Vietnamese Uplands: Environmental and Socio-Economic Perspective of Forest Land Allocation and Deforestation Process

Vietnam, in the ongoing transition to market economies, has to cope with high rural poverty and a dramatic process of forest loss and environment degradation, particularly in the mountainous regions. The government considers rural poverty as the main cause of environment degradation, associated with slash-and-burn cultivation and to an unclear definition of property rights on forest land. In 1993, the government launched a Forest Land Allocation programme aiming to lease forest lands to individual households and, on this basis, to solve food security problems, halt the increasing environment degradation and preserve the remaining forests.To evaluate the results of this land reform policy, two upland pilot communes have been intensively monitored. The environmental and economic impacts of the forest land reform allocation in the two study areas are presented, after providing a background on the Vietnamese situation of mountain zones. On the basis of these findings, it is discussed as to whether the current forest land allocation process may actually promote local development and natural resources conservation, and under what conditions. Deforestation problems must be tackled also with new macroeconomic policies (e.g. credit programmes to support sustainable agriculture practices) and social policy (e.g. reduction of demographic pressure), together with the reform of the State institutions (e.g. State Forest Enterprises) involved in management of the forest areas.     

“三权分置”下农地细碎化治理的社会路径及其效果、效益分析——基于“沙洋模式”的考察

基于湖北省沙洋县农地细碎化治理经验,分析了在“三权分置”改革背景下,开展农地细碎化治理的社会路径及其效果、效益。研究结果显示：（1）农民对农地细碎化治理的需求较强,“三权分置”改革可以增强农民的土地获得感和土地调整能力,使他们既作为农地细碎化治理结果的“受益者”,又作为农地细碎化治理过程的“主导者”;（2）借助“承包权”和“经营权”的分离,稳定农户的“承包权”,调整细碎耕地的“经营权”,使“承包者”与“经营者”都可以获取合理的产权预期;（3）地方政府和村集体在土地调整过程中发挥着协调与整合的重要作用,它们通过如理性计算与长远规划等具有地方特色的策略,能够有效提高农地细碎化治理的执行效率。研究发现：农地细碎化治理的社会路径可以实现较好的治理效果,并具有显著的经济效益和社会效益,有助于维护农村的社会稳定与可持续发展。研究建议：伴随农地确权工作进程,当前是实现农地细碎化治理的较好契机。全国其它地区可以结合村庄实际、地方资源与农民需求,选择诸如“经营权”流转、互换等多种适宜的土地调整形式,有效破解农地细碎化困境,进一步提高我国农地资源配置效率。     

The livelihood potential of non-wood forest products: The case of Mbooni Division in Makueni District, Kenya

Forestry is a productive sector with significant effects on meeting national socio-economic and environmental functions as well as the improvement of rural livelihoods. Non-wood forest products (NWFPs) in particular have been widely advocated by conservation and development organisations as potential alternative livelihood strategies, particularly among vulnerable forest dependant households. Like in most tropical countries, NWFPs are relevant in the sustainable development of Kenya that is particularly endowed with important forest resources. Kenya hosts about 17 million ha of forested land (about 3.51% of the total Sub-Saharan Africa forest cover by 2000), of which about 16,865,000 ha is under natural forest (EarthTrends: Forests, grasslands and drylands, 2003). Outside the gazetted forests, there are other large tracks of forests in trust lands, including national parks and reserves, hill forest reserves and privately owned lands covering about 0.5 million ha (Kenya’s forest resource assessment in the EC-FAO Partnership Programme Report, 2000; The Kenya Forests Act, 2005). Woodlands, bushlands and wooded grasslands, mainly found in the arid and semi-arid lands cover 37.6 million ha, while forest plantations (started in 1946) cover about 170,000 ha of land (The Kenya forestry master plan, 1994–2020, 1994). In most NWFPs endowed regions of the country however, this socio-economic and environmental potential is still unrealized. We illustrate the latter by a case study of NWFPs use and management in four villages in Mbooni Division of Makueni District, Kenya. The division was chosen because of its relatively high NWFPs availability, particularly from South Mbooni forest that is located at a distance less than 5 km for an estimated 80% of the interviewed households. Data used for the analysis was collected through a fieldwork survey carried out on women (35+ years) in August, 2005. One hundred and sixty (160) NWFPs are harvested (from plant and animal species) and used mainly for food, income generation (supplemental) and medicinal purposes. A number of challenges limit women’s enjoyment of the full benefits from NWFPs exploitation, the overriding problem being their inadequacy (in quantity and/or quality). In this paper we discuss these commonly utilized and managed NWFPs plant species in Mbooni and their potential contribution to improved livelihoods and sustainable development in Mbooni, Kenya and Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in general.     

