Cash transfers' effect on government support: the case of Fiji

While some scholars have found that government post-disaster assistance supports the incumbent, others have shown that incumbent effects among beneficiaries are imperceptible or negative. This article contributes to this debate by using a regression discontinuity design of households affected by Tropical Cyclone Winston in Fiji to show that the type of assistance provided is an important variable in understanding the effects of aid on perceptions of the government. Residents of Fiji who received a post-disaster cash transfer are up to 20 per cent more likely to be very satisfied with the government than are those who did not. The probability further increases if the cash transfer was provided along with in-kind benefits or vouchers, but it is not affected if beneficiaries were also encouraged to use their own pension savings. This paper provides evidence in favour of the ‘attentive citizen’ theory by demonstrating that beneficiaries actively appraise government responses; it also reveals possible effects of elite capture on the relationship between the government and beneficiaries.     

Representative boreal forest habitats in northern Europe,and a revised model for ecosystem management and biodiversity conservation

The natural range of variation of ecosystems provides reference conditions for sustainable management and biodiversity conservation. We review how the understanding of natural reference conditions of boreal forests in northern Europe has changed from earlier perceptions of even-aged dynamics driven by stand-replacing disturbances towards current understanding highlighting the role of non-stand-replacing disturbances and the resultant complex forest dynamics and structures. We show how earlier views and conceptual models of forest disturbance dynamics, including the influential ASIO model, provide estimates of reference conditions that are outside the natural range of variation. Based on a research synthesis, we present a revised forest reference model incorporating the observed complexity of ecosystem dynamics and the prevalence of old forests. Finally, we outline a management model and demonstrate its use in forest ecosystem management and show how regional conservation area needs can be estimated. We conclude that attaining favourable conservation status in northern Europe’s boreal forests requires increasing emphasis on ecosystem management and conservation for old forest characteristics.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1007/s13280-020-01444-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Relation between extinction and assisted colonization of plants in the arctic‐alpine and boreal regions

Assisted colonization of vascular plants is considered by many ecologists an important tool to preserve biodiversity threatened by climate change. I argue that assisted colonization may have negative consequences in arctic‐alpine and boreal regions. The observed slow movement of plants toward the north has been an argument for assisted colonization. However, these range shifts may be slow because for many plants microclimatic warming (ignored by advocates of assisted colonization) has been smaller than macroclimatic warming. Arctic‐alpine and boreal plants may have limited possibilities to disperse farther north or to higher elevations. I suggest that arctic‐alpine species are more likely to be driven to extinction because of competitive exclusion by southern species than by increasing temperatures. If so, the future existence of arctic‐alpine and boreal flora may depend on delaying or preventing the migration of plants toward the north to allow northern species to evolve to survive in a warmer climate. In the arctic‐alpine region, preventing the dispersal of trees and shrubs may be the most important method to mitigate the negative effects of climate change. The purported conservation benefits of assisted colonization should not be used to promote the migration of invasive species by forestry.     

中国台风灾害及其影响的研究

中国是世界上受热带气旋影响最严重的国家之一。本文对影响和登陆中国的热带气旋活动的特征、台风灾害特点及其形成规律作了分析，并讨论了台风灾害对中国社会和经济发展的影响。分析结果指出，影响中国的台风灾害具有发生频率高、突发性强、群发性显著、影响范围广、成灾强度大等特点，这类灾害主要由台风带来的狂风、暴雨、风暴潮及其引发的灾害链所造成。台风灾害不仅造成大批人员伤亡，而且对中国各个经济部门都有严重影响，它所     

生物炭技术缓解我国温室效应潜力初步评估

热解制备的生物炭在实现了将植物吸收的大气CO2封存在土壤中的同时,还将产生多重农业生产效应.在调查我国农林废弃物资源可利用潜力的基础上,利用生命周期评价(life cycle assessment,LCA)方法对热解生物炭技术在缓解温室效应方面的潜力进行了初步评估.研究表明,我国每年可供生物炭生产的农林生物质资源总量为6.04×108t;温室效应净潜力(以CO2e计,CO2e为CO2当量)为5.32×108t,相当于每t原料可封存0.88 t.在整个温室效应潜力中,贡献最大的是大气CO2以生物炭形式在土壤中的封存,约为73.94%,其次是副产物可更新能源生产所产生的温室效应潜力,占总潜力的23.85%.由此可见,以农林废弃生物质资源为原料热解制备生物炭的技术对于缓解我国严峻的温室气体排放压力具有巨大的潜力.     

