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This introductory chapter focuses on the application of ecological techniques in forest conservation and management. It presents a brief overview of recent developments in international forest policy. It also includes a summary of recent initiatives aimed at providing conservation assessments of forests.

This chapter discusses the use of remote sensing technologies and geographical information systems (GIS), which have revolutionized the ability to map patterns of forest distribution and estimate rates of forest loss and recovery. The application of these methods to forest ecology and conservation is described, with reference to practical examples. An introduction to GIS methods is then provided, followed by a description of the methods used to assess the spatial characteristics of forest landscapes.

Forest and woodlands are terms that describe land dominated by trees. Scrub consists of small trees and bushes. This chapter discusses the important features of forests and woodlands for wildlife, types of forest and woodland, and managing scrub, managing woodlands, and forests for conservation.

In the formative years of the Assam Forest Department, forest management and implementation of forest laws often collided with the livelihood practices of the people and the natives. As a result, peasants and people often interfered with the foresters in the hopes of asserting their rights on forestlands. These petty disturbances such as removal of timber marks, cattle trespass, and ploughing inside the Reserved Forests were identified as forest crimes. This chapter discusses the dissent and protest of peasants over the colonial intervention and forest conservation of the Assam forests. The conservation and intervention of the colonial rulers and foresters changed the landscape and the man-Nature relationship in terms of traditional livelihood practices hence instigating a conflict between peasants and foresters. Movements have been made to understand the dichotomy between forest and agriculture however, the conflict between agrarian and forest frontier remains to be unresolved.

Assam forests were often depicted as enchanting forests in Assamese literatures. While the grandiose of the Assam forests were central to Assamese literature, contemporary literature however demystifies these forests and illustrates rapid deforestation and fauna depletion. Over the years the wilderness of the forests were tamed and the jungles were converted into mere forests. These transformations in the forest landscapes were brought about by the petty trades of forest products to blatant commerce in the international business. These practices have an immense impact not only in the landscape of the forests but also in the forest management and in the perception of these jungles. Within the commerce of forestry, several groups emerged, contesting rights over the forest resources. These battles contributed to the deforestation however, along the pandemonium over forest resource, came a new turn wherein the idea of forest conservation and reforestation took the centre stage.

This chapter explores the provenance, possibilities, and limits of the formal legal recognition of community based property rights, through a case study of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006. It traces the antecedents of this Act, and considers the implications of formal legal recognition of community based property rights for natural resource protection. Through the case study, the chapter also explores the notion of community based property rights, its conceptual moorings, and its recognition in international human rights doctrine.

This chapter examines how in the urge for scientific forestry, the foresters in Assam took recourse to the local experiences. It also discusses how both scientific management and commercialization of forests began to mould the history of forest conservation in Assam. Under the colonial rule, the Assam forests were subjected to the application of science. Intricate scientific experiments were carried out inside the Assam forests and these include forest plantations, silvicultural practices, taungya cultivation, and regulation of forest fires or insects. Throughout the early nineteenth century, science contributed to the various aspects of Assam forests. Although dependence on science in the late nineteenth century diminished, the entire forest management came to depend on science in the twentieth century. This transformed the commercial character of the forests including forest behaviour and its ecological system. In the long run, it was science that transformed the character of the local forest landscape.

This chapter provides an overarching account of the emergence of the idea of forest conservation in continental Europe from the mid-18th to the mid-19th centuries. The first part traces the emergence of the idea that forests offered physical or indirect climatic benefits. The second explores the evolution of the idea of direct utility, with particular reference to some of the traditions of political economy and state making co-terminous with the rise of scientific forestry in Europe.

This chapter focuses on various forest-conservation efforts in Indonesia, where the recent democratic transition offers possibilities for new policies in community forestry. The abundance of forest resources in Indonesia has attracted the attention of international conservation organizations, some of which perceive the local communities within the parks as a threat to forest conservation and support their relocation. The case of Kerinci Seblat Integrated Conservation and Development Project (ICDP) is presented, which aims to support biodiversity conservation together with economic development around the park by linking park management with regional planning and rural development initiatives in target villages on the park boundary. The social-forestry initiatives started by the Indonesian government in the 1980s, and which were mostly concentrated in Java, are also discussed. These initiatives succeeded in removing some of the antagonisms between foresters and villagers, and additionally initiated change in the attitude of the forest department. The community-managed reserves of damar in Krui, Sumatra, which also received special recognition from the forestry ministry, are also discussed.

