Forests are under tremendous pressure from human uses of all kinds, and one of the most significant threats to their sustainability comes from commercial interests. This book presents a comprehensive examination of the interactions between the forest products sector and the sustainability of forests. It captures the most current sustainability concerns within the forestry sector and various sustainability-oriented initiatives to address these. Experts from around the world analyze interconnected topics including market mechanisms, regulatory mechanisms, voluntary actions, and governance, and outline their effectiveness, potential, and limitations. By presenting a novel overview of the burgeoning field of business sustainability within the forestry sector, this book paves a way forward in understanding what is working, what is not working, and what could potentially work to ensure sustainable business practices within the forestry sector,

There are dozens of emerging interactive web applications and services (often referred to as the participatory web, or Web 2.0). This title addresses such questions as how can Web 2.0 applications be integrated with participatory development approaches and how can they facilitate and contribute to people's participation and decision-making.

Forest degradation as a result of logging, shifting cultivation, agriculture and urban development is a major issue throughout the tropics. It leads to loss in soil fertility, water resources and biodiversity, as well as contributes to climate change. Efforts are therefore required to try to minimize further degradation and restore tropical forests in a sustainable way. This is the first research-based book to examine this problem in East Africa. The specific focus is on the forests of Ethiopia, Tanzania and Uganda, but the lessons learned are shown to be applicable to neighbouring countries and others in the tropics. A wide range of forest types are covered, from dry Miombo forest and afromontane forests, to forest-savannah mosaics and wet forest types. Current management practices are assessed and examples of good practice presented. The role of local people is also emphasized. The authors describe improved management and restoration through silviculture, plantation forestry and agroforestry, leading to improvements in timber production, biodiversity conservation and the livelihoods of local people.

Ambitious in nature, the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) adopted by the Fourth United Nations Conference on the LDCs (UN LDC IV) in 2011, sets out a development path for LDCs for the coming decade. Successful implementation of the IPoA requires identification of delivery tools for specific targets, provision of necessary financial and non-financial resources, and a strengthened monitoring mechanism. LDC IV Monitor, an independent partnership of eight interested organisations, aims to add value by enhancing transparency, accountability and efficiency of the official monitoring and review mechanism of the IPoA. LDC IV Monitor’s first set of two reports, produced outside of the official intergovernmental process, provide credible, evidence-based and policy-oriented assessment of the delivery status of the promises contained in the IPoA. The Synthesis Report, derived from the critical analyses of the state of play concerning the IPoA, presents the broad messages and key recommendations. The volume on Analytical Perspectives addresses a wide spectrum of issues including articulation of a composite IPoA index, building of productive capacity, trade in goods and services, delivery of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), flows of different forms of development finance, and consequences of climate change. The publications seek to contribute towards crafting national and international policies to support graduation of the LDCs through structural transformation of their economies.

This discussion paper assesses the state of knowledge on tropical dry forests as it relates to CIFOR’s strategy and identifies research opportunities that align with CIFOR’s strategic goals. Over the past two decades, CIFOR has accumulated a substantial body of work on dry forests, with a particular focus on African dry forests. This paper is intended to build on that work, by gathering wider research from around the world, as CIFOR seeks to widen the geographic scope of its research on dry forests. The present assessment explores five themes: climate change mitigation and adaptation; food security and livelihoods; demand for energy; sustainable management of dry forests; and policies and institutional support for sustainable management. These themes emerged as priority areas during discussions on dry forest research priorities held at CIFOR’s Dry Forests Symposium in South Africa in 2011. Research on these themes should be considered a priority, given the importance of dry forests to people and ecosystems around the world and the threats posed to them.

A global assessment of potential and anticipated impacts of efforts to achieve the SDGs on forests and related socio-economic systems. This title is available as Open Access via Cambridge Core.