Jeffrey Sayer

Plantation forests and biodiversity: oxymoron or opportunity?

Losses of natural and semi-natural forests, mostly to agriculture, are a significant concern for biodiversity. Against this trend, the area of intensively managed plantation forests increases, and there is much debate about the implications for biodiversity. We provide a comprehensive review of the function of plantation forests as habitat compared with other land cover, examine the effects on biodiversity at the landscape scale, and synthesise context-specific effects of plantation forestry on biodiversity. Natural forests are usually more suitable as habitat for a wider range of native forest species than plantation forests but there is abundant evidence that plantation forests can provide valuable habitat, even for some threatened and endangered species, and may contribute to the conservation of biodiversity by various mechanisms. In landscapes where forest is the natural land cover, plantation forests may represent a low-contrast matrix, and afforestation of agricultural land can assist conservation by providing complementary forest habitat, buffering edge effects, and increasing connectivity. In contrast, conversion of natural forests and afforestation of natural non-forest land is detrimental. However, regional deforestation pressure for agricultural development may render plantation forestry a ‘lesser evil’ if forest managers protect indigenous vegetation remnants. We provide numerous context-specific examples and case studies to assist impact assessments of plantation forestry, and we offer a range of management recommendations. This paper also serves as an introduction and background paper to this special issue on the effects of plantation forests on biodiversity.

Ten principles for a landscape approach to reconciling agriculture, conservation, and other competing land uses

“Landscape approaches” seek to provide tools and concepts for allocating and managing land to achieve social, economic, and environmental objectives in areas where agriculture, mining, and other productive land uses compete with environmental and biodiversity goals. Here we synthesize the current consensus on landscape approaches. This is based on published literature and a consensus-building process to define good practice and is validated by a survey of practitioners. We find the landscape approach has been refined in response to increasing societal concerns about environment and development tradeoffs. Notably, there has been a shift from conservation-orientated perspectives toward increasing integration of poverty alleviation goals. We provide 10 summary principles to support implementation of a landscape approach as it is currently interpreted. These principles emphasize adaptive management, stakeholder involvement, and multiple objectives. Various constraints are recognized, with institutional and governance concerns identified as the most severe obstacles to implementation. We discuss how these principles differ from more traditional sectoral and project-based approaches. Although no panacea, we see few alternatives that are likely to address landscape challenges more effectively than an approach circumscribed by the principles outlined here.

Agricultural expansion and its impacts on tropical nature.

The human population is projected to reach 11 billion this century, with the greatest increases in tropical developing nations. This growth, in concert with rising per-capita consumption, will require large increases in food and biofuel production. How will these megatrends affect tropical terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity? We foresee (i) major expansion and intensification of tropical agriculture, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and South America; (ii) continuing rapid loss and alteration of tropical old-growth forests, woodlands, and semi-arid environments; (iii) a pivotal role for new roadways in determining the spatial extent of agriculture; and (iv) intensified conflicts between food production and nature conservation. Key priorities are to improve technologies and policies that promote more ecologically efficient food production while optimizing the allocation of lands to conservation and agriculture.

Improving the Effectiveness of Interventions to Balance Conservation and Development: a Conceptual Framework

There are numerous case studies around the world describing integrated conservation and development projects (ICDPs). Recently some localized syntheses have been published that use sophisticated statistics to identify patterns and causal linkages, but no attempt has yet been made to draw together lessons from across the globe. This paper is an attempt to provide a framework for such an analysis. A set of lessons is proposed for improving the prospects of ICDPs by giving consideration to each of the five capitals: natural, social, human, built, and financial. The language of ICDPs has been adopted by development agencies of all persuasions. There is now some urgency to identify the characteristics of the environment and the community in which success is most likely. This paper is intended as a step in that direction.

Assessing the performance of natural resource systems

Abstract Introduction Conceptualizing a Framework for Assessing System Performance Bounding the System Developing Conceptual Models of Natural Resource Management Selecting Indicators: Using the Sustainable-Livelihoods Approach The sustainable-livelihoods perspective Coping with different spatial scales Using qualitative indicators Incorporating Systems Modeling Developing a Participatory Approach to Assessment Using Typologies of Landscapes or Resource Management Domains Making an Integrated Interpretation of the Indicators Combining indicators: simple additive indices Combining indicators: derived variables using principal component analysis Visualizing change: two-dimensional plots derived from PCA-type analyses Visualizing change: radar diagrams Combining indicators across scales: canonical correlations Conclusions Responses to this Article Acknowledgments Literature Cited

Research to integrate productivity enhancement, environmental protection, and human development

To meet the challenges of poverty and environmental sustainability, a different kind of research will be needed. This research will need to embrace the complexity of these systems by redirecting the objectives of research toward enhancing adaptive capacity, by incorporating more participatory approaches, by embracing key principles such as multi-scale analysis and intervention, and by the use of a variety of tools (e.g., systems analysis, information management tools, and impact assessment tools). Integration will be the key concept in the new approach; integration across scales, components, stakeholders, and disciplines. Integrated approaches, as described in this article and in the book (2003), will require changes in the culture and organization of research.