开化县外向型创汇林业的战略模式

我国森林资源少,消耗量大,林业建设资金短缺。如何发展当前的林业生产、筹集林业建设资金,开化县的外向型创汇林业为我们走出了一条具有中国特色的外向型林业建设道路。本文就开化县发展外向型创汇林业的优点、出口创汇的主要对策、主要商品、发展潜力及其前景进行了论述,对目前正在探索适合我国国情的、解决我国林业“两危”的战略对策提供了现实的典型范例。     

Encouraging the application of sustainable timber harvesting practices: A review of policy tool use and effectiveness in the eastern United States

States use a variety of approaches to encourage landowners and loggers to apply ecologically-sustainable timber harvesting practices, the latter generically referred to as timber harvesting guidelines. A survey of 37 state forestry agency administrators in the eastern U.S. (defined as a contiguous region with the northwest and southwest borders being North Dakota and Texas, respectively) was conducted in 2000 to assess the extent and nature of state guideline programs and the various methods by which states encourage their use. The study found states in the eastern U.S. use a variety of policy tools to promote guideline use, with certain policy tools more common for certain target audiences (e.g., loggers) as well as the types of resources (e.g., wildlife habitat) addressed by the guidelines. Eighty-three percent of the programs directed at encouraging forest landowners in the eastern U.S. to use the timber harvesting practices identified in their state guidebooks are technical assistance, educational, or cost-share programs. Technical assistance and education programs are the most common policy tools used to assist loggers in applying sustainable harvesting practices. Technical assistance and cost-share programs consistently rank among the most effective policy tools for encouraging loggers and landowners to apply the guidelines. Comparing the level of program investment to perceived benefits, assistance programs and education programs rank most efficient landowner programs, whereas premium prices for products and preferential access to contracts are the two most efficient programs directed at loggers. The paper concludes with an assessment of emerging trends and additional information needs associated with encouraging the application of sustainable timber harvesting practices.     

Sources of Deforestation in Tropical Developing Countries

/ Key causes of tropical deforestation are investigated using cross-sectional data for 90 developing countries for the period 1981-1990. Regression results reveal that deforestation is associated with both development and scarcity. Deforestation accelerates with expanding infrastructure, trade, debt, investment in the human capital base, and resource-based economic expansion. On the other hand, absolute and relative scarcities-manifested by growing population pressures, food and land shortages, fuelwood dependency, and inequalities in access to land-are also key factors explaining forest loss. Thus, results point to a fundamental environmental conundrum: Development is required if countries are to alleviate scarcity-driven forms of forest exploitation but is itself a major cause of deforestation. Can countries balance development goals with forest protection? Setting aside the issue of its practical realization, the paper concludes that forest sustainable development cannot be achieved by implementing simple technical improvements in land-use practices alone. Securing the foundations for the sustainability of the forest base will require that countries address the underlying social processes driving tropical forest loss as well.KEY WORDS: Tropical deforestation; Developing countries; Rural land-use practices; Development; Scarcity.     

Firewood consumption in a Nepali village

People's dependence on firewood as a primary source of energy is causing serious deforestation problems in many developing countries. Reliable information on firewood consumption rates is needed to develop afforestation plans and to control deforestation. This study compares three methods used to determine firewood consumption in a Nepali village. Cultural and environmental factors that affect firewood consumption in the village are also examined.Theweight survey proved to be the most accurate method used. The less precisedaily recall andannual recall surveys overestimated actual firewood consumption by factors of 1.76 and 1.95, respectively. Overestimates are attributed to both physical and social factors. In view of the good agreement between daily and annual recall surveys, and the much greater ease of conducting the latter, annual recall surveys are recommended as the most practical method of monitoring firewood consumption rates. Validating the survey with occasional weighed measurements is suggested as a means of improving accuracy.     

Application of agroforestry business models to tropical peatland restoration

Indonesia is home to around 45% of the world’s tropical peatlands which continue to be degraded on a large scale by deforestation, drainage and fire, contributing massively to global GHG emissions. Approaches to restoring the peat–water balance and reducing emissions in peat hydrological units, through managing them based either on full protection or large-scale commercial production, have generally failed to address environmental and local community needs. We present published and unpublished findings pointing to the need for an integrated peatland protection and restoration strategy based first on raising water levels in degraded (drained) peatlands and maintaining them in forested peatlands, thus, reducing GHG emissions. Second, the strategy incorporates ecologically sound agroforestry business models that strengthen livelihoods of smallholders and so sustain their interest in sustainably managing the peatlands. In this paper, we focus on the second element of this strategy in Indonesia. Eight agroforestry business models are proposed based on their merits to attract both smallholders and commercial investors as well as their compatibility with hydrological rehabilitation of the peatlands. While financial returns on investment will vary across sites and countries, our analysis indicates that some models can be profitable over both short and longer time periods with relatively low levels of investment risk.