Growing trees outside forests can generate rural income and rehabilitate degraded lands. The characteristics of existing smallholder tree growing in the Amazon and how much it contributes to livelihoods, however, remains largely unknown. Field surveys in Brazil, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador were conducted of smallholder tree growing initiatives. Of the studied initiatives, 61% were smallholder initiated and 39% established in donor driven programs. Smallholder schemes generally showed a higher species diversity (85 species) than initiatives in donor driven schemes (52 species). The performance of smallholder tree growing, in terms of growth, health, commercialisation options and contribution to recuperation of degraded areas is limited. Only in 30% of the cases reviewed could smallholders commercialize tree products. Cultivated non-timber forest products had the highest commercialisation rates. The growing of single trees within farm holdings, and the management of natural stands and homegardens showed the highest production efficiencies while depending on minimal inputs. Timber plantations are the least successful. More successful reforestation in the Amazon requires a more realistic view on the limitations of promoting smallholder tree growing, should emphasize non timber products, and better capture local knowledge and experiences.

This paper looks at how the Voluntary Partnership Agreement is working by using the Ghanaian and Malaysian experiences on this process. The difference in the forest management system in both Ghana and Malaysia, in itself poses some challenges to the implementation of the VPA. Further, the multi-stake holder approach used in Ghana, and the inter-governmental approach used in Malaysia presents different scenarios that may influence the implementation of the VPA. It is important to realize that measures that properly address circumvention and illegal imports from non-partner countries are of crucial importance for Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) to be a success. Therefore, the only way for Ghana and Malaysia to see VPA as a success is to be assisted in every way to build capacity among the law enforcement agencies.

There are positive and negative feed-back links between forestry and poverty. The role of forests as part of a rural development strategy is much debated in literature. We have explored this role and links for a montane forest village in East China using official historical data and our own field survey of 92 households. The opportunities that forest resources have offered to farmers at different stages of socio-economic development are identified. The changes in farmers' livelihood strategies caused by using forest products and the associated increase of inequalities are assessed. Forest management has been gradually shifting from a focus on forest production centred on bamboo to a multipurpose orientation in which conservation to promote tourism has become increasingly important. While bamboo still remains the main income equaliser factor, different forest products add to the portfolio of opportunities of upper and lower income farmers as they move along their development ladders.

Forest management activities are designed not only to meet the growing economic and commodity production needs of the human population, but also to maintain, conserve, and protect ecological and social values. This paper presents a set of broad implications of advances in tree cloning technology on forest management and planning, and how these advances relate to socio-economic and environmental concerns of a growing human population. The discussion is divided into topics that present socio-economic and political issues and topics that present environmental issues. On the production side, there are difficulties in initiating embryogenic tissue of cloned trees, and genetic variation may still occur during the tissue culture process. However, if production issues can be overcome, tree cloning techniques may possibly accelerate forest tree selection processes and reduce cloned seedling costs. The silviculture applied to clonal tree plantations may differ from current seed orchard-based plantations as it relates to site preparation, planting density, thinning opportunities, intermediate treatments, and final rotation age. These alternatives need to be assessed, yet it seems that clonal tree plantations could result in a higher rate of return for a forest investment, due to higher growth rates and more uniform tree characteristics. Plantations composed of cloned seedlings may also result in wood quality traits that are more consistent, although manufacturing processes may have to take into account higher levels of juvenile wood. Matching desired genetic characteristics of trees to site conditions is a challenge, although limited results suggest low levels of response differences of clonal plantations to changing environmental conditions. Maintaining genetic diversity and managing risks associated with mass infestation of trees from diseases and insects are other issues for forest management and planning. And politically, forest managers must address the notion that the natural genetic pool may become polluted. These issues are important at the stand and the landscape level, as losses (for example) due to disease can be catastrophic in forests with limited genetic variability. The potential impact of climate change might suggest conservation strategies that differ from tree breeding objectives for timber production, although fast-growing trees may help reduce CO₂ from the atmosphere, since biomass accumulation is related to the diameter and height of trees. Clonal forestry research efforts may also be valuable in identifying tree varieties that are more adaptable to climate change, should naturally-regenerated stands become affected on a large scale.

