Forest Soil Management: A Mexican Experience

Forests improve the livelihoods and resilience of communities in diverse ways. In particular, soils provide important environmental services for communities in addition to performing many essential ecological functions in forest ecosystems, such as nutrient uptake, organic matter decomposition, water storage, and provision of anchorage for plant growth. The sound management of forest soils, although often disregarded, is a key element of sustainable forest management. From 2002 to 2016 the Forest Soil Conservation and Restoration Sub-Program was designed and implemented by the National Forest Commission (CONAFOR) in Mexico. Forests in Mexico have high biological diversity and are often owned, governed, and managed by communities or, in some cases, community forestry is practiced. Despite the importance of periodic monitoring to ensure that policies are both effective and suitable for diverse conditions and decision making, the policies implemented by this program were not evaluated during its years of operation. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to identify the deficiencies of this policy as well as opportunities based on a review of the official information available on the Forest Soil Conservation and Restoration Sub-Program of CONAFOR during the 2002-2016 period and interviews with key informants. In addition, we aimed to highlight experiences that may be useful for similar soil conservation policies in tropical forest regions. The identified limitations ranged from conceptual problems such as policy weakness and lack of understanding of local drivers of soil degradation to an overly rigid implementation of soil conservation measures across diverse forest ecosystems and socio-ecological contexts. These deficiencies had several unintended outcomes: perhaps the most relevant was the inability of forest communities to build capacities for soil conservation. Another important limitation was the complete lack of monitoring of the program and its outcomes, which could have prevented its poor results. Finally, a lack of transparency in the distribution and determination of funding was noted. In conclusion, the hierarchical approach of this policy appears to have compromised its long-term efficacy.

Can science save the giant panda (Ailuropoda melanoleuca)? Unifying science and policy in an adaptive management paradigm

The giant panda(Ailuropoda melanoleuca David,1869)is an iconic species for global conservation,yet field research has only recently advanced to the point where adaptive management is possible.Here,we review recent developments in giant panda conservation science and propose a strategic plan for moving panda conservation forward.Because of scientific,funding,political,and logistical hurdles,few endangered species management programs have embraced adaptive management,wherein management decisions are shaped iteratively by targeted scientific research.Specific threats,such as habitat destruction,anthropogenic disturbance and fragmented nonviable populations,need to be addressed simultaneously by researchers,managers and policy-makers working in concert to understand and overcome these obstacles to species recovery.With the backing of the Chinese Govern-ment and the conservation community,the giant panda can become a high-profile test species for this much touted,but rarely implemented,approach to conservation management.

The development and institutional characteristics of China's built heritage conservation legislation

The article reviews comprehensively the emergence and development of China's national legislative system for cultural heritage,with a particular focus on built heritage.It covers the period from the late Qing Dynasty to the present.The antiquity preservation legislation and policies from the late Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China(ROC)era signify the initial emergence of the state-led legislative system for cultural heritage protection and management.The Interim Regulations on the Conservation and Management of Cultural Heritage,passed in 196o,represent the state's first targeted effort to protect significant historic monuments and sites.The 1982 Cultural Heritage Protection Law(CHPL)established the mechanism for the conservation of Protected Cultural Heritage Sites(PCHS),while the 2008 Regulation on the Conservation of Famous Historic and Cultural Cities,Towns and Villages(RCFHCCTV)defined the principles for the conservation and management of historic cities.China's current jurisdiction for the conservation of cultural heritage is underpinned by legislation such as the CHPL,the Intangible Cultural Heritage Law(ICHL),and the RCFHCCTV.This article analyses the characteristics of the current state legislative system for built heritage conservation and the challenges and constraints regarding urban conservation.It concludes with strategic guidance for improving the legislation for China's built heritage conservation in the present era of rapid economic development and urban regeneration.

