ORCID Profile
0000-0003-0954-5982
Current Organisation
University of Helsinki
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Publisher: Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)
Date: 2017
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 05-04-2013
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-09-2016
DOI: 10.1186/S13750-016-0071-X
Abstract: Farming on sloping lands has historically led to forest loss and degradation in China, which coupled with unsustainable timber extraction activities, was deemed responsible for catastrophic flooding events in the late 1990s. These events led to the introduction of forest policies targeting ecological conservation and rural development in China, a process epitomized by the launch of the conversion of cropland to forest program (CCFP) in 1999. This systematic review responds to the question: What are the environmental and socioeconomic effects of China’s Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program after the first 15 years of implementation? Based on the published protocol, we searched for English language studies published between 1999 and 2014, and screened them for relevance and eligibility in two stages (titles and abstracts followed by full texts), after which they were further assessed for potential sources of bias before data extraction and analyses. Following initial screening of 879 titles and abstracts, 169 studies underwent full text screening, followed by 61 studies being subjected to quality assessment. Eighteen papers did not meet minimum quality criteria, while the remaining 43 papers were eligible and underwent data extraction and subsequent analyses. Among the final set of 43 studies were four national-level studies, seven regional-level studies, and 32 county-level (or below) studies. The majority of studies were published after 2009 and evaluated impacts within the first 5 years of CCFP implementation, such that the long-term impacts of the program remain open for further investigation. A skewed temporal and geographic distribution of the examined studies limits the generalizability of the results, though the evidence base confirms a substantial increase in forest cover and associated carbon stocks linked to reallocation of sloping agricultural land to forest. To some degree, soil erosion has been controlled and flood risk reduced at local scales. Meanwhile household incomes have increased and rural employment has readjusted towards off-farm sectors. However, some studies also indicate instances of diminished food security and increasing social inequality. Finally, several studies indicate suboptimal regional or localized trade-offs among specific ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration vs. water discharge rates, flood control vs. riparian soil replacement, and forest productivity vs. bio ersity. Additional research on long-term environmental impacts and program effects in under-studied regions, particularly southern and western provinces, is necessary. In terms of recommendations for future research on the CCFP, there is a significant need to examine confounding factors, ideally through the selection of matching control groups to CCFP participants, and to ensure that s ling methodologies are more representative of selected study sites and the overall targeted area. There remain many opportunities to assess specific socioecological effects, upon which to base future policy decisions and more broadly inform ecological restoration and eco-compensation in both theory and practice.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 25-09-2014
DOI: 10.3390/F5092345
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2019
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 18-08-2020
DOI: 10.3390/SU12166664
Abstract: A green economy that simultaneously promotes environmental sustainability, social inclusiveness, and economic growth is expected to benefit the heavily resource-dependent least developed countries. Yet, internationally, there is very little empirically based research on how the “green development” agenda translates into natural resource management policies in the least developed countries. This paper examines the implementation of green economy policies at the national level in the energy and forestry sectors in the Lao PDR and Cambodia. Both countries have adopted green growth targets however, in terms of natural resources management, two contradictory processes have taken place during the past decade. While there have been some initiatives to decentralize natural resource management by enhancing the role of local communities role, such as community-based forest or fishery management, the far greater trend has been the opening up of the economies of the Lao PDR and Cambodia to large-scale investments by multinational enterprises. Large-scale hydropower projects and increasing deforestation pose challenges to more sustainable natural resource management efforts. This article is based on an analysis of the national green economy strategies and expert interviews with the government, academia, private sector and international and national development organizations. Focusing on the energy and forestry sectors, but also analysing the national green economy strategies as a whole, our analysis sheds light on the choices made in the national development versus green economy strategies. While green economy thinking rests on strong state regulation, the policies are often formulated within a complex dynamic of donor and investor interests. The achievement of a green economy depends on the state thus, it should steer investments to ecologically less harmful industries and ensure social inclusiveness in land-use decisions. Our results show, however, that implementing a green economy is far more complex. Despite the quest for synergies, at the sectoral level there are still many unaddressed trade-offs between, for ex le, energy sources and forms of land use.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 29-08-2017
