Exactly, Wain-river protected forest is one of nature vacation destination place from East Kalimantan Province. Wain-river protected forest is combination between forest and river vacation. Wain-river protected forest has 10,025 hectares wide area. At 1932, Wain-river protected forest was under Kutai Sultanate protected. Afterward this exotic vacation destination place has becomes the clean water source for two big cities in East Kalimantan province (Samarinda and Balikpapan). Today this tropical rainforest has become one of the best Indonesia vacation packages from east Kalimantan province.
This forest enriches by many rare animals such as honey bear, black monkey, orang utan, etc. Since 1992, Wain-river protected forest has been used as rehabilitation place for orang utan. This forest has received 80 orang utan species which caught by Borneo Orang Utan Survival Foundations (BOSF). Besides as vacation destination place, this forest is used for flora and fauna laboratory in Balikpapan city. At this forest, the visitors can enjoy the beautiful of wain river panoramas. Wain-river protected forest condition which some of its place is swamp makes the visitors who want to come to this place must have good preparation. The visitors can try tracking experience to explore this forest. While exploring this forest, we can see various rare animals such as honey bear and orang utan.
Wain-river protected forest is located at Balikpapan city, East Kalimantan province. Situated 15KM at the north of Balikpapan city, we can come to this place from Balikpapan by using local public transportation. This forest location is near of Balikpapan – Samarinda route. So, if we want to find great vacation experience, just come to this place and feel great Indonesia vacation Packages from East Kalimantan province.
Showing posts with label sustainable forestry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sustainable forestry. Show all posts
Friday, December 3, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
Grab One Billion Dollars of Oslo Moratorium
Government of Indonesia on May 26, 2010 has signed agreement (Letter of Intent / LoI) in Oslo, Norway on a two-year moratorium on natural forest areas and peatlands in Indonesia.Ini means all permits relating to activities in natural forests will be stopped during two years. As for the affected in this regard include the forest industry, oil palm plantation industry, various mines in the woods and so forth.
Letter of Intent between the Government of Indonesia and Norway is a cooperative agreement between the two sides to decrease its greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation and forest degradation. In return, the Norwegian Government pledged one billion U.S. dollars, or about Rp 1 trillion dollars per year from this deal. It's a very tempting offer.
Campaign Director of Indonesian Forum for Environment (WALHI) Muhammad Teguh Surya in Jakarta, said Walhi moratorium on further deforestation rate is in good faith that need to be appreciated and supported by all parties, because all this deforestation continues to occur and only a few certain people who enjoy it.
According to him, better known moratorium Moratorium Oslo it will not disturb the people's economy but it is very annoying black conglomerate (black corporation), because millions of hectares of forest land has been dominated by only a few people for a period of decades.
In West Kalimantan, for example, data from West Kalimantan Plantation Office until December 2009 said that the total area of oil palm plantation under a permit issued has reached 3,592,633.66 ha and only owned by 15 groups.
Meanwhile, in East Kalimantan (Kaltim), East Kalimantan provincial government has issued a location permit as many as 311 pieces with an area of 3,345,565.69 hectares. Until early November 2010, claiming the Plantation Office Program One Million Hectare Oil Palm has been planted as much as 573,196.41 hectares.
On the other hand, the Minister of Forestry Zulkifli Hasan said the moratorium is the wish of Indonesia to give time for forest governance better. Thus, the signing of the LoI is a realization SBY's government for forest conservation in Indonesia.
"Indonesia is not under pressure or dictation Norway. Moratorium our desires, to forest governance. Indonesia was a big country, it is impossible supervised Norway, "said Zulkifli.
SBY's even set the program One Billion forests in Indonesia to reduce exhaust emissions by 26 percent to launch a man to plant a tree trunk (One Man One Tree).
This commitment is at the Kaltim by Governor dreamily Faroek add the program into one person plant the Five Trees (One Man, Five Trees). Awang well aware that forests need green Kaltim back.
The question is, if Indonesia can win the "reward" of Rp 1 trillion rupiah, whether the money for it certainly will come to the community around the forest has always been poor and disadvantaged?
That kind of money ought to give welfare to the community around the forest during their daily life is dependent on the surrounding forest.
The government should focus on the dignity and welfare peningatan forest communities by providing capital, management advisory business, providing health education and a more easy and affordable and others.
This is our duty to oversee where the money is flowing to a billion dollars. Should the benefits are truly able to provide welfare to the community around the forest in a fair and equitable. Hopefully. (Vb / yul)(Source: Vivaborneo.com)
Letter of Intent between the Government of Indonesia and Norway is a cooperative agreement between the two sides to decrease its greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation and forest degradation. In return, the Norwegian Government pledged one billion U.S. dollars, or about Rp 1 trillion dollars per year from this deal. It's a very tempting offer.
Campaign Director of Indonesian Forum for Environment (WALHI) Muhammad Teguh Surya in Jakarta, said Walhi moratorium on further deforestation rate is in good faith that need to be appreciated and supported by all parties, because all this deforestation continues to occur and only a few certain people who enjoy it.
According to him, better known moratorium Moratorium Oslo it will not disturb the people's economy but it is very annoying black conglomerate (black corporation), because millions of hectares of forest land has been dominated by only a few people for a period of decades.
In West Kalimantan, for example, data from West Kalimantan Plantation Office until December 2009 said that the total area of oil palm plantation under a permit issued has reached 3,592,633.66 ha and only owned by 15 groups.
Meanwhile, in East Kalimantan (Kaltim), East Kalimantan provincial government has issued a location permit as many as 311 pieces with an area of 3,345,565.69 hectares. Until early November 2010, claiming the Plantation Office Program One Million Hectare Oil Palm has been planted as much as 573,196.41 hectares.
On the other hand, the Minister of Forestry Zulkifli Hasan said the moratorium is the wish of Indonesia to give time for forest governance better. Thus, the signing of the LoI is a realization SBY's government for forest conservation in Indonesia.
"Indonesia is not under pressure or dictation Norway. Moratorium our desires, to forest governance. Indonesia was a big country, it is impossible supervised Norway, "said Zulkifli.
SBY's even set the program One Billion forests in Indonesia to reduce exhaust emissions by 26 percent to launch a man to plant a tree trunk (One Man One Tree).
This commitment is at the Kaltim by Governor dreamily Faroek add the program into one person plant the Five Trees (One Man, Five Trees). Awang well aware that forests need green Kaltim back.
The question is, if Indonesia can win the "reward" of Rp 1 trillion rupiah, whether the money for it certainly will come to the community around the forest has always been poor and disadvantaged?
That kind of money ought to give welfare to the community around the forest during their daily life is dependent on the surrounding forest.
The government should focus on the dignity and welfare peningatan forest communities by providing capital, management advisory business, providing health education and a more easy and affordable and others.
This is our duty to oversee where the money is flowing to a billion dollars. Should the benefits are truly able to provide welfare to the community around the forest in a fair and equitable. Hopefully. (Vb / yul)(Source: Vivaborneo.com)
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Biopiracy in the Third World Countries
Case Review and Practice in East Kalimantan
By: Kusnadi Wirasapoetra
What is Biopiracy?
An activity and utilization of biological materials, especially genetic resources, traditional wisdom and their devices indigenous / local without the approval and the community and the country of origin of materials and traditional wisdom.
"What is sought by the red hair and great body high, come to us, and ask that this ago to take samples from many plant our gardens and forests. How was where all of that?
Questions on the dilontarkan by a mother who came from the Dayak tribe Paser to me when about mid-1994. Previous about 3 January 1993, spread the news in daily newspapers Manuntung (Kaltim Post now), that the earth's crop pegs have successfully dibudidayakan by 2 people citizens of North Australia, was also being carried out testing or chemical analysis (ekstraksinya) The Earth to the womb some diseases.
Next in 1998, when I travel in the blood of Tanjung Issuy, precisely in the village Mancong, get news from the local community through the discussions in the stalls, not that long serombongan researchers have come from foreign countries to Japan are the type of survey, palm-trees for paleman bahanpangan. Questions and newspaper news that may be very similar also occurred in various regions across the Indnesia.
Resources Traditional Knowledge Society
Natural resources (in this case forest) is used by many native people of East Kalimantan, in addition to wood for building materials in the home, as well as other resources, rattan, gum resin, honey, and so forth. Gum resin used for the community as a putty material, lighting and lungun (chest). A bird believed to nest the various types of food and certain medicines. Honey bees as a food that is believed to increase energy and bat a certain disease. In addition madunya, honey wax traditionally by the Ancient Chinese used as embrocation. Tengkawang, known for making cooking oil, butter green. Biodiversity, biological resources of the island of Kalimantan is not limited. But some of the illustrations give a picture of the rich genetic resources for industry at this time of existence is threatened.
Dayak Paser people, who are in the region of East Kalimantan to the south that is included in group Ngaju-Luwangan, when the stomach feel sick and have symptoms of diarrhea, the leaves of a direct search. When he fell ill find rice leaf worm, he immediately took a kind of sap, then ago sprayed on rice that fell ill. When he found it burn, then it provides a kind of oil from one of the forest trees to be smeared on the wound.
Similarly for the Kayan tribe Dayal APO (APO Kayan Group) felt when the stomach pain, the kind of gaharu wood ampelur taken to mengbatinya. Community Resources Banuaq, known as the treatment of cancer. There are similar plants pegs earth taken root by the Dayak tribe in East Kalimantan to muscle disease, is not enthusiastic, increase appetite, increase virility, cure diabetes mixture, and so forth. Since Borneo island is known, then since it is already exploited natural resources and knowledge. To date, the fate indigenous (Dayak) in Kalimantan have no access to natural resources and knowledge from generation to generation owned and has been, caused by the policies of natural resource management that dominated Leh countries.
Various biological process that is identical with the indigenous Dayak culture, protection and utilization of hereditary awake well. An example of genetic resources Kalimantan that was unearthed from a cultural ceremony purchase process, which require different types of plants and animals as a condition to running activities.
Results of research CSBI (Seed Bank Community Improvement Program) Foundation in 1995 Rice, biological diversity in the traditional ceremony for purchase 50-100 plant species used, ranging from hard plant, herb, flower, type of rattan and bamboo-bambuan. In the same year, the results inventarisai types of rice in the local indigenous Dayak Paser and some indigenous Benuaq, Tidung in East Kalimantan, found 400 (four hundred) local varieties of rice paddy fields and mountains. Then in 1999-2000, the evaluation of rice varieties by the community and Indonesia Rice Foundation in cooperation with the Bogor Balitan, found almost as many as 300 varieties in the local District Paser, Samarinda and the City Build (Kutai). This amount is far from a reality that exists. In fact, the dry season long years 1997-1998, many local varieties of rice are lost because farmers failed to harvest and forest fires and land, in some rural areas Mahakam river, the region Bentian, Banuaq.
East Kalimantan a wide area 211,440 km2, has a biological diversity that is high enough, so various ethnic Dayaknya. Dayak communities in East Kalimantan with kamum termed indigenous (indegenous people), according to the English dictionary (hall Library, 1991), contains the definition, comes from the place concerned. The researchers (etnolog and anthropologist) agree that the native island Kalimantan adala mainland immigrants from Asia, ie, Yunan Province, South China. Dayak tribe of Borneo, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Bunai Darusalam, is not known exactly how the group number. And not easily grouping against Dayak tribe. According to the version of the Tjilik Riwut (1958), former Governor of Central Kalimantan in the book Building Kalimantan, the Dayak tribe into eighteen tribes for the entire island of Kalimantan is divided into small tribal 403-450.
According to data issued in 1996 by Summer Institute of Linguistics the U.S., 4 in Kalimantan prpinsi there are 82 languages used in daily life Leh Dayak tribe. Keragamana the language of this showed high enough in the process of high culture. In the same year, the original indigenous population of 9,110,500 inhabitants of Kalimantan, including a small region, Sabah and Serawak. This amount is certainly still far from the actual condition, the level of population growth on the island of Kalimantan.
While resources and traditional knowledge for the Dayak tribe in Kalimantan include plants, animals and other materials that are sacred, seremonial (traditional ceremony) and the heritage from generation to generation. In ownership of resources and knowledge for the Dayak people are usually not binding (communal / joint), had a spiritual function and feasible to protection. Therefore, maintaining the resources and knowledge this is the most important part of the struggle of the people on the Dayak tribe of resources and traditional knowledge (including land area and territorial) are hereditary which is protected by rules of local custom.
Exploitation of natural resources Kalimantan, through the control of forest activities through the activities of Forest Rights (HPH), Industrial Forest Plantation (HTI), transmigration, plantations, modern agriculture, mining is controlled by the authorities and the investor (capital), is the exploitation of the rights of natural and traditional indigenous Kalimantan. Not only on the level of control of forest only, exploitation of natural resources and traditional knowledge is also done by the capitalist (multinational companies) through the research institutions, private government, institution and individual universities in Indonesia have long since occurred. Impact of exploitation is the damage and devastation that occurred involved in this research institutions, pharmaceutical companies (medical, cultural (craft / artefacts), the system of natural resource management in Kalimantan that lead to pillage the resources of traditional knowledge and biodiversity.
By: Kusnadi Wirasapoetra
What is Biopiracy?
An activity and utilization of biological materials, especially genetic resources, traditional wisdom and their devices indigenous / local without the approval and the community and the country of origin of materials and traditional wisdom.
"What is sought by the red hair and great body high, come to us, and ask that this ago to take samples from many plant our gardens and forests. How was where all of that?
Questions on the dilontarkan by a mother who came from the Dayak tribe Paser to me when about mid-1994. Previous about 3 January 1993, spread the news in daily newspapers Manuntung (Kaltim Post now), that the earth's crop pegs have successfully dibudidayakan by 2 people citizens of North Australia, was also being carried out testing or chemical analysis (ekstraksinya) The Earth to the womb some diseases.
Next in 1998, when I travel in the blood of Tanjung Issuy, precisely in the village Mancong, get news from the local community through the discussions in the stalls, not that long serombongan researchers have come from foreign countries to Japan are the type of survey, palm-trees for paleman bahanpangan. Questions and newspaper news that may be very similar also occurred in various regions across the Indnesia.
Resources Traditional Knowledge Society
Natural resources (in this case forest) is used by many native people of East Kalimantan, in addition to wood for building materials in the home, as well as other resources, rattan, gum resin, honey, and so forth. Gum resin used for the community as a putty material, lighting and lungun (chest). A bird believed to nest the various types of food and certain medicines. Honey bees as a food that is believed to increase energy and bat a certain disease. In addition madunya, honey wax traditionally by the Ancient Chinese used as embrocation. Tengkawang, known for making cooking oil, butter green. Biodiversity, biological resources of the island of Kalimantan is not limited. But some of the illustrations give a picture of the rich genetic resources for industry at this time of existence is threatened.
Dayak Paser people, who are in the region of East Kalimantan to the south that is included in group Ngaju-Luwangan, when the stomach feel sick and have symptoms of diarrhea, the leaves of a direct search. When he fell ill find rice leaf worm, he immediately took a kind of sap, then ago sprayed on rice that fell ill. When he found it burn, then it provides a kind of oil from one of the forest trees to be smeared on the wound.
