The last decade saw dramatic concern for forest problems. The future decades will witness an even more dramatic interest. Certification of forests provides a guarantee to buyers of timber products that their purchases come from well-managed forests that will not support unsustainable or inequitable practices. This produces multiple advantages to those with stakes in the entire chain of production, not the least of which is justification of their pricing. The Forest Certification Handbook is the first book to fully assess the role of certification and provide practical advice on developing, selecting and operating a program.
The most critical role of certification is providing an incentive to forest owners and managers to raise the standard of their forest management. With international and national initiatives supporting specific principles for forest management and means of quality assessment taking place, The Forest Certification Handbook is the only published guide of its kind to eliminate any confusion. Here, in clear, exacting language, is all of the information you will need to complete a certification program.

The world's forests are disappearing at an alarming rate, and with disastrous consequences. Demand for wood and paper products ranks high amongst the causes of deforestation and forest degradation, and is now the major cause of loss in those forests richest in wildlife. There is a great deal to be done to improve the timber industry before our forests are safely and sustainably managed. Bad Harvest presents an incisive account of the role that the timber trade has played in the loss and degradation of forests around the world. It examines the environmental consequences of the trade on boreal, temporal and tropical regions, and its impacts for local people working and living in the forests. It also looks at the changing nature of the trade, and assesses current national and international initiatives to address the impacts of deforestation. Finally, the authors show how things could be improved in the future, by presenting a new strategy for sustainable forest management. Based on 15 years of extensive research - particularly work carried out by the World Wide Fund for Nature - Bad Harvest is essential reading on the subject; not only for environmentalists, but also for those in the timber trade seeking to improve the management and reputation of their product.

This edited book is a collection of information on recent advancements in remote sensing for forestry application. The main focus of this book is to address the novel applications in remote sensing in terms of recent techniques, sensors, methods and data collection. Remote sensing has been used for many decades. Today, remote sensing is heavily utilized in forest management, which is acquired from airborne and space-borne platforms using satellite data. In recent years, there have been rapid advances in the new types of sensors. The new generations of satellite sensors are introduced not only to provide important information on forest ecosystems, but also to improve the techniques and accuracies obtained by the traditional approaches. Researchers have become increasingly aware of the potential of remote sensing to address important forestry issues and challenges. The number of forestry publications using remote sensing has grown very rapidly, and this is noticeable with many recent technologies and applications. This book provides valuable source of reference to foresters, researchers, ecologists, climate change scientists and scholars who use remote sensing in their work. Furthermore, it serves as an academic book for undergraduate and graduate students of forestry, agriculture, natural resources and environmental sciences. The book demonstrates and engages the students how the new advancements in remote sensing technology and theory relate to the many real-world forestry applications. It gives readers deeper understanding on how remote sensing has come a long way and evolved into a mature science in the past five decades.

Wood-pastures are important elements of European cultural identity and have an exceptional ecological value, yet they are in decline all over Europe. The structure of wood-pastures is strongly influenced by grazing and multiple other land uses and by local and regional environmental conditions. This book examines the diverse expressions of wood-pastures across Europe. It provides a new perspective, using a social-ecological framework to explore social and ecological values, governing institutions, threats and conservation approaches. It explores the major drivers of decline, which are shown to be related to accelerated cultural, institutional and developmental changes occurring across Europe over the past century. Case studies are included from North-Western, Southern, and Eastern Europe. Written by renowned scholars and conservationists, the book contributes to developing better, locally adapted conservation policies and management approaches for wood-pastures.

An important prerequisite for successful conservation is a good understanding of what we seek to conserve. Nowhere is this more the case than in the fight to protect plant biodiversity, which is threatened by human activity in many regions worldwide. This book is written in the belief that tools that enable more people to understand biodiversity can not only aid protection efforts but also contribute to rural livelihoods. Among the most important of those tools is the field guide. Plant Identification provides potential authors of field guides with practical advice about all aspects of producing user-friendly guides which help to identify plants for the purposes of conservation, sustainable use, participatory monitoring or greater appreciation of biodiversity. The book draws on both scientific and participatory processes, supported by the experience of contributors from across the tropics. It presents a core process for producing a field guide, setting out key steps, options and techniques available to the authors of a guide and, through illustration, helps authors choose methods and media appropriate to their context.