The forest resources in Ethiopia have suffered decades of mismanagement due mainly to loosely defined property relations over these resources. As one of the solutions, Participatory Forest Management (PFM) scheme was introduced during the early 1990s by some NGOs. Nearly two decades of experience now exists in the country. However systematic assessments of the performance of the scheme are scanty. This study reports the experience from Bonga PFM project, which is one of the oldest pilot sites. Forest inventory and socio-economic survey were conducted to collect data. The study was conducted during a transition from NGO - Community to State - Community based management of the PFM project. PFM is shown to have positive impacts both on the state of the forest and living condition of participant households at least within the project life time. Forest conditions such as seedling and sapling densities improved. PFM also (i) promoted awareness about forest, (ii) capacitated locals to form new institutional arrangement that increased their participation in forest management, helped to reduce open access and assisted a regulated forest use, and (iii) contributed towards social equity in terms of gender and minority ethnic groups. When accompanied with complementary non-forest based livelihood activities, PFM helped to diversify income sources, increase household income level, and build household assets. This reduced dependence of communities on forests for livelihoods. A challenge threatening the sustainability of the PFM program in Ethiopia is the weak government support for the scheme. PFM is still far from being mainstreamed in the forest management system of the country. Thus, it will be appropriate to assess how the PFM programs would perform few years after the support of the NGOs terminates.

With the history and experiences of more than one hundred years in formulation and revisions since the British colonial period, the forest policy of Bangladesh has turned away from a traditional production premises towards protection. Establishing protected areas for biodiversity conservation dates back to the 1960s. The strategy gained impetus with the passage of national legislation in 1973 that included the provision of declaring forests as national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and game reserves for the protection of the natural forest resources. Due to the absence of a clear demarcation between core areas and buffer zones and the absence of concern for the sustention of local communities' usufruct rights, degradation continued in the protected areas. Therefore, an alternative strategy of co-management involving local stakeholders and provision of incentives in terms of Alternative Income Generation (AIG) supports has been introduced by the government under a donor assisted project. This new policy is being implemented in five pilot sites. This co-management strategy has demonstrated positive impacts and, increasingly, is gaining recognition as appropriate for other protected areas. This paper reviews the evolutionary history of and periodical changes in the forest policy of Bangladesh - highlighting the conservation aspects, the development of protected areas and the gradual adoption of their collaborative management.

Optimum forest cover is not a new concept. It was part of the suggested policies to achieve sustainable forest management at a 1996 meeting of the UN/FAO Intergovernmental Panel on Forests. It has not been actively pursued by many countries however, but since deforestation is being singled out as one of the major contributing factors to degrading global climatic conditions, this concept may take on new meaning. This research devised a methodology for determining the optimum forest cover for a degraded watershed in south-central Jamaica. The model suggested a spatial pattern in the upper portions of the watershed which increased the forest cover from 16.76 % to 37.47 %. This significantly reduced runoff where the forest cover was optimized and simulated in a hydrological model. This technique will give direction to forest management and conservation in Jamaica and will form part of the decision support system for the country's planners.

This study used two contrasting sample villages (one relatively successful and the other relatively unsuccessful) as case study sites to investigate the impacts of a forest-based settlement project on community livelihood. It was found that although since customary forestry practices (shifting cultivation) could not support participants' livelihoods all year, joining the settlement project had improved their livelihoods. Many project participants have given up customary forestry practices completely and diversified their livelihood strategies. Due to budget allocation disparities, differences in raising awareness about project benefits, and inconsistencies in monitoring and motivation, project outcomes varied between the villages. Several factors were identified that underlay success or failure of the settlement project in achieving targeted project's objectives. A recommendation is made for effective participation by participants that would heighten the sense of ownership, enhance collective management, and ensure long-term project sustainability.

Amazonian communities have the potential for improving their livelihoods by efficiently managing their forest resources. However, there is limited understanding of how communities are managing their forests in the dynamic Amazon frontier. This issue was studied in four areas in Bolivia, Brazil and Peru. The most common approach to forest management was found to be informal timber rights negotiations between communities and logging companies. Much less common was community forest management (CFM) for timber extraction supported by NGOs. Case studies revealed that stocks of commercial timber species were depleted by logging companies in only a few years in the logged areas, while CFM initiatives planned rotational cycles but were abandoned when external support ceased. Families received limited financial benefits from both loggers (cash income US$ 1.18/m3 and US$ 28.14/day) and CFM initiatives (cash income US$ 12.57/m3 and US$ 8.69/ day). A critical debate on the real potential of these approaches to timber extraction needs to take place.