Similarly for the Kayan tribe Dayal APO (APO Kayan Group) felt when the stomach pain, the kind of gaharu wood ampelur taken to mengbatinya. Community Resources Banuaq, known as the treatment of cancer. There are similar plants pegs earth taken root by the Dayak tribe in East Kalimantan to muscle disease, is not enthusiastic, increase appetite, increase virility, cure diabetes mixture, and so forth. Since Borneo island is known, then since it is already exploited natural resources and knowledge. To date, the fate indigenous (Dayak) in Kalimantan have no access to natural resources and knowledge from generation to generation owned and has been, caused by the policies of natural resource management that dominated Leh countries.
Various biological process that is identical with the indigenous Dayak culture, protection and utilization of hereditary awake well. An example of genetic resources Kalimantan that was unearthed from a cultural ceremony purchase process, which require different types of plants and animals as a condition to running activities.
Results of research CSBI (Seed Bank Community Improvement Program) Foundation in 1995 Rice, biological diversity in the traditional ceremony for purchase 50-100 plant species used, ranging from hard plant, herb, flower, type of rattan and bamboo-bambuan. In the same year, the results inventarisai types of rice in the local indigenous Dayak Paser and some indigenous Benuaq, Tidung in East Kalimantan, found 400 (four hundred) local varieties of rice paddy fields and mountains. Then in 1999-2000, the evaluation of rice varieties by the community and Indonesia Rice Foundation in cooperation with the Bogor Balitan, found almost as many as 300 varieties in the local District Paser, Samarinda and the City Build (Kutai). This amount is far from a reality that exists. In fact, the dry season long years 1997-1998, many local varieties of rice are lost because farmers failed to harvest and forest fires and land, in some rural areas Mahakam river, the region Bentian, Banuaq.
East Kalimantan a wide area 211,440 km2, has a biological diversity that is high enough, so various ethnic Dayaknya. Dayak communities in East Kalimantan with kamum termed indigenous (indegenous people), according to the English dictionary (hall Library, 1991), contains the definition, comes from the place concerned. The researchers (etnolog and anthropologist) agree that the native island Kalimantan adala mainland immigrants from Asia, ie, Yunan Province, South China. Dayak tribe of Borneo, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Bunai Darusalam, is not known exactly how the group number. And not easily grouping against Dayak tribe. According to the version of the Tjilik Riwut (1958), former Governor of Central Kalimantan in the book Building Kalimantan, the Dayak tribe into eighteen tribes for the entire island of Kalimantan is divided into small tribal 403-450.
According to data issued in 1996 by Summer Institute of Linguistics the U.S., 4 in Kalimantan prpinsi there are 82 languages used in daily life Leh Dayak tribe. Keragamana the language of this showed high enough in the process of high culture. In the same year, the original indigenous population of 9,110,500 inhabitants of Kalimantan, including a small region, Sabah and Serawak. This amount is certainly still far from the actual condition, the level of population growth on the island of Kalimantan.
While resources and traditional knowledge for the Dayak tribe in Kalimantan include plants, animals and other materials that are sacred, seremonial (traditional ceremony) and the heritage from generation to generation. In ownership of resources and knowledge for the Dayak people are usually not binding (communal / joint), had a spiritual function and feasible to protection. Therefore, maintaining the resources and knowledge this is the most important part of the struggle of the people on the Dayak tribe of resources and traditional knowledge (including land area and territorial) are hereditary which is protected by rules of local custom.
Exploitation of natural resources Kalimantan, through the control of forest activities through the activities of Forest Rights (HPH), Industrial Forest Plantation (HTI), transmigration, plantations, modern agriculture, mining is controlled by the authorities and the investor (capital), is the exploitation of the rights of natural and traditional indigenous Kalimantan. Not only on the level of control of forest only, exploitation of natural resources and traditional knowledge is also done by the capitalist (multinational companies) through the research institutions, private government, institution and individual universities in Indonesia have long since occurred. Impact of exploitation is the damage and devastation that occurred involved in this research institutions, pharmaceutical companies (medical, cultural (craft / artefacts), the system of natural resource management in Kalimantan that lead to pillage the resources of traditional knowledge and biodiversity.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Forest and land fires, What should be done immediately?
In every incident of fire and forest land, there is always the question, "What should be done immediately?"
The main and urgent (in the short term) that needs to be done when there is a fire extinguishing. Until now, efforts to extinguishing forest fires and land continue to be true, but the results have not been significant. This is because the comparison with the resources extinguisher luasahan land that does not burn balanced. In addition, the management of fire fighting is still not effective.
For the effectiveness of fire fighting and forest land, some of the things that need to be done is:
Extinction in the Land / Field
* Mobilization and involvement of various parties in the fire fighting activities.
Currently, the involvement of various parties in extinguishing forest fires and land is still minimal. Community involvement is very important, because they are located directly on the location of fire.
* Installation and Placement Tools extinguisher in a location Rawan fire.
Currently, most equipment concentrate fire on the office / posko located in the city of provincial / district. So that at the time required to extinction, a mobilization tool constraints. In addition, the areas identified in fire-prone, there is rarely a means of water container, such embung-embung water. Installation and placement of equipment / facilities must be done before the fire.
* Search for substitute water for fire fighting.
Water is the most important element in fire fighting. However, not all of the location of the fire there is water, so to look for water that can be used to turn off the fire. The material can be used, among others, soil, sand, tree trunks and wet / fresh prostrate. Substitution of water can only be done for the surface fire. Turf fire for land, water is absolutely necessary.
* Selection Method Extinction right.
There are several methods of extinguishing forest fires and land. Currently, most methods used are extinguishing the fire / fire directly, though not all types of fires can be directly by others with extinction. Extinction can be done when the fire has not been widespread and the number of gang extinguisher adequate. However, when a fire has occurred on the broad scale, extinction is not directly effective, they should look for other methods. An effective method for fire that is already widespread localize fire. The concept is the expense of areas that have been burned with a certain area rescuing other broader.
Extinction of the Air
* Heavy Buatan
Rain is the best way and most effective way to put out the fire. Unfortunately rain occurs naturally in the season. Land and forest fires usually occur during the dry season, so it is very difficult to expect the rain to help pemadamanya. How can that be implemented is an artificial rain. However, artificial rain can be held when conditions awannya possible. Several incidents of fire, rain made terbukti significant fires and reduce the impact.
* Air bombardment (Extinction Using Aircraft)
Fire fighting aircraft can effectively use the available water resources and adequate capacity transport aircraft. Bombardment of several efforts to water, such as in Riau and Central Kalimantan, efektifitasnya still low, because the carrying capacity of water a small plane (300-500 liters), so that the level of the fire, can not be quenched significantly.
Method extinction from the air requires a high cost. In fact, the problem often cited by government agencies in handling forest fires and land cost is a problem.
The question, whether the government has enough funds to put out the fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan to use aircraft from Russia, while the government always complained about the limited funds on fire? If kendalanya funds, extinction of land (in the field) is a cheap way, provided that is done is done in a way that is more effective (to a certain location or condition of the air aided extinction). But if there is money, why not do from the first to use fire fighting capacity of the aircraft? So that the fire will not separah at this time. In addition to ability, the government required a willingness to overcome the fire and its impact, and that the will should arise because of the government, not a protest or because of pressure from neighboring countries.
The main and urgent (in the short term) that needs to be done when there is a fire extinguishing. Until now, efforts to extinguishing forest fires and land continue to be true, but the results have not been significant. This is because the comparison with the resources extinguisher luasahan land that does not burn balanced. In addition, the management of fire fighting is still not effective.
For the effectiveness of fire fighting and forest land, some of the things that need to be done is:
Extinction in the Land / Field
* Mobilization and involvement of various parties in the fire fighting activities.
Currently, the involvement of various parties in extinguishing forest fires and land is still minimal. Community involvement is very important, because they are located directly on the location of fire.
* Installation and Placement Tools extinguisher in a location Rawan fire.
Currently, most equipment concentrate fire on the office / posko located in the city of provincial / district. So that at the time required to extinction, a mobilization tool constraints. In addition, the areas identified in fire-prone, there is rarely a means of water container, such embung-embung water. Installation and placement of equipment / facilities must be done before the fire.
* Search for substitute water for fire fighting.
Water is the most important element in fire fighting. However, not all of the location of the fire there is water, so to look for water that can be used to turn off the fire. The material can be used, among others, soil, sand, tree trunks and wet / fresh prostrate. Substitution of water can only be done for the surface fire. Turf fire for land, water is absolutely necessary.
* Selection Method Extinction right.
There are several methods of extinguishing forest fires and land. Currently, most methods used are extinguishing the fire / fire directly, though not all types of fires can be directly by others with extinction. Extinction can be done when the fire has not been widespread and the number of gang extinguisher adequate. However, when a fire has occurred on the broad scale, extinction is not directly effective, they should look for other methods. An effective method for fire that is already widespread localize fire. The concept is the expense of areas that have been burned with a certain area rescuing other broader.
Extinction of the Air
* Heavy Buatan
Rain is the best way and most effective way to put out the fire. Unfortunately rain occurs naturally in the season. Land and forest fires usually occur during the dry season, so it is very difficult to expect the rain to help pemadamanya. How can that be implemented is an artificial rain. However, artificial rain can be held when conditions awannya possible. Several incidents of fire, rain made terbukti significant fires and reduce the impact.
* Air bombardment (Extinction Using Aircraft)
Fire fighting aircraft can effectively use the available water resources and adequate capacity transport aircraft. Bombardment of several efforts to water, such as in Riau and Central Kalimantan, efektifitasnya still low, because the carrying capacity of water a small plane (300-500 liters), so that the level of the fire, can not be quenched significantly.
Method extinction from the air requires a high cost. In fact, the problem often cited by government agencies in handling forest fires and land cost is a problem.
The question, whether the government has enough funds to put out the fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan to use aircraft from Russia, while the government always complained about the limited funds on fire? If kendalanya funds, extinction of land (in the field) is a cheap way, provided that is done is done in a way that is more effective (to a certain location or condition of the air aided extinction). But if there is money, why not do from the first to use fire fighting capacity of the aircraft? So that the fire will not separah at this time. In addition to ability, the government required a willingness to overcome the fire and its impact, and that the will should arise because of the government, not a protest or because of pressure from neighboring countries.
The bankruptcy Industry Pulp and Paper Indonesia
The global economic crisis at almost the entire world, including Indonesia, has made the labor victims. PHK become an option for companies exposed to electrical current economic crisis. But in fact, related or not with the crisis, PHK of labor become a guide for employers to benefit as big. Even the fate of affected workers PHK a place of negotiations between employers and the government.
This is evident in the case of PT RAPP PHK employee a thousand reasons why the economic crisis. In order to ensure the continuity of operations, management leadership Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) forced resigned and PHK thousands employee. PHK but that is to press the government so that RAPP (and IKPP) in Riau can use the "illegal timber" has be confiscated by the local police for their production. RAPP production (and IKPP) was stopped for 13 minutes because upset supply of wood for the production level to maintain a stable and efficient. Upset wood supply because forest cutting done by RAPP, forbidden by the government because clearly harmful environment.
Case forest cuting illegally also laden political interests between the government and employers. This can be seen with the related investigation SP3 cases illegal logging is carried out 13 timber companies in Riau by law enforcement (High Court and POLDA Riau). Although 13 companies to the timber is clearly violated Minister's Decree No. 541/2002 and Government Regulation No. 34/2002, which has the authority negate the governor and regents to issue business license on the Utilization of Wood Forest Plants (IUPHHK-HT).
At least 34 have been issued in Riau IUPHHK-HT broadly 378,299.50 hectares. To 34 IUPHHK-HT is given on natural forests, which criteria should be allowed to land the Forest Plantation Industry (HTI) is the land empty, the reed or shrub. Permission should not be above the potential of natural forest wood above 10 cubic meters per hectare.
The process of giving permission and SP3 cases to the illegal logging of timber to 13 companies in Riau showed evidence keberpihakan the government to companies. The government whispering while employers get the problem. although the problem as a result of the act through their own practices, such as illegal logging. However, when poor people get a natural ecological disaster as a result of the prolonged ekploitasi natural resources, even the government says, it is as usual and that it is a natural phenomenon, and not least, the money in the disaster response even corruption by the State apparatus.
In addition to PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP), other companies that enjoy the natural forests are PT Indah KIAT Pulp and Paper (IKPP), PT Arara Abadi, PT Bina Duta Laksana, PT Rimba Mandau Lestari, PT Jaya Main segment , Madukoro PT, PT Merbau Pelalawan Lestari, PT Nusa Manunggal Prima, PT Bukit Indah Batubuh Sel, PT Citra Sumber Sejahtera, and PT Mitra Selaras Kembang. With the SP3, the forest products that have been will be returned to the company and this company can continue business forest loging harmful for all people of Indonesia.
In addition to the license and remove SP3 cases to the illegal logging of timber companies, the government also provides various convenience to companies to continue to extend this concession HTI in various ways, including by using violence.
This can be seen on the Tragedy mysticism nugget at Bengkalis district, on 18 December 2008 in which PT Arara Abadi (one of the companies that get SP3 illegal logging cases) by using the strength of POLDA Riau, Satpol PP, attack the settlements inhabited KK 1300 and has been burning more less than 500 homes, 2 killed five, shot 2 people and dozens of other farmers injured and arrested without a clear reason. When this village, which is recognized by the State administrative changed immediately become HTI plantation. In this case the government has not only do violation human rights with the weight but does not recognize the very real existence of the people as one of the elements of a nation.
Chrusading something that will be reasonable if this is left to continue. The Government will continue to be subject to the owner of capital and will continue to torment the people. Therefore, we stated:
1. PHK reject conducted by PT. RAPP industry and pulp and paper in Indonesia, for reasons clear only to be resourceful PHK from the company to negotiate with the government so that they are given the management of natural forest expansion.
2. SP3 reject cases illegal logging issued by law enforcement in Riau, because clearly it conflicts with a sense of justice for the people and will remain in the Indonesia environtment
3. Rescue of the pulp and paper industry by the government must involve trade unions, farmers' unions, indigenous peoples, environmental organizations and elements of the other community. This will be the assurance that the government will precede the interests of the people rather than the interests of capital owners.
This is evident in the case of PT RAPP PHK employee a thousand reasons why the economic crisis. In order to ensure the continuity of operations, management leadership Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) forced resigned and PHK thousands employee. PHK but that is to press the government so that RAPP (and IKPP) in Riau can use the "illegal timber" has be confiscated by the local police for their production. RAPP production (and IKPP) was stopped for 13 minutes because upset supply of wood for the production level to maintain a stable and efficient. Upset wood supply because forest cutting done by RAPP, forbidden by the government because clearly harmful environment.
Case forest cuting illegally also laden political interests between the government and employers. This can be seen with the related investigation SP3 cases illegal logging is carried out 13 timber companies in Riau by law enforcement (High Court and POLDA Riau). Although 13 companies to the timber is clearly violated Minister's Decree No. 541/2002 and Government Regulation No. 34/2002, which has the authority negate the governor and regents to issue business license on the Utilization of Wood Forest Plants (IUPHHK-HT).