Publisher: Now Publishers
Date: 2022
DOI: 10.1561/112.00000547
Publisher: Now Publishers
Date: 2021
DOI: 10.1561/112.00000524
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2017
Publisher: Now Publishers
Date: 2021
DOI: 10.1561/112.00000526
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 08-08-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2014
Publisher: Commonwealth Forestry Association
Date: 06-2016
Publisher: Now Publishers
Date: 2021
DOI: 10.1561/112.00000529
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 16-04-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2013
Publisher: Commonwealth Forestry Association
Date: 12-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2019
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 07-05-2019
DOI: 10.3390/SU11092623
Abstract: Smallholder farming is considered one of the most vulnerable sectors to the impacts of climate change, variability, and extremes, especially in the developing world. This high vulnerability is due to the socioeconomic limitations and high environmental sensitivity which affect the biophysical and socioeconomic components of their farming systems. Therefore, systems’ functionality and farmers’ livelihoods will also be affected, with significant implications for global food security, land-use/land-cover change processes and agrobio ersity conservation. Thus, less vulnerable and more resilient smallholder farming systems constitute an important requisite for sustainable land management and to safeguard the livelihoods of millions of rural and urban households. This study compares a comprehensive socioeconomic and environmental dataset collected in 2015–2016 based on household interviews of 30 farmers of highland agroforestry systems and 30 farmers of conventional agriculture systems, to determine which system provides better opportunities to reduce exposure and sensitivity. A modified Climate Change Questionnaire Version 2 of the World Overview of Conservation Approaches and Technologies (WOCAT) was applied to collect the data. The interview data are based on the perceptions of Kayambi indigenous farmers about the levels of exposure and sensitivity of their farming systems during the last decade. Descriptive statistics were applied to analyze the data from the 60 farms. Results indicate that both agroforesters and conventional farmers clearly perceived increases in temperature and reductions in precipitation for the last decade, and expected this trend to continue in the next decade. Furthermore, conventional farmers perceived greater exposure to droughts (20%), solar radiation (43%), and pests, weeds and disease outbreaks (40%) than agroforesters. Additionally, results emphasize the better ability of agroforestry systems to reduce exposure and sensitivity to climate change and variability. These findings support the well-known assumptions about the key role played by agroforestry systems for climate change adaptation and mitigation, especially in developing countries.
Publisher: Commonwealth Forestry Association
Date: 03-2013
Publisher: Commonwealth Forestry Association
Date: 06-2020
DOI: 10.1505/146554820829523907
Abstract: Understanding of the relationship between forests and the poor has grown enormously, especially in the last twenty years. Aid donors worked on poverty reduction in the forest sector in the 1990s and into the early 2000s, but thereafter broadened their attention to address climate change mitigation, better forest governance and timber legality, and payments for environmental services. There has so far been an incomplete integration of new insights into the nature of poor people's reliance on forests, of their own efforts to use that reliance to escape from poverty, and of current forestry aid concerns. Future projects need to choose interventions which make better use of the results now available about forestpoverty relationships, both for the better conservation of forests, and for better focus on the livelihoods of the forest-reliant poor as they continue to try to move out of poverty.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 26-04-2021
DOI: 10.1007/S10668-021-01443-8
Abstract: The aim of this article is to analyse the current situation of access to energy (in relation to SDG 7) and energy usage behaviour in households in two provinces in Cambodia, namely Pursat and K ong Cham. The analytical framework is based on the energy ladder model and the energy stacking model as a starting point for assessing the current household energy profiles. A quantitative survey carried out in late 2015 in 970 households revealed differences in access to electricity between urban, electrified rural, and non-electrified rural districts. In urban areas, households are using multiple (3–4) energy sources compared to rural areas (2–3). The use of electricity through batteries in the non-electrified rural areas remains notable (43%) despite no access to the national grid. The dependence on traditional biomass, especially firewood, remains high (91% of all respondents) for all the s led households, especially so in rural non-electrified households. The study confirms that households’ energy mix is composed of various energy sources, even when modern energy sources are available as opposed to complete fuel switch. The results also show that electricity use does not automatically lead to increased household income, but is much more complex process than discussed in existing research. The article further discusses the possible causes behind the phenomenon, proposes recommendations for better-informed energy policy, and provides important insights towards sustainable energy transition in Cambodia in the future.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 26-12-2018
