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Forest Management: Significance Of The Year 2010
The year 2010 is very important for forests. During the course of this year, developed countries like United States and organizations like the European Union and the United Nations Convention on Climate Change are expected to take vital decisions on incorporating targeted policies for good forest governance. Today, deforestation and forest degradation constitute the second most important contributor to global warming (after fossil fuels) and, in many countries, are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.1 But deforestation is not a result of irrationality, ignorance or stupidity: in most cases, people do get, or expect to get, real benefits from deforestation and unsustainable forest harvesting. 2 Thus, forest management is crucial in mitigating the effects of climate change and in creating a more conducive environment. Forest governance is the modus operandi by which officials and institutions acquire and exercise authority in the management of forest resources. Good forest governance is characterized by predictable, open and informed policymaking based on transparent processes; a bureaucracy imbued with a professional ethos; an executive arm of government accountable for its actions; and a strong civil society participating in decisions related to the sector.1
Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD)
Deforestation remains an entrenched and ongoing issue in the Amazon, the world’s largest and naturally richest rainforest. 2 However recently, the REDD technique, which provides monetary benefits to local people for protecting forests, employed in the Juma Sustainable Development Research Project led by Amazonas Sustainable Foundation has seen great success in the Amazonas state of Brazil. Although acquiring the necessary funding is a complex issue, REDD can simultaneously reduce emissions and alleviate poverty by rewarding local communities for conserving their forests.3
New Causes for Concern in 2010
A research based on satellite data from 1998 to 2007, published in the Science journal on 4th June, 2010 found that carbon dioxide emissions from forest fires have unexpectedly risen in the Brazilian Amazon, and may be cancelling out emission reductions from efforts to preserve rainforests through REDD. The co-author of the study Luiz Aragão cautioned, "Even though there is a decrease in deforestation rates, the total amount of deforested areas is always increasing, even if it's at a slower pace. This generates more forest edges — the intersection between agriculture land and the forest — and increases fragmentation. Forest edges and fragments, and secondary forests, are all susceptible to fire." 4 The research concluded that "the success of reductions in carbon emissions by avoiding deforestation depends on harmonising REDD with policies to limit fire incidence not only in the Brazilian Amazon but also in other rainforest nations in South America, Africa and Asia."4
Footnotes
1. FAO (2009). Forest Governance and Climate-change Mitigation. http://www.fao.org/forestry/19488-1-0.pdf
2. Viana Virgilio, M. IIED (2009). Seeing REDD in the Amazon: a win for people, trees and climate. Page 1. http://www.iied.org/pubs/pdfs/17052IIED.pdf
3. IIED (2009). Financing REDD: meshing markets with government funds. http://www.iied.org/pubs/pdfs/17053IIED.pdf
4. Mendes, H. (June 7, 2010). REDD Alert for forest climate change policy. http://www.scidev.net/en/news/redd-a...ge-policy.html
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