At least 34 have been issued in Riau IUPHHK-HT broadly 378,299.50 hectares. To 34 IUPHHK-HT is given on natural forests, which criteria should be allowed to land the Forest Plantation Industry (HTI) is the land empty, the reed or shrub. Permission should not be above the potential of natural forest wood above 10 cubic meters per hectare.
The process of giving permission and SP3 cases to the illegal logging of timber to 13 companies in Riau showed evidence keberpihakan the government to companies. The government whispering while employers get the problem. although the problem as a result of the act through their own practices, such as illegal logging. However, when poor people get a natural ecological disaster as a result of the prolonged ekploitasi natural resources, even the government says, it is as usual and that it is a natural phenomenon, and not least, the money in the disaster response even corruption by the State apparatus.
In addition to PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP), other companies that enjoy the natural forests are PT Indah KIAT Pulp and Paper (IKPP), PT Arara Abadi, PT Bina Duta Laksana, PT Rimba Mandau Lestari, PT Jaya Main segment , Madukoro PT, PT Merbau Pelalawan Lestari, PT Nusa Manunggal Prima, PT Bukit Indah Batubuh Sel, PT Citra Sumber Sejahtera, and PT Mitra Selaras Kembang. With the SP3, the forest products that have been will be returned to the company and this company can continue business forest loging harmful for all people of Indonesia.
In addition to the license and remove SP3 cases to the illegal logging of timber companies, the government also provides various convenience to companies to continue to extend this concession HTI in various ways, including by using violence.
This can be seen on the Tragedy mysticism nugget at Bengkalis district, on 18 December 2008 in which PT Arara Abadi (one of the companies that get SP3 illegal logging cases) by using the strength of POLDA Riau, Satpol PP, attack the settlements inhabited KK 1300 and has been burning more less than 500 homes, 2 killed five, shot 2 people and dozens of other farmers injured and arrested without a clear reason. When this village, which is recognized by the State administrative changed immediately become HTI plantation. In this case the government has not only do violation human rights with the weight but does not recognize the very real existence of the people as one of the elements of a nation.
Chrusading something that will be reasonable if this is left to continue. The Government will continue to be subject to the owner of capital and will continue to torment the people. Therefore, we stated:
1. PHK reject conducted by PT. RAPP industry and pulp and paper in Indonesia, for reasons clear only to be resourceful PHK from the company to negotiate with the government so that they are given the management of natural forest expansion.
2. SP3 reject cases illegal logging issued by law enforcement in Riau, because clearly it conflicts with a sense of justice for the people and will remain in the Indonesia environtment
3. Rescue of the pulp and paper industry by the government must involve trade unions, farmers' unions, indigenous peoples, environmental organizations and elements of the other community. This will be the assurance that the government will precede the interests of the people rather than the interests of capital owners.
Environmental damage in the Central Climate Change Threats
(by Ari Muhammad)
REPORT of the Fourth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC end of 2007 the temperature changes, the impact has been to many physical and biological systems of nature. Level possible threat of climate change is high confidence, has a number Percentage of around 80%.
Reports working group responsible for the knowledge and technology (Scientific & Technology) and even estimate the end of the 21st century, earth's temperature will increase 1,8-4 C, while the surface of the sea water will rise up to 28 - 43 cm, if there is no serious effort decrease the concentration of Glass House Gas (Grk).
Poor quality of the environment due to edge issues and the impact of environmental factors in the development of a major environmental disaster that affects the quality of social and economic development. This put the region on the vulnerability of the larger environmental disaster. This situation means that climate change will encourage and accelerate the disaster and environmental degradation.
Habituate just what happens in big cities, for example Jakarta. When the green and the water catchment and lacking (plus lack of coordination among the guard and maintain the management of the watershed upstream to downstream) has decreased due to inconsistencies of local governments (local governments) to plan space own governance. Rain with a high intensity easily "disappear" some major areas Jakarta.
On the other hand, the study reports the Department of Public Works (2007) said that the impact of the threat of climate change increase the surface of the sea water will become a threat to some industries such as oil rig and gas in the sea, transportation, fishery, agriculture and ecotourism villages and coastal communities. This report is the strengthening of statement fourth IPCC report.
In the context of decentralization and autonomy, environmental degradation, particularly due to changes in land-including the forest-fire, and legal and illegal logging have been reported and often delivered through a number of advocacy organizations that have a concern with environmental issues. Thus the revitalization of the policy environment, including the threat of climate change is already on top priority.
IPCC said that the South will experience a decrease in rainfall and the North region will have increased rainfall. The threat of drought due to El-Nino phenomenon would also (again) become factor incentives for forest fires that have been the millions of hectares of forest land. Threats to increased in surface sea water and the threat of sinking the islands.
The failure of environmental management is including the "marginalization" environmental issues by each sector. For example, appear on the issue of watershed management. Data shows that the issue of water in major cities in Indonesia, not only due to high water run off as a result of the lack of and catch the water but also water quality due to industrial pollution, sea water intrusion, the decline in ground water and drought.
Flooding problems at this time, not only dominated in urban areas. In the scope of climate change and the failure of environmental management before, the increase of rainfall a potential threat to flood the facilities and infrastructure damaged and wet lands.
Adapting
With some throught climate change convention as the commitment countries in the fight against global warming and start said little time in the last two years the issue of climate change adaptation to be the main focus of attention and developing countries and the poor.
The limited resources of funds, technology, and human positioned countries are highly vulnerable to climate change. Adaptation to climate change is defined as the ability of a system (including ecosystems, social, economic, and institutional) to overcome the impact of climate change. Therefore, these countries are encouraged to have the ability adaptation (adaptative capacity), the ability of a system (including ecosystems, social, economic, and institutional) to adjust to the impact of climate change, reducing the damage, take advantage of the opportunity, and overcome the consequences.
With the push of adaptation to climate change into national development agenda or the region, risk considerations and the impact of climate change is translated not only in the medium term strategic plan, but also to the policies and institutional structures.
During this time, more focus on the development of economic considerations alone. But evidence shows that economic development is not a conception environment will be more "sensitive" to the economic ruin itself. Hurricanes Mitch incident, that the country's economic growth in their overthrow of 4-5% year. Data presented the World Bank between 1984 to 2003, the percentage of loss of national income three times larger occurred in the low-income countries and middle (80% of the world) as a result of climate change.
Problems in the climate change, is a loss incurred will be greater than the fix cost after the disaster occurred. Therefore, the Government should have put the issue of the failure of environmental management as a priority at this time.
Second priority, budget allocation and Expenditure Budget Financing Country or Region should have been efforts to integrate adaptation in all sectors related to the vulnerability to climate change. In other words, rather than waiting 'litle money' from the countries that are required to provide funding for adaptation commitment not know when that realization.
REPORT of the Fourth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC end of 2007 the temperature changes, the impact has been to many physical and biological systems of nature. Level possible threat of climate change is high confidence, has a number Percentage of around 80%.
Reports working group responsible for the knowledge and technology (Scientific & Technology) and even estimate the end of the 21st century, earth's temperature will increase 1,8-4 C, while the surface of the sea water will rise up to 28 - 43 cm, if there is no serious effort decrease the concentration of Glass House Gas (Grk).
Poor quality of the environment due to edge issues and the impact of environmental factors in the development of a major environmental disaster that affects the quality of social and economic development. This put the region on the vulnerability of the larger environmental disaster. This situation means that climate change will encourage and accelerate the disaster and environmental degradation.
Habituate just what happens in big cities, for example Jakarta. When the green and the water catchment and lacking (plus lack of coordination among the guard and maintain the management of the watershed upstream to downstream) has decreased due to inconsistencies of local governments (local governments) to plan space own governance. Rain with a high intensity easily "disappear" some major areas Jakarta.
On the other hand, the study reports the Department of Public Works (2007) said that the impact of the threat of climate change increase the surface of the sea water will become a threat to some industries such as oil rig and gas in the sea, transportation, fishery, agriculture and ecotourism villages and coastal communities. This report is the strengthening of statement fourth IPCC report.
In the context of decentralization and autonomy, environmental degradation, particularly due to changes in land-including the forest-fire, and legal and illegal logging have been reported and often delivered through a number of advocacy organizations that have a concern with environmental issues. Thus the revitalization of the policy environment, including the threat of climate change is already on top priority.
IPCC said that the South will experience a decrease in rainfall and the North region will have increased rainfall. The threat of drought due to El-Nino phenomenon would also (again) become factor incentives for forest fires that have been the millions of hectares of forest land. Threats to increased in surface sea water and the threat of sinking the islands.
The failure of environmental management is including the "marginalization" environmental issues by each sector. For example, appear on the issue of watershed management. Data shows that the issue of water in major cities in Indonesia, not only due to high water run off as a result of the lack of and catch the water but also water quality due to industrial pollution, sea water intrusion, the decline in ground water and drought.
Flooding problems at this time, not only dominated in urban areas. In the scope of climate change and the failure of environmental management before, the increase of rainfall a potential threat to flood the facilities and infrastructure damaged and wet lands.
Adapting
With some throught climate change convention as the commitment countries in the fight against global warming and start said little time in the last two years the issue of climate change adaptation to be the main focus of attention and developing countries and the poor.
The limited resources of funds, technology, and human positioned countries are highly vulnerable to climate change. Adaptation to climate change is defined as the ability of a system (including ecosystems, social, economic, and institutional) to overcome the impact of climate change. Therefore, these countries are encouraged to have the ability adaptation (adaptative capacity), the ability of a system (including ecosystems, social, economic, and institutional) to adjust to the impact of climate change, reducing the damage, take advantage of the opportunity, and overcome the consequences.
With the push of adaptation to climate change into national development agenda or the region, risk considerations and the impact of climate change is translated not only in the medium term strategic plan, but also to the policies and institutional structures.
During this time, more focus on the development of economic considerations alone. But evidence shows that economic development is not a conception environment will be more "sensitive" to the economic ruin itself. Hurricanes Mitch incident, that the country's economic growth in their overthrow of 4-5% year. Data presented the World Bank between 1984 to 2003, the percentage of loss of national income three times larger occurred in the low-income countries and middle (80% of the world) as a result of climate change.
Problems in the climate change, is a loss incurred will be greater than the fix cost after the disaster occurred. Therefore, the Government should have put the issue of the failure of environmental management as a priority at this time.
Second priority, budget allocation and Expenditure Budget Financing Country or Region should have been efforts to integrate adaptation in all sectors related to the vulnerability to climate change. In other words, rather than waiting 'litle money' from the countries that are required to provide funding for adaptation commitment not know when that realization.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
TROPICAL FORESTRY
In the past, timber harvest in the Tropics has seldom been followed by regeneration. Conversion to agriculture is often permanent or results in soil erosion. Timber harvest contracts have usually been short term and have provided little or no incentive for timber companies to replant. So little reforestation has been done in the Tropics that many people believe these forests cannot be restored. However, there are many examples of successful reforestation in India, Indonesia, and the Caribbean.
In the Tropics, as elsewhere, forestry is a mixture of modern innovations and ancient techniques borrowed from local tradition. Plantation forestry is common. Forest reserves have been established for timber harvest, wildlife habitat, scenery, outdoor recreation, or watershed protection. And in the Tropics, agroforestry-tree growing combined with agricultural cropping-is much more common than elsewhere.
Plantation Forestry
In the Tropics, trees are often planted and grown in plantations for wood production. Often, many species must be tried to determine which will grow best. Plantations must also be supported by major investments in forest management and research. Forest nurseries must be established, and planting techniques and cultural practices (spacing and thinning, pruning, fertilization, insect and disease control, and genetic improvement) must be developed.
Extensive pine plantations have been established in the moist Tropics, mainly in South Africa and Australia. Species most often planted include Caribbean pine (Pinus caribaea), ocote pine (P. oocarpa), slash pine (P. elliottii), and benguet pine (P. kesiya). Pines are popular plantation trees because they are generally fast growing, have good survival rates, and are adapted to a wide variety of environments, including degraded forest sites.
Eucalypts, including species such as Eucalyptus grandis, E. deglupta, E. tereticornis, E. globulus, and E. camaldulensis are favored for the same reasons. Eucalypts are commonly grown for pulp, fuel, and lumber. Other species commonly planted include teak (Tectona grandis), Honduras mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), melina (Gmelina arborea) beefwood (Casuarina equisetifolia), and Mexican cypress (Cupressus lusitanica).
Forest Reserves
There are many reasons for establishing forest reserves in the Tropics. They can restore watersheds and wildlife habitat, improve scenic beauty and opportunities for outdoor recreation, and produce wood and other products for local use and export. Many forest products contribute to the sustenance and income of local people: wildlife and fish, firewood, rubber, fruits and nuts, rattan, medicinal herbs, floral greenery, and charcoal.
Perhaps the most famous of these reserves is the 5,600 square mile (14,500 k squared) Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. With its vast herds of grazing ungulates (hoofed animals) and predators, including several endangered species, the Serengeti is a showcase of a savanna ecosystem that has long been protected and managed for wildlife and other natural resources. Although plagued with poachers, the Serengeti promotes the cause of wildlife conservation to the many thousands of "ecotourists" who pay to experience nature each year.
Another type of forest reserve is the "extractive" reserve, which is dedicated to the production of useful products. Large reserves of this type have been established recently in Brazil. Local residents use them for tapping rubber, for gathering fruits and nuts, for hunting, and for harvesting wood on a sustained yield basis. Such uses provide a sustainable income while maintaining the ecological integrity of the forest.
Agroforestry
The practice growing of trees in combination with agricultural crops is fairly common in the Tropics. It is possible to grow food crops year around in many forested areas, and rural poor depend on this source of food as nowhere else on Earth.
Taungya System
Various systems have been developed for combining forestry with agriculture. "Taungya" is a Burmese word meaning cultivated hill plot. This system of agroforestry was developed in Europe during the Middle Ages and probably indepenently in a number of places in the Tropics. After existing forest or ground cover is removed by burning, trees are planted along with agricultural crops. Both are cultivated until the tree canopy closes. Then the area is left to grow trees, and another site is located for combined forestry agriculture.
Shade Cropping
An overstory of trees is often used to provide shade for agricultural crops. A common practice is to grow tree species such as guaba Inga vera) over coffee. In Puerto Rico, many forests developed where coffee was once grown in this manner.
Support Crops
Trees can be planted to provide support (and sometimes shade) for vine crops. Vines such as pepper and vanilla need support.
Alley Cropping
Nitrogen-fixing trees are planted in hedges in widely-space parallel rows along the contour of slopes. Food crops are grown in the "alley" between the rows. The trees add nitrogen and organic matter, protect the soil from erosion, and provide wood and animal forage.
Living Fences
Green fenceposts that will root and sprout often are planted in a closely spaced row. When they sprout, they create a "living fence" that provides shade and forage for cattle.
Windbreaks
Trees are often planted as windbreaks for agricultural crops, farms, or homesites. Such plantings can eventually contribute wood products as well as shelter. Food trees such as citrus, rubber, and mango can also provide fuel, lumber, and other wood products when they have outlived their original usefulness.
NEW DIRECTIONS IN TROPICAL FORESTRY
The conservation issues of the past seem simple compared with those of today. As we move toward the 21st century, human societies are concerned with global warming, deforestation, species extinction, and rising expectations. Growing populations must be fed, clothed, and sheltered, and people everywhere want higher standards of living.
