Tropical Forests In A Changing Global Context

The loss of biodiversity is a major environmental problem in nearly every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. This loss is accelerating driven by climate change, as well as by other causes including agricultural exploitation, fragmentation and degradation triggered by land use changes. The crucial issue under debate is the impact on the welfare of current and future population, and the role of humans in the exploitation of natural resources. This is of particular importance in Central America, which it is amongst the richest and most threatened biodiversity regions on the Earth, and where the loss of ecosystems strongly affects its socio-economic vulnerability. This book addresses the impacts of climate and land-use change on tropical forest ecosystems in this important region, and assesses the expected economic costs if no policy action is taken, under different future scenarios and for different geographical scales. This innovative collection utilises both theoretical approaches and empirical results to provide a conceptual framework for an integrated analysis of climate and land-use change impacts on forest ecosystems and related economic effects, offering insight into the complex relationship between ecosystems and benefits to humans. This important contribution to forest ecosystems and climate change provides invaluable reading for students and scholars in the fields of environmental and ecological economics, environmental science and forestry, natural resource management, agriculture and climate change.

Tropical forests are an undervalued asset in meeting the greatest global challenges of our time—averting climate change and promoting development. Despite their importance, tropical forests and their ecosystems are being destroyed at a high and even increasing rate in most forest-rich countries. The good news is that the science, economics, and politics are aligned to support a major international effort over the next five years to reverse tropical deforestation. Why Forests? Why Now? synthesizes the latest evidence on the importance of tropical forests in a way that is accessible to anyone interested in climate change and development and to readers already familiar with the problem of deforestation. It makes the case to decisionmakers in rich countries that rewarding developing countries for protecting their forests is urgent, affordable, and achievable.

Marie-Claude Smouts looks at the issue of rain forest depletion and global environmental policies. Beginning with how the issue entered the world stage in the 1980s despite alarms over the issue in the 1950s, Tropical Forests, International Jungle explores the complexities of what are tropical forests, what role they play not only in environmentalism but in trade, health care, and almost every facet of natural and social life for those living there and beyond. Although for most in the developed world tropical forests have gained a status of part of our world heritage, these forests are not really part of the global commons or a global public good. Developing nations maintain control over the forests within their borders and often use the forests as they see fit. The international system for mediating the issue is a fractured group of non-governmental organizations and transnational networks, often with competing views of how to manage tropical forests. Despite this seemingly grim picture, Smouts is optimistic. A changing world view toward forest depletion is influencing countries both North and South. Although forests will be used commercially, it is a dynamic process that should maintain them far into the future.

Although global rates of deforestation have started to decrease, they remain alarmingly high in many tropical countries. In light of this challenge, the growing importance of sustainable forest management (SFM) has been highlighted as a means for improving sustainability across the sector. Achieving sustainable management of tropical forests summarises and reviews the rich body of research on tropical forests and how this research can be utilised to make sustainable management of tropical forests a standard implementable strategy for the future. The book features expert discussions on the economic, political and environmental contexts needed for SFM to operate successfully, including coverage of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With its distinguished editors and international array of expert authors, Achieving sustainable management of tropical forests will be a standard reference for researchers in tropical forest science, international and national organisations responsible for protection and responsible stewardship of tropical forests, as well as the commercial sector harvesting and using tropical forest products.

This is the history of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO); its aims, policies and achievements, through drawing on contemporary records and the author's own wide experience. The book uses examination of past successes and failures to formulate a 21st-century agenda for the most practical ways of improving the management of forests and deciding forest policies.

The loss of biodiversity is a major environmental problem in nearly every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. This loss is accelerating driven by climate change, as well as by other causes including agricultural exploitation, fragmentation and degradation triggered by land use changes. The crucial issue under debate is the impact on the welfare of current and future population, and the role of humans in the exploitation of natural resources. This is of particular importance in Central America, which it is amongst the richest and most threatened biodiversity regions on the Earth, and where the loss of ecosystems strongly affects its socio-economic vulnerability. This book addresses the impacts of climate and land-use change on tropical forest ecosystems in this important region, and assesses the expected economic costs if no policy action is taken, under different future scenarios and for different geographical scales. This innovative collection utilises both theoretical approaches and empirical results to provide a conceptual framework for an integrated analysis of climate and land-use change impacts on forest ecosystems and related economic effects, offering insight into the complex relationship between ecosystems and benefits to humans. This important contribution to forest ecosystems and climate change provides invaluable reading for students and scholars in the fields of environmental and ecological economics, environmental science and forestry, natural resource management, agriculture and climate change.