Abstract
The chapter begins by suggesting that sustainable management has rarely been achieved in forests in the developing world not because the technologies for sustainable forest management are not viable, nor because resource managers do not recognize or understand the concept of sustainability. Rather, failure can be attributed to the fact that much of what happens in forests is determined by decisions made far from the forests sector, and to the fact that many of the actors in the forest sector (or nearby) are operating under perverse incentives.
Attempts to quantify the non-marketed ecosystem values of forests have encountered major methodological problems, while the impacts of macroeconomic policies on forests vary considerably from one place to another, and there has been little fieldwork on this subject in specific locations. These constraints, added to the observation made in Chapter 6 that development assistance financing has not been adequate to value sustainable management highly in the eyes of the agents of forest change, illustrate the difficulty of implementing sustainable forest management in the recent past.
Climate change, and increasing global awareness of the fragility of natural ecosystems is the potential game-changer here, and the remainder of the chapter explores the issues surrounding the reduced emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) mechanism which could finance sustainability via carbon emission trading from reduced deforestation, and an alternative approach based on public/private sector financing of forest ecosystems which does not rely on a specific trading mechanism, but does nevertheless apply value to retained forest carbon, among other assets.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Rapid expansion of soya growing in Brazil, or oil palm plantation in Southeast Asia (both discussed in Chapter 5) are examples.
- 2.
A number of climate scientists – notably James Hansen of NASA – have argued that even this figure will be inadequate to provide reasonable amelioration of some of the worst potential consequences of climate change, and that reductions in GHG concentrations down to the range of 330–380 ppm will need to be attained to achieve this.
- 3.
A gigatonne is equal to one billion tonnes.
- 4.
Peat is formed when plant material in marsh or swamp areas is subjected to limited decay under anaerobic conditions from a limited decay process when plant material in marsh or swamp areas.
- 5.
The FAO Trade and Markets website has index figures for oil seed prices that show prices rose by a factor of 3 from 1998–2000 (the index base period) to 2007, before falling back to 2 in 2008, in response to the international financial situation.
- 6.
There is also the question of who receives the value of logs which would have been harvested from the forest site prior to conversion to the competing commodity: we discuss this issue in the case study below.
- 7.
Fairhurst, Thomas, pers comm. February 2009.
- 8.
In Indonesia in recent years, adherence to rules of use for land in various forest categories has improved, and some provisions have been tightened. However, there have also been significant changes in the boundaries of the various forest categories, with allocations of forest land to the Conversion Forest category (and thence to licensing for other non-forest uses by Kabupaten governments) in particular growing considerably, at the expense of the Production Forest and Limited Production Forest Categories.
- 9.
What carbon prices may do on world markets in the immediate term is anyone’s guess, as the economic crisis continues to influence all markets, and some governments put green investments on hold. However, even in the midst of this, prices (which reached figures of more than € 40 per tonne of CO2 equivalent in 2008) seem to be holding at around 8 € per tonne of CO2 equivalent: this is about double the carbon dioxide price used above.
- 10.
World Bank, 2005 Development Policy Lending and Forest Outcomes, Report No. 33537-GLB.
- 11.
Apart from being restricted essentially to forestry options based on reforestation and afforestation, rather than avoided natural forest reforestation, the CDM has been criticized for a complicated verification and implementation framework, and it has not been widely utilized ion many developing countries since its inception.
- 12.
Unless it can be argued that the country has chosen to revert not merely to previous higher levels, but to even higher levels than would have occurred under a business-as-usual scenario without REDD. That would be an abrogation of that nation’s understanding with the REDD partners; it could happen, but then, it could happen at any point under any form of agreement. There is an element of faith in the REDD process: it assumes that nations which participate in the process will see the benefits – economic, social and environmental – from being in the programme.
- 13.
The Prince’s Rainforests Project was established by the Prince of Wales in 2007, with the aims of encouraging consensus on how the rate of tropical deforestation might be slowed, and to design a mechanism by which rainforest nations could be compensated for reducing deforestation.