Global Warming
Warming of the earth's atmosphere is a major environmental issue. Air pollution, deforestation, and widespread burning of coal, oil, and natural gas have increased atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons. These gases trap heat from the sun and prevent it from radiating harmlessly back into space. Thus, the 64 greenhouse" or warming effect is created.
Because of natural variations in climate, it is difficult to measure warming over large areas. Scientists agree, however, that increases in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will cause higher temperatures worldwide. Even an increase of a few degrees might cause serious melting of the polar icecaps, a gradual rise in sea level, a disruption in normal weather patterns, a possible increase in forest fires, and the extinction of species.
Role of Forests
Trees, the largest of all land plants, act as a kind of environmental "buffer" for the ecosystem they dominate. They help ameliorate the extremes of climate (heat, cold, and wind) and create an environment where large land mammals, including people, can live comfortably. Trees complement animals in the global environment. Mammals take in oxygen from the air and exhale carbon dioxide. Plants use the carbon dioxide in their growth processes, store the carbon in woody tissues, and return oxygen to the atmosphere as a waste product. This process, known as photosynthesis, is essential to life. Carbon captured from the atmosphere by photosynthesis is eventually recycled through the environment in a process known as the carbon cycle. Trees have an especially important role in the carbon cycle. Tree leaves also act as filters to remove atmospheric pollutants from the air. This effect is particularly beneficial in urban areas.
Forestry Issues
Two key issues will dominate forestry in the years ahead: (1) maintaining long-term productivity of managed forests, and (2) preventing further loss of tropical forests. Both problems will require new approaches to forest management.
Traditionally, forestry has focused on growing crops of wood in plantations or in managed natural stands. In this "agricultural mode," other benefits of forest such as watershed protection, wildlife habitat, climate moderation, and outdoor recreation, have received less attention than wood production.
Perhaps more importantly, the sustainability of the full range of forest benefits has not been measured. There is no question that trees can be grown for crops of wood in managed stands. With intensive management-short rotations, species selection, genetic improvement, fertilization, thinning, and other cultural treatments-more wood can be produced in less time than in natural forests. But for how long? And at what cost in other benefits?
As more and more of the world's original forests have been cut, the ecological value of forests has come to be more appreciated. In recent years, increased emphasis has been put on what some are calling "ecosystem management." In this model, the health and long-term stability of the forest are paramount, and timber production is considered a byproduct of good forest management rather than the principal product. In Puerto Rico, for example, wood production is a relatively minor aspect of forestry.
Since the 1930's when timber harvests were curtailed, the forests have been managed primarily for watershed protection, wildlife habitat, and outdoor recreation.
There are no easy solutions to the problem of tropical forest destruction, but most experts agree that the problems cannot be solved simply by locking up the forests in reserves. The forests are too important to local people for that to be a workable solution. There is no doubt that tropical forests will be cut. It is better for them to be cut in an ecologically sound manner than to be cleared for poor-quality farmland or wasted by poor harvest practices.
The only real long-term solutions are: (1) more efficient agriculture on suitable farmland, (2) efficient forestry practice including plantations, and (3) reserves to protect species and ecosystems. Many forestry experts believe that we have only begun to tap the potential for wise use of tropical forests. Many uses have yet to be fully explored. We are only starting to learn the value of tropical forests for medicines, house and garden plants, food and fiber, tourism, and natural resource education.
A Student Guide To Tropical Forest Conservation
In the Tropics, as elsewhere, forestry is a mixture of modern innovations and ancient techniques borrowed from local tradition. Plantation forestry is common. Forest reserves have been established for timber harvest, wildlife habitat, scenery, outdoor recreation, or watershed protection. And in the Tropics, agroforestry-tree growing combined with agricultural cropping-is much more common than elsewhere.
Plantation Forestry
In the Tropics, trees are often planted and grown in plantations for wood production. Often, many species must be tried to determine which will grow best. Plantations must also be supported by major investments in forest management and research. Forest nurseries must be established, and planting techniques and cultural practices (spacing and thinning, pruning, fertilization, insect and disease control, and genetic improvement) must be developed.
Extensive pine plantations have been established in the moist Tropics, mainly in South Africa and Australia. Species most often planted include Caribbean pine (Pinus caribaea), ocote pine (P. oocarpa), slash pine (P. elliottii), and benguet pine (P. kesiya). Pines are popular plantation trees because they are generally fast growing, have good survival rates, and are adapted to a wide variety of environments, including degraded forest sites.
Eucalypts, including species such as Eucalyptus grandis, E. deglupta, E. tereticornis, E. globulus, and E. camaldulensis are favored for the same reasons. Eucalypts are commonly grown for pulp, fuel, and lumber. Other species commonly planted include teak (Tectona grandis), Honduras mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), melina (Gmelina arborea) beefwood (Casuarina equisetifolia), and Mexican cypress (Cupressus lusitanica).
Forest Reserves
There are many reasons for establishing forest reserves in the Tropics. They can restore watersheds and wildlife habitat, improve scenic beauty and opportunities for outdoor recreation, and produce wood and other products for local use and export. Many forest products contribute to the sustenance and income of local people: wildlife and fish, firewood, rubber, fruits and nuts, rattan, medicinal herbs, floral greenery, and charcoal.
Perhaps the most famous of these reserves is the 5,600 square mile (14,500 k squared) Serengeti National Park in Tanzania. With its vast herds of grazing ungulates (hoofed animals) and predators, including several endangered species, the Serengeti is a showcase of a savanna ecosystem that has long been protected and managed for wildlife and other natural resources. Although plagued with poachers, the Serengeti promotes the cause of wildlife conservation to the many thousands of "ecotourists" who pay to experience nature each year.
Another type of forest reserve is the "extractive" reserve, which is dedicated to the production of useful products. Large reserves of this type have been established recently in Brazil. Local residents use them for tapping rubber, for gathering fruits and nuts, for hunting, and for harvesting wood on a sustained yield basis. Such uses provide a sustainable income while maintaining the ecological integrity of the forest.
Agroforestry
The practice growing of trees in combination with agricultural crops is fairly common in the Tropics. It is possible to grow food crops year around in many forested areas, and rural poor depend on this source of food as nowhere else on Earth.
Taungya System
Various systems have been developed for combining forestry with agriculture. "Taungya" is a Burmese word meaning cultivated hill plot. This system of agroforestry was developed in Europe during the Middle Ages and probably indepenently in a number of places in the Tropics. After existing forest or ground cover is removed by burning, trees are planted along with agricultural crops. Both are cultivated until the tree canopy closes. Then the area is left to grow trees, and another site is located for combined forestry agriculture.
Shade Cropping
An overstory of trees is often used to provide shade for agricultural crops. A common practice is to grow tree species such as guaba Inga vera) over coffee. In Puerto Rico, many forests developed where coffee was once grown in this manner.
Support Crops
Trees can be planted to provide support (and sometimes shade) for vine crops. Vines such as pepper and vanilla need support.
Alley Cropping
Nitrogen-fixing trees are planted in hedges in widely-space parallel rows along the contour of slopes. Food crops are grown in the "alley" between the rows. The trees add nitrogen and organic matter, protect the soil from erosion, and provide wood and animal forage.
Living Fences
Green fenceposts that will root and sprout often are planted in a closely spaced row. When they sprout, they create a "living fence" that provides shade and forage for cattle.
Windbreaks
Trees are often planted as windbreaks for agricultural crops, farms, or homesites. Such plantings can eventually contribute wood products as well as shelter. Food trees such as citrus, rubber, and mango can also provide fuel, lumber, and other wood products when they have outlived their original usefulness.
NEW DIRECTIONS IN TROPICAL FORESTRY
The conservation issues of the past seem simple compared with those of today. As we move toward the 21st century, human societies are concerned with global warming, deforestation, species extinction, and rising expectations. Growing populations must be fed, clothed, and sheltered, and people everywhere want higher standards of living.
Global Warming
Warming of the earth's atmosphere is a major environmental issue. Air pollution, deforestation, and widespread burning of coal, oil, and natural gas have increased atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and chlorofluorocarbons. These gases trap heat from the sun and prevent it from radiating harmlessly back into space. Thus, the 64 greenhouse" or warming effect is created.
Because of natural variations in climate, it is difficult to measure warming over large areas. Scientists agree, however, that increases in atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases will cause higher temperatures worldwide. Even an increase of a few degrees might cause serious melting of the polar icecaps, a gradual rise in sea level, a disruption in normal weather patterns, a possible increase in forest fires, and the extinction of species.
Role of Forests
Trees, the largest of all land plants, act as a kind of environmental "buffer" for the ecosystem they dominate. They help ameliorate the extremes of climate (heat, cold, and wind) and create an environment where large land mammals, including people, can live comfortably. Trees complement animals in the global environment. Mammals take in oxygen from the air and exhale carbon dioxide. Plants use the carbon dioxide in their growth processes, store the carbon in woody tissues, and return oxygen to the atmosphere as a waste product. This process, known as photosynthesis, is essential to life. Carbon captured from the atmosphere by photosynthesis is eventually recycled through the environment in a process known as the carbon cycle. Trees have an especially important role in the carbon cycle. Tree leaves also act as filters to remove atmospheric pollutants from the air. This effect is particularly beneficial in urban areas.
Forestry Issues
Two key issues will dominate forestry in the years ahead: (1) maintaining long-term productivity of managed forests, and (2) preventing further loss of tropical forests. Both problems will require new approaches to forest management.
Traditionally, forestry has focused on growing crops of wood in plantations or in managed natural stands. In this "agricultural mode," other benefits of forest such as watershed protection, wildlife habitat, climate moderation, and outdoor recreation, have received less attention than wood production.
Perhaps more importantly, the sustainability of the full range of forest benefits has not been measured. There is no question that trees can be grown for crops of wood in managed stands. With intensive management-short rotations, species selection, genetic improvement, fertilization, thinning, and other cultural treatments-more wood can be produced in less time than in natural forests. But for how long? And at what cost in other benefits?
As more and more of the world's original forests have been cut, the ecological value of forests has come to be more appreciated. In recent years, increased emphasis has been put on what some are calling "ecosystem management." In this model, the health and long-term stability of the forest are paramount, and timber production is considered a byproduct of good forest management rather than the principal product. In Puerto Rico, for example, wood production is a relatively minor aspect of forestry.
Since the 1930's when timber harvests were curtailed, the forests have been managed primarily for watershed protection, wildlife habitat, and outdoor recreation.
There are no easy solutions to the problem of tropical forest destruction, but most experts agree that the problems cannot be solved simply by locking up the forests in reserves. The forests are too important to local people for that to be a workable solution. There is no doubt that tropical forests will be cut. It is better for them to be cut in an ecologically sound manner than to be cleared for poor-quality farmland or wasted by poor harvest practices.
The only real long-term solutions are: (1) more efficient agriculture on suitable farmland, (2) efficient forestry practice including plantations, and (3) reserves to protect species and ecosystems. Many forestry experts believe that we have only begun to tap the potential for wise use of tropical forests. Many uses have yet to be fully explored. We are only starting to learn the value of tropical forests for medicines, house and garden plants, food and fiber, tourism, and natural resource education.
A Student Guide To Tropical Forest Conservation
Friday, September 12, 2008
A Student Guide To Tropical Forest Conservation-2
DEFORESTATION
Before the dawn of agriculture approximately 10,000 years ago, forests and open woodland covered about 15.3 billion acres (6.2 billion ha) of the globe. Over the centuries, however, about one-third of these natural forests has been destroyed. According to a 1982 study by FAO, about 27.9 million acres (11.3 million ha) of tropical forests are cut each year-an area about the size of the States of Ohio or Virginia. Between 1985 and 1990, an estimated 210 million acres (85 million ha) of tropical forests were cut or cleared. In India, Malaysia, and the Philippines, the best commercial forests are gone, and cutting is increasing in South America. If deforestation is not stopped soon, the world will lose most of its tropical forests in the next several decades.
Reasons for Deforestation
Several factors are responsible for deforestation in the Tropics: clearing for agriculture, fuelwood cutting, and harvesting of wood products. By far the most important of these is clearing for agriculture. In the Tropics, the age-old practice of shifting, sometimes called "slash-and-burn," agriculture has been used for centuries. In this primitive system, local people cut a small patch of forest to make way for subsistence farming. After a few years, soil fertility declines and people move on, usually to cut another patch of trees and begin another garden.
In the abandoned garden plot, the degraded soil at first supports only weeds and shrubby trees. Later, soil fertility and trees return, but that may take decades. As population pressure increases, the fallow (rest) period between cycles of gardening is shortened, agricultural yields decrease, and the forest region is further degraded to small trees, brush, or eroded savanna.
Conversion to sedentary agriculture is an even greater threat to tropical forests. Vast areas that once supported tropical forests are now permanently occupied by subsistence farmers and ranchers and by commercial farmers who produce sugar, cocoa, palm oil, and other products.
In many tropical countries there is a critical shortage of firewood. For millions of rural poor, survival depends on finding enough wood to cook the evening meal. Every year more of the forest is destroyed, and the distance from home to the forest increases. Not only do people suffer by having to spend much of their time in the search for wood, but so does the land. Damage is greatest in dry tropical forests where firewood cutting converts forests to savannas and grasslands.
The global demand for tropical hardwoods, an $8-billion-a-year industry, also contributes to forest loss. Tropical forests are usually selectively logged rather than clear-cut. Selective logging leaves the forest cover intact but usually reduces its commercial value because the biggest and best trees are removed. Selective logging also damages remaining trees and soil, increases the likelihood of fire, and degrades the habitat for wildlife species that require large, old trees-the ones usually cut. In addition, logging roads open up the forests to shifting cultivation and permanent settlement.
In the past, logging was done primarily by primitive means-trees were cut with axes and logs were moved with animals such as oxen. Today the use of modern machinery--chain saws, tractors, and trucks -makes logging easier, faster, and potentially more destructive.
Endangered Wildlife
Forests are biological communities-complex associations of trees with other plants and animals that have evolved together over millions of years. Because of the worldwide loss of tropical forests, thousands of species of birds and animals are threatened with extinction. The list includes many unique and fascinating animals, among them the orangutan, mountain gorilla, manatee, jaguar, and Puerto Rican parrot. Although diverse and widely separated around the globe, these specles have one important thing in common. They, along with many other endangered species, rely on tropical forests for all or part of their habitat.
Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) are totally dependent on small and isolated patches of tropical forests remaining in Borneo and Sumatra, Indonesia. Orangutans spend most of their time in the forest canopy where they feed on leaves, figs and other fruit, bark, nuts, and insects. Large trees of the old-growth forests support woody vines that serve as aerial ladders, enabling the animals to move about, build their nests, and forage for food. When the old forests are cut, orangutans disappear.
The largest of all primates, the gorilla, is one of man's closest relatives in the animal kingdom. Too large and clumsy to move about in the forest canopy, the gorilla lives on the forest floor where it forages for a variety of plant materials. Loss of tropical forests in central and west Africa is a major reason for the decreasing numbers of mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla). Some habitat has been secured, but the future of this gentle giant is in grave danger as a result of habitat loss and poaching.
