." Schweizerische Zeitschrift fur Forstwesen 150, no. 1 (January 1, 1999): 12–16. http://dx.doi.org/10.3188/szf.1999.0012.
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The Rio Follow-up proceeds on a regional as well as on a global level. On the one hand, the international scope and preconditions are presented and discussed and on the other hand, the activities established in 1995 by the UN-Commission on Sustainable Development on the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests. Swiss support is especially taken into account.
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Pérez-Miranda, Ramiro, Víctor Javier Arriola-Padilla, and Martín Enrique Romero-Sanchez. "Characterizing New Wintering Sites for Monarch Butterfly Colonies in Sierra Nevada, Mexico." Insects 11, no. 6 (June 21, 2020): 384. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/insects11060384.
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Every year, Danaus plexippus (Linnaeus, 1758) travels to hibernate in oyamel fir forests located between the limits of the states of Michoacán and Mexico in Mexico. Climate change and anthropogenic actions are diminishing oyamel fir forests in Mexico, putting pressure on the habitats of monarch butterflies. In the last decade, new colonies outside their usual range have been predicted through modeling and reported by the National Commission on Protected Areas of Mexico. The objectives of the study were to recover information on the historical and new hibernation sites, reported or modeled, from different literature sources. We also aimed to perform a bioclimatic and forest biometric characterization of new monarch butterfly colonies located in Sierra Nevada in Mexico to provide information to aid in conservation strategies for the monarch butterfly population. We conducted field trips to georeference the colonies at sites located in the Atlautla municipality in Mexico State. Climatic, topographic, and forest biometric variables were used to characterize the sites physically. It was found that the butterfly’s roosts occurred at a higher elevation than those recorded by other sources. The locations where the monarch’s colonies were established, in the east of Mexico State, provide information relevant to defining and developing policies for their conservation.
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Moya-Pérez, Juan Miguel, Miguel Ángel Esteve-Selma, Adrián Ruiz Rocamora, and Antonio Félix Carrillo. "Validation of the Habitat Quality Index of Tetraclinis articulata Forests and Its Application in Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Restoration Projects." Forests 13, no. 6 (June 17, 2022): 950. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f13060950.
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The latest reports from the European Commission warn of the need to improve the conservation status of its forest habitats. Native populations of priority habitat 9570 (Tetraclinis articulata forests) in continental Europe are located in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. The LIFE-TETRACLINIS-EUROPE project aimed to improve habitat conservation conditions. As part of the results of this project, a habitat quality index was proposed with the intention of evaluating both its conservation conditions and its evolution after the implemented action measures. The variables used in this index were selected with the aim of achieving high representativeness of the quality of the habitat while at the same time being easily integrated into monitoring programs. In this paper, we intend to verify the suitability of the variables chosen for this index, its sensitivity to discriminate different conservation levels, and its possible inclusion in forest management programs through a cost-effectiveness analysis.
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Gol'chevskii, Vitalii Feliksovich. "Organization of the Activities of the Police Units in Case of an Emergency Caused by Forest Fires." Полицейская деятельность, no. 5 (May 2022): 1–13. http://dx.doi.org/10.7256/2454-0692.2022.5.38700.
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The subject of the study of this article is public relations in the field of organization of activities and ensuring the safety of personnel of internal affairs bodies during the liquidation of the consequences of emergency situations. The object of the study is the formation and improvement of skills in the organization of management activities in the organization and conduct of work to eliminate the consequences of forest fires. The relevance of this work is related to improving the quality of professional training of police officers and the execution of the Decree of the President of Russia V. V. Putin "On combating forest fires", which sets the task for senior officials of the subjects of the Russian Federation to ensure a reduction in the area of forest fires in 2022-2030 by at least 50 percent relative to the level of 2021. The article analyzes the activities of the police units to ensure the safety of forests from fires. The issues of criminal responsibility for the commission of forest arson and the specifics of the disclosure of this type of crime are touched upon. The scientific novelty of the study is as follows: a) a detailed analysis of the activities of the Department of Internal Affairs to ensure the safety of forests from fires is carried out; b) the need to improve the training of police officers to identify forest fires at the initial stage is justified; c) the issues of tactics of preparing police units for emergency situations are highlighted. The main conclusions of the conducted research are the need to improve the tactics of preparation of police units for prevention and action in the event of a threat of forest fires. The given statistical data and the considered example of a forest fire trial indicate the importance of ongoing research in this area and the need to tighten criminal liability for the destruction of forests by arson.
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Hershey, Jeff L., Marc E. McDill, Douglas A. Miller, Brennan Holderman, and Judd H. Michael. "A Voxel-Based Individual Tree Stem Detection Method Using Airborne LiDAR in Mature Northeastern U.S. Forests." Remote Sensing 14, no. 3 (February 8, 2022): 806. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs14030806.
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This paper describes a new method for detecting individual tree stems that was designed to perform well in the challenging hardwood-dominated, mixed-species forests common to the northeastern U.S., where canopy height-based methods have proven unreliable. Most prior research in individual tree detection has been performed in homogenous coniferous or conifer-dominated forests with limited hardwood presence. The study area in central Pennsylvania, United States, includes 17+ tree species and contains over 90% hardwoods. Existing methods have shown reduced performance as the proportion of hardwood species increases, due in large part to the crown-focused approaches they have employed. Top-down approaches are not reliable in deciduous stands due to the inherent complexity of the canopy and tree crowns in such stands. This complexity makes it difficult to segment trees and accurately predict tree stem locations based on detected crown segments. The proposed voxel column-based approach has advantages over both traditional canopy height model-based methods and computationally demanding point-based solutions. The method was tested on 1125 reference trees, ≥10 cm diameter at breast height (DBH), and it detected 68% of all reference trees and 87% of medium and large (sawtimber-sized) trees ≥28 cm DBH. Significantly, the commission rate (false predictions) was negligible as most raw false positives were confirmed in follow-up field visits to be either small trees below the threshold for recording or trees that were otherwise missed during the initial ground survey. Minimizing false positives was a priority in tuning the method. Follow-up in-situ evaluation of individual omission and commission instances was facilitated by the high spatial accuracy of predicted tree locations generated by the method. The mean and maximum predicted-to-reference tree distances were 0.59 m and 2.99 m, respectively, with over 80% of matches within <1 m. A new tree-matching method utilizing linear integer programming is presented that enables rigorous, repeatable matching of predicted and reference trees and performance evaluation. Results indicate this new tree detection method has potential to be operationalized for both traditional forest management activities and in providing the more frequent and scalable inventories required by a growing forest carbon offsets industry.
