Grace Wong

Consumption and Vulnerability Among Foragers and Horticulturalists in the Rainforest of Honduras

Abstract It is often said that poor rural households in developing countries remain inadequately insured against shocks. Using panel data from Tawahka Amerindians in the Honduran rainforest, a horticultural/foraging society, we estimate the consumption-smoothing ability and vulnerability to risks of 32 households in two villages with varying degrees of market openness. The information was collected using cultural anthropology methods, and key variables were estimated through direct observations and physical measures to reduce measurement errors. Results suggest that household consumption is directly affected by income shocks, despite the practice of partial insurance and risk-sharing within communities. In a comparison between the villages, we find evidence that households practice distinctly different consumption-smoothing behaviors, partly driven by their gap in economic development.

Learning from REDD+: a response to Fletcher et al.

Although REDD+ is approaching its 10th anniversary, major impacts in terms of reduced forest loss are hard to document. Conservation practitioners and scholars are therefore increasingly asking why REDD+ has not delivered more tangible results. A recent Comment in Conservation Biology by Fletcher et al. (2016) addresses this question. We agree with Fletcher et al. that REDD+ has been hyped in some circles, which has created unrealistic expectations among policy makers and forest dwellers alike. Yet, we argue that Fletcher et al. put forward an incomplete interpretation of the evolving REDD+ concept and practice and wrongly place the responsibility for lack of progress on the principles of payment for environmental services (PES) and on reliance on market-based instruments (MBIs), in part based on their misunderstanding of the PES concept.Potential answers to the question of why REDD+ has not delivered more tangible results fall into 4 categories: REDD+ has not yet been implemented at the scale needed to make a difference, REDD+ has evolved from the initial PES vision to a modified version of previous and largely ineffective conservation efforts, REDD+ has been blocked by powerful actors interested in maintaining the status quo, and REDD+ is conceptually flawed in its design as a PES and MBI scheme. Fletcher et al. fail to fully appreciate the first 3 problems, overemphasize the presumed flaws in REDD+ as a PES design, and prepare the ground for the rise and fall of the next conservation fad (Redford et al. 2013). We believe that REDD+, although troubled, is not dead.

The land-use effects of a forest carbon policy in the US

Abstract The inclusion of forest sinks as a carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) mitigation strategy at the climate negotiations in Marakech (November, 2001) is expected to lead to increased investments in forest establishment and management by many developed countries. Previous studies in this area have typically focused on market impacts in the forestry sector, such as changes in production, consumption, prices, and trade, as a result of sinks. Here, we consider their inter-sectoral linkages and examine the potential economy-wide impacts of a forest carbon policy for the US over the next 20 years. Specifically, we employ a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to simulate the scenario of a global forest carbon policy with and without US participation, and analyze their impacts on national economic welfare and land use distribution among the different sectors in the US. Our findings suggest that the establishment of carbon plantations in the US will have a small and favorable impact on the overall economy and particularly, on the farm and forest sectors. Alternatively, US inaction with regards to ratifying the Kyoto Protocol is likely to have adverse consequences for the economy as a whole, particularly when taking into consideration the loss of benefits foregone.

Risks to REDD+: potential pitfalls for policy design and implementation

International negotiations for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and the enhancement of forest carbon stocks (REDD+) under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) were finally concluded in 2015. However, due to the complex design and implementation processes of REDD+ policies and measures, including benefit sharing at national and subnational levels, several challenges exist for sustainably reducing emissions while simultaneously managing the provision of social and environmental side-objectives. We review the realities of REDD+ implementation in 13 REDD+ candidate countries and the risks related to REDD+ policies and benefit sharing based upon a synthesis of the findings presented in ‘country profiles’ that were developed between 2009 and 2013 as part of the Center for International Forestry Researchs (CIFOR) Global Comparative Study on REDD+. We find that REDD+ policies in all countries studied are at high risk of ineffectiveness, inequity and inefficiency. By classifying these risks and understanding not only their impacts on different stakeholder groups, but also the consequences for achieving specific objectives, countries can identify solutions in order to address these shortcomings in their implementation of REDD+.