Land poverty and emerging ruralities in Cambodia: insights from Kampot province

Rural change in Cambodia manifests itself in rapidly declining land availability for the smallholder sector, posing the question of how farmers may be able to deal with limited access to land. In this paper, we discuss with a case study village and household livelihood strategies of smallholders currently operating under land-constrained conditions. Based on an integrated assessment of a smallholder village in Kampot province, we illustrate in quantitative terms how land shortage is creating problems of surplus generation and liquidity issues in monetary and non-monetary flows. At the household level, livelihood diversification based on the involvement of productive resources other than land may play an increasing role, particularly in the future, when levels of land shortage may increase. At the village level, smallholder may respond through institutional innovation, in particular through the establishment of a community banking system and a paddy rice bank to provide money and rice credits to overcome transitory shortages and to cover investment costs for additional productive resources. Thus, in this case, we observe the emergence of new patterns of livelihood in rural areas, based on the integration of non-land-based economic activities and new institutional settings.     

Building Institutions for Markets: Experiences and Lessons from China's Rural Forest Sector

Through the lens of institutional economics, this paper reviews the reform and development experience in China's rural forest sector and discusses lessons that can be learned by China and other countries. We find that the impacts of the reforms, characterized by changes in forest tenures and market settings, hinge on how they are implemented. If farmers are granted not only land use rights but also liberalized market access, as shown in the northern farm region and the production of non-timber forest products, the incentive structure will be improved, and thus forest production will grow and producers and consumers will benefit. If the reforms are implemented in such a way as to cause market control and distortions, as witnessed in the southern traditional timber production region, the incentive structure will improve little. The chances for production increase will thus be diminished, making it difficult for producers and consumers to enhance their welfare. While tenure arrangements have evolved across the country in the 1990s, timber production in the south remains subject to allowable quota, cutting permit, government procurement, and heavy taxation. We wonder what the land use and tree ownership rights mean without the right to access market freely and fairly, and how practical it is to substitute government efforts for private initiatives in a successful forestry program. The time has come for Chinese policymakers to address these problems.     

Land changes and their driving forces in the Southeastern United States

The ecoregions of the Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain, Southeastern Plains, Piedmont, and Blue Ridge provide a continuum of land cover from the Atlantic Ocean to the highest mountains in the East. From 1973 to 2000, each ecoregion had a unique mosaic of land covers and land cover changes. The forests of the Blue Ridge Mountains provided amenity lands. The Piedmont forested area declined, while the developed area increased. The Southeastern Plains became a commercial forest region, and most agricultural lands that changed became forested. Forests in the Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain declined, and development related to recreation and retirement increased. The most important drivers of land conversion were associated with commercial forestry, competition between forest and agriculture, and economic and population growth. These and other drivers were modified by each ecoregion’s unique suitability and land use legacies with the result that the same drivers often produced different land changes in different ecoregions.     

人工园林大面积种植区土地利用/覆被变化对生态系统服务价值影响

近10a来由于经济利益的驱动,橡胶、茶园、咖啡和桉树等人工园林在云南省西南部西盟县大规模种植,使土地利用结构和布局发生了较大变化,影响了种植区的生态系统服务价值。以西盟县为研究对象,基于2000年、2005年和2010年的遥感影像解译的土地利用/覆被数据,参照"中国生态系统单位面积生态服务价值当量",修订了西盟县生态系统单位面积服务价值,结合敏感度分析,探讨了土地利用/覆被变化及其对生态系统服务价值的影响。结果表明:(1)2000~2010年西盟县的耕地、园地、水域和乡镇用地面积增加,林地和草地面积减少,西南部的土地利用/覆盖类型相互转化主要表现在林地和耕地转化为园地,而东北部表现在林地转化为耕地;(2)从时间上看,生态系统服务价值呈减少趋势,10 a间净减少106.29×106元,林地的生态系统服务价值始终最高;(3)研究期内,只有食物生产服务有价值量的增加,其余生态系统服务的价值量均为不同程度的减少;(4)从空间上看,西盟县生态系统服务价值东北部和东南部高,西部、中部和东部低。力所乡生态系统服务价值有小幅度增加,其余乡镇均呈减少趋势。西盟县以经济利益为目的的发展模式给生态系统服务和可持续发展带来巨大压力,在一定程度上使区域整体生态效应下降。因此,西盟县的发展应该在保证生态系统稳定的前提下,适当发展园地,同时优化土地利用结构,在生态效益和经济利益之间,找到双赢的平衡点。     