The Marcell Experimental Forest (MEF) in Minnesota serves as a living laboratory and provides scientists with a fundamental understanding of peatland hydrology, acid rain impacts, nutrient and carbon cycling, trace gas emissions, and controls on mercury transport in boreal watersheds. Its important role in scientific research continues to grow as the data gathered offers invaluable insight into environmental changes over the last century and goes far in answering many of today's pressing questions at landscape and global scales. Synthesizing five decades of research, Peatland Biogeochemistry and Watershed Hydrology at the Marcell Experimental Forest includes hundreds of research publications, dozens of graduate theses, and even some previously unpublished studies. Research at the MEF has been at the forefront of many scientific disciplines and these 15 chapters offer the depth and breadth of long-term studies on hydrology, biogeochemistry, ecology, and forest management on peatland watersheds at the MEF. Focusing on peatlands, lakes, and upland landscapes, the book begins with the pioneering research on hydrology done during the 1960s. It presents the innovative 1970's studies of atmospheric deposition; the 1980's research into nutrient cycles including carbon, nitrogen, and methane emissions; and the 1990's investigations into mercury deposition. The book concludes with a look at the latest and on-going studies such as this century's research into controls on methylmercury production and landscape-level carbon storage and cycling. Covering 50 years of research and written by a veritable who's who in peatland and forestry science, this important milestone in the collection of ecological data highlights bright prospects for future research, including the continuation of existing long-term measurements, the initiation of new monitoring programs, and plans for unprecedented studies on climate change.

The world's forests are disappearing at an alarming rate, and with disastrous consequences. Demand for wood and paper products ranks high amongst the causes of deforestation and forest degradation, and is now the major cause of loss in those forests richest in wildlife. There is a great deal to be done to improve the timber industry before our forests are safely and sustainably managed. Bad Harvest presents an incisive account of the role that the timber trade has played in the loss and degradation of forests around the world. It examines the environmental consequences of the trade on boreal, temporal and tropical regions, and its impacts for local people working and living in the forests. It also looks at the changing nature of the trade, and assesses current national and international initiatives to address the impacts of deforestation. Finally, the authors show how things could be improved in the future, by presenting a new strategy for sustainable forest management. Based on 15 years of extensive research - particularly work carried out by the World Wide Fund for Nature - Bad Harvest is essential reading on the subject; not only for environmentalists, but also for those in the timber trade seeking to improve the management and reputation of their product.

The grove, a grouping of trees, intentionally cultivated or found growing wild, has a long diverse history entwined with human settlement, rural practices and the culture and politics of cities. A grove can be a memorial, a place of learning, a site of poetic retreat and philosophy or political encampment, a public park or theatre, a place of hidden pleasures, a symbol of a vanished forest ecology, or a place of gods or other spirits. Yet groves are largely absent from our contemporary vocabulary and rarely included in today's landscape practice, whether urban or rural. Groves are both literal and metaphorical manifestations, ways of defining spaces and ecologies in our cultural life. Since they can add meaning to urban forms and ecologies and contribute meaningfully to the significance of place, critical examination is long overdue. The editors have taken care to ensure that the text is accessible to the general reader as well as specialists.

From recycled products to organic food, the movement to be "environmentally friendly" is now expanding into the forestry field. Recognizing this impact, Home Depot has committed to giving preference to selling "certified wood," proven to come from forests that meet certain biological and social sustainablility standards. Retailers and vendors can offer certified wood through the international Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and FSC accredited organizations like SmartWood, recently featured in People magazine.

Forests and woodlands provide an enormous range of goods and services to society, from timber and firewood to medicinal plants, watershed protection, destinations for tourists and sacred sites. Only when these are understood and valued can forests and their resources be properly managed and conserved. This work shows how the complicated network of benefits can be untangled and sets out the different approaches needed to value them. It covers the analysis of plant-based markets, non-market valuation and decision frameworks such as cost-benefit analysis.

Complete with information on buying and selling woods, useful contact addresses and a glossary of terms, Caring for Small Woods will prove the indispensable handbook.

This title aims to provide introductory and concluding surveys of the subject of farms, trees and farmers. Two central parts explore trends in farmer tree-growing and the factors which influence decision-making. Eight case studies cover, among other topics, the need for tree products, market access, the allocation of land and labour, and exposure to risk. In showing why farmers decide to grow or not grow trees, it seeks to increase the reader's knowledge about farming systems and to provide a guide to encouraging farm forestry throughout the world.

Since its original publication by the International Institute for Environment and Development in 1999, Policy That Works for Forests and People has been recognised as the most authoritative study to date of policy processes that affect forests and people. Providing a thorough analysis of the issues, options and factors that determine different outcomes and bolstered by a major annex containing tools and tactics, the book offers clear and practical advice on how to formulate, manage and implement policies appropriate to different contexts. These are policies that result in real improvements in the governance, use and economic benefits that can flow from forests to those who depend upon them. This book is essential reading for policy-makers, forestry practitioners and academics and students in all areas of forest policy, management and governance.