Repercussions of Singularity of Site Authorities in Making Heritage Conservation Decisions:Evidence from Iraq

Different global assertions have recently been made prohibiting the mono approach of decision-makers in formulating heritage conservation policies,due to many unfavourable touristic and political implications.The mono approach has led to exploitation of some sites’cultural standing as well as condoning a veritable remedy of some of their social and urban aspects,and thus threatening these sites with exclusion from the World Heritage List.This paper investigates the approach of some local Iraqi experiences of conservation,aiming at revealing some of the more painful repercussions of the singularity of site authorities in planning for built heritage future,which may draw a plan for the site away from its heritage potential.Some local cases are reviewed here,such as Erbil Citadel,setting them as examples that may add more facts to the global experience of heritage conservation in this regard.The paper concludes that the site authorities are also liable to drift as a result of some ramifications that impede setting a deep-sighted strategy,and thus may stray far from delivering the far-reaching aims.Accordingly,the monaural authority approach may need to be synthesised with some of the site’s locally-based views through an overlapped integral loop of interactions between them,which may support the conservation policy-formulation with diverse contributions.

The expansion of Brazilian agriculture:Soil erosion scenarios

During the next 10 years Brazil's agricultural area will expand to meet increased domestic and worldwide demand for food,fuel,and fiber.Present choices regarding land use will determine to what degree this expansion will have adverse effects that include soil erosion,reservoir siltation,water quality problems,loss of biodiversity and social conflict,especially around indigenous reservations.This paper presents an up-to-date inventory of soil erosion in Brazil caused by crop and livestock activities and provides estimates based on three different hypothetical land-use scenarios to accommodate the expansion of Brazilian agricultural activity by 2020:Scenario 1-expansion of cropping into areas of natural vegetation,without adoption of conservation practices;Scenario 2-expansion of cropping into areas of degraded pasture,without adoption of conservation practices;Scenario 3-expansion of cropping into areas of degraded pasture,together with conservation practices in 100%of the expanded area.The worst-case scenario involves expansion of agriculture into areas of native vegetation in the Brazilian Savannah(Cerrado)and Brazilian rainforest(Amazon)biomes,and could increase total soil erosion in Brazil(currently about 800 million metric tons a year)by as much as 20%.In the best-case scenar-io,crop expansion under a conservation agriculture model would utilize currently degraded pasture,especially in the Savannah(circa 40 million hectares),reducing soil erosion in Brazil by around 20%.For this to occur,however,a national soil and water conservation policy needs to be implemented in Brazil to support a sustainable model of agriculture in which the environment can be preserved as much as possible.

Variable retention harvesting: conceptual analysis according to different environmental ethics and forest valuation

Background:Conceptual clarity is important to attain precise communication of scientific knowledge and to implement appropriate technological and policy actions.Many concepts referring to forest management are widely used by decision-makers,regardless of their complexity.Although the scientific and methodological issues of forestry practices are frequently discussed in the literature,their normative dimensions are rarely treated.Thus,linguistic uncertainty increases when different environmentally ethical perspectives and ways of valuing forests are considered.The objective was to compare different conceptualizations on the silvicultural systems suggested for forest management and the implications they have for conservation.We have conceptually contrasted highintensity forestry practices with variable retention harvesting,considering different environmentally ethical perspectives and forest valuation alternatives.Results:Clear boundaries between clear-cutting,selective logging,and variable retention harvesting can be evidenced when different ethical points of view and alternatives in the human-nature relationships are considered.We have found a variety of definitions of variable retention harvesting that can be analyzed under different ethical positions.Sharply contrasting views on variable retention harvesting can be evidenced if nature is considered to be purely at human’s service or if it is conceptualized as humans co-inhabiting with nature.The latter position implies that the maintenance of ecological,evolutionary,and historical processes supported by unmanaged forest stands is a crucial step for forest management proposals based on variable retention harvesting.Conclusions:Forestry practices that are focused on forest yields and that misinterpret functional uncertainty of forest functioning would be risky.Moreover,forestry with variable retention harvesting could imply good yields with reasonable conservation management in some contexts,while it could be unacceptable in other socioecological contexts.The improvement of conceptual clarity on the different meanings of variable retention harvesting and the development of indicators for forest management based on the variations of this concept can reduce controversies.