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Ninson, Jacqueline, Irene S. Egyir, Akwasi Mensah-Bonsu, and Edward Ebo Onumah. "Financial Analysis of the Use of Land: Agriculture or Woodlot." Land 11, no. 5 (April 26, 2022): 642. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land11050642.
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Agriculture is the main driver of deforestation. In other to reduce deforestation, a viable alternative livelihood strategy, aside from agriculture, must be in place to provide a sustainable income for investors. Managing forests for sustainable production (the forest economy) has been suggested as an alternative for sustainable land use practice. In the current study, we undertook a comparative analysis of woodlots and agriculture. The profitability of agriculture and woodlot production in Ghana was compared using a profitability model. We looked at profitability in terms of Net Present Value (NPV) and the Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) of three regions in Ghana, namely, Ashanti, Bono-East, and Western Regions. We found that woodlot producers with contractual relationships with the Forest Commission and other forestry companies produce the highest Net Present Value (NPV) and Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR). However, this profitability is marginally higher than that of agriculture, which gives a fixed yearly return. This means woodlot production may not be a panacea to reducing agriculture in Ghana.
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Ninson, Jacqueline, Irene S. Egyir, Akwasi Mensah-Bonsu, and Edward Ebo Onumah. "Financial Analysis of the Use of Land: Agriculture or Woodlot." Land 11, no. 5 (April 26, 2022): 642. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land11050642.
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Agriculture is the main driver of deforestation. In other to reduce deforestation, a viable alternative livelihood strategy, aside from agriculture, must be in place to provide a sustainable income for investors. Managing forests for sustainable production (the forest economy) has been suggested as an alternative for sustainable land use practice. In the current study, we undertook a comparative analysis of woodlots and agriculture. The profitability of agriculture and woodlot production in Ghana was compared using a profitability model. We looked at profitability in terms of Net Present Value (NPV) and the Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) of three regions in Ghana, namely, Ashanti, Bono-East, and Western Regions. We found that woodlot producers with contractual relationships with the Forest Commission and other forestry companies produce the highest Net Present Value (NPV) and Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR). However, this profitability is marginally higher than that of agriculture, which gives a fixed yearly return. This means woodlot production may not be a panacea to reducing agriculture in Ghana.
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Ninson, Jacqueline, Irene S. Egyir, Akwasi Mensah-Bonsu, and Edward Ebo Onumah. "Financial Analysis of the Use of Land: Agriculture or Woodlot." Land 11, no. 5 (April 26, 2022): 642. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/land11050642.
Full textAbstract:
Agriculture is the main driver of deforestation. In other to reduce deforestation, a viable alternative livelihood strategy, aside from agriculture, must be in place to provide a sustainable income for investors. Managing forests for sustainable production (the forest economy) has been suggested as an alternative for sustainable land use practice. In the current study, we undertook a comparative analysis of woodlots and agriculture. The profitability of agriculture and woodlot production in Ghana was compared using a profitability model. We looked at profitability in terms of Net Present Value (NPV) and the Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR) of three regions in Ghana, namely, Ashanti, Bono-East, and Western Regions. We found that woodlot producers with contractual relationships with the Forest Commission and other forestry companies produce the highest Net Present Value (NPV) and Benefit-Cost Ratio (BCR). However, this profitability is marginally higher than that of agriculture, which gives a fixed yearly return. This means woodlot production may not be a panacea to reducing agriculture in Ghana.
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Alonso-Sarria, Francisco, Carmen Valdivieso-Ros, and Francisco Gomariz-Castillo. "Isolation Forests to Evaluate Class Separability and the Representativeness of Training and Validation Areas in Land Cover Classification." Remote Sensing 11, no. 24 (December 13, 2019): 3000. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs11243000.
Full textAbstract:
Supervised land cover classification from remote sensing imagery is based on gathering a set of training areas to characterise each of the classes and to train a predictive model that is then used to predict land cover in the rest of the image. This procedure relies mainly on the assumptions of statistical separability of the classes and the representativeness of the training areas. This paper uses isolation forests, a type of random tree ensembles, to analyse both assumptions and to easily correct lack of representativeness by digitising new training areas where needed to improve the classification of a Landsat-8 set of images with Random Forest. The results show that the improved set of training areas after the isolation forest analysis is more representative of the whole image and increases classification accuracy. Besides, the distribution of isolation values can be useful to estimate class separability. A class separability parameter that summarises such distributions is proposed. This parameter is more correlated to omission and commission errors than other separability measures such as the Jeffries–Matusita distance.
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Hansen, Matthew C., Peter Potapov, and Alexandra Tyukavina. "Comment on “Tropical forests are a net carbon source based on aboveground measurements of gain and loss”." Science 363, no. 6423 (January 10, 2019): eaar3629. http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.aar3629.
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Baccini et al. (Reports, 13 October 2017, p. 230) report MODIS-derived pantropical forest carbon change, with spatial patterns of carbon loss that do not correspond to higher-resolution Landsat-derived tree cover loss. The assumption that map results are unbiased and free of commission and omission errors is not supported. The application of passive moderate-resolution optical data to monitor forest carbon change overstates our current capabilities.
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Chen, Dong, Varada Shevade, Allison Baer, and Tatiana V. Loboda. "Missing Burns in the High Northern Latitudes: The Case for Regionally Focused Burned Area Products." Remote Sensing 13, no. 20 (October 16, 2021): 4145. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs13204145.