Would enhancing women's presence in community forestry institutions improve forest conservation and regeneration? This little addressed question is the focus of this chapter. It statistically assesses whether the CFI's gender composition affects improvement in forest condition (measured by a range of indicators), after controlling for other characteristics of the management group, aspects of institutional functioning, forest and population characteristics, and related factors. Groups with a high proportion of women in their ECs show significantly greater improvement in forest condition by several indicators, in both Gujarat and Nepal. Moreover, all-women groups in Nepal have better forest regeneration and canopy growth than other groups, despite receiving much smaller and more degraded forests. Older EC members, especially older women, also make a positive difference, as does employing a community guard. The presence of women EC members benefits forest condition, especially by improving protection and rule compliance. A better use of women's knowledge of plant species and methods of product extraction is another contributory factor.

This chapter discusses the state of forest conservation in Africa and presents several examples of biodiversity conservation efforts involving local communities. The misguided intervention of colonial and postcolonial foresters and administrators in the continent, along with the growing population, were the main reasons for forest loss in the past century. The actions and policies of those seeking to protect wildlife and biodiversity have also brought them into conflict with the forest dwellers. The denial of access to the forests and their resources, coupled with the absence of benefits from safari or hunting operations, left game poaching, illegal logging, and the ivory trade as the only means of making a living for many forest dwellers. However, recent changes in the model of development and the new interest among the donor agencies in genuine forms of local participation in forest conservation are leading to the reconciliation of biodiversity conservation with local community needs.

This chapter presents various suggestions for involving local communities in forest conservation. The process of implementing the shift to community management of forests may depend on the legal and constitutional intricacies, cultures, and traditions of the individual countries. Steps such as establishing a solid legal framework for community empowerment, strengthening laws that promote the conservation and sustainable management of forest ecosystems, conferring tenurial rights on local communities, and setting up multidisciplinary research and training centers for forest management can go a long way in strengthening local participation. The governments should also redirect the attention of their forest departments from local people toward the illegal loggers, who are basically responsible for most of the forest problems. They should also curb the wasteful and highly inefficient forms of logging, whereas the private-sector logging companies should establish commercial partnerships with local-community organizations by providing sustainable small-scale community-based commercial-logging efforts.

The chapter begins with a discussion of the major uses of tropical forests and the relationships among the different uses (for example, compatibility between such uses and forest conservation and sustainability). A framework is then developed for valuation which takes into account the varied uses. A distinction is made between valuing the various services provided by the forest and valuing the forest itself. A time dimension is crucial: it affects sustainability but also it affects the sequence of pattern of uses. Values associated with different uses may grow at different rates. The present value of a tract of land also depends on how uncertainty about future values is resolved. It is argued that an exercise of the valuation of tropical forests cannot be designed without reference to the types of decisions that are being made. Long-time horizon and uncertainty about future uses complicate the issues. The chapter suggests that analysts develop a ‘balance sheet’ of affected parties, both present and future, taking into account all the significant impacts. Such a balance sheet forces the analyst to be explicit about the distributional implications of alternative uses, and thus provides a framework for extrapolating future values of tropical forests.

This chapter focuses on the role played by various local communities in the conservation of forests in Latin America. The “Pilot Program to Conserve the Brazilian Rain Forest,” started with the help of G7 countries in 1991, entrusted the World Bank to undertake the responsibility of managing the entire rehabilitation of the Brazilian Amazon forests, and one of the principal reasons for its success is the participation of the indigenous people while designing it. The Chiquitanos of Lomerio in Boliva drove away loggers and formed the Centro Intercomunal Campesino del Oriente de Lomerio (Inter-Communal Headquarters of the Communities of Eastern Lomerio, or CICOL) to manage their own lands, which consist of some 340,000 mostly forested hectares, with technical assistance and financial aid from the APCOB and Dutch government respectively. The local communities of Yucata´n Peninsula in Mexico established a large number of forestry activities, ranging from extracting and processing mahogany to marketing chicle, honey, and allspice, which in turn gave them more encouragement to save forests.