References
Barr C (1999) Banking on sustainability: a critical assessment of structural adjustment in indonesia’s forest and estate crops industries. CIFOR-WWF, Bogor, Indonesia
Benhin J, Barbier E (2000) Estimating the biodiversity effects of structural adjustment in Ghana. In: Perrings C (ed) The economics of biodiversity conservation in Sub-Saharan Africa. Edward Elgar, London, pp 268–308
Blaser, J., & Robledo, C. (2007). Initial Analysis on the Mitigation Potential in the Forestry Sector. Prepared for the UNFCCC Secretariat
Bockstael N, Freeman A, Kopp R, Portney P, Smith V (2000) On measuring economic values for nature. Environ Sci Technol 34(8):1384–1389
Braat L, Ten Brink P (eds) (2008) The cost of policy inaction: the cost of not meeting the 2010 biodiversity target. Alterra, Wageningen/Brussels
Butler RA, Koh LP, Ghazoul J (2009) REDD in the red: palm oil could undermine carbon payment schemes. Conserv Lett J Soc Conserv Biol. doi:10.1111/j.1755-263X.2009.00047.x
CIFOR, IPAM and ODI (2008) Integrating REDD into the global climate protection regime: proposals and implications. Background paper for the introductory meeting for the collaborative analysis. Tokyo, 24th June 2008
McKinsey & Company (2009) Global GHG Abatement Cost Curve v2. ClimateWorks Foundation/McKinsey & Company: Project Catalyst
Corley RHV (2008) How much oil palm do we need? Environ Sci Policy. doi:10.1016/j.envsci2008.10.011
Costanza R, D’Arge R, de Groot R, Forbes S, Grosso M, Hannon B, Limburg K, Naeem S, O’Neil RV, Ruskin RG, Sutton P, van dem Belt (1997) The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital. Nature 387:253
Daviet F, McMahon H, Bradley R, Stolle F, Nakhooda S (2008) REDD Flags: What We need to know about the options, world resources institute posting on Poverty Environment Net, May 2008
Dixon S (1995) Introduction: the nature of structural adjustment. In: Simon, Spendgen, Dixon, Naerman, (eds) Structurally adjusted Africa: poverty, debt and basic needs. London/Boulder: Pluto Press
Eliasch J et al (2008) Climate change: financing the forests. Independent report to the Government of the United Kingdom, commissioned by the Prime Minister
Fairhurst T, McLaughlin D (2009) Sustainable oil palm development on degraded land in Kalimantan. World Wildlife Fund, Washington, DC
Glover D (1995) Structural adjustment and the environment. J Int Dev 7:285–289
Grieg-Gran M (2006) The cost of avoiding deforestation. International Institute for Environment and Development, London
Gueorguieva A, Bolt K (2003) A critical review of the literature on structural adjustment and the environment. Environmental Economics Series. Environment Department Papers No. 90. World Bank, Washington, DC
Houghton RA (2005) Tropical deforesation as a source of greenhouse gas emission. In: Moutinho P, Schwartzman S (eds) Tropical deforestation and climate change. IPAM/Environmental Defense, Belem
IPCC (2007) WGI Chapter 7, 2007, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Keith H, Mackey B, Lindenmayer D (2009) Re-evaluation of forest biomass carbon stocks and lessons from the world’s most carbon dense forests. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA July 14, 2009 106(28)
Lewis S et al. (2008) Letter to Nature
Luyssaert S et al. (2008) Old growth forests as global carbon sinks. Letter to Nature 455, 11 September
Mainhardt H (2001) IMF intervention in indonesia: undermining macroeconomic stability and sustainable development by perpetuating deforestation. WWF-Macroeconomics for Sustainable Development Program Office, Washington, DC
Munasinghe M, Cruz W (1994) Economywide policies and the environment: lessons from experience. World Bank Environment Paper No. 10, Washington, DC
Oberthur S, Ott HE (1999) The Kyoto protocol: international climate policy for the 21st century. Springer, Heidelberg
Pandey K, Wheeler D (2001) Structural adjustment and forest resources: the impact of World Bank operations. World Bank Development Research Group, World Bank, Washington, DC