Forest fragmentation and biodiversity: the case for intermediate-sized conservation areas

Understanding the effects of forest fragmentation on biodiversity is essential for successful and efficient forest conservation. Four factors may cause loss of biodiversity in forest fragments: the effect of non-random sampling of the original forest, reduced forest size, isolation and edge effects. A review of 58 papers on effects of forest fragmentation reveals that general conclusions from fragmentation research are biased due to a focus on birds, on size-effects rather than isolation, and on species presence rather than population sizes. Perhaps the most important finding is that current knowledge on fragmentation effects is based mainly on studies in small fragments (10 000 - 100 000 ha) and should focus on the biological and human-induced processes which determine species presistence.

Tropical moist forests: Destruction and species extinction

Abstract Tropical moist forests are currently being altered or destroyed at a rapid rate. A 1980 assessment by the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) for all tropical countries has now been superseded for some by new assessments based largely on more recent satellite imagery. Comparison of different estimates are complex because of different definitions of ‘forest’, ‘alteration’, ‘degradation’ and ‘destruction’. Making allowance for these problems, the new estimates show that rate of deforestation has, in general, increased. A recent assessment by Myers for 1989 is more pessimistic than earlier surveys, estimating that remaining forest areas are less and rates of destruction higher, but Myers includes logging as forest destruction and excludes degraded forest from his measurements. The total number of species in tropical moist forests are poorly known. The pattern of likely species extinctions depends on the proportion of forest altered and destroyed, and its spatial pattern, and can be used to help set priorities for conservation.

Navigating Trade-Offs: Working for Conservation and Development Outcomes

In the early 1980s, the protectionist paradigm thathad dominated conservation began losing ground.It was replaced by a notion, in the developing worldespecially, that poverty reduction and environmentalprotection should be tackled in an integrated manner(Adams 1990). Several approaches emerged,building on early attempts that can be traced backto the 1960s (Garnett et al. 2007). The promotionof commercial nontimber forest product (NTFP)production is one of those approaches (Kusters etal. 2006). At the landscape level, integratedconservation and development projects (ICDPs)gained favor.Integrated approaches appear to be at a crossroad(Adams et al. 2004, Sayer and Campbell 2004,Agrawal and Redford 2006). There are landscapeswith vast natural assets where the local peopleremain deep in poverty (Fisher and Christopher2007). This is well illustrated by the MalinauDistrict in Kalimantan, Indonesia, which forms thefocus of a number of studies in this Special Issue.Malinau District, which has significant biodiversity,timber, and mineral resources, has 56,000 people inan area larger than the Netherlands and yet amajority of the population experience poverty.Surely, the natural assets could form the basis forpoverty alleviation without negatively affectingconservation values? Although there are manyfailures with integrated approaches, there are alsosome moderate successes, as is illustrated by thecase study from Peru (Kilbane Gockel and Gray2009). Therefore, in this special issue we haveassembled a collection of studies that explore theoptions that might lead to at least a moderate levelof development success in Malinau.In this introductory essay, we synthesize somelessons from integrated conservation-developmentinitiatives in developing countries, drawingparticularly on the case study material in this specialissue. There is an emerging consensus that at theheart of achieving positive outcomes are a core ofinstitutional issues involving landscape governance,trust building, empowerment, and good communication,all implying long-term commitment by, andflexibility of, external actors. Fundamental tosuccess is the recognition of the significant trade-offs that occur between conservation anddevelopment goals. A variety of tools can be usedto tackle the institutional issues and to confront thetrade-offs. We close by reflecting on the resilienceperspective to natural resource management, andwhat it has to offer integrated conservation anddevelopment initiatives in developing countries.

Assessing environment and development outcomes in conservation landscapes

An approach to assessing the environmental outcomes and changes in peoples’ livelihoods resulting from landscape-scale conservation interventions was developed for three locations in Africa. Simple sets of performance indicators were developed through participatory processes that included a variety of stakeholders. The selection of indicators was designed to reflect wider landscape processes, conservation objectives and as local peoples’ preferred scenarios. This framework, combined with the use of social learning techniques, helped stakeholders develop greater understandings of landscape system dynamics and the linkages between livelihood and conservation objectives. Large scale conservation and development interventions should use these approaches to explore linkages and improve shared understanding of tradeoffs and synergies between livelihood and conservation initiatives. Such approaches provide the basis for negotiating and measuring the outcomes of conservation initiatives and for adapting these to changing perspectives and circumstances.