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Global estimates of burned areas, enabled by the wide-open access to the standard data products from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), are heavily relied on by scientists and managers studying issues related to wildfire occurrence and its worldwide consequences. While these datasets, particularly the MODIS MCD64A1 product, have fundamentally improved our understanding of wildfire regimes at the global scale, their performance may be less reliable in certain regions due to a series of region- or ecosystem-specific challenges. Previous studies have indicated that global burned area products tend to underestimate the extent of the burned area within some parts of the boreal domain. Despite this, global products are still being regularly used by research activities and management efforts in the northern regions, likely due to a lack of understanding of the spatial scale of their Arctic-specific limitations, as well as an absence of more reliable alternative products. In this study, we evaluated the performance of two widely used global burned area products, MCD64A1 and FireCCI51, in the circumpolar boreal forests and tundra between 2001 and 2015. Our two-step evaluation shows that MCD64A1 has high commission and omission errors in mapping burned areas in the boreal forests and tundra regions in North America. The omission error overshadows the commission error, leading to MCD64A1 considerably underestimating burned areas in these high northern latitude domains. Based on our estimation, MCD64A1 missed nearly half the total burned areas in the Alaskan and Canadian boreal forests and the tundra during the 15-year period, amounting to an area (74,768 km2) that is equivalent to the land area of the United States state of South Carolina. While the FireCCI51 product performs much better than MCD64A1 in terms of commission error, we found that it also missed about 40% of burned areas in North America north of 60° N between 2001 and 2015. Our intercomparison of MCD64A1 and FireCCI51 with a regionally adapted MODIS-based Arctic Boreal Burned Area (ABBA) shows that the latter outperforms both MCD64A1 and FireCCI51 by a large margin, particularly in terms of omission error, and thus delivers a considerably more accurate and consistent estimate of fire activity in the high northern latitudes. Considering the fact that boreal forests and tundra represent the largest carbon pool on Earth and that wildfire is the dominant disturbance agent in these ecosystems, our study presents a strong case for regional burned area products like ABBA to be included in future Earth system models as the critical input for understanding wildfires’ impacts on global carbon cycling and energy budget.
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Comesaña-Cebral, Lino, Joaquín Martínez-Sánchez, Henrique Lorenzo, and Pedro Arias. "Individual Tree Segmentation Method Based on Mobile Backpack LiDAR Point Clouds." Sensors 21, no. 18 (September 8, 2021): 6007. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/s21186007.
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Individual tree (IT) segmentation is crucial for forest management, supporting forest inventory, biomass monitoring or tree competition analysis. Light detection and ranging (LiDAR) is a prominent technology in this context, outperforming competing technologies. Aerial laser scanning (ALS) is frequently used for forest documentation, showing good point densities at the tree-top surface. Even though under-canopy data collection is possible with multi-echo ALS, the number of points for regions near the ground in leafy forests drops drastically, and, as a result, terrestrial laser scanners (TLS) may be required to obtain reliable information about tree trunks or under-growth features. In this work, an IT extraction method for terrestrial backpack LiDAR data is presented. The method is based on DBSCAN clustering and cylinder voxelization of the volume, showing a high detection rate (∼90%) for tree locations obtained from point clouds, and low commission and submission errors (accuracy over 93%). The method includes a sensibility assessment to calculate the optimal input parameters and adapt the workflow to real-world data. This approach shows that forest management can benefit from IT segmentation, using a handheld TLS to improve data collection productivity.
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Fu, Yuyun, Rui Li, Xuewen Wang, Yves Bergeron, Osvaldo Valeria, Raphaël D. Chavardès, Yipu Wang, and Jiheng Hu. "Fire Detection and Fire Radiative Power in Forests and Low-Biomass Lands in Northeast Asia: MODIS versus VIIRS Fire Products." Remote Sensing 12, no. 18 (September 4, 2020): 2870. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs12182870.
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Fire omission and commission errors, and the accuracy of fire radiative power (FRP) from satellite moderate-resolution impede the studies on fire regimes and FRP-based fire emissions estimation. In this study, we compared the accuracy between the extensively used 1-km fire product of MYD14 from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the 375-m fire product of VNP14IMG from the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) in Northeastern Asia using data from 2012–2017. We extracted almost simultaneous observation of fire detection and FRP from MODIS-VIIRS overlapping orbits from the two fire products, and identified and removed duplicate fire detections and corresponding FRP in each fire product. We then compared the performance of the two products between forests and low-biomass lands (croplands, grasslands, and herbaceous vegetation). Among fire pixels detected by VIIRS, 65% and 83% were missed by MODIS in forests and low-biomass lands, respectively; whereas associated omission rates by VIIRS for MODIS fire pixels were 35% and 53%, respectively. Commission errors of the two fire products, based on the annual mean measurements of burned area by Landsat, decreased with increasing FRP per fire pixel, and were higher in low-biomass lands than those in forests. Monthly total FRP from MODIS was considerably lower than that from VIIRS due to more fire omission by MODIS, particularly in low-biomass lands. However, for fires concurrently detected by both sensors, total FRP was lower with VIIRS than with MODIS. This study contributes to a better understanding of fire detection and FRP retrieval performance between MODIS and its successor VIIRS, providing valuable information for using those data in the study of fire regimes and FRP-based fire emission estimation.
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Guindon, L., P. Y. Bernier, A. Beaudoin, D. Pouliot, P. Villemaire, R. J. Hall, R. Latifovic, and R. St-Amant. "Annual mapping of large forest disturbances across Canada’s forests using 250 m MODIS imagery from 2000 to 2011." Canadian Journal of Forest Research 44, no. 12 (December 2014): 1545–54. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/cjfr-2014-0229.
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Disturbances such as fire and harvesting shape forest dynamics and must be accounted for when modelling forest properties. However, acquiring timely disturbance information for all of Canada’s large forest area has always been challenging. Therefore, we developed an approach to detect annual forest change resulting from fire, harvesting, or flooding using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imagery at 250 m spatial resolution across Canada and to estimate the within-pixel fractional change (FC). When this approach was applied to the period from 2000 to 2011, the accuracy of detection of burnt, harvested, or flooded areas against our validation dataset was 82%, 80%, and 85%, respectively. With FC, 77% of the area burnt and 82% of the area harvested within the validation dataset were correctly identified. The methodology was optimized to reduce the commission error but tended to omit smaller disturbances as a result. For example, the omitted area for harvest blocks greater than 80 ha was less than 14% but increased to between 38% and 50% for harvest blocks of 20 to 30 ha. Detection of burnt and harvested areas in some regions was hindered by persistent haze or cloud cover or by insect outbreaks. All resulting data layers are available as supplementary material.
