Environmentalists,Rubber Tappers and Empowerment: The Politics and Economics of Extractive Reserves

Extractive reserves are important initiatives in tropical forest zones which seek to integrate conservation of natural resources with development and human welfare objectives. Increasingly in such initiatives empowerment of local communities is seen as both a means of achieving this integration and as an end in itself. This article presents a theoretically informed analysis of the interactions between rubber tappers and environmental organizations in the establishment and implementation of extractive reserves in Rond? nia, Brazil. It distinguishes two dimensions of empowerment — political and economic — and examines how the alliances between organizations have impacted differentially on the two dimensions. The analysis suggests that these alliances have so far been more successful in enabling political rather than economic empowerment. Advances in political empowerment are shown, in the short‐term at least, not to have resulted in improvements in livelihood conditions of poor forest dwellers.     

The Forest Service Since the National Forest Management Act

There has been considerable recent discussion and debate about change and the need for change in the United States Forest Service. A number of observers have argued that the agency has shifted its emphasis from commodity to non-commodity values of the National Forests, has become more sensitive to environmental and ecological concerns, and has become more responsive to public input. However, to date most articles on the topic of change in the Forest Service have been either theoretical and speculative in nature or have based their conclusions on attitude surveys of agency employees. So far no studies have provided “hard,” empirical evidence of change or have conducted any systematic examination of the presumed causes. This symposium attempts to fill this gap. What follows is the presentation of the analyses of a wide range of important quantitative indicators of agency change. From these analyses, we attempt to answer the following questions: Has the Forest Service indeed been changing? If so, what direction has it taken and how significant has this change been? What are the possible causes of change, and what have been the consequences for National Forest policy? What factors are likely to influence future change in the agency?     

Property vs. Control: The State and Forest Management in the Indian Himalaya

The latest orthodoxy to emerge in environmental literature centres on the notion that state ownership of forests results in poor management and ecological degradation. Depending on their political persuasion, scholars, policy-makers and activists either advocate privatization of state forests, or demand their transferral to local communities as solutions for promoting sustainable forest management. This article argues that such proposals are flawed because they assume that ownership status determines the ways in which resources are used and managed. It argues that an analytical distinction needs to be made between property and control for understanding the complex interplay of social, economic, political and ecological factors that influence forest stock, composition and quality. Through a historical analysis of the development of state forestry in the Indian Himalaya, the article shows how state ownership of forests does not result in the monolithic imposition of proprietary rights, but emerges instead as an ensemble of access and management regimes.     

Heterogeneity,Group Size and Collective Action: The Role of Institutions in Forest Management

Collective action for sustainable management among resource‐dependent populations has important policy implications. Despite considerable progress in identifying factors that affect the prospects for collective action, no consensus exists about the role played by heterogeneity and size of group. The debate continues in part because of a lack of uniform conceptualization of these factors, the existence of non‐linear relationships, and the mediating role played by institutions. This article draws on research by scholars in the International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) research network which demonstrates that some forms of heterogeneity do not negatively affect some forms of collective action. More importantly, IFRI research draws out the interrelations among group size, heterogeneity, and institutions. Institutions can affect the level of heterogeneity or compensate for it. Group size appears to have a non‐linear relationship to at least some forms of collective action. Moreover, group size may be as much an indicator of institutional success as a precondition for such success.     

南唐金陵公私园林考

南唐时金陵园林众多,皇家园林有北苑、西苑等,而私人园林多为达官贵人所有。公私园林中自然美景与人工巧作融为一体,多修建于城北等山水俱佳之处。     

National Forest Timber Management Over the Past Decade

Timber output, the major commodity use of the National Forests, was tracked from 1981 to 1993, to assess changes that have occurred in the amount of timber offered, sold, and harvested. In addition, changes in the method of harvest used on the National Forests were examined to view trends in the management practices of the Forest Service. Although trends regarding changes in timber harvest methods varied from region to region, data on timber offered, sold, and harvested showed a dramatic decrease both nationally and in important timber-producing regions since the late 1980s. This reduction, when seen in the light of other recent studies, suggests that the Forest Service is changing the emphasis of its management practices, placing less priority on the traditional high level of timber output.     