贵州省大坝土地利用变化及驱动力分析

选取贵州省万亩（1亩=1/15 hm2）以上的坝子为研究对象,以GIS为技术支撑,通过空间叠加分析,提取研究区10 a来的土地利用/覆被信息,并结合相应的社会经济统计数据,进一步分析引起变化的驱动力影响因子。结果表明：（1）2000~2005年、2005~2010年两个时段,耕地面积一直在持续减少,第二时段的变化比第一时段更剧烈;林地、城镇建设用地、农村居民点、水域、道路在两个时段都不同程度的增加,其中城镇建设用地、农村居民点在第二时段比第一时段增加的速度更快,其它3种地类增加的速度有所减缓;灌木总体变化是出现先减后增的趋势;（2）耕地在2000~2005年的流向主要是林地,在2005~2010年流向主要是居民点和城镇建设用地;（3）研究区土地利用变化受人口、经济效益、政策的影响     

制度变迁框架下的耕地生态环境变化研究

从制度安排的角度考察耕地生态环境．通过设计关于农业发展和耕地生态环境的相关指标,从理论和实证角度分析我国建国以来历次制度变迁对农民行为和耕地生态环境的影响。认为土地制度和其他制度决定农民对“用地”和“养地”行为的选择。分析结果表明,不同的制度安排对我国耕地的数量和质量变化呈现出不同效应,地权的稳定性和其他制度会影响农民的用地行为．从而影响耕地生态环境。所以．保护耕地既要严格控制农用地转为建设用地的总量。又要设计适宜的农地产权制度和其他制度以促进农民主动养护耕地。     

Institutions, Forest Management, and Sustainable Human Development – Experiences from India

New institutional economists have argued that there are many categories of institutions, including market and non-market institutions, which may prove economically efficient, specifically for public goods and common pool goods. The Government of India introduced a non-market community-based institution, known as Joint Forest Management (JFM), for forest management and protection in 1990. JFM is a sharing mechanism for forest planning and management based on sharing of rights and duties, control and decision-making authority over forestlands, between forest departments and local user groups. By 2001, 42 000 Village Forest Committees established under JFM were managing over 11.5 million ha forestland. These institutions have proved very useful, and have contributed to forest management as well as four aspects of sustainable human development (SHD) – ecological output, income generation, village infrastructure development, and community empowerment. In the long-term, community-based institutions will prove to be a foundation of SHD and participatory democracy.     

Land use change in Southern Romania after the collapse of socialism

The drastic socio-economic and political changes that occurred after the breakdown of socialism in Eastern Europe triggered widespread land use change, including cropland abandonment and forest cover changes. Yet the rates and spatial patterns of post-socialist land use change remain largely unclear. We used Landsat TM/ETM+ images to classify land cover maps and assess landscape pattern changes from 1990 to 2005 in Argeş County, Southern Romania. Cropland abandonment was the most widespread change (21.1% abandonment rate), likely due to declining returns from farming, tenure insecurity, and demographic developments during transition. Forest cover and forest fragmentation remained remarkably stable during transition, despite widespread ownership transfers. Cropland abandonment provides opportunities for increased carbon sequestration, but threatens cultural landscapes and biodiversity. Continued monitoring is important for assessing whether abandoned croplands will eventually reforest or be put back into production and to better understand the consequences of post-socialist land use change for ecosystems and biodiversity.     

繁昌县后备土地资源多宜性评价

合理评价后备土地资源适宜性是有效进行后备土地资源的开发利用和农业结构调整的前提。以繁昌县后备土地资源为例,以区域自然与人为因子对其进行初步筛选,在此基础上建立适宜性评价指标体系,结合生态位适宜度理论构建多宜性评价模型,运用加权平均模型和限制因子模型,对后备土地资源评价单元耕地、园地和林地3种土地利用类型的生态适宜度及限制性生态因子进行评价。结果表明:(1)繁昌县59.38%的后备土地资源不能进行开发,能够开发且对生态环境影响较小的后备土地资源为387.03hm2;(2)繁昌县生境环境较为良好,对各土地利用类型的适宜性较强;单一土地利用类型评价中后备土地资源生态位适宜度值最大值为0.966 5。其中,耕地适宜性最高,林地次之,园地最低;(3)多宜性评价表明繁昌县后备土地资源中耕地适宜性面积最大,林地次之,园地最小;(4)限制繁昌县后备土地资源开发利用的生态因子主要为:排水条件、pH值、障碍层深度。为改善后备土地资源开发利用的生境条件,今后应重视土地质量管理,加强农田水利设施建设,使其适合开发利用的需要。     