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Musananguro, M., F. Ali, R. Mlambo, and T. P. Masarira. "The Fast Track Land Reform Programme and its effect on the loss of forests: the case of the Mafungabusi Forest Reserve in Zimbabwe." International Forestry Review 23, no. 3 (September 1, 2021): 263–72. http://dx.doi.org/10.1505/146554821833992820.
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Land reform in Zimbabwe, commonly known as the Fast Track Land Reform Programme (FTLRP), was established in early 2000. Since the inception of the FTRLP, loss of forests and biodiversity has been on the rise. In this paper, an analysis of the rate of forest loss pre-FTLRP, during and post-FTLRP to date (1995–2019) is presented for the Mafungabusi Forest Reserve. Data were collected from semi-structured questionnaires, interviews, satellite imagery and fieldwork. Land Cover, Land-Use Change Maps were obtained from supervised classification of satellite imagery and regression graphs for the rate of change of forest area were also obtained. Results show that the forested areas decreased at a rate of 308 ha per year (2.4%) during the FTLRP and at a rate of 481 ha per year (5.2%) post FTLRP. The inception of FTLRP and the withdrawal of funds to support the Community Involvement in Forest Management (CIFM) resulted in forest loss as the population grew and demand for land increased. Given the current rate of forest loss, the Mafungabusi Forest will probably disappear in the next 20 years if no measures are taken to reduce the rate of forest loss. Thus, there is need for the Zimbabwe Forestry Commission, Environmental Management Agency and other relevant stakeholders to engage resettled farmers in sustainable co-management of natural resources. Such efforts will help in combating effects of climate change and conserving biodiversity.
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Assembe-Mvondo, Samuel. "Local Communities’ and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights to Forests in Central Africa: From Hope to Challenges." Africa Spectrum 48, no. 1 (April 2013): 25–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/000203971304800102.
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This paper reviews the various rights of local communities and indigenous peoples over forest resources in Central Africa. Indeed, in 2010, the Council of Ministers of the Commission des Forêts d'Afrique Centrale (COMIFAC) adopted the Subregional Guidelines on the Participation of Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples and NGOs in Sustainable Forest Management in Central Africa. A survey of this subregional legal instrument highlights a genuine commitment by states to consolidate the benefits and the emerging rights that can improve the living conditions of vulnerable communities and strengthen the subregional regime of sustainable forest management. However, the effectiveness of the subregional guidelines hinges on the administrative acts and practical measures of member states to incorporate this instrument into their domestic legal systems and to enforce it.
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Torresan, Chiara, Federico Carotenuto, Ugo Chiavetta, Franco Miglietta, Alessandro Zaldei, and Beniamino Gioli. "Individual Tree Crown Segmentation in Two-Layered Dense Mixed Forests from UAV LiDAR Data." Drones 4, no. 2 (April 2, 2020): 10. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/drones4020010.
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In forests with dense mixed canopies, laser scanning is often the only effective technique to acquire forest inventory attributes, rather than structure-from-motion optical methods. This study investigates the potential of laser scanner data collected with a low-cost unmanned aerial vehicle laser scanner (UAV-LS), for individual tree crown (ITC) delineation to derive forest biometric parameters, over two-layered dense mixed forest stands in central Italy. A raster-based local maxima region growing algorithm (itcLiDAR) and a point cloud-based algorithm (li2012) were applied to isolate individual tree crowns, compute height and crown area, estimate the diameter at breast height (DBH) and the above ground biomass (AGB) of individual trees. To maximize the level of detection rate, the ITC algorithm parameters were tuned varying 1350 setting combinations and matching the segmented trees with field measured trees. For each setting, the delineation accuracy was assessed by computing the detection rate, the omission and commission errors over three forest plots. Segmentation using itcLiDAR showed detection rates between 40% and 57%, while ITC delineation was successful at segmenting trees with DBH larger than 10 cm (detection rate ~78%), while failed to detect trees with smaller DBH (detection rate ~37%). The performance of li2012 was quite lower with the higher detection rate equal to 27%. Errors and goodness-of-fit between field-surveyed and flight-derived biometric parameters (AGB and tree height) were species-dependent, with higher error and lower r2 for shorter species that constitute the lowermost layer of the forest. Overall, while the application of UAV-LS to delineate tree crowns and estimate biometric parameters is satisfactory, its accuracy is affected by the presence of a multilayered and multispecies canopy that will require specific approaches and algorithms to better deal with the added complexity.
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Brieger, Frederic, Ulrike Herzschuh, Luidmila A. Pestryakova, Bodo Bookhagen, Evgenii S. Zakharov, and Stefan Kruse. "Advances in the Derivation of Northeast Siberian Forest Metrics Using High-Resolution UAV-Based Photogrammetric Point Clouds." Remote Sensing 11, no. 12 (June 18, 2019): 1447. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs11121447.
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Forest structure is a crucial component in the assessment of whether a forest is likely to act as a carbon sink under changing climate. Detailed 3D structural information about the tundra–taiga ecotone of Siberia is mostly missing and still underrepresented in current research due to the remoteness and restricted accessibility. Field based, high-resolution remote sensing can provide important knowledge for the understanding of vegetation properties and dynamics. In this study, we test the applicability of consumer-grade Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) for rapid calculation of stand metrics in treeline forests. We reconstructed high-resolution photogrammetric point clouds and derived canopy height models for 10 study sites from NE Chukotka and SW Yakutia. Subsequently, we detected individual tree tops using a variable-window size local maximum filter and applied a marker-controlled watershed segmentation for the delineation of tree crowns. With this, we successfully detected 67.1% of the validation individuals. Simple linear regressions of observed and detected metrics show a better correlation (R2) and lower relative root mean square percentage error (RMSE%) for tree heights (mean R2 = 0.77, mean RMSE% = 18.46%) than for crown diameters (mean R2 = 0.46, mean RMSE% = 24.9%). The comparison between detected and observed tree height distributions revealed that our tree detection method was unable to representatively identify trees <2 m. Our results show that plot sizes for vegetation surveys in the tundra–taiga ecotone should be adapted to the forest structure and have a radius of >15–20 m to capture homogeneous and representative forest stands. Additionally, we identify sources of omission and commission errors and give recommendations for their mitigation. In summary, the efficiency of the used method depends on the complexity of the forest’s stand structure.