This chapter discusses forest and forest conservation in South and South-East Asia within a comparative perspective. It also discusses the future of political forests wherein reforestation movements will be in constant conflict with commerce and agriculture. Compared to the history of colonial forestry, the making of the forest policy in the post-colonial period was defined by the complexities of the political matrix and political machinery. Although forests nowadays are more politically influenced, the Assam forests in the colonial period were not entirely free from political negotiation and machinery. It was also under the commercial and profit-generating interests of the imperial rule and the powerful political class. Apart from discussing the history of the Assam forests, its difference and similarities in other forests, the chapter also evaluates how the present day ecological conflicts are intricately woven in the colonial era when forests, land and resource-based conflicts began to take shape.

This chapter discusses the factors that have contributed in the decline of tropical forests. The over-exploitation of forests backed by the governments has led to increasing conflicts between the indigenous forest-using communities on the one hand and central authorities, migrants, and foreign companies on the other. The transnational corporations engaged in mining, logging, and oil-exploration operations often collude with the national governments to serve their own commercial interests. The failure of the market economy in providing proper market value for the ecological services provided by the forests and watersheds has also resulted in a lack of enthusiasm for forest conservation. Often, the agricultural policies of individual countries indirectly promote the deforestation and settlement of migrants. The role of international finance agencies such as the Asian Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Inter-American Development Bank in promoting policies detrimental to the health of forests and the people around them are also discussed.

This chapter illustrates the contributions of the Long-Term Ecological Research to the growing awareness of the management of Puerto Rican government in conserving Luquillo Mountains' ecosystem. It also highlights the activities in the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF) by addressing the tropical forest conservation issues and relating these to the recurring disturbances experienced by the locality. Finally, it outlines the application of the research to test the accumulated ecological information in anticipating future needs and priorities.

The chapter explores the processes of official decision-making regarding conversion of forests to non-forest use post the enactment of the Forest Conservation Act (FCA), 1980 in India. It seeks to analyse the design and objectives of the FCA by illustrating the regulatory trajectory of a few high profile industrial and infrastructure projects. The chapter also looks at the systems of compensation and valuation, institutionalized through the practice of legal forest diversions. It further examines the interaction between FCA and the 2006 legislation for the recognition of forest rights of tribal and forest dwelling communities. In conclusion, the chapter reflects on the principles, which have shaped legal and policy processes that regulate land use change in forest ecosystems.

This chapter explores the possibilities of increased forest conservation and an increased role of local-community participation in it. Despite increased demand for forest resources and increasing population, tighter rules, incentives, democratization, and financial and technical support from donors can help in minimizing the forest loss and concentrating the plantations on agricultural wastelands or cut-over degraded forests. Various substitutes of fuelwood and agroforestry systems that produce fuelwood as a byproduct can also help in reducing the pressure on forests. The increased importance of nongovernmental organizations, reduced political clout of traditional timber tycoons in developing countries, and increased media attention would also help in reducing corruption in the government and thus help in the formulation of more community-centric sustainable forest-conservation policies. The increased awareness of the people regarding environmental degradation, along with the fast-growing ecotourism sector, is also expected to play a positive role in the conservation of forestlands.

This chapter examines how the growth of the sugar industry resulted in absolute freedom to clear forests in Cuba between 1815 and 1876. It first describes the semimechanization and mechanization of ingenios that ushered in the first golden age of Cuban sugar. Attention then turns to the construction of railroads that led to further expansion of sugar to the east, the transformation of the former province of Las Villas due to sugar expansion, and the increased exploitation of forests as the sugar boom continued. The chapter also considers the problem of fuel and the exhaustion of the soil in relation to Cuba's rapid deforestation before concluding with a discussion of efforts to adopt measures for the exploitation and conservation of Cuban forests.