The jaguar (Leo onca), a resident of the Southwestern United States and Central and South America, is closely associated with forests. Its endangered status is the result of hunting and habitat loss.
The Puerto Rican parrot (Amazona vittata), a medium-sized, green bird with blue wing feathers, once inhabited the entire island of Puerto Rico and the neighboring islands of Mona and Culebra. Forest destruction is the principal reason for the decline of this species. Hunting also contributed. Today, only a few Puerto Rican parrots remain in the wild and their survival may depend on the success of a captive breeding program).
In addition to species that reside in tropical forests year round, others depend on such forests for part of the year. Many species of migrant birds journey 1,000 miles or more between their summer breeding grounds in the north and their tropical wintering grounds. These birds are also threatened by tropical forest destruction.
THE PRACTICE OF FORESTRY
Forestry-loosely defined as the systematic management and use of forests and their natural resources for human benefit-has been practiced for centuries. Most often, forestry efforts have been initiated in response to indiscriminate timber cutting that denuded the land and caused erosion, floods, or a shortage of wood products.
Ancient Forestry Practices
In ancient Persia (now Iran), forest protection and nature conservation laws were in effect as early as 1,700 B.C. Two thousand years ago the Chinese practiced what they called "four sides" forestry-trees were planted on house side, village side, road side, and water side. More than 1,000 years ago, Javanese maharajahs brought in teak and began to cultivate it. In the African Tropics, agroforestry (growing of food crops in association with trees) has been practiced for hundreds of years.
In the Yucatan Peninsula of southern Mexico, the ancient Mayas cultivated fruit and nut trees along with such staples as corn, beans, and squash. Bark, fibers, and resin were obtained from plants grown in fields, kitchen gardens, and orchards. Early in their civilization, the Mayas practiced slash-and-burn agriculture. As their population grew, they found more efficient methods of growing crops. They terraced hillsides, learned how to decrease the time between "rotations" of agricultural land with native forests, dug drainage channels and canals to move water to and from cultivated areas, and filled in swampland to plant crops.
The agricultural sophistication of the Mayas enabled their civilization to grow and flourish. What brought about their decline about A.D. 820 is not fully known, but some believe that as their society developed, the Mayas made unsustainable demands on their environment.
Relatively little is known about tropical forestry before the mid1800's in most places. At that time, the European colonial empiresnotably the Dutch, English, and Spanish-brought modern forest management practices to Indonesia, India, Africa, and the Caribbean. Centers for forestry and forestry research were established, and more careful records were kept.
Sustainable Forestry
Modern forestry has its basis in 18th-century Germany. Like the Chinese and the Mayan forest practices, German forestry is essentially agricultural. Trees are managed as a crop. Two concepts are important: renewability and sustainability. Renewability means that trees can be replanted and seeded and harvested over and over again on the same tract of land in what are known as crop "rotations." Sustainability means that forest harvest can be sustained over the long term. How far into the future were foresters expected to plan? As long as there were vast acres of virgin (original) forests remaining, this question was somewhat academic. Today, however, sustainability is a vital issue in forestry. Most of the world's virgin forests are gone, and people must rely more and more on second- growth or managed forests. Perhaps we now face, as never before, the limits to long-term productivity.
In the German forest model, forestry is viewed as a continual process of harvest and regeneration. Harvest of wood products is a goal, but a forester's principal tasks are to assure long-term productivity. That is achieved by cutting the older, mature, and slow-growing timber to make way for a new crop of young, fast-growing trees.
Harvest-Regeneration Methods
Three examples of timber harvest-regeneration methods (silvicultural systems) illustrate how foresters manage stands to produce timber on a sustained basis.
Selection
Individual trees or small groups of trees are harvested as they become mature. Numerous small openings in the forest are created in which saplings or new seedlings can grow. The resulting forest has a continuous forest canopy and trees of all ages. Such systems favor slow-growing species that are shade tolerant.
Clearcutting
In clearcutting, an entire stand of trees is removed in one operation. From the forester's point of view, clearcutting is the easiest way to manage a forest-and the most economical. Regeneration may come from sprouts on stumps, from seedlings that survive the logging operation, or from seeds that germinate after the harvest. If natural regeneration is delayed longer than desired, the area is planted or seeded.
Clearcutting systems are often used to manage fast-growing species that require a lot of light. Resulting stands are even aged because all the trees in an area are cut-and regenerated-at the same time. Clearcutting has become controversial in recent years because it has the potential to damage watersheds and because it tends to eliminate species of wildlife dependent on old growth trees. If clearcuts are kept small and the cutting interval is long enough, however, biological diversity may not be impaired.
Shelterwood
In shelterwood systems, the forest canopy is removed over a period of years, usually in two cuttings. After the first harvest, natural regeneration begins in the understory. By the time the second harvest is made, enough young trees have grown to assure adequate regeneration. Shelterwood systems favor species that are intermediate in tolerance to shade. Such systems are difficult to use successfully and are the least used of the three silvicultural methods described.
Multiple-Use Forestry
Gifford Pinchot, the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, was also this country's first professional forester. Pinchot advocated the use of forest resources-all resources, not just timber-for human benefit. Pinchot was a strong and charismatic leader, and his ideas helped shape the course of forestry in the United States.
Pinchot had a vocal opponent in John Muir, a young naturalist from California who believed that public lands should be preserved rather than used. Eventually Muir and Pinchot became rivals for public approval. Oddly enough, there was no
loser in this early conservation battle. Muir's preservation ethic became embodied in the philosophy of the National Parks, and Pinchot's concept of wise use became the guiding principle of the National Forests.
National Forests are still managed under the concepts of multiple use and sustained yield. The dominant uses of National Forests are considered to be wood, water, wildlife, forage (for domestic cattle and wildlife), and recreation. Extraction of minerals and other valuable products is also considered a legitimate use of National Forests. Because Pinchot's philosophy left room for the "highest and best use" of a given area, the U.S. National Forests now include a wilderness system of more than 32 million acres (13 million ha) in which timber harvest is not allowed.
Today it is generally recognized that most, if not all, nondestructive uses of forest are valid. Some areas may be set aside as parks; others for wildlife habitat or as wilderness. Still others will be managed for timber harvest or multiple benefits. Today, conflicts arise primarily over where these different uses will be dominant. In the National Forests, such decisions are made through a land-use planning process in which the public has ample opportunities for input and involvement.
FORESTRY RESEARCH
At the turn of the century, very little was known about the world's native forests or how to manage them. In the United States, foresters were quick to recognize the value of information about forests and a branch of research was established in the Forest Service in 1915. Early research was done primarily in support of reforestation efforts, but, as forestry grew in size and complexity, so did the research.
Today, the USDA Forest Service has six regional experiment stations located in important forest regions. Each experiment station has several field laboratories generally with specialized assignments for a geographic region or a specific subject area, and numerous sites for field research. In addition, the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, WI, serves as a nationwide center for research and development of new technology relating to wood , including tropical woods. Two laboratories are dedicated exclusively to tropical forest research: the International Institute of Tropical Forestry in Puerto Rico and the Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry in Hawaii.
Research is vital for modern forest management, which is information intensive. Today's foresters require vast quantities of data and a knowledge of ecology: they must understand not only the parts of ecosystems but how different parts of the environment interact. Scientific investigations are conducted in support of all kinds of forestry activities: silviculture, forest insect and disease control, wildlife habitat management, fire prevention and control, range and watershed management, forest products utilization, forest survey, reforestation, ecology, and economics.
Before the dawn of agriculture approximately 10,000 years ago, forests and open woodland covered about 15.3 billion acres (6.2 billion ha) of the globe. Over the centuries, however, about one-third of these natural forests has been destroyed. According to a 1982 study by FAO, about 27.9 million acres (11.3 million ha) of tropical forests are cut each year-an area about the size of the States of Ohio or Virginia. Between 1985 and 1990, an estimated 210 million acres (85 million ha) of tropical forests were cut or cleared. In India, Malaysia, and the Philippines, the best commercial forests are gone, and cutting is increasing in South America. If deforestation is not stopped soon, the world will lose most of its tropical forests in the next several decades.
Reasons for Deforestation
Several factors are responsible for deforestation in the Tropics: clearing for agriculture, fuelwood cutting, and harvesting of wood products. By far the most important of these is clearing for agriculture. In the Tropics, the age-old practice of shifting, sometimes called "slash-and-burn," agriculture has been used for centuries. In this primitive system, local people cut a small patch of forest to make way for subsistence farming. After a few years, soil fertility declines and people move on, usually to cut another patch of trees and begin another garden.
In the abandoned garden plot, the degraded soil at first supports only weeds and shrubby trees. Later, soil fertility and trees return, but that may take decades. As population pressure increases, the fallow (rest) period between cycles of gardening is shortened, agricultural yields decrease, and the forest region is further degraded to small trees, brush, or eroded savanna.
Conversion to sedentary agriculture is an even greater threat to tropical forests. Vast areas that once supported tropical forests are now permanently occupied by subsistence farmers and ranchers and by commercial farmers who produce sugar, cocoa, palm oil, and other products.
In many tropical countries there is a critical shortage of firewood. For millions of rural poor, survival depends on finding enough wood to cook the evening meal. Every year more of the forest is destroyed, and the distance from home to the forest increases. Not only do people suffer by having to spend much of their time in the search for wood, but so does the land. Damage is greatest in dry tropical forests where firewood cutting converts forests to savannas and grasslands.
The global demand for tropical hardwoods, an $8-billion-a-year industry, also contributes to forest loss. Tropical forests are usually selectively logged rather than clear-cut. Selective logging leaves the forest cover intact but usually reduces its commercial value because the biggest and best trees are removed. Selective logging also damages remaining trees and soil, increases the likelihood of fire, and degrades the habitat for wildlife species that require large, old trees-the ones usually cut. In addition, logging roads open up the forests to shifting cultivation and permanent settlement.
In the past, logging was done primarily by primitive means-trees were cut with axes and logs were moved with animals such as oxen. Today the use of modern machinery--chain saws, tractors, and trucks -makes logging easier, faster, and potentially more destructive.
Endangered Wildlife
Forests are biological communities-complex associations of trees with other plants and animals that have evolved together over millions of years. Because of the worldwide loss of tropical forests, thousands of species of birds and animals are threatened with extinction. The list includes many unique and fascinating animals, among them the orangutan, mountain gorilla, manatee, jaguar, and Puerto Rican parrot. Although diverse and widely separated around the globe, these specles have one important thing in common. They, along with many other endangered species, rely on tropical forests for all or part of their habitat.
Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) are totally dependent on small and isolated patches of tropical forests remaining in Borneo and Sumatra, Indonesia. Orangutans spend most of their time in the forest canopy where they feed on leaves, figs and other fruit, bark, nuts, and insects. Large trees of the old-growth forests support woody vines that serve as aerial ladders, enabling the animals to move about, build their nests, and forage for food. When the old forests are cut, orangutans disappear.
The largest of all primates, the gorilla, is one of man's closest relatives in the animal kingdom. Too large and clumsy to move about in the forest canopy, the gorilla lives on the forest floor where it forages for a variety of plant materials. Loss of tropical forests in central and west Africa is a major reason for the decreasing numbers of mountain gorillas (Gorilla gorilla). Some habitat has been secured, but the future of this gentle giant is in grave danger as a result of habitat loss and poaching.
The jaguar (Leo onca), a resident of the Southwestern United States and Central and South America, is closely associated with forests. Its endangered status is the result of hunting and habitat loss.
The Puerto Rican parrot (Amazona vittata), a medium-sized, green bird with blue wing feathers, once inhabited the entire island of Puerto Rico and the neighboring islands of Mona and Culebra. Forest destruction is the principal reason for the decline of this species. Hunting also contributed. Today, only a few Puerto Rican parrots remain in the wild and their survival may depend on the success of a captive breeding program).
In addition to species that reside in tropical forests year round, others depend on such forests for part of the year. Many species of migrant birds journey 1,000 miles or more between their summer breeding grounds in the north and their tropical wintering grounds. These birds are also threatened by tropical forest destruction.
THE PRACTICE OF FORESTRY
Forestry-loosely defined as the systematic management and use of forests and their natural resources for human benefit-has been practiced for centuries. Most often, forestry efforts have been initiated in response to indiscriminate timber cutting that denuded the land and caused erosion, floods, or a shortage of wood products.
Ancient Forestry Practices
In ancient Persia (now Iran), forest protection and nature conservation laws were in effect as early as 1,700 B.C. Two thousand years ago the Chinese practiced what they called "four sides" forestry-trees were planted on house side, village side, road side, and water side. More than 1,000 years ago, Javanese maharajahs brought in teak and began to cultivate it. In the African Tropics, agroforestry (growing of food crops in association with trees) has been practiced for hundreds of years.
In the Yucatan Peninsula of southern Mexico, the ancient Mayas cultivated fruit and nut trees along with such staples as corn, beans, and squash. Bark, fibers, and resin were obtained from plants grown in fields, kitchen gardens, and orchards. Early in their civilization, the Mayas practiced slash-and-burn agriculture. As their population grew, they found more efficient methods of growing crops. They terraced hillsides, learned how to decrease the time between "rotations" of agricultural land with native forests, dug drainage channels and canals to move water to and from cultivated areas, and filled in swampland to plant crops.
The agricultural sophistication of the Mayas enabled their civilization to grow and flourish. What brought about their decline about A.D. 820 is not fully known, but some believe that as their society developed, the Mayas made unsustainable demands on their environment.
Relatively little is known about tropical forestry before the mid1800's in most places. At that time, the European colonial empiresnotably the Dutch, English, and Spanish-brought modern forest management practices to Indonesia, India, Africa, and the Caribbean. Centers for forestry and forestry research were established, and more careful records were kept.
Sustainable Forestry
Modern forestry has its basis in 18th-century Germany. Like the Chinese and the Mayan forest practices, German forestry is essentially agricultural. Trees are managed as a crop. Two concepts are important: renewability and sustainability. Renewability means that trees can be replanted and seeded and harvested over and over again on the same tract of land in what are known as crop "rotations." Sustainability means that forest harvest can be sustained over the long term. How far into the future were foresters expected to plan? As long as there were vast acres of virgin (original) forests remaining, this question was somewhat academic. Today, however, sustainability is a vital issue in forestry. Most of the world's virgin forests are gone, and people must rely more and more on second- growth or managed forests. Perhaps we now face, as never before, the limits to long-term productivity.
In the German forest model, forestry is viewed as a continual process of harvest and regeneration. Harvest of wood products is a goal, but a forester's principal tasks are to assure long-term productivity. That is achieved by cutting the older, mature, and slow-growing timber to make way for a new crop of young, fast-growing trees.
Harvest-Regeneration Methods
Three examples of timber harvest-regeneration methods (silvicultural systems) illustrate how foresters manage stands to produce timber on a sustained basis.
Selection
Individual trees or small groups of trees are harvested as they become mature. Numerous small openings in the forest are created in which saplings or new seedlings can grow. The resulting forest has a continuous forest canopy and trees of all ages. Such systems favor slow-growing species that are shade tolerant.
