Occurring naturally in Laos, teak is one of the world's finest timbers. The high sustained demand for teak wood, coupled with significant shortages of supply from natural forests, has stimulated the development of plantations in many tropical countries. This study examined the socioeconomic and technical constraints to the incorporation of teak planting into farming systems in northern Laos.
Significant forest change in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) has resulted in deforestation of primary forests and expansion of plantation forests. Although plantation forest development benefits rural communities through income generation and employment opportunities, there have been negative impacts, including reductions in livestock grazing land and collection of non-timber forest products. This study analysed the association between primary forests, plantation forests, grazing areas and large ruminant populations in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam. The report showed that livestock populations in the GMS are dynamic and have been under pressure due to enhanced trade and demand in red meat in China and Viet Nam, with a generally positive association between planted forest areas and populations of cattle and buffalo in Lao PDR and Viet Nam indicated. Tree plantations were an important source of income and generally perceived as having a positive impact on rural livelihoods, despite negatively impacts in grazing land availability. It is recommended that integrative approaches that include the collection of household level data to assess the impact on smallholder livelihoods and the collection of regional level data to capture forest changes in future forest assessments, enabling a more comprehensive understanding of the association between primary forests and planted forest on smallholder livestock production. Silvopastoral models have the potential to provide more viable and sustainable alternatives to the current forestry and livestock production models, supporting the transformation to more sustainable agriculture for better production, better environment, and sustainable development goals in GMS countries and beyond.
In Regreening the Bare Hills: Tropical Forest Restoration in the Asia-Pacific Region, David Lamb explores how reforestation might be carried out both to conserve biological diversity and to improve the livelihoods of the rural poor. While both issues have attracted considerable attention in recent years, this book takes a significant step, by integrating ecological and silvicultural knowledge within the context of the social and economic issues that can determine the success or failure of tropical forest landscape restoration. Describing new approaches to the reforestation of degraded lands in the Asia-Pacific tropics, the book reviews current approaches to reforestation throughout the region, paying particular attention to those which incorporate native species – including in multi-species plantations. It presents case studies from across the Asia-Pacific region and discusses how the silvicultural methods needed to manage these ‘new’ plantations will differ from conventional methods. It also explores how reforestation might be made more attractive to smallholders and how trade-offs between production and conservation are most easily made at a landscape scale. The book concludes with a discussion of how future forest restoration may be affected by some current ecological and socio-economic trends now underway. The book represents a valuable resource for reforestation managers and policy makers wishing to promote these new silvicultural approaches, as well as for conservationists, development experts and researchers with an interest in forest restoration. Combining a theoretical-research perspective with practical aspects of restoration, the book will be equally valuable to practitioners and academics, while the lessons drawn from these discussions will have relevance elsewhere throughout the tropics.
This handbook of locally based agricultural practices brings together the best of science and farmer experimentation, vividly illustrating the enormous diversity of shifting cultivation systems as well as the power of human ingenuity. Environmentalists have tended to disparage shifting cultivation (sometimes called 'swidden cultivation' or 'slash-and-burn agriculture') as unsustainable due to its supposed role in deforestation and land degradation. However, a growing body of evidence indicates that such indigenous practices, as they have evolved over time, can be highly adaptive to land and ecology. In contrast, 'scientific' agricultural solutions imposed from outside can be far more damaging to the environment. Moreover, these external solutions often fail to recognize the extent to which an agricultural system supports a way of life along with a society's food needs. They do not recognize the degree to which the sustainability of a culture is intimately associated with the sustainability and continuity of its agricultural system. Unprecedented in ambition and scope, Voices from the Forest focuses on successful agricultural strategies of upland farmers. More than 100 scholars from 19 countries--including agricultural economists, ecologists, and anthropologists--collaborated in the analysis of different fallow management typologies, working in conjunction with hundreds of indigenous farmers of different cultures and a broad range of climates, crops, and soil conditions. By sharing this knowledge--and combining it with new scientific and technical advances--the authors hope to make indigenous practices and experience more widely accessible and better understood, not only by researchers and development practitioners, but by other communities of farmers around the world.
Recent history reveals that both the large-scale reforestation projects of the 20th century have often been less successful than anticipated, and that tree growing by smallholders – as an alternative means to combat deforestation and promote sustainable land use – has received relatively little attention from the scientific and development communities. Taking a first step to addressing that balance, this collection of peer-reviewed papers adopts a comparative approach to explore the potential role that tree growing by farmers can play in sustainable forest management. The goal of this approach is to identify common threads and to start to develop a framework for future research and practice. Presenting case studies from the Philippines and comparative data from a number of Asian countries the book reveals that farmer tree growing has the potential to play a significant role in sustainable forest management, and discusses the surrounding issues which must be addressed in order to realise this potential. The book is primarily aimed at research scientists and graduate students interested in relevant aspects of forestry, agroforestry, agricultural diversity, natural resource management and conservation in agricultural landscapes, as well as those involved in sustainable development and international development studies. It will also provide a valuable reference for professionals, managers, consultants, policy makers and planners dealing with issues in sustainable development, natural resource management, land use change issues and participatory approaches to resource management.
Consideration of the interactions between decisions made at one point in the supply chain and its effects on the subsequent stages is the core concept of a systems approach. Postharvest Handling is unique in its application of this systems approach to the handling of fruits and vegetables, exploring multiple aspects of this important process through chapters written by experts from a variety of backgrounds.Newly updated and revised, this second edition includes coverage of the logistics of fresh produce from multiple perspectives, postharvest handing under varying weather conditions, quality control, changes in consumer eating habits and other factors key to successful postharvest handling.The ideal book for understanding the economic as well as physical impacts of postharvest handling decisions.Key Features:*Features contributions from leading experts providing a variety of perspectives*Updated with 12 new chapters*Focuses on application-based information for practical implementation*System approach is unique in the handling of fruits and vegetables