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MAYAUX, PHILIPPE, FRÉDÉRIC ACHARD, and JEAN-PAUL MALINGREAU. "Global tropical forest area measurements derived from coarse resolution satellite imagery: a comparison with other approaches." Environmental Conservation 25, no. 1 (March 1998): 37–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0376892998000083.
Full textAbstract:
Definition of appropriate tropical forest policies must be supported by better information about forest distribution. New information technologies make possible the development of advanced systems which can accurately report on tropical forest area issues. The European Commission TREES (Tropical Ecosystem Environment observation by Satellite) project has produced a consistent map of the humid tropical forest cover based on 1 km resolution satellite data. This base-line reference information can be further calibrated using a sample of high-resolution data, in order to produce accurate forest area estimates. There is good general agreement with other pantropical inventories (Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Forest Resources Assessment 90, World Conservation Union Conservation Atlas of Tropical Forests, National Aeronautics & Space Administration [USA] Landsat Pathfinder) using different approaches (compilation of existing data, statistical sampling, exhaustive survey with satellite data). However, for some countries, large differences appear among the assessments. Discrepancies arising from this comparison are here analysed in terms of limitations associated with each approach and they are generally associated with differences in forest definition, data source and processing methodology. According to the different inventories, the total area of closed tropical forest is estimated at 1090–1220 million hectares with the following continental distribution: 185–215 million hectares in Africa, 235–275 million hectares in Asia, and 670–730 million hectares in Latin America. A proposal for improving the current state of forest statistics by combining the contribution of the various methods under review is made.
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Perkowski, Maciej, and Wojciech Zoń. "SPRAWA PUSZCZY BIAŁOWIESKIEJ PRZED TRYBUNAŁEM SPRAWIEDLIWOŚCI UNII EUROPEJSKIEJ – UWAGI Z (ODPOWIEDNIEJ) PERSPEKTYWY CZASU." Studia Iuridica, no. 87 (October 12, 2021): 412–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.31338/2544-3135.si.2020-87.20.
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The judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 17 April 2018 in Case C-441/17 (failure of a Member State to fulfil obligations), brought by the European Commission against Poland, concerning “logging” in the Białowieża Forest, was widely reported in the media and on the scientific forum (naturally, also in the doctrine of international and European law). Analysing this decision and referring to the jurisprudence and achievements of the doctrine, commentators cautiously (but, in essence, not always correctly) indicated what decisions and actions constituted the basis of this dispute, which ultimately led to Poland’s defeat before the Court, considering the judgment an end to the case and, at the same time, the canon for the subject knowledge. It should be emphasised, however, that the judgment itself did not resolve the dispute as to which model of protection of the Białowieża Forest is appropriate. In particular, it has not contributed to determining whether the previous activities of the State Forests (although it proved them formally inconsistent with EU law) were beneficial (or harmful) to the protection of the Białowieża Forest stand. By emphasising the imperfection of the situation, the authors try to constructively draw from it conclusions de lege lata and de lege ferenda.
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Špirić, Jovanka, Ana Edith Merlo Reyes, Ma Liliana Ávalos Rodríguez, and M. Isabel Ramírez. "Impacts of REDD+ in Mexico: Experiences of Two Local Communities in Campeche." Sociedad y Ambiente, no. 24 (November 4, 2021): 1–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.31840/sya.vi24.2387.
Full textAbstract:
In 2010, the Mexican National Forestry Commission (Spanish acronym CONAFOR) implemented REDD+ early action activities in priority states, including Campeche. This article explores the impact of the forestry programs promoted under REDD+ on the diversification of household activities, benefit-sharing among local groups, and forest cover changes in two local communities in Campeche. It examines whether the design and implementation of these programs responded to local aspirations for equity and rural development by combining ethnographic and documental methods. In addition, it quantifies land-cover change (2013-2018) using high-resolution imagery and spatial analysis. It found no intracommunity equity or sustainable activity diversification resulting from the REDD+ implementation. Deforestation for livestock and agricultural mechanization was the dominant process observed both in dense and open forests. Although it has not made the situation worse, REDD+ has yet to provide social benefits for these two communities. To be considered a viable option locally, the program design under REDD+ must combine the implementation of several sustainable productive activities over a longer period and provide net monetary benefits to all local groups.
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Mizuochi, Hiroki, Masato Hayashi, and Takeo Tadono. "Development of an Operational Algorithm for Automated Deforestation Mapping via the Bayesian Integration of Long-Term Optical and Microwave Satellite Data." Remote Sensing 11, no. 17 (August 29, 2019): 2038. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs11172038.
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The frequent fine-scale monitoring of deforestation using satellite sensors is important for the sustainable management of forests. Traditional optical satellite sensors suffer from cloud interruption, particularly in tropical regions, and recent active microwave sensors (i.e., synthetic aperture radar) demonstrate the difficulty in data interpretation owing to their inherent sensor noise and complicated backscatter features of forests. Although the sensor integration of optical and microwave sensors is of compelling research interest, particularly in the conduct of deforestation monitoring, this topic has not been widely studied. In this paper, we introduce an operational algorithm for automated deforestation mapping using long-term optical and L-band SAR data, including a simple time-series analysis of Landsat stacks and a multilayered neural network with Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer and Phased Array-type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar-2, followed by sensor integration based on the Bayesian Updating of Land-Cover. We applied the algorithm over a deciduous tropical forest in Cambodia in 2003–2018 for validation, and the algorithm demonstrated better accuracy than existing approaches, which only depend on optical data or SAR data. Owing to the cloud penetration ability of SAR, observation gaps of optical data under cloudy conditions were filled, resulting in a prompter detection of deforestation even in the tropical rainy season. We also investigated the effect of posterior probability constraints in the Bayesian approach. The land-cover maps (forest/deforestation) created by the well-tuned Bayesian approach achieved 94.0% ± 4.5%, 80.0% ± 10.1%, and 96.4% ± 1.9% for the user’s accuracy, producer’s accuracy, and overall accuracy, respectively. In the future, small-scale commission errors in the resultant maps should be improved by using more sophisticated machine-learning approaches and considering the reforestation effects in the algorithm. The application of the algorithm to other landscapes with other sensor combinations is also desirable.