Constructing a policy and institutional framework for an ecosystem-based approach to managing the Lower Amazon floodplain

A regional experiment in co-management is underway in the Lower Amazon that is developing the basic policy and institutional elements for an ecosystem-based approach to floodplain management. This initiative grew out of the grassroots movement of floodplain communities who, concerned with excessive commercial fishing pressure on local fisheries, took control of local lakes and implemented collective agreements regulating fishing activity. This paper describes the main elements of the evolving regional management system. This process has focused on four main dimensions of floodplain settlement and resource use: development of sustainable management systems for floodplain resources, policies and institutions for fisheries co-management, collective agreements for grazing cattle on floodplain grasslands, and a land tenure policy consistent with the objectives of the evolving co-management system. Over the last year INCRA, the National Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform, has begun implementation of a comprehensive new land tenure policy that could resolve structural deficiencies in the existing co-management system and provide the basis for the ecosystem-based management of the Lower Amazon floodplain. Readers should send their comments on this paper to: BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.     

Community attitudes toward forest conservation programs through collaborative protected area management in Bangladesh

The formulation of conservation policies with options for creating protected areas is significantly influenced by the social factors of the surrounding communities. Therefore, indigenous knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of the local communities need to be explored during the planning and implementation stages of conservation projects. A government-initiated experiment in co-management was conducted in the Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary, Bangladesh. This paper analyzes the attitudes toward conservation by members of local communities living in and around the wildlife sanctuary. Training incentives on alternative income-generating (AIG) activities and allotment of agricultural lands were distributed among the Forest User Groups. It is of interest to policy makers and resource managers whether this technique leads to improved attitudes on the part of local people. Although there were different attitudes toward protected areas and conservation, overall, a favorable attitude of the respondents was observed. The opinions of respondents also varied based on factors such as village position, village dependency level on forest resources, ethnicity and gender. Increase in annual income resulting from the augmented skills by trainings on AIG activities and getting agricultural lands leased from the Forest Department contributed significantly to the variation in respondents’ conservation attitudes. It is suggested that eliminating inequity and inequality in incentive distribution, discovering and launching training on more need-based livelihood activities, and liberalizing the restriction of resource extraction from the protected area by fixing the harvesting limit would encourage the community to be more cordially and actively involved in the conservation efforts of the sanctuary.     

基于土地利用的三峡库区生态系统服务价值时空格局分析

生态服务价值评估是对生态功能的一种经济性量化评价。以三峡库区为研究区,结合净初级生产力(NPP)、土地利用/土地覆盖变化(LUCC)、遥感(RS)、气候、国家统计数据和GIS技术,采用替代花费法、影子工程法、碳税法、市场价值法和水量平衡法对三峡库区蓄水前后4个时期(2000、2005、2010和2015年)的生态系统服务价值进行量化评估,分析库区生态系统服务价值时空变异格局。结果显示:(1)从2000年到2015年,三峡库区生态服务总价值增加了269.37亿元,增长率为15.32%。(2)其中林地生态系统贡献较高,占48.14%,耕地次之,占44.04%。(3)林地生态系统服务价值随其面积的增长而增加。耕地生态系统面积减少了4.64%,但生态系统服务总价值却增加了14.54%,耕地存在不合理利用的现象。草地生态系统面积减少了16.57%,生态系统服务总价值减少了5.01%,应加强对草地生态系统的保护。总之,三峡工程的实施在整个研究区尺度上对库区生态系统服务功能的影响是利大于弊。在未来的发展中,应合理规划土地利用,制定区域发展和环境保护计划,确保三峡库区生态环境的改善和可持续发展。     

Landscape diversity and associated coping strategies during food shortage periods: evidence from the Sudano-Sahelian region of Burkina Faso

