Rehabilitation And Restoration Of Degraded Forests

Large areas of the world’s forests have been lost or degraded and landscapes everywhere are being simplified by current land-use practices. In this publication, Lamb and Gilmour present approaches to restoring and rehabilitating the vast areas of degraded, fragmented and modified forests which cover much of the world. They argue that by applying best practice at the site level it is possible to enhance socio-economic and ecological gains at the landscape level. This book provides an important contribution towards the objectives of the Forest Landscape Restoration approach and is essential reading for practitioners and decision makers involved in forest restoration.

This report assesses the experiences of forest rehabilitation in Vietnam and draws strategic lessons from these experiences to guide new forest rehabilitation projects. The report highlights lessons from Vietnam's experiences that will be helpful beyond the country border. This report has the following structure: the remainder of chpater one provides the conceptual clarification and theoritical underpinnings for the study and introduces the methodology. Chapter two provides background information and context for the outcomes of forest rehabilitation in Vietnam, including basic information on Vietnam, its forest cover, forestry sector and policies that are relevant to forestry and forest rehabilitation. Chapter three gives an overview of forest rehabilitation in Vietnam from its inception in the 1950s until today, as the country carries out its latest nationwide forest rehabilitation effort, the 5 million hectares reforestation project. Chapter four analyses in detail forest rehabilitation project that were analysed in the field study carried out as part of this study. Chapter five draws lessons from the report.

This publication is the result of a project initiated by the Chinese Acadamy of Forestry (CAF) and finalised with inputs by representatives of Center for International Forestry Research(CIFOR), and Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC) at a meeting in Singapore in 1995.

Forest loss and degradation have caused a decline in the quality of ecosystem services around the world. But fixing the problem takes more than just planting trees; practitioners increasingly realize that a landscape approach is essential. This handbook, authored and edited by international authorities in the field of forestry, is the first practical guide to using forest landscape restoration (FLR) to repair the damage done to forest lands by poor land management practice. Using research backed by respected institutions such as ITTO and the World Conservation Union (IUCN), it explains how to increase the resilience of landscapes and the communities they support through FLR. The main aim of FLR is not to re-establish pristine forest, even if this were possible; rather, the objective is to make landscapes more resilient and thereby keep future management options open. It also aims to support communities as they strive to increase and sustain the benefits they derive from land management. This book explains the concept of FLR and guides the reader through the steps that must be taken to put it into practice. It is an indispensable aid for practitioners in all aspects of forestry and natural resource management.

Restoration ecology, as a scientific discipline, developed from practitioners’ efforts to restore degraded land, with interest also coming from applied ecologists attracted by the potential for restoration projects to apply and/or test developing theories on ecosystem development. Since then, forest landscape restoration (FLR) has emerged as a practical approach to forest restoration particularly in developing countries, where an approach which is both large-scale and focuses on meeting human needs is required. Yet despite increased investigation into both the biological and social aspects of FLR, there has so far been little success in systematically integrating these two complementary strands. Bringing experts in landscape studies, natural resource management and forest restoration, together with those experienced in conflict management, environmental economics and urban studies, this book bridges that gap to define the nature and potential of FLR as a truly multidisciplinary approach to a global environmental problem. The book will provide a valuable reference to graduate students and researchers interested in ecological restoration, forest ecology and management, as well as to professionals in environmental restoration, natural resource management, conservation, and environmental policy.

Forest degradation as a result of logging, shifting cultivation, agriculture and urban development is a major issue throughout the tropics. It leads to loss in soil fertility, water resources and biodiversity, as well as contributes to climate change. Efforts are therefore required to try to minimize further degradation and restore tropical forests in a sustainable way. This is the first research-based book to examine this problem in East Africa. The specific focus is on the forests of Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda, but the lessons learned are shown to be applicable to neighbouring countries and others in the tropics. A wide range of forest types are covered, from dry Miombo forest and afromontane forests, to forest-savannah mosaics and wet forest types. Current management practices are assessed and examples of good practice presented. The role of local people is also emphasized. The authors describe improved management and restoration through silviculture, plantation forestry and agroforestry, leading to improvements in timber production, biodiversity conservation and the livelihoods of local people.