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Shin, Patrick, Temuulen Sankey, Margaret Moore, and Andrea Thode. "Evaluating Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Images for Estimating Forest Canopy Fuels in a Ponderosa Pine Stand." Remote Sensing 10, no. 8 (August 11, 2018): 1266. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs10081266.
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Forests in the Southwestern United States are becoming increasingly susceptible to large wildfires. As a result, forest managers are conducting forest fuel reduction treatments for which spatial fuels and structure information are necessary. However, this information currently has coarse spatial resolution and variable accuracy. This study tested the feasibility of using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery to estimate forest canopy fuels and structure in a southwestern ponderosa pine stand. UAV-based multispectral images and Structure-from-Motion point clouds were used to estimate canopy cover, canopy height, tree density, canopy base height, and canopy bulk density. Estimates were validated with field data from 57 plots and aerial photography from the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agriculture Imaging Program. Results indicate that UAV imagery can be used to accurately estimate forest canopy cover (correlation coefficient (R2) = 0.82, root mean square error (RMSE) = 8.9%). Tree density estimates correctly detected 74% of field-mapped trees with a 16% commission error rate. Individual tree height estimates were strongly correlated with field measurements (R2 = 0.71, RMSE = 1.83 m), whereas canopy base height estimates had a weaker correlation (R2 = 0.34, RMSE = 2.52 m). Estimates of canopy bulk density were not correlated to field measurements. UAV-derived inputs resulted in drastically different estimates of potential crown fire behavior when compared with coarse resolution LANDFIRE data. Methods from this study provide additional data to supplement, or potentially substitute, traditional estimates of canopy fuel.
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Polychronaki, A., I. Z. Gitas, and A. Minchella. "Monitoring post-fire vegetation recovery in the Mediterranean using SPOT and ERS imagery." International Journal of Wildland Fire 23, no. 5 (2014): 631. http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/wf12058.
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This study examined the effect of two different forest fires 19 and 23 years ago on the Mediterranean island of Thasos. An object-based classification scheme was developed to map the major land-cover types using multi-temporal Système Pour l’Observation de la Terre (SPOT) and European Remote-Sensing (ERS) (C-band VV) images covering the time period from 1993 to 2007. The developed scheme mapped the post-fire land-cover types accurately: 0.84 Kappa coefficient and 90.5% overall accuracy. The use of the ERS backscatter coefficient contributed to decreasing the commission errors related to the mapping of forested areas and to overcoming misclassifications that occurred between forested areas and shrublands located in shadowed areas. Results indicated that the forest regeneration rate is rather slow, especially in areas where the degree of burn severity was high while the largest part of the burned area is, to date, covered by low vegetation and shrubs. Nevertheless, a gradual shift from low vegetation to shrubland was observed. A preliminary investigation on the use of the ERS backscatter coefficient and the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index to monitor forest regeneration revealed that the backscatter coefficient could provide information related to changes in dense regenerating pine forests for the first 18 years after the fire event, whereas the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index was found to be sensitive to the regenerating forest understorey vegetation. However, further investigation is needed to confirm these findings.
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Michanek, Gabriel, Göran Bostedt, Hans Ekvall, Maria Forsberg, Anouschka Hof, Johnny de Jong, Jörgen Rudolphi, and Astrid Zabel. "Landscape Planning—Paving the Way for Effective Conservation of Forest Biodiversity and a Diverse Forestry?" Forests 9, no. 9 (August 29, 2018): 523. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/f9090523.
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Globally, intensive forestry has led to habitat degradation and fragmentation of the forest landscape. Taking Sweden as an example, this development is contradictory to international commitments, EU obligations, and to the fulfillment of the Parliament’s environmental quality objective “Living Forests”, which according to Naturvårdsverket (The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency) will not be achieved in 2020 as stipulated. One important reason for the implementation deficit is the fragmented forestry management. In a forest landscape, felling and other measures are conducted at different times on separate forest stands (often relatively small units) by different operators. Consequently, the authorities take case by case decisions on felling restrictions for conservation purposes. In contrast, conservation biology research indicates a need for a broad geographical and strategical approach in order to, in good time, select the most appropriate habitats for conservation and to provide for a functioning connectivity between different habitats. In line with the EU Commission, we argue that landscape forestry planning could be a useful instrument to achieve ecological functionality in a large area. Landscape planning may also contribute to the fulfilment of Sweden’s climate and energy policy, by indicating forest areas with insignificant conservation values, where intensive forestry may be performed for biomass production etc. Forest owners should be involved in the planning and would, under certain circumstances, be entitled to compensation. As state resources for providing compensation are scarce, an alternative could be to introduce a tax-fund system within the forestry sector. Such a system may open for voluntary agreements between forest owners for the protection of habitats within a large area.
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Ankomah, Frank, Boateng Kyereh, Michael Ansong, and Winston Asante. "Forest Management Regimes and Drivers of Forest Cover Loss in Forest Reserves in the High Forest Zone of Ghana." International Journal of Forestry Research 2020 (November 23, 2020): 1–14. http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2020/8865936.
Full textAbstract:
Forest cover loss, particularly those arising from deforestation and forest degradation, is largely driven by human activities and has attracted global attention over the decades. Globally, countries have adopted strategies to manage and conserve forests in response to these human disturbances. Ghana’s strategy to ensure sustainable management of the forest and its estate was to zone the forest into management regimes based on the resource availability and the object of managing those particular areas. Whilst forest degradation and its drivers and actors have been widely reported in Ghana, it is not known how forest management regimes influence these issues. Focusing on four forest reserves in the high forest zone of Ghana, this paper used interviews of key forest stakeholders, analysis of Forestry Commission field reports, and field verification to demonstrate the effect of forest management regimes on drivers of forest degradation. A combination of many proximate and underlying factors was observed to drive degradation in a synergetic way. The main drivers which were identified and their corresponding actors varied and manifested differently across management regimes. The strive by forest landowners to earn revenue from the protected forest, perceived unfair payment of ground rents for protected areas by Timber Utilization Contract holders, poor forest management practices on the part of forestry personnel, nondeterrent penalties, poor forest monitoring, the granting of compartment re-entry permits to harvest residual yield, overdependence on few species, weak enforcement of forest regulations, and perceived corruption on the part of forestry officials were the major underlying factors that impact on how the drivers manifested in various regimes. Our study reveals that the primary forest stakeholders of the country are the main actors of forest degradation and have developed various means convenient for specific regimes that enable them to benefit from the forest at the expense of conservation.