Publisher: Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Date: 18-09-2018
DOI: 10.1017/S0376892918000243
Abstract: Despite the plethora of discourse about how sustainable development should be pursued, the production of agricultural commodities is held responsible for driving c. 80% of global deforestation. Partially as a response, the private sector has made commitments to eliminate deforestation, but it is not yet clear what factors these commitments should take into account to effectively halt deforestation while also contributing to broader sustainable development. In the context of private sector commitments to zero-deforestation, this study characterizes the perceptions of different types of stakeholders along the cocoa and chocolate supply chain in order to determine the main challenges and solutions to encourage sustainable production. The main purpose is to understand the key factors that could facilitate a transition to a more sustainable supply while harmonizing the multiple actors’ interests. A qualitative thematic analysis of perceptions was conducted based on responses from 59 interviews with different stakeholders along the cocoa and chocolate supply chain in six key producing and consuming countries. Thematic analysis of the responses revealed six main themes: (1) make better use of policies, regulations and markets to help promote sustainability (2) improve information and data (e.g., impacts of climate change on cocoa) to inform sound interventions (3) focus on the landscape rather than the farm-level alone and improve integration of supply chain actors (4) promote better coordination between stakeholders and initiatives (e.g., development assistance projects and corporate sustainability efforts) (5) focus on interdependent relationships between social, environmental and economic dimensions to achieve sustainable development and (6) engage with the private sector. The study shows the importance of identifying different stakeholder priorities in order to design solutions that accommodate multiple interests. It also emphasizes the need to improve coordination and communication between stakeholders and instruments in order to address the three different dimensions of sustainability in a synergistic manner, considering the interactions from production of raw material to end consumer.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 26-06-2007
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2018
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-03-2015
DOI: 10.1186/S13750-015-0033-8
Abstract: Agricultural activities on sloping lands have historically led to forest loss and degradation in China which, coupled with industrial pressures on the environment, were deemed responsible for catastrophic flooding events in the late 1990s. After these events, China’s forest policy underwent a significant reorientation towards ecological conservation and rural development, a process epitomized by the Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program (CCFP). Launched in 1999, the CCFP integrates both socioeconomic and environmental objectives with the aim of reforesting smallholder cropland on sloping lands, while compensating farmers with payments for their lost income. Following 15 years of implementation, it is timely to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the state of knowledge about the CCFP’s impacts on human populations and the environment. The primary research question asks “What socioeconomic and environmental effects has the Conversion of Cropland to Forest Program had on human populations and land resources during its first 15 years in China?” We use a theory of change and a Population-Intervention-Comparator-Outcome (PICO) framework to structure our systematic review, where populations of interest consist of both human populations and land resources targeted by the program, while the intervention of interest is the CCFP as defined by its component activities, including compensatory subsidies, skill-training, and enforcement with field checks. Outcomes are defined as both the socioeconomic and environmental impacts of the program. We will conduct a search for relevant English and Chinese language literature on Scopus, Web of Science, CAB Abstracts, AGRIS (FAO), and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure. Search results will be screened for relevance in a two stage process (titles and abstracts, followed by full texts) based on predefined eligibility criteria, and then further assessed for potential sources of bias. Extraction of data from those studies that have passed full-text screening will follow a coding protocol based on the PICO framework, and quantitative and qualitative analyses of the extracted data will be conducted and synthesized. Finally, a narrative report will present the findings of the review, alongside a geographic map illustrating the coverage of included studies compared with the actual implementation area of the CCFP.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 13-12-2009
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 10-04-2018
DOI: 10.3390/LAND7020045
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2019
No related grants have been discovered for Nicholas Hogarth.