The implementation of a mechanism for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD - plus) will be affected by governance conditions within host countries. The top eight countries, which are responsible for 70 percent of the world's total annual deforestation, have implemented certain forms of decentralization in public administration and forest management. This paper analyzes implications of decentralized forest management for the implementation of REDD. Three possible options for the involvement of local governments in the implementation of REDD are: 1) the central government decides on a national reference level and devolves the implementation to local governments; 2) the central government decides on a national reference level and seeks expressions of interest from local governments to implement REDD in their administrative areas; and 3) the central and local governments decide on a national reference level jointly and local governments implement REDD activities locally. This paper also highlights fiscal instruments for REDD revenue distribution.

On the basis of a detailed case study of the High Forest Zone of Ghana, the paper challenges the common narrative of REDD as being fast and easy. The paper analyses proximate and underlying causes of deforestation and degradation and finds that these processes are driven by multiple underlying causes. The paper goes on to argue that the causes of deforestation and degradation that are found within the realm of the forestry sector, to which REDD measures will be largely confined, have emerged as a result of a political economy that gives priority to economic development over forest conservation, while at the same time allowing powerful interest groups, in particular the political and administrative elite, to financially benefit from resource depletion. The analysis suggests that forest conserving policy reforms are unlikely to come fast and easy, and that the prospect of future REDD payments may not accelerate them. It is argued that the case of Ghana is not unique and that REDD implementation may face similar constraints in many developing countries.

China started forestland tenure reform in the early 1980s. The reforms have been evolving and vary significantly from region to region. Unlike in agriculture, it is too simplistic to use a household responsibility system (HRS) to generalize about the reforms in forestry. Despite variations in time and place, a trend towards privatization started to become apparent when the central government began a pilot experiment called the “new stage of forestland tenure reform” in the early 2000s and went on to implement the reform nationwide. This paper compares various paths towards decentralization and privatization and the adoption of market mechanisms in collective forestry, but pays special attention to the new reforms by examining and comparing 9 villages in 3 provinces in southeast China where collective forest ownership is dominant. The impact of the new reform along with, public attitudes, and current challenges are investigated and discussed.

Malaysia as a low-cost wooden furniture production hub has attracted substantial foreign direct investment (FDI) over the last two decades. However, globalization of the worldwide furniture industry has increased the competitive pressure from newly emerging furniture-producing nations, especially Vietnam, which has displaced Malaysia as the largest exporter of furniture in the South East Asian region. Based on this state of facts a study was undertaken to analyze the FDI trends in the Malaysian furniture industry from 1986 to 2005, using secondary published data and questionnaire based survey. The results were compared against the characteristics of FDI in Vietnam. The results of the study point out that although Malaysia offered greater political stability, better infrastructure, amenities, industrial-relation practices, a more stable exchange rate and greater adoption of environmental-friendly practices; the lower production cost and favorable investment policy appear to be the strengths of Vietnam in attracting foreign direct investments. Therefore, Malaysian policy-makers need to formulate policies based on creativity and innovation that would pave the way for the manufacture of higher added-value products that would ensure the continued attractiveness of Malaysia as a furniture FDI destination.

This paper examines the current status of forest management tools and their application at different levels in Italy where the majority of land planning has been and is still being done at the “micro-scale”, meaning that specific local issues are dealt with locally. Starting from international European Union law, the authors review the forest acts that led from the National Forest Plan (NFP) to smaller scales, in relation to their geographic and territorial applicability. Scaling down from the NFP to the local level the various Italian forest programmes and plans are analysed according to a vertical logic (hierarchical mode): Regional Forest Programme (RFP), Territorial (i.e. sub-regional) Forest Plan (TFP), Local Forest Plans (LFPs). Then, in a horizontal logic, it is highlighted the importance of an intersectorial and harmonic relational frame among planning tools for the forest and other sectors of environmental planning. As a result of these analyses, the authors emphasize the need for a new systematic holistic approach to the management of forests and environmental resources in general, and in line with all the most important processes at international level on this matter.

International data from 1961 to 2005 showed that the coefficient of variation of consumption per capita across countries had tended to decrease over time for all forest products except sawnwood. This convergence of per-capita consumption was confirmed by the trends in Theil's inequality coefficients: the distribution of forest products consumption across countries had become more similar to the distribution of population. The rate of convergence had tended to accelerate during the last 10 years of observation: countries had become more similar in their use of all forest products except sawnwood. The rate of convergence was most rapid for fiberboard, veneer and plywood, and paper and paper board excluding newsprint and other printing and writing paper. The convergence of per-capita consumption of forest products stemmed in large part from lower rates of growth of consumption at higher levels of per-capita consumption, and not from a convergence of per-capita income.

This paper presents a historical review and overview of the Lao forest sector. Previous research and forestry related policy documents of Laos indicate that forest management has evolved through six stages. Initially, natural forests were used by local people for basic needs. Little was destroyed or degraded. The second stage was greatly influenced by French colonisation. The third was a period when natural forests made major contributions to national economic growth, when natural forests were increasingly and widely harvested. Remaining phases involved growing criticism of Lao forest management practices from international organisations and the Laos National Assembly. Recently, private investment in tree plantations has increased. Overall, ineffective policies and inefficient institutional agencies have seriously constrained Lao forest management. Policy instruments such as concessions to plantation development need to be modified and balanced by the promotion of outgrower schemes. Plantation investments should be encouraged to follow international standards, guidelines and codes of practice.

Bolivia implemented an extensive reform of their forestry sector during the 1990s. Starting five years later, we evaluated the degree of adoption of sustainable forest management practices (SFM) by timber concessionaires in Bolivia and investigated the factors influencing their adoption. Data were obtained from surveys that quantified the level of adoption of 11 SFM practices in 23 concessions. The study revealed that concessionaires adopted some practices more than others. It found that regulation plays a critical role in promoting adoption. Adoption of SFM practices was also more frequent among operators that had been in the forestry business for a longer time, had larger concessions, harvested and processed larger volumes, utilized a wider set of species, were located closer to markets, had received more technical assistance, had trained their employees, and had made other investments. The owners' perception that SFM practices contributed to ecological sustainability was also an important factor in their decision to adopt these practices.

Dutch foresters asserted that upland forest cover was essential to maintain balanced hydrological cycles. They sustained this argument despite contrary empirical evidence and resistance from the colonial administration who were concerned more on local livelihoods. Underpinning this belief was a conviction that customary systems of land tenure and use were inappropriate and destructive. The Dutch foresters used scientific discourse to justify the State's control of 120 million hectares of land as forest reserves, instigating a pattern of land control that has endured to this day. The ongoing application of past designations is the driver of this paper to explore the arguments behind the decisions of Dutch Colonial Government and its implications to current policy framework. The objective of the paper is to show that science became an instrument of the Forest Service during the Dutch colonial era, as a means of exerting greater power and control over the forested land.