Clearcutting
In clearcutting, an entire stand of trees is removed in one operation. From the forester's point of view, clearcutting is the easiest way to manage a forest-and the most economical. Regeneration may come from sprouts on stumps, from seedlings that survive the logging operation, or from seeds that germinate after the harvest. If natural regeneration is delayed longer than desired, the area is planted or seeded.
Clearcutting systems are often used to manage fast-growing species that require a lot of light. Resulting stands are even aged because all the trees in an area are cut-and regenerated-at the same time. Clearcutting has become controversial in recent years because it has the potential to damage watersheds and because it tends to eliminate species of wildlife dependent on old growth trees. If clearcuts are kept small and the cutting interval is long enough, however, biological diversity may not be impaired.
Shelterwood
In shelterwood systems, the forest canopy is removed over a period of years, usually in two cuttings. After the first harvest, natural regeneration begins in the understory. By the time the second harvest is made, enough young trees have grown to assure adequate regeneration. Shelterwood systems favor species that are intermediate in tolerance to shade. Such systems are difficult to use successfully and are the least used of the three silvicultural methods described.
Multiple-Use Forestry
Gifford Pinchot, the first Chief of the U.S. Forest Service, was also this country's first professional forester. Pinchot advocated the use of forest resources-all resources, not just timber-for human benefit. Pinchot was a strong and charismatic leader, and his ideas helped shape the course of forestry in the United States.
Pinchot had a vocal opponent in John Muir, a young naturalist from California who believed that public lands should be preserved rather than used. Eventually Muir and Pinchot became rivals for public approval. Oddly enough, there was no
loser in this early conservation battle. Muir's preservation ethic became embodied in the philosophy of the National Parks, and Pinchot's concept of wise use became the guiding principle of the National Forests.
National Forests are still managed under the concepts of multiple use and sustained yield. The dominant uses of National Forests are considered to be wood, water, wildlife, forage (for domestic cattle and wildlife), and recreation. Extraction of minerals and other valuable products is also considered a legitimate use of National Forests. Because Pinchot's philosophy left room for the "highest and best use" of a given area, the U.S. National Forests now include a wilderness system of more than 32 million acres (13 million ha) in which timber harvest is not allowed.
Today it is generally recognized that most, if not all, nondestructive uses of forest are valid. Some areas may be set aside as parks; others for wildlife habitat or as wilderness. Still others will be managed for timber harvest or multiple benefits. Today, conflicts arise primarily over where these different uses will be dominant. In the National Forests, such decisions are made through a land-use planning process in which the public has ample opportunities for input and involvement.
FORESTRY RESEARCH
At the turn of the century, very little was known about the world's native forests or how to manage them. In the United States, foresters were quick to recognize the value of information about forests and a branch of research was established in the Forest Service in 1915. Early research was done primarily in support of reforestation efforts, but, as forestry grew in size and complexity, so did the research.
Today, the USDA Forest Service has six regional experiment stations located in important forest regions. Each experiment station has several field laboratories generally with specialized assignments for a geographic region or a specific subject area, and numerous sites for field research. In addition, the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, WI, serves as a nationwide center for research and development of new technology relating to wood , including tropical woods. Two laboratories are dedicated exclusively to tropical forest research: the International Institute of Tropical Forestry in Puerto Rico and the Institute of Pacific Islands Forestry in Hawaii.
Research is vital for modern forest management, which is information intensive. Today's foresters require vast quantities of data and a knowledge of ecology: they must understand not only the parts of ecosystems but how different parts of the environment interact. Scientific investigations are conducted in support of all kinds of forestry activities: silviculture, forest insect and disease control, wildlife habitat management, fire prevention and control, range and watershed management, forest products utilization, forest survey, reforestation, ecology, and economics.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
A Student Guide To Tropical Forest Conservation
J.Louise Mastrantonio and John K. Francis
SUMMARY
The world's tropical forests, which circle the globe, are interestingly diverse. Ranging from the steamy jungles of the rain forests to the dry forests and savannas, they provide habitat for millions of species of plants and animals. Once covering some 15.3 billion acres (6.2 billion ha), these tropical forests have been reduced through cutting and clearing by 210 million acres (85 million ha) between 1985 and
1990. All types of tropical forests are defined and their products and benefits to the environment are presented and discussed. Modern forest practices are shown as a means of halting forest destruction while still providing valuable forest products and protecting and preserving the habitats of many endangered species of plants and wildlife. The Luquillo Experimental Forest is presented as a possible model to exemplify forestry practices and research that could manage and ultimately protect the tropical forests throughout the world.
INTRODUCTION
The world's tropical forests circle the globe in a ring around the Equator They are surprisingly diverse, ranging from lush rain forests to dry savannas and containing millions of species of plants and animals. Tropical forests once covered some 15.3 billion acres (6.2 billion ha). In recent times, however, they have been cut at a rapid rate to make room for agriculture and to obtain their many valuable products. Between 1985 and 1990, 210 million acres (85 million ha) of tropical forests were destroyed.
This guide shows how modern forest practices can help stem the tide of forest destruction while providing valuable forest products for people. The tropical forests of Puerto Rico, which were abused for centuries, were badly depleted by the early 1900's. Widespread abandonment of poor agricultural lands has allowed natural reforestation and planting programs to create a patchwork of private, Commonwealth, and Federal forests across the land. The most frequent example in this publication is the Luquillo Experimental Forest, which could be a model for protecting and managing tropical forests worldwide.
TYPES OF TROPICAL FORESTS
About half of all the world's forests are in the Tropics, the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. This region may be best known for its rain forests - lush, steamy jungles with towering trees, epiphytes, and dense under stories of smaller trees, shrubs, and vines.
Tropical forests are surprisingly diverse. In addition to rain forests, there are mangroves, moist forests, dry forests, and savannas. Such classifications, however, give only a slight indication of the diversity of tropical forests. One study by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, which considered 23 countries in tropical America, 37 in tropical Africa, and 16 in tropical Asia, identified dozens of types of tropical forests: open and closed canopy forests, broadleaved trees and conifer forests, closed forests and mixed forest grasslands, and forests where agriculture has made inroads.
Rain Forests
The largest remaining areas of tropical rain forests are in Brazil, Congo, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Precipitation generally exceeds 60 inches (150 cm) per year and may be as high as 400 inches (1000 cm). Lowland rain forests are among the world's most productive of plant communities. Giant trees may tower 200 feet (60 m) in height and support thousands of other species of plants and animals. Montane (mountain) rain forests grow at higher elevations where the climate is too windy and wet for optimum tree growth.
Mangrove forests grow in the swampy, intertidal margin between sea and shore and are often considered part of the rain forest complex. The roots of mangrove trees help stabilize the shoreline and trap sediment and decaying vegetation that contribute to ecosystem productivity.
Dry Forests
Large areas of tropical dry forests are found in India, Australia, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Africa, and Madagascar. Dry forests receive low rainfall amounts, as little as 20 inches (50 cm) per year, and are characterized by species well adapted to drought. Trees of dry tropical forests are usually smaller than those in rain forests, and many lose their leaves during the dry season. Although they are still amazingly diverse, dry forests often have fewer species than rain forests.
Savanna is a transitional type between forest and grassland. Trees are often very scattered and tend to be well adapted to drought and tolerant of fire and grazing. If fire is excluded, trees eventually begin to grow and the savanna is converted to dry forest. With too much fire or grazing, dry forest becomes savanna. This vegetation type has fewer species of trees and shrubs but more grasses and forbs than other forest types in the Tropics.
VALUE OF TROPICAL FORESTS
All forests have both economic and ecological value, but tropical forests are especially important in global economy. These forests cover less than 6 percent of the Earth's land area, but they contain the vast majority of the world's plant and animal genetic resources. The diversity of life is astonishing. The original forests of Puerto Rico, for example, contain more than 500 species of trees in 70 botanical families. By comparison, temperate forests have relatively few. Such diversity is attributed to variations in elevation, climate, and soil, and to the lack of frost.
There is also diversity in other life forms: shrubs, herbs, epiphytes, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects. One study suggests that tropical rain forests may contain as many as 30 million different kinds of plants and animals, most of which are insects.
Wood and Other Products
Tropical forests provide many valuable products including rubber, fruits and nuts, meat, rattan, medicinal herbs, floral greenery, lumber, firewood, and charcoal. Such forests are used by local people for subsistence hunting and fishing. They provide income and jobs for hundreds of millions of people in small, medium, and large industries.
Tropical forests are noted for their beautiful woods. Four important commercial woods are mahogany, teak, melina, and okoume. Honduras mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), grows in the Americas from Mexico to Bolivia. A strong wood of medium density, mahogany is easy to work, is long lasting, and has good color and grain. It is commonly used for furniture, molding, paneling, and trim. Because of its resistance to decay, it is a popular wood used in boats. Teak (Tectona grandis) is native to India and Southeast Asia. Its wood has medium density, is strong, polishes well, and has a warm yellow-brown color. Also prized for resistance to insects and rot, teak is commonly used in cabinets, trim, flooring, furniture, and boats. Melina (Gmelina arborea) grows naturally from India through Vietnam. Noted for fast growth, melina has light colored wood that is used mainly for pulp and particleboard, matches and carpentry. Okoume (Aucoumea klaineana) is native to Gabon an the Congo in west Africa. A large fast-growing tree, the wood has mod erately low density, good strength-to density ratio, and low shrinkage during drying. It is commonly use( for plywood, paneling, interior fur niture parts, and light construction.
Other Economic Values
Tropical forests are home for tribal hunter-gatherers whose way of life has been relatively unchanged for centuries. These people depend on the forests for their livelihood. More than 2.5 million people also live in areas adjacent to tropical forests. They rely on the forests for their water, fuelwood, and other resources and on its shrinking land base for their shifting agriculture. For urban dwellers, tropical forests provide water for domestic use and hydroelectric power. Their scenic beauty, educational value, and opportunities for outdoor recreation support tourist industries.
Many medicines and drugs come from plants found only in tropical rain forests. Some of the best known are quinine, an ancient drug used for malaria; curare, an anesthetic and muscle relaxant used in surgery; and rosy periwinkle, a treatment for Hodgkin's disease and leukemia. Research has identified other potential drugs that may have value as contraceptives or in treating a multitude of maladies such as arthritis, hepatitis, insect bites, fever, coughs, and colds. Many more may be found. In all, only a few thousand species have been evaluated for their medicinal value.
In addition, many plants of tropical forests find uses in homes and gardens: ferns and palms, the hardy split-leaf philodendron, marantas, bromeliads, and orchids, to name just a few.
Environmental Benefits
Tropical forests do more than respond to local climatic conditions; they actually influence the climate. Through transpiration, the enormous number of plants found in rain forests return huge amounts of water to the atmosphere, increasing humidity and rainfall, and cooling the air for miles around. In addition, tropical forests replenish the air by utilizing carbon dioxide and giving off oxygen. By fixing carbon they help maintain the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels low and counteract the global "greenhouse" effect.
Forests also moderate stream flow. Trees slow the onslaught of tropical downpours, use and store vast quantities of water, and help hold the soil in place. When trees are cleared, rainfall runs off more quickly, contributing to floods and erosion.
Student Guide
SUMMARY
The world's tropical forests, which circle the globe, are interestingly diverse. Ranging from the steamy jungles of the rain forests to the dry forests and savannas, they provide habitat for millions of species of plants and animals. Once covering some 15.3 billion acres (6.2 billion ha), these tropical forests have been reduced through cutting and clearing by 210 million acres (85 million ha) between 1985 and
1990. All types of tropical forests are defined and their products and benefits to the environment are presented and discussed. Modern forest practices are shown as a means of halting forest destruction while still providing valuable forest products and protecting and preserving the habitats of many endangered species of plants and wildlife. The Luquillo Experimental Forest is presented as a possible model to exemplify forestry practices and research that could manage and ultimately protect the tropical forests throughout the world.
INTRODUCTION
The world's tropical forests circle the globe in a ring around the Equator They are surprisingly diverse, ranging from lush rain forests to dry savannas and containing millions of species of plants and animals. Tropical forests once covered some 15.3 billion acres (6.2 billion ha). In recent times, however, they have been cut at a rapid rate to make room for agriculture and to obtain their many valuable products. Between 1985 and 1990, 210 million acres (85 million ha) of tropical forests were destroyed.
This guide shows how modern forest practices can help stem the tide of forest destruction while providing valuable forest products for people. The tropical forests of Puerto Rico, which were abused for centuries, were badly depleted by the early 1900's. Widespread abandonment of poor agricultural lands has allowed natural reforestation and planting programs to create a patchwork of private, Commonwealth, and Federal forests across the land. The most frequent example in this publication is the Luquillo Experimental Forest, which could be a model for protecting and managing tropical forests worldwide.
TYPES OF TROPICAL FORESTS
About half of all the world's forests are in the Tropics, the area between the Tropic of Cancer and the Tropic of Capricorn. This region may be best known for its rain forests - lush, steamy jungles with towering trees, epiphytes, and dense under stories of smaller trees, shrubs, and vines.
Tropical forests are surprisingly diverse. In addition to rain forests, there are mangroves, moist forests, dry forests, and savannas. Such classifications, however, give only a slight indication of the diversity of tropical forests. One study by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, which considered 23 countries in tropical America, 37 in tropical Africa, and 16 in tropical Asia, identified dozens of types of tropical forests: open and closed canopy forests, broadleaved trees and conifer forests, closed forests and mixed forest grasslands, and forests where agriculture has made inroads.
Rain Forests
The largest remaining areas of tropical rain forests are in Brazil, Congo, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Precipitation generally exceeds 60 inches (150 cm) per year and may be as high as 400 inches (1000 cm). Lowland rain forests are among the world's most productive of plant communities. Giant trees may tower 200 feet (60 m) in height and support thousands of other species of plants and animals. Montane (mountain) rain forests grow at higher elevations where the climate is too windy and wet for optimum tree growth.
Mangrove forests grow in the swampy, intertidal margin between sea and shore and are often considered part of the rain forest complex. The roots of mangrove trees help stabilize the shoreline and trap sediment and decaying vegetation that contribute to ecosystem productivity.
Dry Forests
Large areas of tropical dry forests are found in India, Australia, Central and South America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Africa, and Madagascar. Dry forests receive low rainfall amounts, as little as 20 inches (50 cm) per year, and are characterized by species well adapted to drought. Trees of dry tropical forests are usually smaller than those in rain forests, and many lose their leaves during the dry season. Although they are still amazingly diverse, dry forests often have fewer species than rain forests.
Savanna is a transitional type between forest and grassland. Trees are often very scattered and tend to be well adapted to drought and tolerant of fire and grazing. If fire is excluded, trees eventually begin to grow and the savanna is converted to dry forest. With too much fire or grazing, dry forest becomes savanna. This vegetation type has fewer species of trees and shrubs but more grasses and forbs than other forest types in the Tropics.
VALUE OF TROPICAL FORESTS
All forests have both economic and ecological value, but tropical forests are especially important in global economy. These forests cover less than 6 percent of the Earth's land area, but they contain the vast majority of the world's plant and animal genetic resources. The diversity of life is astonishing. The original forests of Puerto Rico, for example, contain more than 500 species of trees in 70 botanical families. By comparison, temperate forests have relatively few. Such diversity is attributed to variations in elevation, climate, and soil, and to the lack of frost.