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Antonello, A., S. Franceschi, V. Floreancig, F. Comiti, and G. Tonon. "APPLICATION OF A PATTERN RECOGNITION ALGORITHM FOR SINGLE TREE DETECTION FROM LiDAR DATA." ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences XLII-4/W2 (July 5, 2017): 27–33. http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-xlii-4-w2-27-2017.
Full textAbstract:
In the present study, we applied the Particle Swarming Optimization (PSO) procedure to parametrize two Local Maxima (LM) algorithms and a pattern recognition model based on raster and point-cloud datasets in order to extract treetops of coniferous forests from high resolution LiDAR-data of different forest structures (monoplane, biplane and multi-layer) in the Alps region. The approach based on the pattern recognition model uses the geomorphon algorithm applied to the DSM to detect the treetops. <br><br> The geomorphon model gave good results in terms of matching rates (R<sub>mat</sub>: 0.8) with intermediate values of commission and omission rates (R<sub>com</sub>: 0.22, R<sub>om</sub>: 0.2). Therefore, it could be a valid alternative to the LM-algorithms when only raster products (DSM – CHM) are available. <br><br> The geomorphon pattern recognition model has been proved to be a powerful method in order to properly detect treetops of coniferous stands with complex forest structures. This model allows to obtain high detection rates and estimation accuracy of forest volume, also in comparison to the most recent available literature data. <br><br> The models are developed in Java under Free and Open Source license and are integrated in the JGrassTools library, which is now available as SpatialToolbox of the GIS gvSIG.
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Pacheco-Angulo, Carlos, Wenseslao Plata-Rocha, Julio Serrano, Emilio Vilanova, Sergio Monjardin-Armenta, Alvaro González, and Cristopher Camargo. "A Low-Cost and Robust Landsat-Based Approach to Study Forest Degradation and Carbon Emissions from Selective Logging in the Venezuelan Amazon." Remote Sensing 13, no. 8 (April 8, 2021): 1435. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs13081435.
Full textAbstract:
Selective logging in the tropics is a major driver of forest degradation by altering forest structure and function, including significant losses of aboveground carbon. In this study, we used a 30-year Landsat time series (1985–2015) to analyze forest degradation and carbon emissions due to selective logging in a Forest Reserve of the Venezuelan Amazon. Our work was conducted in two phases: the first, by means of a direct method we detected the infrastructure related to logging at the sub-pixel level, and for the second, we used an indirect approach using buffer areas applied to the results of the selective logging mapping. Pre- and post-logging forest inventory data, combined with the mapping analysis were used to quantify the effects of logging on aboveground carbon emissions for three different sources: hauling, skidding and tree felling. With an overall precision of 0.943, we demonstrate the potential of this method to efficiently map selective logging and forest degradation with commission and omission errors of +7.6 ± 4.5 (Mean ± SD %) and −7.5% ± 9.1 respectively. Forest degradation due to logging directly affected close to 24,480 ha, or about ~1% of the total area of the Imataca Forest Reserve. On average, with a relatively low harvest intensity of 2.8 ± 1.2 trees ha−1 or 10.5 ± 4.6 m3 ha−1, selective logging was responsible for the emission of 61 ± 21.9 Mg C ha−1. Lack of reduced impact logging guidelines contributed to pervasive effects reflected in a mean reduction of ~35% of the aboveground carbon compared to unlogged stands. This research contributes to further improve our understanding of the relationships between selective logging and forest degradation in tropical managed forests and serves as input for the potential implementation of projects for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+).
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Fodor, Ecaterina, Dan Gafta, Florian Borlea, and Iovu Biriș. "The anniversary conference "Structural Components of Forest Ecosystems: ecology, conservation and management" held in honour of Prof. Nicolae Donita." Annals of Forest Research 64, no. 1 (June 29, 2021): 3–4. http://dx.doi.org/10.15287/afr.2021.2239.
