The exceptional endemic species richness found in the Tropical Andes is being subjected to high rates of environmental degradation and natural resources exploitation. While many forms of land-cover ...change and other impacts on species are difficult to control through environmental regulations, governments usually determine how and where extractive industries can take place. This study examines potential conflict between the location of extractive industry activities and biodiversity conservation in the Peruvian Andes. Using geographic information systems, we carry out overlay analyses to determine the spatial congruence between mineral mining, hydrocarbon and logging concessions, on the one hand, and the distribution of protected areas and endemic vertebrate species on the other. The results show that regional protected areas extensively overlap with resource concessions. Furthermore, 16% of endemic species hotspots concur with current concessions, while the geographical distribution of 21 endemic vertebrate species overlap by more than 90% with concession areas. To reconcile conservation and economic development objectives in the future, the geographical distribution of biodiversity, and in particular of endemic species, needs to be considered in natural resources planning and land-use/management activities.
•Land-use conflicts between extractive industries and biodiversity are examined.•Conservation areas overlap with logging, mining and hydrocarbon concessions.•Several endemic species almost exclusively occur within resource concession areas.•Better natural resources planning is needed for enhanced biodiversity conservation.
A multifunctional landscape approach to forest protection has been advocated for tropical countries. Designing such landscapes necessitates that the role of different land uses in protecting forest ...be evaluated, along with the spatial interactions between land uses. However, such evaluations have been hindered by a lack of suitable analysis methodologies and data with fine spatial resolution over long time periods. We demonstrate the utility of a matching method with multiple categories to evaluate the role of alternative land uses in protecting forest. We also assessed the impact of land use change trajectories on the rate of deforestation. We employed data from Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) at three different time periods during 2000-2012 to illustrate our approach. Four single land uses (protected areas (PA), natural forest logging concessions (LC), timber plantation concessions (TC) and oil-palm plantation concessions (OC)) and two mixed land uses (mixed concessions and the overlap between concessions and PA) were assessed. The rate of deforestation was found to be lowest for PA, followed by LC. Deforestation rates for all land uses tended to be highest for locations that share the characteristics of areas in which TC or OC are located (e.g. degraded areas), suggesting that these areas are inherently more susceptible to deforestation due to foregone opportunities. Our approach provides important insights into how multifunctional landscapes can be designed to enhance the protection of biodiversity.
•The potential concession area in the Brazilian Amazon is 35 Mha.•In the Brazilian Amazon timber production can be maintained for only one harvest cycle.•The most sustainable logging regime involves ...extraction of 10 m3 ha−1 every 60 years.•Sustainable timber production cannot not ensure the present annual production of 11 Mm3.•Additional sources of timber should be sought.
In 2006, the Brazilian Forest Service (SFB) started an ambitious program to establish forest concessions so as to provide a legal framework for long-term sustainable timber production in Amazonian forests. Forest concessions in the Brazilian Amazon currently cover only 1.6 million ha (Mha) but we estimate the area of all potential concessions as 35 Mha. This paper assessed the conditions under which the present and potential concession system can ensure an annual production of 11 Mm3. yr−1 to meet the estimated present timber demand. For this we used the volume dynamics with differential equations model (VDDE) calibrated for the Amazon Basin with a Bayesian framework with data from 3500 ha of forest plots monitored for as long as 30 years after selective logging. Predictions of commercial volume recovery rates vary with location.
We tested 27 different scenarios by using combinations of initial proportion of commercial volume, logging intensity and cutting cycle length. These scenarios were then applied to the current area of concessions and to the area of all potential concessions (35 Mha). Under current logging regulations and the current concession area (mean logging intensity of 15–20 m3.ha−1, a harvest cycle of 35 years and an initial commercial timber volume proportion of 20%), timber production can be maintained only for a single cutting cycle (35 years). Only the scenario with a logging intensity of 10 m3ha−1 every 60 years with a 90% initial proportion of commercial timber species can be considered as sustainable. Under this scenario, the maximum annual production with the present concession areas is 159,000 m3 (157–159), or less than 2% of the present annual production of 11 Mm3. When considering all potential concession areas (35 Mha), under current rules, the total annual production is 10 Mm3yr−1 (2–17 Mm3yr−1, 95% credibility interval) but is not maintained after the first logging cycle. Under the most sustainable scenario (see above) and a concession area of 35 Mha, the long-term sustainable annual production of timber reaches only 3.4 Mm3yr−1. Based on these results we argue that the concession system will not be able to supply the timber demand without substantial reforms in natural forest management practices and in the wood industry sector. We argue that alternative sources of timber, including plantations linked with forest restoration initiatives, must be promoted.