There is also diversity in other life forms: shrubs, herbs, epiphytes, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and insects. One study suggests that tropical rain forests may contain as many as 30 million different kinds of plants and animals, most of which are insects.
Wood and Other Products
Tropical forests provide many valuable products including rubber, fruits and nuts, meat, rattan, medicinal herbs, floral greenery, lumber, firewood, and charcoal. Such forests are used by local people for subsistence hunting and fishing. They provide income and jobs for hundreds of millions of people in small, medium, and large industries.
Tropical forests are noted for their beautiful woods. Four important commercial woods are mahogany, teak, melina, and okoume. Honduras mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), grows in the Americas from Mexico to Bolivia. A strong wood of medium density, mahogany is easy to work, is long lasting, and has good color and grain. It is commonly used for furniture, molding, paneling, and trim. Because of its resistance to decay, it is a popular wood used in boats. Teak (Tectona grandis) is native to India and Southeast Asia. Its wood has medium density, is strong, polishes well, and has a warm yellow-brown color. Also prized for resistance to insects and rot, teak is commonly used in cabinets, trim, flooring, furniture, and boats. Melina (Gmelina arborea) grows naturally from India through Vietnam. Noted for fast growth, melina has light colored wood that is used mainly for pulp and particleboard, matches and carpentry. Okoume (Aucoumea klaineana) is native to Gabon an the Congo in west Africa. A large fast-growing tree, the wood has mod erately low density, good strength-to density ratio, and low shrinkage during drying. It is commonly use( for plywood, paneling, interior fur niture parts, and light construction.
Other Economic Values
Tropical forests are home for tribal hunter-gatherers whose way of life has been relatively unchanged for centuries. These people depend on the forests for their livelihood. More than 2.5 million people also live in areas adjacent to tropical forests. They rely on the forests for their water, fuelwood, and other resources and on its shrinking land base for their shifting agriculture. For urban dwellers, tropical forests provide water for domestic use and hydroelectric power. Their scenic beauty, educational value, and opportunities for outdoor recreation support tourist industries.
Many medicines and drugs come from plants found only in tropical rain forests. Some of the best known are quinine, an ancient drug used for malaria; curare, an anesthetic and muscle relaxant used in surgery; and rosy periwinkle, a treatment for Hodgkin's disease and leukemia. Research has identified other potential drugs that may have value as contraceptives or in treating a multitude of maladies such as arthritis, hepatitis, insect bites, fever, coughs, and colds. Many more may be found. In all, only a few thousand species have been evaluated for their medicinal value.
In addition, many plants of tropical forests find uses in homes and gardens: ferns and palms, the hardy split-leaf philodendron, marantas, bromeliads, and orchids, to name just a few.
Environmental Benefits
Tropical forests do more than respond to local climatic conditions; they actually influence the climate. Through transpiration, the enormous number of plants found in rain forests return huge amounts of water to the atmosphere, increasing humidity and rainfall, and cooling the air for miles around. In addition, tropical forests replenish the air by utilizing carbon dioxide and giving off oxygen. By fixing carbon they help maintain the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels low and counteract the global "greenhouse" effect.
Forests also moderate stream flow. Trees slow the onslaught of tropical downpours, use and store vast quantities of water, and help hold the soil in place. When trees are cleared, rainfall runs off more quickly, contributing to floods and erosion.
Student Guide
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Rattan Gardens as an Agroforestry System for Development in East Kalimantan
By Judit Mayer, Institute ‘Current World Affairs’, USA
Global views of agroforestry in East Kalimantan are expected for contribution of its studies and development. Proper development showed by its trend / pattern which are distinguished intoupstream areas and downstream areas.
Downstream areas are more capable to apply adventageous factors of development by with both technical and aspects of business modification. Information in more detail about each sub areas is limited for its studies and debelopment policy.
Agroforestry in East Kalimantan is related with shifting cultivation system. Each local relationship may differ. Agroforestry development will be supported by rice field formation, market demand of comodities and provision of facilities and infrastructure. Constrains are mainly market orientation capability of local people which are not adequate yet at the moment.
Cultivation of rattan sega (Calamus caesius) is integrated with shifting cultivation of paddy in much Southern Kalimantan. In the village of Tiwei (Subdistric of Long Ikis, Distric Pasir), with 28 households, the sale of rattan has long provided families with their major source of cash income. While the village area has up to 300 hectares of rattan garden land from current and old plantings, most rattan-cultivating households use only 2 – 5 hectares at any time.
From this land, rattan harvests can reach 1 ton per year. Harvests very greatly, are depending on rattan prices and other work demands. Besides rattan, coffee is also grown, and together with rattan provides for family needs with rising expectations. Recently, many rattan growers are rejuvenating old, exhausted rattan gardens by clearing competing small vegetation (tebasan) to promote the growth of rattan shoots. This system conserves many ecological values of the old secondary forest where the rattan gardens are located, and provides additional income with harvest.
Part of Tiwei’s village land has been designated for possible expansion of an oil palmplantation and transmigration project (PTP VI/PIR VII). This lack of land tenure security has caused some villagers to hesitate to make long-term investments in new plantings (kebun), while others have increased their planting and rehabilitation hoping for greater future income, or for compensation if their lands are taken for oil palm plantation.
Global views of agroforestry in East Kalimantan are expected for contribution of its studies and development. Proper development showed by its trend / pattern which are distinguished intoupstream areas and downstream areas.
Downstream areas are more capable to apply adventageous factors of development by with both technical and aspects of business modification. Information in more detail about each sub areas is limited for its studies and debelopment policy.
Agroforestry in East Kalimantan is related with shifting cultivation system. Each local relationship may differ. Agroforestry development will be supported by rice field formation, market demand of comodities and provision of facilities and infrastructure. Constrains are mainly market orientation capability of local people which are not adequate yet at the moment.
Cultivation of rattan sega (Calamus caesius) is integrated with shifting cultivation of paddy in much Southern Kalimantan. In the village of Tiwei (Subdistric of Long Ikis, Distric Pasir), with 28 households, the sale of rattan has long provided families with their major source of cash income. While the village area has up to 300 hectares of rattan garden land from current and old plantings, most rattan-cultivating households use only 2 – 5 hectares at any time.
From this land, rattan harvests can reach 1 ton per year. Harvests very greatly, are depending on rattan prices and other work demands. Besides rattan, coffee is also grown, and together with rattan provides for family needs with rising expectations. Recently, many rattan growers are rejuvenating old, exhausted rattan gardens by clearing competing small vegetation (tebasan) to promote the growth of rattan shoots. This system conserves many ecological values of the old secondary forest where the rattan gardens are located, and provides additional income with harvest.
Part of Tiwei’s village land has been designated for possible expansion of an oil palmplantation and transmigration project (PTP VI/PIR VII). This lack of land tenure security has caused some villagers to hesitate to make long-term investments in new plantings (kebun), while others have increased their planting and rehabilitation hoping for greater future income, or for compensation if their lands are taken for oil palm plantation.
Monday, August 4, 2008
DEVELOPMENT OF AGROFORESTRY SYSTEM IN EAST KALIMANTAN
Janes Siahaya, Mulawarman University, Indonesia
Agroforestry systems are well known throughout the world since ancient times. People lived in the forest at that time and cultivated their gardens just for subsistance.
A garden, when there are agricultural and forestry plants planted together, is called an “agroforestry garden”. In Indonesia, forestry plants are not systematically planted by farmers, but rather amateurish. They are used only as shelterbelts or boundaries but not commercially since farmers still can easily gather wood and other products from the forest, especially outside Java and Madura like in East Kalimantan. In forest or timber company areas, in contrast, the agricultural plants are planted not by the company butby the workers, like vegetables, seasonal fruit trees, grains and tuber crops (cassava, etc.), just as a hobby or to fulfill their needs and interests.
In Indonesia as a whole, and EastKalimantan in particular, a change of the land use system from pure agriculture to agroforestry systems in the farmer’s gardens will be connected with some dificulties. However, chances for success and development are good if the folowing factors are taken into account to meet the conditions of the regional development plans:
1. The availability of land (minimum two hectares per farmer),
2. The intensive extension in the field of agro-forestry,
3. An intensive forest annd forestry control,
4. Market access for forest products,
5. A personal interest of the farmers, and
6. Easy availability of credits from rural banks for farmers.
The mentioned factors are essential for solving problems involving food, energy, environment and social-economic functions for an increasing number of population while the area of the land is constant. Prediction of this number for the future is, of course, also needed to enable us to distribute the land to the farmers accordingly. Other factors will become major after the land is utilized.
Several terms agroforestry that is significantly gardening in an area of the forest in part:
1. Agricultural cntractor system (Jamaica).
2. Baumfeldwirtschaft, Brandwirtschaft or Waldeldbau (Germany).
3. Bosakherbouw (Dutch).
4. Chena (Sri Lanka).
5. Consorciacao (Brazilian).
6. Cultures sylvicole et agricole combinée, culture intercalaires, la méthode sylvo-agricole, le système sylvobananier or plantation sur culture (French)
7. Dhya, Jhooming, kumri, punam, taila or tuckle (India).
8. Kaingining (Filipino)
9. Ladang (Malay)
10. Licensed cultivator system (Tanzanian).
11. Parcelere (Puerto Rico).
12. Shamba (Kenya)
13. Tahmil (Libyan)
14. Taungya (Burma), other region used this name (hill cultivation).
15. Tumpang Sari (Indonesian)
Agroforestry systems are well known throughout the world since ancient times. People lived in the forest at that time and cultivated their gardens just for subsistance.
A garden, when there are agricultural and forestry plants planted together, is called an “agroforestry garden”. In Indonesia, forestry plants are not systematically planted by farmers, but rather amateurish. They are used only as shelterbelts or boundaries but not commercially since farmers still can easily gather wood and other products from the forest, especially outside Java and Madura like in East Kalimantan. In forest or timber company areas, in contrast, the agricultural plants are planted not by the company butby the workers, like vegetables, seasonal fruit trees, grains and tuber crops (cassava, etc.), just as a hobby or to fulfill their needs and interests.
In Indonesia as a whole, and EastKalimantan in particular, a change of the land use system from pure agriculture to agroforestry systems in the farmer’s gardens will be connected with some dificulties. However, chances for success and development are good if the folowing factors are taken into account to meet the conditions of the regional development plans:
1. The availability of land (minimum two hectares per farmer),
2. The intensive extension in the field of agro-forestry,
3. An intensive forest annd forestry control,
4. Market access for forest products,
5. A personal interest of the farmers, and
6. Easy availability of credits from rural banks for farmers.
The mentioned factors are essential for solving problems involving food, energy, environment and social-economic functions for an increasing number of population while the area of the land is constant. Prediction of this number for the future is, of course, also needed to enable us to distribute the land to the farmers accordingly. Other factors will become major after the land is utilized.
Several terms agroforestry that is significantly gardening in an area of the forest in part:
1. Agricultural cntractor system (Jamaica).
2. Baumfeldwirtschaft, Brandwirtschaft or Waldeldbau (Germany).
3. Bosakherbouw (Dutch).
4. Chena (Sri Lanka).
5. Consorciacao (Brazilian).
6. Cultures sylvicole et agricole combinée, culture intercalaires, la méthode sylvo-agricole, le système sylvobananier or plantation sur culture (French)
7. Dhya, Jhooming, kumri, punam, taila or tuckle (India).
8. Kaingining (Filipino)
9. Ladang (Malay)
10. Licensed cultivator system (Tanzanian).
11. Parcelere (Puerto Rico).
12. Shamba (Kenya)
13. Tahmil (Libyan)
14. Taungya (Burma), other region used this name (hill cultivation).
15. Tumpang Sari (Indonesian)
Monday, July 7, 2008
Agroforest Management Officer (AMO)-based in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia
Agroforest Management Officer (AMO)-based in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia
The Position
ICRAF Indonesia has numerous on-going projects related to smallholder agroforestry that include rubber, cacao and other fruit and timber species as key components in Jambi, Aceh, Lampung, Kalimantan and Java.
The research for development projects also provide some support on tree crops (rubber, cacao, timber and fruit trees), nurseries and land use planning in their target areas. ICRAF has accumulated wealth of information and knowledge on a range of technological options and modeling tools for assessing agroforestry options. In order to strengthen the dissemination of appropriate rubber and timber, fruit, vegetable based agroforestry technology under different projects, ICRAF is opening a new AMO position. The officer will contribute to its research program to assess traditional and emerging agroforestry systems and take a leading role in developing, testing and promoting improved agroforestry systems for smallholder farmers in Indonesia. In addition to technical and socio-economic aspects, the AMO will also take a leading role in training, testing and implementing computer simulation models in the evaluation of agroforestry options under different contexts. It is expected that the AMO will need to spend about half of her/his time in the field, mainly in Aceh Barat.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Under the supervision of Leader of the Agroforest Management Unit of ICRAF Bogor, the AMO will perform the following tasks:
· Under supervision of ICRAF scientists, complete the establishment of demonstration plots of Rubber Agroforestry System (RAS) in Aceh Barat, with a clear strategy for regular monitoring and observations of bio-physical, social and economic aspects of RAS prepare protocols for demonstration plots of improved Rubber Agroforestry Systems (RAS) relevant for Aceh Barat.
· Provide technical supervision and guidance to ICRAF and partner colleagues on development and promotion of tree crop based agroforestry.
· Organize training and other capacity enhancing activities for farmers, government and NGO officials in order to develop local capacity for agroforestry development.
· Develop and maintain effective communication and partnership between ICRAF, farming communities and partner institutions in Aceh Barat, Jambi and Kalimantan.
· Assist in the research (field surveys, data collection and compilation, field reporting) related to environmental aspects (biodiversity, carbon, hydrology) of traditional agroforestry (currently planned for Aceh).
· Take lead in training and support activities for ICRAF partners, students and visitors on various agroforestry models developed or enhanced by ICRAF modelers (e.g. Spatially Explicit Individual-base Forest Simulation, FALLOW and WANULCAS).
Qualification
Must have at least the following qualifications:
· An S2 (MSc) with relevant experience or S1 (BSc) with at least five years of relevant experience on smallholder agroforestry (preferably rubber), data collection (bio-physical, social and economic), compilation, interpretation and analysis and reporting.
· Experience in participatory on-farm research, training-of-trainers (TOT), field supervision and working with farmers, NGOs and government institutions.
· Good networking skills and knowledge
· Experience with simulation models; good aptitude for computer modelling
· Excellent communication skills in Bahasa Indonesia and English (reading, writing, oral and presentation); command of Bahasa Aceh will be an advantage.
· Prepared to spend considerable time in the field.
Applicants are invited to send a letter of application, accompanied by curriculum vitae, transcript of record, names and address of two referees (including telephone, fax numbers and email address).