Full textAbstract:
The celebration of the outstanding personalities of academia is always an occasion to exchange ideas, establish the state of art of a scientific area, and highlight the hallmarks and new paradigms. This was the case of the Anniversary Conference "Structural Components of Forest Ecosystems: ecology, conservation and management" held in honour of Prof. Nicolae Doniță, under the generous auspices of the Banat University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine "King Michael I of Romania" in Timișoara. The celebrated scientist, Professor Nicolae Doniță (also member of the Romanian Academy of Agricultural and Forest Sciences “Gheorghe-Ionescu Șișești” and, Doctor Honoris Causa of the Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences University of Banat "King Mihai I of Romania" and of the University Ștefan cel Mare of Suceava) marked in that occasion his 90th anniversary, surrounded by his fellow scientists, former students and collaborators. Fifty-three participants in the conference honoured the personality and lifetime achievements of one of the most prominent figures among the Romanian forest ecologists, who reshaped the fundamentals of the Romanian silviculture based on the ecosystemic approach. The most consistent section of the conference was dedicated to the presentation of oral communications and posters circumscribed to the conference's central theme. The systemic, holistic paradigm adopted in forest ecology was brought forward in the opening lecture given by Prof. Doniță: “On the formation of the forest ecosystem”. The rest of presentations focused on more specific topics or case studies, of which some are briefly mentioned hereinafter. The old-growth forests in Romania were presented from the perspective of significance for the conservation efforts and various hindrances, with special reference to the integration in the larger European concern raised by climatic change and anthropogenic pressures. The forest dynamics in terms of species composition was employed as a tool for the evaluation of forest naturalness in Bosco Quarto (Gargano, Italy). The overview of tropical monospecific forest plantations brought a close insight into an old and controversial problem related to the balance between economic benefits and biodiversity loss. The study of the complex interactions between herbs and tree saplings in southern Appalachian forests revealed the mediator effects of soil fertility and stand evergreenness. The current status of forest habitats in Romania was summarized by means of the second national report to the European Commission (article 17 in the Habitats Directive). The importance of dead wood preserved in situ was demonstrated by the high diversity of saproxylic beetles within the natural reserve Voievodeasa Forest (North-Eastern Romania). The analysis of data contained in management plans was shown to provide useful information for mitigating the consequences of climatic change by improving the ecological status of forests and enhancing their environmental services. The synthesis on the old-growth and virgin beech forests from Carpathians and other European regions, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, was presented as an important contribution to the forest conservation effort at European level. The role of soil physical and chemical properties, as important determinants for the distinction of forest ecosystem types, was highlighted in the Subsidiary Timiș Forest. The old-growth beech forests included in the nature reserve Izvoarele Nerei (South-Western Romania), famous for its big trees and pristine status, were shown to harbour a high biodiversity encompassing species from different groups. The comparison of two estimation methods of the foliar area index in a beechfir old-growth forest provided interesting insights on the influence of environmental factors. The speakers referred to the scientific stature of Prof. Doniță, but also to his friendly human nature, his talent in gathering people around a common theme, his generous approach to science and scientists, being a leader but not misusing his authority, while always remaining a kind and patient guide. His achievements, spanning across six decades, consist of important international projects, seminal books and a vast array of scientific papers. Several outstanding books he coordinated or co-authored should be mentioned in this context: Forest Ecosystem Types of Romania (1990), Habitats of Romania (2005-2006), Forest Ecology (1978), The Vegetation of Romania (1992), Silviculture on Ecosystemic Bases (1997), The Virgin Forests of Romania (2001), Population, Species, Biocoenosis - An integrating Vision (2019). One of the milestones of Nicolae Doniță’s activity was his participation in the project “Map of the Natural Vegetation of Europe, Scale 1:2500000, with Explanatory Text”, which extended over 20 years of intensive collaboration between experts from across all Europe. Another notable achievement consisted in the elaboration (along with several co-workers) of the Forest Geospatial Database of Romania according to ecosystemic units and the corresponding digital map. In conclusion, the conference gave the rare opportunity of gathering around a hallmark personality of forest ecology and a series of valuable scientific contributions, while celebrating the lifetime achievements of Prof. Doniță in the context of the contemporary forest science. A selection of papers, either presented at the conference or submitted later on, are included in the first section of the current journal issue.
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Rossi, Fernando, Johannes Breidenbach, Stefano Puliti, Rasmus Astrup, and Bruce Talbot. "Assessing Harvested Sites in a Forested Boreal Mountain Catchment through Global Forest Watch." Remote Sensing 11, no. 5 (March 6, 2019): 543. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/rs11050543.
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Global Forest Watch (GFW) provides a global map of annual forest cover loss (FCL) produced from Landsat imagery, offering a potentially powerful tool for monitoring changes in forest cover. In managed forests, FCL primarily provides information on commercial harvesting. A semi-autonomous method for providing data on the location and attributes of harvested sites at a landscape level was developed which could significantly improve the basis for catchment management, including risk mitigation. FCL in combination with aerial images was used for detecting and characterising harvested sites in a 1607 km2 mountainous boreal forest catchment in south-central Norway. Firstly, the forest cover loss map was enhanced (FCLE) by removing small isolated forest cover loss patches that had a high probability of representing commission errors. The FCLE map was then used to locate and assess sites representing annual harvesting activity over a 17-year period. Despite an overall accuracy of >98%, a kappa of 0.66 suggested only a moderate quality for detecting harvested sites. While errors of commission were negligible, errors of omission were more considerable and at least partially attributed to the presence of residual seed trees on the site after harvesting. The systematic analysis of harvested sites against aerial images showed a detection rate of 94%, but the area of the individual harvested site was underestimated by 29% on average. None of the site attributes tested, including slope, area, altitude, or site shape index, had any effect on the accuracy of the area estimate. The annual harvest estimate was 0.6% (standard error 12%) of the productive forest area. On average, 96% of the harvest was carried out on flat to moderately steep terrain (<40% slope), 3% on steep terrain (40% to 60% slope), and 1% on very steep terrain (>60% slope). The mean area of FCLE within each slope category was 1.7 ha, 0.9 ha, and 0.5 ha, respectively. The mean FCLE area increased from 1.0 ha to 3.2 ha on flat to moderate terrain over the studied period, while the frequency of harvesting increased from 249 to 495 sites per year. On the steep terrain, 35% of the harvesting was done with cable yarding, and 62% with harvester-forwarder systems. On the very steep terrain (>60% slope), 88% of the area was harvested using cable yarding technology while harvesters and forwarders were used on 12% of the area. Overall, FCL proved to be a useful dataset for the purpose of assessing harvesting activity under the given conditions.
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Pouliot, D. A., D. J. King, and D. G. Pitt. "Development and evaluation of an automated tree detectiondelineation algorithm for monitoring regenerating coniferous forests." Canadian Journal of Forest Research 35, no. 10 (October 1, 2005): 2332–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/x05-145.
Full textAbstract:
An algorithm is presented for automated detectiondelineation of coniferous tree regeneration that combines strategies of several existing algorithms, including image processing to isolate conifer crowns, optimal image scale determination, initial crown detection, and crown boundary segmentation and refinement. The algorithm is evaluated using 6-cm pixel airborne imagery in operational regeneration conditions typically encountered in the boreal forest 510 years after harvest. Detection omission and commission errors as well as an accuracy index combining both error types were assessed on a tree by tree basis, on an aggregated basis for each study area, in relation to tree size and the amount of woody competition present. Delineation error was assessed in a similar manner using field-measured crown diameters as a reference. The individual tree detection accuracy index improved with increasing tree size and was >70% for trees larger than 30 cm crown diameter. Crown diameter absolute error measured from automated delineations was <23%. Large crown diameters tended to be slightly underestimated. The presence of overtopping woody competition had a negligible effect on detection accuracy and only reduced estimates of crown diameter slightly.