松鼠 林间跳跃的精灵

<正>松鼠(Squirrel)是—种常见的野生动物,原产地是我国的东北、西北部以及欧洲地区。一般体型细小,以草食性为主,食物主要是种子和果仁,部分种类以蔬菜、昆虫为食。身手矫健机敏警觉众所周知,啮齿类动物中大部分都是身手矫健、灵活机敏的。而作为啮齿类大家族中一员的松鼠,更是有过之而无不及。但凡见过松鼠的人都会对它们产生非常深刻的印象:上     

Common Property Resource Institutions and Forest Management in Latin America

This article focuses on how common property resource (CPR) institutions managing forest resources in Latin America have responded to change, a subject relatively ignored in the English-language literature. It examines in particular the evidence surrounding the popular view that CPR institutions must inevitably break down in the face of economic and demographic pressures—an extension of the `tragedy of the commons' thesis. The evidence shows that there have been a number of both positive and negative experiences. The negative experiences include the obvious vulnerability of Amerindian informal institutions to the individualistic incentive structures of market forces. The apparent incompatibility between the market and `gift' economy leads to a questioning of the current donor emphasis on market-orientated natural forest management among indigenous groups that have received little exposure to market forces, and alternative approaches are suggested. However, many indigenous and other groups have responded positively to market pressures and there is ample evidence that, given an appropriate policy environment, community-based natural forest management can still be regarded as a `great white hope' for forest conservation, especially considering the largely negative environmental and equity impacts of individualized resource privatization, as in the Brazilian Amazon. However, CPR institutions have generally faced an unsupportive policy environment; it is therefore over-simplistic for those in favour of privatization of property rights to ascribe their erosion to commercial or demographic pressures per se.     

Constructing a Gender Policy for Joint Forest Management in India

Policy makers and advocates of joint forest management (JFM) agree that women should be full participants and that their involvement is especially important because of the nature of women's work. This article examines how JFM policy has addressed gender in India. It argues that policy has been informed by instrumentalist positions in the debate over women's relationship to the environment. Consequently, gender planning in JFM has focused on two issues: formal representation for women in local institutions, and identifying women's ‘special’ values, knowledge and uses of forest resources. The scant evidence suggests that the impact of JFM on women has generally been negative. Finally, the article suggests that gender policy in JFM needs to be based on a more sophisticated understanding of gender relations and a wider examination of the gendered context of JFM processes.     

原始沙捞越 赤道上的“隐秘天堂”

<正>"旅游圣经"《Lonely Planet》,对沙捞越热带雨林有这样的描述:"如果你一直对婆罗洲魂牵梦萦——梦见乘坐大船顺着浑浊的江河漂流,梦见像野人一样穿越茂密的大丛林,梦见炊烟袅袅的长屋和酒醉后狂放的舞步,梦见奇怪的生物和隐蔽的洞穴,梦见吹箭筒和猎取人头的蛮人……那么,现在你终于可以得偿所愿了。沙捞越就是婆罗洲最经典的代表,提到冒险和刺激,没有什么地方可以与之相媲美。"     

The Changing Regime: Forest Property and Reformasi in Indonesia

This article explores the dominant explanations of the failure of forest management in Indonesia within the public discourse of the late New Order period. Drawing on a review of salient literature and relevant case studies, the major part of the article discusses the underlying historical, institutional and political causes of the failure of the state property regime. By taking a narrow view of the issues, public discourse during the New Order (1966–98) avoided discussion of the structure of property relations and the power relations that supported them. However, the forest fires of 1997–8 and the ensuing ecological crisis have revealed that the forest policy that allocated property rights over vast areas of the nation’s forests to well-connected conglomerates and politico-business families was inequitable and lacked legitimacy. While new legislative initiatives open up possibilities for co-management, the reforms so far barely engage with the underlying structure of property rights. These issues will need to be more thoroughly addressed if Indonesia is to tackle the bitter legacy of the Suharto period.     

额济纳胡杨林 不是森林 是千年不朽的传奇

景观特征：在内蒙古额济纳河两岸,分布着中国最为壮观的胡杨林,总面积达到了5636公顷,堪称大漠的一颗绿色明珠。每年九十月间,当第一场秋霜来临时,大片的胡杨树叶由绿变黄,一眼望去,阳光下金色的树叶衬着湛蓝的天空于风中婆娑起舞,那强烈的反差,鲜明的影调,亮丽的色彩,足以令任何语言文字显得苍白无力。     

雁荡山森林公园 饮雁茗茶沐森林浴

景观特征：雁荡山国家森林公园的植被属亚热带常绿阔叶林南部亚地带,分布有木本植物89科229属430多种,其中,银杏、鹅掌楸、凹叶厚朴、沉水樟等为国家二、三级珍稀濒危保护植物。还有猕猴、野山羊、大灵猫、穿山甲、画眉猫头鹰以及蛇类等野生动植物分布。