A terminal concession agreement represents the final outcome of a negotiation (that may take different legal forms) among a port authority and one or more terminal operators. In most cases, it ...defines the duties and responsibilities of the two parties for a very long period of time. Once the concession is awarded, its legal obligations remain (or ought to remain) fixed irrespective of changes that may happen in the port industry. In this sense, authors have often raised the question whether modifications to the current concession fee structure are possible in order to align public and private goals, and increase terminal performance. The importance of this issue lies in the fact that, in several port governance models, concessions are static agreements in which fees and other conditions in general do not change over time. The current paper addresses this issue, discussing the possibility—and the advantages—of introducing a dynamic approach, able to guarantee benefits to both the terminal operator and the Port Authority. To achieve this goal, the paper develops a methodology based on dynamic incentives, based on the relative performance of a port terminal operator in respect of its competitors.
This study explores the integration of legal timber harvesting and conservation efforts in the Amazon, repurposing wood processing waste into biofuel through pelletization to meet environmental ...standards and reduce diesel dependence in isolated systems. The research focuses on pellets derived from six Amazonian species managed sustainably: Peltogyne lecointei (S1), Erisma uncinatum (S2), Martiodendron elatum (S3), Handroanthus incanus (S4), Dipteryx odorata (S5), and Allantoma decandra (S6). Four blends (B1: S5 and S6; B2: all species; B3: S1, S3, S4 and S5; B4: S2 and S6) with different species combinations are pelleted at 8 % and 10 % moisture content. Pellet characteristics are compared with ISO 17225-2 standards 1, including calorific value, bulk density, water content, dimensions, ash content, mechanical durability, and fines. Although blends B1, B2, and B3 meet A1-criteria, none achieve the required 96.5 % mechanical durability. B3, pelleted with 10 % moisture content, exhibits the highest durability (90.4 %). Pelletization enhanced the bioenergy density by 255 % and showed a bioenergy index up to 12.50 GJ m−3. The produced pellets reported a potential CO2 emissions mitigation of up to 1259.38 kgCO2eq by replacing diesel fuel. However, the blends do not meet the sulfur (>0.05 %) content requirement for industrial and domestic applications, deserving further investigation into pre-treatment.
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Created as a centerpiece for the Columbian Exposition of 1893, the Midway Plaisance was for one summer the world's most wondrous thoroughfare. A journey along its length immersed millions of ...spellbound visitors in a spectacle that merged exoticism with enlightenment and artistic crafts with dizzying technical achievement. Norman Bolotin, with Christine Laing, draws on his vast knowledge of the 1893 exposition to escort readers down the Midway. Step by step he takes you past forbidding Dahomeyans and dozens of belly dancers until, at last, you reach the colossal Ferris Wheel with cabins the size of street cars. The tour reveals the immense scale and variety of the experience in sensual detail--the thirsty crowds and the pungent aromas of exotic foods, the Libbey Glass Factory and the screams from the Ice Railway, the snake charmers and the hawkers selling a thousand souvenirs. Throughout, Bolotin details how the organizers--encouraging patrons to spend a little here and a little there--brought off an extravaganza that paid its costs and achieved every one of its goals, including profitability for the fair and immortality.
•We analyze environmentally augmented rural household-level income in Cambodia.•The economic impacts of land concessions on rural incomes were quantified.•Marginal lands constitute a significant ...source of income for rural households.•All rural households are reliant on land and susceptible to land grabbing.•Economic land concessions in Cambodia decrease rural household incomes.
This paper empirically quantifies environmentally augmented rural household incomes in Cambodia and analyzes how economic land concessions (ELCs) affect such incomes. Data is derived from a structured survey of 600 randomly selected households in 15 villages in three study sites in Cambodia, where local livelihoods are highly reliant on access to land and natural resources, supported by qualitative data from focus group discussions. Gini coefficient decomposition, multiple regression models, and propensity score matching (PSM) models were employed to analyze the composition of income portfolios, determinants of major income sources, and the impacts of land grabbing on incomes. Results documented high reliance on environmental income (32–35% of total household income) and farm income (51–53%) across income quartiles; demonstrated the variation in product composition across quartiles and the contribution of each major product to income inequality; and identified the main household characteristics influencing absolute and relative incomes. ELCs were found to consistently have negative impacts on household total income, environmental income, size of available cultivable land and livestock holdings, and increasing the distance to forests. The total household annual income subjects to ELCs were estimated to decrease by 15–19%. While providing some employment opportunities, we find no evidence of positive income effects of ELCs on households in the areas where ELCs are located.
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