Developing an objectives hierarchy for multicriteria decisions on land use options, with a case study of biodiversity conservation and forestry production from Papua, Indonesia

A framework was developed for the construction of an objectives hierarchy for multicriteria decisions in land use planning. The process began through identification of fundamental objectives; these were iteratively decomposed into a hierarchy of subobjectives until a level was reached at which subobjectives had measurable attributes. Values were derived for attributes through a variety of methods and weights assigned to objectives through preference elicitation. The framework assumed that the objectives could be incorporated into a linear value function; this required attributes to satisfy preference and difference independence conditions. Strategies were developed to address typical features that distinguish land use decisions from many other multicriteria decisions. The methodology was illustrated with a case study of land use planning in a forestry concession in the Merauke region of Papua Province, Indonesia. The problem involved severe hard constraints; the analysis showed how these can be accommodated within the framework. Results integrated interests and preferences of a diverse set of stakeholders (resident peoples, developers, and conservation professionals) and were intended for implementation. This methodology is extendible to other land use problems.

Improving Environmental Quality in South Florida through Silvopasture: An Economic Approach

A dynamic optimization model is used to compare the profitability of silvopasture with traditional cattle ranching in south Florida. Silvopasture can reduce phosphorus runoff from cattle ranching-a major environmental concern for Lake Okeechobee and the Everglades. Silvopasture can also sequester carbon, thereby offsetting global climate change. The effectiveness of phosphorus runoff taxes and carbon sequestration payments for inducting landowners to adopt silvopasture is investigated. We find that phosphorus taxes alone would not induce landowners to adopt silvopasture. However, payments to landowners to sequester carbon, alone or in conjunction with phosphorus runoff taxes, can make silvopasture financially competitive with traditional ranching.

An economy-wide assessment of a forest carbon policy in the USA.

There is now a general consensus that the Earth’s climate is changing as a result of the rising concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Using the range of emission scenarios determined by the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), General Circulation Models (GCMs) have projected global warming of between 1 and 5°C by 2100 (IPPC, 2000). The United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) was established to express this concern, and under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, set forth binding targets for developed countries to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases to an average of 5.2% below the amount they emitted in 1990 by 2012. Forests play a prominent role in the global carbon cycle by absorbing atmospheric CO2 (carbon dioxide), a greenhouse gas, through photosynthesis and storing carbon in the form of biomass and soils. Land-use change accounts for about one-third of total anthropogenic CO2 emissions through forest clearing and timber harvesting activities, and fossil fuel consumption accounts for the remaining two-thirds (IPPC, 2000). The Kyoto Protocol specifically recognizes that terrestrial sources and sinks of carbon attributable to afforestation, reforestation and deforestation activities are to be counted in achieving these emission reductions. This recognition has come under considerable criticism (see Schlamadinger and Marland (2000) for a review of the critical issues and country positions), and is a key divisive issue throughout the negotiating process towards implementing the Protocol. It is perhaps not surprising that nations with large forest areas (and significant forest carbon opportunities), such as the USA and Canada, strongly support the inclusion of forestry activities as a means to achieve their Kyoto Protocol emission reduction targets (Moulton, 1998). In contrast, nations in the tropics who are drawing down their forests due to social and economic pressures, and nations with limited land areas available for forestry, such as Japan and most European Union (EU) nations, tend to oppose the inclusion and/or would limit the extent to which forestry activities can be used to offset fossil fuel emissions.

Information exchange in swidden communities of West Kalimantan: lessons for designing REDD+

SUMMARY Forested areas of Kalimantan, Indonesia, are often inhabited by swiddeners, and are also targeted by a range of interventions related to development and forest conservation, including REDD+. Whether these interventions are adopted, adapted or rejected by the local people is linked to the varying degrees of access to information that different types of households have, which also leads to unequal sharing of the associated benefits. This paper analyses factors influencing household access to agriculture and forestry-related information using quantitative and qualitative methods in three communities in West-Kalimantan, and draws lessons for designing REDD+. Household socio-economic characteristics (origin, status, migration patterns) and the divide between sub-groups in the communities (caused by origin, opinions, residential location, and relationships) were found to influence household access to information. Suggestions for improved REDD+ information exchange include: having more targeted and incentivised REDD+ activities; encouraging more equitable information sharing; and taking better account of local realities while designing REDD+.