The Soviets are often viewed as insatiable industrialists who saw nature as a force to be tamed and exploited.Song of the Forestcounters this assumption, uncovering significant evidence of Soviet ...conservation efforts in forestry, particularly under Josef Stalin. In his compelling study, Stephen Brain profiles the leading Soviet-era conservationists, agencies, and administrators, and their efforts to formulate forest policy despite powerful ideological differences.By the time of the revolution of 1905, modern Russian forestry science had developed an influential romantic strand, especially prevalent in the work of Georgii Morozov, whose theory of "stand types" asked forest managers to consider native species and local conditions when devising plans for regenerating forests. After their rise to power, the Bolsheviks turned their backs on this tradition and adopted German methods, then considered the most advanced in the world, for clear-cutting and replanting of marketable tree types in "artificial forests." Later, when Stalin's Five Year Plan required vast amounts of timber for industrialization, forest radicals proposed "flying management," an exaggerated version of German forestry where large tracts of virgin forest would be clear-cut. Opponents who still upheld Morozov's vision favored a conservative regenerating approach, and ultimately triumphed by establishing the world's largest forest preserve.Another radical turn came with the Great Stalin Plan for the Transformation of Nature, implemented in 1948. Narrow "belts" of new forest planted on the vast Russian steppe would block drying winds, provide cool temperatures, trap moisture, and increase crop production. Unfortunately, planters were ordered to follow the misguided methods of the notorious Trofim Lysenko, and the resulting yields were abysmal. But despite Lysenko, agency infighting, and an indifferent peasant workforce, Stalin's forestry bureaus eventually succeeded in winning many environmental concessions from industrial interests. In addition, the visionary teachings of Morozov found new life, ensuring that the forest's song did not fall upon deaf ears.
The German forest Wilson, Jeffrey K
The German forest,
c2012, 20121231, 2019, 2012, 2012-12-31, 20120101
eBook
Through impressive primary and archival research, Wilson demonstrates that in addition to uniting Germans, the forest as a national symbol could also serve as a vehicle for protest and strife.
This book investigates the economic, strategic, and political importance of forests in early modern and modern Europe and shows how struggles over this vital natural resource both shaped and ...reflected the ideologies and outcomes of France's long revolutionary period. Until the mid-nineteenth century, wood was the principal fuel for cooking and heating and the primary material for manufacturing worldwide and comprised every imaginable element of industrial, domestic, military, and maritime activity. Forests also provided essential pasturage. These multifaceted values made forests the subject of ongoing battles for control between the crown, landowning elites, and peasantry, for whom liberty meant preserving their rights to woodland commons. Focusing on Franche-Comté, France's easternmost province, the book explores the fiercely contested development of state-centered conservation and management from 1669 to 1848. In emphasizing the environmental underpinnings of France's seismic sociopolitical upheavals, it appeals to readers interested in revolution, rural life, and common-pool-resource governance.
Millions of Javanese peasants live alongside state-controlled
forest lands in one of the world's most densely populated
agricultural regions. Because their legal access and customary
rights to the ...forest have been severely limited, these peasants
have been pushed toward illegal use of forest resources. Rich
Forests, Poor People untangles the complex of peasant and
state politics that has developed in Java over three centuries.
Drawing on historical materials and intensive field research,
including two contemporary case studies, Peluso presents the story
of the forest and its people. Without major changes in forest
policy, Peluso contends, the situation is portentous. Economic,
social, and political costs to the government will increase.
Development efforts will by stymied and forest destruction will
continue. Mindful that a dramatic shift is unlikely, Peluso
suggests how tension between foresters and villagers can be
alleviated while giving peasants a greater stake in local forest
management.
Instituting nature Mathews, Andrew S
2011, 20111104, 2011-11-04, 2013-06-26, 20110101
eBook, Book
A study of how encounters between forestry bureaucrats and indigenous forest managers in Mexico produced official knowledge about forests and the state.
The research was conducted in two types of urban forests: Peucedano-Pinetum and Tilio-Carpinetum. The aim of the study was to determine the differences in plant species compositions in the herbaceous ...layer of urban forests with different habitat fertility adjacent to the road in the northern part of Warsaw (Poland). Seven transects were laid out in each type of forest, with 10 plots spread out from the edge zone (forest border) to the interior of the forests. The size of each plot was 100 msup.2. The other seven transects were located within the forest, 150 to 200 m away from the forest’s edge. The field research included phytosociological relevés carried out on the existing transects. The indoor studies included an analysis of forest community disturbance. Furthermore, an analysis of abiotic environmental conditions using ecological indicator numbers was carried out. Ecotones of Peucedano-Pinetum are more likely to be colonized by the species inconsistent with the habitat due to processes that increase habitat fertility. The Tilio-Carpinetum forest is more easily colonized by invasive plant species than the Peucedano-Pinetum. The range of road effects can be determined as an area located within 90 m inward of the forest in the case of the Peucedano-Pinetum community and 100 m in the case of the Tilio-Carpinetum community. The presented research is important for formulating directions about how to manage the forests and their surroundings in terms of shaping forests of more natural character, with species more consistent with a forest habitat.
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