Alexander S. Mather

Recent Asian forest transitions in relation to forest- transition theory

SUMMARY China, India and Viet Nam have recently experienced forest transitions from net deforestation to net reforestation as many European countries and US states underwent in the past. An embryonic forest-transition theory seeks to explain the phenomenon. Three recent Asian cases indicate that long established trends, usually perceived as representing environmental degradation, can be halted and reversed in the global South. Similarities and differences among the cases confirm that existing forest-transition theory needs refinement, in part by acknowledging the significant role played by government.

The course and drivers of the forest transition: The case of France

Abstract Deforestation in developing countries has given rise to much concern in recent years. Until the early 19th century, many now-developed countries such as France experienced similar deforestation. Net deforestation then gave way to net reforestation: this shift is defined as the forest transition. The courses and drivers of forest transitions are not well understood: until a better understanding is achieved, it will be difficult to evaluate the prospects for comparable forest transitions to occur in developing countries. This paper aims to advance the understanding of the forest transition by analysing its occurrence in France. It concludes that the transition can be understood in terms of a crisis-response model, set in the context of a number of necessary factors. It also indicates that the forest transition was accompanied by a paradigmatic shift from the pre-industrial to the industrial forest, the former relating to local use for a diversity of purposes and the latter geared to the perceptions and needs of the urban-industrial state.

Forest transition theory and the reforesting of Scotland

Abstract During the 20th century, the forest area in Scotland expanded threefold, after many centuries of decline. Similar trends of forest expansion following deforestation have operated in many other developed countries. The passage from net deforestation to net reforestation is defined as the forest transition, and over the last few years a body of theory relating to its drivers has evolved. The case of Scotland is considered in order to contribute to this growing body of theory.

The human drivers of global land cover change: the case of forests

The results of a new approach to the specification of the relationship between deforestation and population are presented. They suggest that approximately half of the deforestation that has occurred over the long sweep of human history can be explained statistically in terms of population growth. It is cautioned, however, that serious conceptual and methodological problems confront the analysis of the relationship. It is also emphasized that the relationship is complex. Evidence is presented to show that it has changed through time, and that it is complicated by interactions between various factors operating in different ways at different levels.

Development, democracy and forest trends

Abstract Global forest trends are analysed in relation to indicators of economic, social and political development. The richest and most democratic countries are characterised by stable or expanding forests, while poor and despotic countries tend to experience rapid forest loss. The conclusion is that a high level of development is beneficial rather than detrimental to the sustainability of forest area. This conclusion is discussed briefly in relation to the relationship between the human and environmental dimensions of sustainable development.

The Desertification of Central Otago, New Zealand

The utilization of tussock grasslands in the semi-arid and sub-humid tussock grasslands of Central Otago, South Island, New Zealand, by European sheep farmers, began during the 1850s. Many of the sheep farmers and their hired shepherds migrated from the Scottish Highlands, and brought with them the management practices with which they were familiar. The extensive sheep farms or ‘runs’ were rented on government-owned land, and the graziers did not enjoy long-term security of tenure; nor did they receive compensation for any improvements which they might have undertaken during their occupancy. The combination of frequent burning of the vegetation and overgrazing soon resulted in a perceptible decrease in vegetation cover, such that land deterioration accelerated in the 1870s and 1880s when a rabbit pest irrupted. No effective action was taken to deal with the problem of land deterioration, and by the early part of the twentieth century parts of Central Otago were described as man-made desert. The tussock grassland had given way to almost bare soil interspersed with patches of Scabweed ( Raoulia lutescens ), and accelerated soil erosion resulted in slope-wash and gullying. Remedial action was delayed by the outbreak of the First World War, but a major Commission of Inquiry at the end of the war concluded that unsuitable forms of land tenure had contributed significantly to the desertification and land deterioration. Eventually, changes in land tenure were introduced, providing for security of tenure, entitlement to compensation for land improvements, and controls on husbandry and stocking levels.

The effects of afforestation on agriculture in Scotland

Abstract This paper summarizes a review of the effects of afforestation on agriculture in Scotland during the period between 1975 and 1990. The forest area in Scotland increased by around 40% between these years. Almost all of this increase was in the uplands. Most of the afforested land was previously used for hill sheep farming. Nationally, the agricultural area has shrunk, with the loss of hill grazings to afforestation, but sheep numbers have increased, largely as a result of intensification on the valley floors and remaining areas of unforested land. At the local level, it is concluded that afforestation has little impact on agriculture when the forest extent in a district is low. However, when the forest extent increases to 30% or more, the relative impact on agriculture is much greater, and agricultural decline becomes clearly established. The effects of the institutional measures employed to protect agriculture from afforestation are reviewed.

Employment and private-sector afforestation in Scotland

Abstract One of the main land-use changes in rural Britain in recent decades has been the afforestation of open land, most of which was previously used for hill-sheep farming. The aim of this paper is to consider the implications of afforestation for rural employment. It is concluded that afforestation involves neither the loss nor gain of jobs at the local level in a large majority of afforestation schemes. Afforestation, however, results in a net increase in labour input per unit area, at least in the short term. Labour intensities average between 0.5 and 0.72 man years per year per 100 ha during the first five years after afforestation, while the theoretical displacement of agricultural labour input on the afforested areas is 0.14 man years per 100 ha. The intensity of post-afforestation input was found to vary with type of management and with geographical location, and a weak inverse correlation existed with size of area planted. No evidence of a significant relationship with site characteristics such as agricultural land capability was discovered. Most of the post-afforestation labour was supplied by mobile squads; resident estate workers provided the labour input in only 5% of the sample cases. The significance of afforestation-related employment in terms of labour inputs and origins of workers is considered, and it is concluded that such employment, when measured in terms of absolute numbers involved, is of limited importance.

The dynamics of rural land use change: The case of private sector afforestation in Scotland☆

Abstract This paper reports results from a study of the effects of private sector afforestation schemes in Scotland in the 10-year period beginning 1975. Such schemes have had relatively minor effects on agriculture and other land uses. Although new planting is associated with instability of land ownership and in many instances involves considerable upheavals in land management, there was no reduction in sheep numbers in more than half of the sample cases. Statistically significant variations were found between stock displacement and several variables such as type of owner and management, recent history of land ownership, the size of the area planted and its characteristics of soil and land capability.

Geddes, geography and ecology: The golden age of vegetation mapping in Scotland

Abstract The rise and fall of a Scottish school of vegetation mapping at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth century are outlined, and the role of individuals, links and institutions is briefly reviewed. The emergence of the school represented some of the earliest work of ecological survey in Britain. Vegetation mapping also lay at the core of a burgeoning interest in a ‘new’ geography as espoused and promoted by Patrick Geddes and a small group of associates based in Edinburgh and nourished by European contacts. It was also the main physical manifestation of that growth of interest. It is speculated that the subsequent development of geography, ecology and conservation in Scotland and perhaps beyond might have taken very different courses if the turn‐of‐century momentum had been maintained. The roles of Geddes and other key personalities such as Marion Newbigin and A.G. Tansley, their networks of contacts and influences, and their contexts are considered in relation to the developmen...