Applications should indicate 'AMO Application' on their application letters and email submission. All correspondence should be addressed to:
Human Resources Unit, ICRAF
via email: ICRAFSEA-HR@CGIAR.ORG
OR
Fax: (0251) 625416
This is an immediately opening position. Applications will be considered until July 10, 2008
We invite you to learn more about ICRAF by accessing our web site http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea
The Position
ICRAF Indonesia has numerous on-going projects related to smallholder agroforestry that include rubber, cacao and other fruit and timber species as key components in Jambi, Aceh, Lampung, Kalimantan and Java.
The research for development projects also provide some support on tree crops (rubber, cacao, timber and fruit trees), nurseries and land use planning in their target areas. ICRAF has accumulated wealth of information and knowledge on a range of technological options and modeling tools for assessing agroforestry options. In order to strengthen the dissemination of appropriate rubber and timber, fruit, vegetable based agroforestry technology under different projects, ICRAF is opening a new AMO position. The officer will contribute to its research program to assess traditional and emerging agroforestry systems and take a leading role in developing, testing and promoting improved agroforestry systems for smallholder farmers in Indonesia. In addition to technical and socio-economic aspects, the AMO will also take a leading role in training, testing and implementing computer simulation models in the evaluation of agroforestry options under different contexts. It is expected that the AMO will need to spend about half of her/his time in the field, mainly in Aceh Barat.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Under the supervision of Leader of the Agroforest Management Unit of ICRAF Bogor, the AMO will perform the following tasks:
· Under supervision of ICRAF scientists, complete the establishment of demonstration plots of Rubber Agroforestry System (RAS) in Aceh Barat, with a clear strategy for regular monitoring and observations of bio-physical, social and economic aspects of RAS prepare protocols for demonstration plots of improved Rubber Agroforestry Systems (RAS) relevant for Aceh Barat.
· Provide technical supervision and guidance to ICRAF and partner colleagues on development and promotion of tree crop based agroforestry.
· Organize training and other capacity enhancing activities for farmers, government and NGO officials in order to develop local capacity for agroforestry development.
· Develop and maintain effective communication and partnership between ICRAF, farming communities and partner institutions in Aceh Barat, Jambi and Kalimantan.
· Assist in the research (field surveys, data collection and compilation, field reporting) related to environmental aspects (biodiversity, carbon, hydrology) of traditional agroforestry (currently planned for Aceh).
· Take lead in training and support activities for ICRAF partners, students and visitors on various agroforestry models developed or enhanced by ICRAF modelers (e.g. Spatially Explicit Individual-base Forest Simulation, FALLOW and WANULCAS).
Qualification
Must have at least the following qualifications:
· An S2 (MSc) with relevant experience or S1 (BSc) with at least five years of relevant experience on smallholder agroforestry (preferably rubber), data collection (bio-physical, social and economic), compilation, interpretation and analysis and reporting.
· Experience in participatory on-farm research, training-of-trainers (TOT), field supervision and working with farmers, NGOs and government institutions.
· Good networking skills and knowledge
· Experience with simulation models; good aptitude for computer modelling
· Excellent communication skills in Bahasa Indonesia and English (reading, writing, oral and presentation); command of Bahasa Aceh will be an advantage.
· Prepared to spend considerable time in the field.
Applicants are invited to send a letter of application, accompanied by curriculum vitae, transcript of record, names and address of two referees (including telephone, fax numbers and email address).
Applications should indicate 'AMO Application' on their application letters and email submission. All correspondence should be addressed to:
Human Resources Unit, ICRAF
via email: ICRAFSEA-HR@CGIAR.ORG
OR
Fax: (0251) 625416
This is an immediately opening position. Applications will be considered until July 10, 2008
We invite you to learn more about ICRAF by accessing our web site http://www.worldagroforestry.org/sea
Partnership Manager, Rare Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Timor Leste
Partnership Manager, Rare Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Timor Leste
Deadline of Application : July 30, 2008
Application to : bogor@rareconservation.org
Level : Manager
Location : Bogor, Indonesia
FLSA Classification : Exempt
Reports to : Director for Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Timor Leste
Last Updated : June, 2008
Travel : Up to 25%
Organization Background
Rare is a fast-growing, international conservation organization that runs state-of-the-art communications and outreach projects in more than 40 countries around the world. Named to Fast Company magazine’s list of “Top Social Capitalists” for the last four consecutive years, Rare is committed to bringing a spirit of entrepreneurship and creativity to solving one of this century’s great challenges – building public support for conservation.
Rare partners with more than one hundred groups at the international and local levels, including The Nature Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Society, World Wildlife Fund, Aveda corporation, United Nations Environment Programme, Mexico’s National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and many others.
All Rare projects are managed by local partners; we focus both on building community support for conservation and tangibly reducing threats to the environment by working closely with the world’s top local environmental organizations. We recently awarded the Rare Award for Inspiring Conservation to Pulitzer Prize winning conservation leader E.O. Wilson who described Rare’s value as follows: “In an original manner, Rare attends to conservation where it has ultimately the most lasting effect, through education tuned to the culture and needs of local people.”
Description of Position
Rare’s success – in fact the success of local conservation outreach globally – is contingent on attracting the best and brightest leaders at the community level. Rare has already trained more than 200 local conservationists both in the field and at Rare’s three university centers (in the UK, Mexico, and Indonesia). Yet given Rare’s expected growth in both scale and impact by 2011, we need to greatly increase Rare’s investment in recruiting new conservation leaders and partnering organizations at the local level.
The Partnership Manager, based at Rare office in Bogor, is a vital position at Rare that will be responsible for developing and facilitating a robust Pride candidate pipeline to ensure growing demand for Rare’s work around the world and the highest caliber of Pride campaign managers. As the primary interface with all potential new partners in the Bahasa Indonesia (Malay)-speaking world, the Partnership Manager will have the opportunity to help create a key program from the ground up, and interact with a vast network of partners around the world.
Using prior experience in program marketing and community engagement, this position will identify suitable candidates for Rare comprehensive capacity development program by leveraging and maintaining Rare’s regional network of contacts and partners, as well as serving as an ambassador to new target audiences in the Bahasa Indonesia (Malay)-speaking conservation community. The Partnership Manager will also work closely with Rare’s Director for Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Timor Leste and Director of Strategic Partnerships to create aligned recruitment strategies and methods and coordinate prospective partner interviews, participation in Rare global workshops, and submission and review of completed new partner application packages. The Partnership Manager will also have the opportunity to work with Rare’s experienced alumni network to harness their enthusiasm and knowledge to contribute to a cohesive global network of conservation practitioners that ensures a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts.
Under supervision of Rare’s Director for Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Timor Leste the Partnership Manager will be responsible for:
• Brand Awareness and Outreach
• Build Rare’s brand among current and potential partners to generate increased demand for Rare Pride through new partner outreach and lead generation
• Represent Rare at conferences and meetings to further awareness of Rare and build the pipeline of high quality applicants
• Hold regular meetings with partners
• Support and Facilitation of all Bogor-based Pride Recruitment
• Coordinate Bogor recruiting efforts with Rare's global recruiting strategy through regular communication, planning, and implementation with Rare’s Director, Strategic Partnerships and global recruiting team
• Support the development of a regional recruiting strategy
• Utilize Rare’s existing network of contacts and Pride alumni
• Build new recruiting streams and relationships in the global conservation community in line with Rare’s global recruitment strategy
• Regularly manage and update Rare’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, Prideforce
• Lead applicants through the recruiting process by communicating with leads and applicants regularly
• Ensure a healthy recruiting pipeline against timing and targets
• Organize and help to deliver recruiting workshops
• Support and assist accepted applicants through the required preparatory phase prior to university training
• Marketing and Communications
• Coordinate the marketing and communications of Rare Pride successes, campaign news, new partnerships, alumni newsletters and recruiting efforts
• Manage and maintain regional Pride alumni network, including facilitating adoption of the network through online and offline communications tools and creatively designing new approaches to engage current and past Rare partners.
• Customize globally-provided recruiting tools
• Manage local revision and production of materials, as necessary
Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree required, preferably with an international focus in communications, biodiversity conservation, environmental education, international development, environmental policy, or related field.
• Work experience of at least 4 years required.
• Prior success in marketing, recruitment, pipeline development and management, and/or social network development preferred.
• Experience in mentoring, training, coaching or guidance, especially in a long-distance setting.
• Strong background in leadership, community engagement, and relationship building.
• Knowledge of key players in the national, regional and international conservation/community development community helpful.
• Experience in online communications and alumni network development desired.
• Proficiency in MS Office suite required, experience with SalesForce or other online sales and/orpipeline management tool preferred.
• Written and spoken fluency in English.
• Experience in coordinating communications and marketing efforts across long distances.
• Strong project management skills required.
• Intercultural/multicultural experience and attitude.
• Note that willingness for significant travel is required (up to 25%).
Deadline of Application : July 30, 2008
Application to : bogor@rareconservation.org
Level : Manager
Location : Bogor, Indonesia
FLSA Classification : Exempt
Reports to : Director for Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Timor Leste
Last Updated : June, 2008
Travel : Up to 25%
Organization Background
Rare is a fast-growing, international conservation organization that runs state-of-the-art communications and outreach projects in more than 40 countries around the world. Named to Fast Company magazine’s list of “Top Social Capitalists” for the last four consecutive years, Rare is committed to bringing a spirit of entrepreneurship and creativity to solving one of this century’s great challenges – building public support for conservation.
Rare partners with more than one hundred groups at the international and local levels, including The Nature Conservancy, Wildlife Conservation Society, World Wildlife Fund, Aveda corporation, United Nations Environment Programme, Mexico’s National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and many others.
All Rare projects are managed by local partners; we focus both on building community support for conservation and tangibly reducing threats to the environment by working closely with the world’s top local environmental organizations. We recently awarded the Rare Award for Inspiring Conservation to Pulitzer Prize winning conservation leader E.O. Wilson who described Rare’s value as follows: “In an original manner, Rare attends to conservation where it has ultimately the most lasting effect, through education tuned to the culture and needs of local people.”
Description of Position
Rare’s success – in fact the success of local conservation outreach globally – is contingent on attracting the best and brightest leaders at the community level. Rare has already trained more than 200 local conservationists both in the field and at Rare’s three university centers (in the UK, Mexico, and Indonesia). Yet given Rare’s expected growth in both scale and impact by 2011, we need to greatly increase Rare’s investment in recruiting new conservation leaders and partnering organizations at the local level.
The Partnership Manager, based at Rare office in Bogor, is a vital position at Rare that will be responsible for developing and facilitating a robust Pride candidate pipeline to ensure growing demand for Rare’s work around the world and the highest caliber of Pride campaign managers. As the primary interface with all potential new partners in the Bahasa Indonesia (Malay)-speaking world, the Partnership Manager will have the opportunity to help create a key program from the ground up, and interact with a vast network of partners around the world.
Using prior experience in program marketing and community engagement, this position will identify suitable candidates for Rare comprehensive capacity development program by leveraging and maintaining Rare’s regional network of contacts and partners, as well as serving as an ambassador to new target audiences in the Bahasa Indonesia (Malay)-speaking conservation community. The Partnership Manager will also work closely with Rare’s Director for Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Timor Leste and Director of Strategic Partnerships to create aligned recruitment strategies and methods and coordinate prospective partner interviews, participation in Rare global workshops, and submission and review of completed new partner application packages. The Partnership Manager will also have the opportunity to work with Rare’s experienced alumni network to harness their enthusiasm and knowledge to contribute to a cohesive global network of conservation practitioners that ensures a whole that is much greater than the sum of its parts.
Under supervision of Rare’s Director for Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Timor Leste the Partnership Manager will be responsible for:
• Brand Awareness and Outreach
• Build Rare’s brand among current and potential partners to generate increased demand for Rare Pride through new partner outreach and lead generation
• Represent Rare at conferences and meetings to further awareness of Rare and build the pipeline of high quality applicants
• Hold regular meetings with partners
• Support and Facilitation of all Bogor-based Pride Recruitment
• Coordinate Bogor recruiting efforts with Rare's global recruiting strategy through regular communication, planning, and implementation with Rare’s Director, Strategic Partnerships and global recruiting team
• Support the development of a regional recruiting strategy
• Utilize Rare’s existing network of contacts and Pride alumni
• Build new recruiting streams and relationships in the global conservation community in line with Rare’s global recruitment strategy
• Regularly manage and update Rare’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, Prideforce
• Lead applicants through the recruiting process by communicating with leads and applicants regularly
• Ensure a healthy recruiting pipeline against timing and targets
• Organize and help to deliver recruiting workshops
• Support and assist accepted applicants through the required preparatory phase prior to university training
• Marketing and Communications
• Coordinate the marketing and communications of Rare Pride successes, campaign news, new partnerships, alumni newsletters and recruiting efforts
• Manage and maintain regional Pride alumni network, including facilitating adoption of the network through online and offline communications tools and creatively designing new approaches to engage current and past Rare partners.
• Customize globally-provided recruiting tools
• Manage local revision and production of materials, as necessary
Qualifications:
• Bachelor’s degree required, preferably with an international focus in communications, biodiversity conservation, environmental education, international development, environmental policy, or related field.
• Work experience of at least 4 years required.
• Prior success in marketing, recruitment, pipeline development and management, and/or social network development preferred.
• Experience in mentoring, training, coaching or guidance, especially in a long-distance setting.
• Strong background in leadership, community engagement, and relationship building.
• Knowledge of key players in the national, regional and international conservation/community development community helpful.
• Experience in online communications and alumni network development desired.
• Proficiency in MS Office suite required, experience with SalesForce or other online sales and/orpipeline management tool preferred.
• Written and spoken fluency in English.
• Experience in coordinating communications and marketing efforts across long distances.
• Strong project management skills required.
• Intercultural/multicultural experience and attitude.
• Note that willingness for significant travel is required (up to 25%).
Call for application: Project Management and Leadership Training
Call for application: Project Management and Leadership Training
Dear all,
British Council will conduct this Project Management and Leadership Training programme in Indonesia , 24-29 August 2008 by inviting a large group of young eco-visionary leaders, age 20-35, from Indonesia , Australia , Japan , Korea , Malaysia , Singapore , and Thailand . Kindly distribute this information below to your partners, contacts, and friends who are keen to apply as the participants.
Please note that the deadline of application is 20 July 2008 Shall you have any enquiry about this programme, please liaise with our team: pmt@britishcouncil. or.id . For further information please go to: http://www.bcnow60.org/cpmt/
Thank you and best regards,
Project Management and Leadership Training Team
British Council T +62 (0)21 515 5561F +62 (0)21 515 5562
E: pmt@britishcouncil. or.id
W: www.britishcouncil.or.id
Dear all,
British Council will conduct this Project Management and Leadership Training programme in Indonesia , 24-29 August 2008 by inviting a large group of young eco-visionary leaders, age 20-35, from Indonesia , Australia , Japan , Korea , Malaysia , Singapore , and Thailand . Kindly distribute this information below to your partners, contacts, and friends who are keen to apply as the participants.
Please note that the deadline of application is 20 July 2008 Shall you have any enquiry about this programme, please liaise with our team: pmt@britishcouncil. or.id . For further information please go to: http://www.bcnow60.org/cpmt/
Thank you and best regards,
Project Management and Leadership Training Team
British Council T +62 (0)21 515 5561F +62 (0)21 515 5562
E: pmt@britishcouncil. or.id
W: www.britishcouncil.or.id
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