The importance of forest resources for rural communities’ livelihoods has increasingly been recognized over the last three decades. Forests provide food, generate incomes, provide supporting (nutrient cycling, pollination), and regulating (climate, diseases, water regulation and purification) services for agriculture, in addition to their aesthetic, cultural and spiritual role. However, most of the studies on forest resource use do not focus on the role of landscape organization in addressing the impact of climate variability and the risk of food insecurity. This study aims to examine the contribution of woodlands and trees towards decreasing the risk of food insecurity and the importance of landscape structure and composition in coping with food shortages. It took place in two villages in Burkina Faso, on both ends of the woodlands and tree-cover spectrum. We demonstrate that in both landscapes, ecosystem goods, such as shea nuts and fuelwood, represent a safety net for households during food shortage periods. We demonstrate that households shape their adaptive strategies differently depending on the resources available and the structure of the landscape. People living in a landscape with a savannah matrix (Sorobouly) rely on fuelwood trade to purchase cereals, while those living in a landscape with a parkland matrix (Kalembouly) rely on shea nuts. Agricultural, environmental and climate change policies that reinforce the rights of the most vulnerable to access key resources provided by these landscapes and development programs which assure their sustainable use will simultaneously enhance food security and increase their adaptive capacity in the face of climate change and variability.

     

Scenarios and story lines: drivers of land use change in southern Mexico

The study presents three scenarios of land use and cover change (LUCC), the most important factor for environmental degradation in southern Mexico. We developed story lines and quantitative projections for regional scenarios based on historic LUCC processes, environmental policies, socioeconomic drivers, stakeholder consultations and official planning documents to gain a better understanding of drivers of LUCC, and quantitative scenarios were modeled with DINAMICA-EGO. Regionally specific interactions between social and natural systems are recognized, and detrimental policies and policy options for landscape conservation and management for sustainability are acknowledged in a base line, variant and alternative scenario. Incongruent policies and ineffective ground implementation of conservation actions were identified as the critical underlying drivers of deforestation and forest degradation that could lead to a severe reduction in natural forests, while the local socioeconomic situation stays precarious. The baseline scenario parts from an analysis of historic LUCC processes and shows the consequences of LUCC tendencies: 73% of temperate forests and 50% of tropical forests would get deforested until 2030. In the variant scenario, these tendencies are adjusted to planning goals extracted from official documents and recent changes in public policies. The alternative scenario further addresses policy options for fostering conservation and sustainable development, but because of the time lag of implementation, still 59% of temperate forests and 36% of tropical forest would get lost until 2030. Nevertheless, this represents a reduction of 13% of forest loss and 11% less pastureland due to the proposed measures of conservation, and sustainable management, including strategies for reforming agricultural systems, agricultural and forestry policies and trade, land tenure and livelihood risk management.     

土地开发整理农户行为响应机制研究

运用有关行为科学理论。首先了构建了一个模型对土地开发整理中农户行为响应的决策过程进行了模拟．接着从农业比较效益、农地产权及其有效性、农户家庭收入、农户劳动力和土地开发整理的外部性等方面对影响农户土地开发整理响应决策的因素进行了深入分析。通过研究．作者认为．农户的土地开发整理行为不仅要受到宏观因素的影响．还要受到微观因素的影响。具体来讲．农业比较效益的高低、农地产权的有效性是影响农户是否开展土地开发整理活动的关键因素．农户家庭收入水平和家庭劳动力供给情况将直接影响农户土地开发整理的投入水平．而土地外部性是影响整个土地开发整理效率的一个美键因素。在此基础上．作者对如何调动农户进行土地开发整理的积极性．推进土地开发整理的进程提出了建设．例如提高农业经营的比较效益：保证土地产权的稳定性、安全性以及可操作性；增加土地开发整理主要区域、大型工程、重大项目的投入等。     

城乡建设用地增减挂钩政策观察与思考

中国城乡建设用地利用目前存在着城市建设用地指标紧缺、农村建设用地低效利用和城乡建设用地"双增"严重占用耕地等问题。城乡建设用地增减挂钩政策推动下的城乡建设用地置换有望成为破解该问题的综合路径。但是,政策在执行过程中出现了错位现象,产生了较为严重的社会问题,影响了中国城乡土地资源的可持续利用。在总结了政策的提出与实施历程之后,运用文献分析与规划经验相结合的方法,提出了政策执行错位的症结与根源:①"挂钩"政策缺少科学理论支撑导致实践存在盲目性;②土地财政阻碍城乡土地市场一体化损伤农民利益;③保障体系不完善使政府行为公平性、"挂钩"质量与农村权益保障难以落实;④综合评估滞后使"挂钩"实施面临重大风险。在此基础上,"挂钩"研究的重点在于:①构建支撑城乡建设用地置换的理论与评价体系;②构建支撑城乡建设用地置换的城乡统一土地市场体系;③构建支撑城乡建设用地置换的实施保障体系;④构建支撑城乡建设用地置换的项目实施风险评估体系。