Cyril Hart's seminal work on woodland management and practices is back in this fourth edition, which covers a wealth of material including financial management, taxation, the integration of forestry and agriculture, silvicultural operations, grading of timber, valuations marketing, utilisation, non-wood benefits, saw-milling and nursery practice. A modern classic that has been a trusted companion to forestry students and experts for decades, Practical Forestry is a must-have for anyone interested in working in, managing or preserving Britain's lush and vital woodland areas.

In this comprehensive book, the critical components of the European landscape - forest, parkland, and other grazed landscapes with trees are addressed. The book considers the history of grazed treed landscapes, of large grazing herbivores in Europe, and the implications of the past in shaping our environment today and in the future. Debates on the types of anciently grazed landscapes in Europe, and what they tell us about past and present ecology, have been especially topical and controversial recently. This treatment brings the current discussions and the latest research to a much wider audience. The book breaks new ground in broadening the scope of wood-pasture and woodland research to address sites and ecologies that have previously been overlooked but which hold potential keys to understanding landscape dynamics. Eminent contributors, including Oliver Rackham and Frans Vera, present a text which addresses the importance of history in understanding the past landscape, and the relevance of historical ecology and landscape studies in providing a future vision.

There is currently much interest in mainstreaming gender in natural resource management, including forestry. This reader provides a collection of key articles on gender and forests published over the last 30 years. Including an editorial introduction and overview, it provides an accessible collection of excellent forestry-relevant social science within an overarching analytical framework and demonstrates the leading debates in the field. The book will be of great value to both biophysical science and social science students and to professionals in training. It focuses on people and forest interactions, providing a range of studies from both developed and developing countries. It includes theoretical analyses, methodological pieces, case studies, and cross-country comparisons, and it forms a companion volume to Gender and Forests: Climate Change, Tenure, Value Chains and Emerging Issues (2016).

Forests provide a large range of beneficial services, including tangible ones such as timber and recreation, and intangible services such as climate regulation, biodiversity, and watershed protection. On the other hand, forests can also be considered roadblocks to progress that occupy space more productively used for agriculture, making consideration of their regulating services crucial for balancing land use and forest loss. Monitoring forest cover and loss is critical for obtaining the data necessary to help define what is needed to maintain the varying forest service requirements in different parts of the world. There is an increasing need for timely and accurate forest change information, and consequently a greater interest in monitoring those changes. Global Forest Monitoring from Earth Observation covers the very recent developments undertaken for monitoring forest areas from global to national levels using Earth observation satellite data. It describes operational tools and systems for monitoring forest ecosystems, discussing why and how researchers currently use remotely sensed data to study forest cover and loss over large areas. The book introduces the role of forests in providing ecosystem services and the need for monitoring their change over time, followed by an overview of the use of earth observation data to support forest monitoring. It discusses general methodological differences, including wall-to-wall mapping and sampling approaches, as well as data availability. This book provides excellent coverage of the research and applications of forest monitoring, indicator mapping at coarse spatial resolution, sample-based assessments, and wall-to-wall mapping at medium spatial resolution using optical remote sensing datasets, such as MODIS and Landsat. It examines the use of radar imagery in forest monitoring and presents a number of operational systems, from Brazil's PRODES and DETER products to Australia's NCAS system. Written by leading global experts in the field, this book offers a launch point for future advances in satellite-based monitoring of global forest resources. It gives readers a deeper understanding of global forest monitoring methods and shows how state-of-the-art technologies may soon provide key data for creating more balanced policies.

More than half the world's population now lives in cities. Creating sustainable, healthy and aesthetic urban environments is therefore a major policy goal and research agenda. This comprehensive handbook provides a global overview of the state of the art and science of urban forestry. It describes the multiple roles and benefits of urban green areas in general and the specific role of trees, including for issues such as air quality, human well-being and stormwater management. It reviews the various stresses experienced by trees in cities and tolerance mechanisms, as well as cultural techniques for either pre-conditioning or alleviating stress after planting. It sets out sound planning, design, species selection, establishment and management of urban trees. It shows that close interactions with the local urban communities who benefit from trees are key to success. By drawing upon international state-of-art knowledge on arboriculture and urban forestry, the book provides a definitive overview of the field and is an essential reference text for students, researchers and practitioners.