Panayotou T, Hupe K (1996) Environmental impacts of structural adjustment programmes: synthesis and recommendations. Environmental Economics Series. Paper No. 21. United Nations Environment Programme, Environment and Economics Unit
Parker C, Mitchell A, Trivedi M, Mardas N, Sosis K (2008) The Little REDD+ Book. Global Canopy Programme, Oxford, UK
Pearce DW (1998) Auditing the earth. Environment 40(2): 23–28
Pearce DW (2001) The economic value of forest ecosystems. Ecosys Health 7, December 2001
Persson A, Munasinghe M (1995) Natural resource management and economywide policies in costa rica: a Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modeling approach. World Bank Econ Rev 9(2):259–285
Prince’s Rainforest Project (2009) An emergency package for tropical forests. The Prince’s Rainforests Project, Clarence House, London
Prince’s Rainforests Project (2008) A plan for emergency funding: consultative document. Annexes. The Prince’s Rainforests Project, Clarence House, London
Putz FE, Zuidema PA, PinardMA, Boot RGA, Sayer JA, Sheil, D., Sist, P., Elias, Vanclay, J.K. (2008). Improved Tropical Forest Management for Carbon Retention. PLos Biol 6(7): e166 dol:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060166
Reed D (1992) Structural adjustment and the environment. Westview, Boulder
Repetto R, Cruz W (1992) The environmental effects of stabilization and structural adjustment programs: the Philippines case study. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC
Seymour F, Dubash N (2000) The right conditions: the World Bank, structural adjustment and forest policy reform. World Resources Institute, Washington, DC
Shandra JM, Shor E, Maynard G, London B (2008) Debt, structural adjustment and deforestation. 1 1:1–21
Sheil, D. Casson, A. Meijard, E. van Noordwijk, M. Gaskell, J. Wertz, K. & Kanninen, M. (2009) The impacts and opportunities of oil palm in Southeast Asia: what do we know and what do we need to know? CIFOR Occasional Paper, Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, Indonesia
Stern NH (2006) Stern review: the economics of climate change. HM Treasury, Government of the United Kingdom, UK
USDE (2005) Genomics: GTL roadmap; systems biology for energy and environment, U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, August 2005. DOE/SC-0090
Warford J, Schwab A, Cruz W, Hansen S (1994) The evolution of environmental concerns in adjustment lending: a review. Environment Department Working Paper No. 65. World Bank, Washington, DC
White A, Martin A (2002) Who owns the world’s forests? Forest tenure and forests in transition. Forest Trends and Center for Environmental Law, Washington, DC
World Bank (2005) Development Policy Lending and Forest Outcomes, Report No. 33537-GLB
World Wildlife Fund (2008) Policy approaches and positive incentives for reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation (REDD). WWF Discussion Paper
World Wildlife Fund (1994) Structural adjustment and the environment: Jamaica country study. Washington, DC
Wunder S (2003) Oil wealth and the fate of the forest: a comparative study of eight tropical countries. Routledge, New York
Wunder S, Sunderlin W (2004) Oil, macroeconomics and forests: assessing the linkages. The World Bank Res Observ. 19(2), World Bank
Young C, Bishop J (1995) Adjustment policies and the environment: a critical review of the literature. Working Paper Series 1, Center for Research in Experimental Economics and Political Decision Making (CREED), Amsterdam
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Douglas, J., Simula, M. (2011). Financing Forests Sustainability from Ecosystem Values. In: The Future of the World's Forests. World Forests, vol 7. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9582-4_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9582-4_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-9581-7
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-9582-4
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)