Handbook of Forest Resource Economics
Handbook of Forest Resource Economics

Author: Shashi Kant

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-04-03

Total Pages: 576

ISBN-13: 1136253297

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It is increasingly recognized that the economic value of forests is not merely the production of timber. Forests provide other key ecosystem services, such as being sinks for greenhouse gases, hotspots of biodiversity, tourism and recreation. They are also vitally important in preventing soil erosion and controlling water supplies, as well as providing non-timber forest products and supporting the livelihoods of many local people. This handbook provides a detailed, comprehensive and broad coverage of forest economics, including traditional forest economics of timber production, economics of environmental role of forests, and recent developments in forest economics. The chapters are grouped into six parts: fundamental topics in forest resource economics; economics of forest ecosystems; economics of forests, climate change, and bioenergy; economics of risk, uncertainty, and natural disturbances; economics of forest property rights and certification; and emerging issues and developments. Written by leading environmental, forest, and natural resource economists, the book represents a definitive reference volume for students of economics, environment, forestry and natural resource economics and management.

Better Forestry, Less Poverty
Better Forestry, Less Poverty

Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.

Published: 2006

Total Pages: 84

ISBN-13: 9789251055502

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This guide suggests ways to design and implement forest-based interventions that have the greatest potential to reduce poverty. Areas for action include timber production in both natural and planted forests, non-wood forest products, woodfuel, bushmeat, agroforestry and payment for environmental services. For each topic, the guide outlines key issues, summarizes successful case studies and identifies sources of additional information. The document highlights the importance of using participatory approaches and of tailoring activities to local circumstances. Emphasis is on making changes that will improve the livelihoods of people living in or near forests, and on helping users to gain a better understanding of the forms of rural poverty and of how decisions made at the local level affect segments of poor rural communities in different ways - women, children and the elderly being the most vulnerable. The guide will be of interest to forestry and rural development practitioners and the communities they serve, including district forestry officials, extension workers, local planners and administrators, and owners of small-scale enterprises and their employees.

Forests For Sustainability
Forests For Sustainability

Author: Dr. D.N. Tewari

Publisher: Prabhat Prakashan

Published: 2012-01-01

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 8184301162

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Forests are receiving unprecedented world-wide attention for their crucial role in the mitigation of climate change; conservation of biodiversity; regulation of water cycle and maintenance of livelihoods. That includes the social and economic benefits from timber; fuelwood; non-wood forest products and wildlife; among other items. Apart from gainful employment and income generation potential for rural communities and self-reliant subsistence of forest dwellers; forests provide a range of environmental services fundamental for human wellbeing; they help protect land and water resources; conserve and improve soils; store carbon and provide significant intrinsic and aesthetic values for people. Yet the continuing deforestation and forest degradation; especially in the poverty afflicted developing countries; threaten the very future of their civilization; while escalating the food insecurity and vulnerability of world’s forest-dependent poorest people. Given the global prospects and problems of the planet’s welfare associated with forests; an effective international response is warranted without further procrastination to ensure sustainable management and conservation of the earth’s forest resource assets. In this context; awareness-raising by launching the International year of Forests 2011 (IYF) is timely. This book on ‘Forests for Sustainability’ is dedicated to the mission of the IYF and the Indian Forest Congress. It is oriented to highlighting the opportunities and challenges for enhancing forestry related livelihoods & sustainability. The book conveys key messages of coordinated effort needed worldwide to use the right mix of regulatory; market based and informational instruments for promoting the improvement of state of forests and related dimensions of the environment and livelihoods.

Governing Africa's Forests in a Globalized World
Governing Africa's Forests in a Globalized World

Author: Laura Anne German

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2009-12-01

Total Pages: 435

ISBN-13: 1136545514

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Many countries around the world are engaged in decentralization processes, and most African countries face serious problems with forest governance, from benefits sharing to illegality and sustainable forest management. This book summarizes experiences to date on the extent and nature of decentralization and its outcomes - most of which suggest an underperformance of governance reforms - and explores the viability of different governance instruments in the context of weak governance and expanding commercial pressures over forests. Findings are grouped into two thematic areas: decentralization, livelihoods and sustainable forest management; and international trade, finance and forest sector governance reforms. The authors examine diverse forces shaping the forest sector, including the theory and practice of decentralization, usurpation of authority, corruption and illegality, inequitable patterns of benefits capture and expansion of international trade in timber and carbon credits, and discuss related outcomes on livelihoods, forest condition and equity. The book builds on earlier volumes exploring different dimensions of decentralization and perspectives from other world regions, and distills dimensions of forest governance that are both unique to Africa and representative of broader global patterns. The authors ground their analysis in relevant theory while drawing out implications of their findings for policy and practice.

Fiscal Policies for Development and Climate Action
Fiscal Policies for Development and Climate Action

Author: Miria A. Pigato

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2018-12-31

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 9781464813580

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This report provides actionable advice on how to design and implement fiscal policies for both development and climate action. Building on more than two decades of research in development and environmental economics, it argues that well-designed environmental tax reforms are especially valuable in developing countries, where they can reduce emissions, increase domestic revenues, and generate positive welfare effects such as cleaner water, safer roads, and improvements in human health. Moreover, these reforms need not harm competitiveness. New empirical evidence from Indonesia and Mexico suggests that under certain conditions, raising fuel prices can actually increase firm productivity. Finally, the report discusses the role of fiscal policy in strengthening resilience to climate change. It provides evidence that preventive public investments and measures to build fiscal buffers can help safeguard stability and growth in the face of rising climate risks. In this way, environmental tax reforms and climate risk-management strategies can lay the much-needed fiscal foundation for development and climate action.

Subsidy Reform in the Middle East and North Africa
Subsidy Reform in the Middle East and North Africa

Author: Mr.Carlo A Sdralevich

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2014-07-09

Total Pages: 130

ISBN-13: 1498350437

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In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries price subsidies are common, especially on food and fuels. However, these are neither well targeted nor cost effective as a social protection tool, often benefiting mainly the better off instead of the poor and vulnerable. This paper explores the challenges of replacing generalized price subsidies with more equitable social safety net instruments, including the short-term inflationary effects, and describes the features of successful subsidy reforms.

Carbon Conflicts and Forest Landscapes in Africa
Carbon Conflicts and Forest Landscapes in Africa

Author: Melissa Leach

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2015-06-05

Total Pages: 251

ISBN-13: 1317579984

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Amidst the pressing challenges of global climate change, the last decade has seen a wave of forest carbon projects across the world, designed to conserve and enhance forest carbon stocks in order to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and offset emissions elsewhere. Exploring a set of new empirical case studies, Carbon Conflicts and Forest Landscapes in Africa examines how these projects are unfolding, their effects, and who is gaining and losing. Situating forest carbon approaches as part of more general moves to address environmental problems by attaching market values to nature and ecosystems, it examines how new projects interact with forest landscapes and their longer histories of intervention. The book asks: what difference does carbon make? What political and ecological dynamics are unleashed by these new commodified, marketized approaches, and how are local forest users experiencing and responding to them? The book’s case studies cover a wide range of African ecologies, project types and national political-economic contexts. By examining these cases in a comparative framework and within an understanding of the national, regional and global institutional arrangements shaping forest carbon commoditisation, the book provides a rich and compelling account of how and why carbon conflicts are emerging, and how they might be avoided in future. This book will be of interest to students of development studies, environmental sciences, geography, economics, development studies and anthropology, as well as practitioners and policy makers.