Deforestation is frequently a topic of discussion in the environmental arena, but it is not just the number of trees that matters; the quality of the forest is also important. Even where the forest area is stable or increasing, there are often rapid changes in its character. Natural forests are being replaced by plantations or by intensively managed forests. Around the world, forests are becoming younger and less diverse, in both species and structure; this has important impacts for biodiversity and also affects many human values. In this groundbreaking text, forest quality is discussed as a useful new concept in forest conservation and management. Three main assessment criteria are used: authenticity; environmental benefits; and social and economic benefits. The book describes a methodology and protocol for collecting and analysing data, and outlines in detail the approach required with each indicator. The authors advocate a landscape approach to assessment and demonstrate how assessment works through a series of case studies that show how this approach can be used in many ways to help forest conservation management. This hands-on manual is for professionals involved in forestry, conservation and resource management worldwide, and contains case study material from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America that demonstrates practical uses of the new 'landscape' approach to forest conservation. Published with IUCN and WWF

In this book, Bowes and Krutilla bring together what is known and relevant about valuing the nonmarket services of the public forests and propose a new theoretical framework that allows multiple uses, the biological dynamics of the forest, and the institutional and economic realities of public forest management to be taken into account in forest planning and budgeting. The authors begin by tracing the development of multiple use in forest management and by exploring the multiple uses of the public forests and the economics of multiple-use forestry. They offer a masterful analysis of the nineteenth-century model of the single timber stand on which much forestry practice has been premised. Bowes and Krutilla then take a giant step forward by developing a larger theoretical framework and showing how forest structure and dynamics can be included in the economic model. The authors' rigorous exposition theory provides the foundation for analyzing case studies of management for timber and water yields in the Rockies, of recreation valuation in the Black Hills and White Mountain national forests, and of joint production in the White Clouds Peaks --- analyses that demonstrate the authors' great skill in developing practical methodologies to meet actual forest management problems.

This book is designed to be used as a textbook for Urban/Community Forestry courses and a handbook for Shade Tree Commissions, tree wardens, State and National Forestry Services, and professional societies. The chapters have been written by experts in each subfield who are active practitioners.Designed urban environments and community forests are the only structures that appreciate in size and value, whereas all other built structures depreciate. The quality of life and sense of community that comes from our urban and community forests is enhanced when we can derive benefits from the living landscape.

Private sector delivery of state services is increasingly common worldwide, and state forest plantation management is no exception. Increasingly governments are transferring rights and responsibilities to the private sector for state-owned plantations. Some claim that this is the road to achieving sustainable forest management, greater contributions to local livelihoods and poverty reduction, others disagree. This book examines the evidence and explores the many issues raised by these changing relationships between the state, the private sector and local livelihoods. Experiences from around the world are described through seven case studies from Australia, China, Chile, India, New Zealand, South Africa and the United Kingdom, and key lessons and clear guidance are provided on how governments can best achieve a balance between private and public involvement while continuing to deliver the key social goods and services expected by all citizens.

Ideal for both undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of geography, forestry, ecology, geographic information science, remote sensing, and photogrammetric engineering, LiDAR Remote Sensing and Applications expertly joins LiDAR principles, data processing basics, applications, and hands-on practices in one comprehensive source. The LiDAR data within this book is collected from 27 areas in the United States, Brazil, Canada, Ghana, and Haiti and includes 183 figures created to introduce the concepts, methods, and applications in a clear context. It provides 11 step-by-step projects predominately based on Esri's ArcGIS software to support seamless integration of LiDAR products and other GIS data. The first six projects are for basic LiDAR data visualization and processing and the other five cover more advanced topics: from mapping gaps in mangrove forests in Everglades National Park, Florida to generating trend surfaces for rock layers in Raplee Ridge, Utah. Features Offers a comprehensive overview of LiDAR technology with numerous applications in geography, forestry and earth science Gives necessary theoretical foundations from all pertinent subject matter areas Uses case studies and best practices to point readers to tools and resources Provides a synthesis of ongoing research in the area of LiDAR remote sensing technology Includes carefully selected illustrations and data from the authors' research projects Before every project in the book, a link is provided for users to download data

Throughout the past few decades, the standard answer to the problem of low productivity in small private forests has been education. It has been assumed that the chief obstacle to "good" forestry has been lack of knowledge. But the stubborn persistence of the problem raises some doubts as to the efficacy of the remedy. In this book, first published in 1961, the author takes a sharper look at this problem. He tries to find out what has worked reasonably well, and what has not, and makes some suggestions as to what seems to offer the best prospects for the future. The Small Private Forest in the United States will be of interest to students of environmental studies, as well as to private landowners.