A study in a small city in Portugal was conducted to improve the understanding of the role of wood energy in the residential energy services in small cities in Europe, the factors affecting the use of wood consumption in households, and how changes in consumption drivers affect forest resources. The hypothesis that small cities in Europe have wood energy consumption much larger than expected was analysed based on survey data collection. Drivers were analysed through statistical modelling. Wood, used in 42% of households, represented 43% of the city's final energy consumption. The probability of wood energy use depended of resident's age, construction type, area and year. The amount of wood used was explained by resident's education, construction type and age, and energy function. Changes in drivers suggest a decrease in wood demand in the near future although new energy products and changes in energy use can balance this trend.

National Forest Programmes represent a wide range of approaches to the process of planning, programming and implementing forest activities in a country. National Forest Programmes are regulated by international rules that highlight the importance of public participation aimed at developing cooperation among stakeholders and at improving the sustainability of forest management. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered by email to 30 national experts involved in the COST Action FP1207. The participatory process was analysed through some key elements: level of participation, structure, strengths and weaknesses of the participatory process. The results show that the most common level of participation is cooperation in all phases of the participatory process and that, overall, the strengths (e.g. review of problems and policies, cross sector approach) outweigh the weaknesses (e.g. time and efforts consuming, lack of trust). The results of the questionnaire bring out some key elements which are useful to analyse the decision making process.

This study explores how the proposed activities by the Congo Basin countries to reduce drivers of land emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD ) could support the transition to a green economy and low carbon development future. By employing a content review and analysis of national REDD strategies and REDD readiness proposals submitted to the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility, we found out that many of the proposed REDD activities by the Congo Basin countries including: climate smart agricultural practices and certification of large scale agricultural plantations; establishment of wood fuel energy plantations and improvement in energy efficiency; forests certification and implementation of the VPA-FLEGT; land use planning and zoning of mined sites; and the implementation of construction projects in low forested areas aligns with several green economy sectorial programmes of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS). We conclude that the effective implementation of forestry and REDD programmes are instrumental in supporting outcomes of human wellbeing, reduced environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and social equity in the Congo Basin which are the main components of a green economy.

This study explores how the impact of large scale plantations and their associated industrial operations can be evaluated. It takes a value chain approach, looking at impacts on suppliers, customers and stakeholders such as communities, local and national government and investors. Whilst there is renewed interest from investors, governments and enterprises in the potential of planted forestry operations in Africa, doubts have been expressed by communities, and environmental and socially orientated NGOs about their impacts. This paper seeks to provide a framework which can be used to examine the impacts of modern plantations in Africa, given that the context can be very different from plantations in temperate regions. An impact logic (theory of change) is developed which sets out the range of activities, stakeholders and intended impacts, based on two cases of investments in sustainable forestry operations in Tanzania and Mozambique. This, a literature review and interviews with stakeholders, guided the development of indicators to assess economic, social and environmental impacts. The extent that a quantitative and qualitative (mixed methods) impact evaluation is possible and the data required to enable such an evaluation are deliberated. An evaluation framework and supporting indicators are proposed and discussed.

In this paper the higher forestry education at the University of Eldoret (UOE) in Kenya is evaluated and its responsiveness to demands and expectations in the job market discussed. A survey among forestry stakeholders in Kenya was carried out and the results were discussed at a stakeholder workshop. The results show a significant discrepancy between offered postgraduate training at the UOE and the skills and competencies desired by employers. The biggest gaps were found in generic job-related skills and emerging issues related to forests and forestry. The postgraduate curriculum is found to have a strong science and theory base, but a poor emphasis on practical training and skills related to information and communication technology (ICT) and business skills. Paradoxically, these same skills were identified as fundamentally important in the job market. Possible ways to bridge the gap between job market and forestry education in Kenya are suggested.

In Malaysia, the primary forested land change process is due to the establishment of plantations on logged-over forests and areas used for shifting cultivation. While standing carbon stocks of natural forest have been the focus of many studies, reports on the carbon stocks in Acacia and rubber plantations in Malaysia is sparse. Therefore, this article attempts to collate and analyse Malaysian datasets on total carbon stocks for aboveground biomass in the Acacia and rubber plantations by applying the biomass expansion factor for the period from 1990 to 2013. The forest plantations have higher growth rates, and the harvesting waste and residues left behind are significantly more than the natural forests. Therefore, it leads to greater emission compared to the natural forests. Hence, Acacia and rubber plantations were not able to sequester and store carbon at the same amount as the natural forest, which resulted in carbon credit on the forest carbon stock.

Critical political analyses on decentralisation policies have revealed that such approaches may not achieve their formal goal, and might even support centralisation efforts. A number of previous studies on decentralisation separated the analyses of administrative process from the analyses of political power of administrative actors across levels of government. Using bureaucratic politics theory, this article presents close examinations of both process and power relations reconfigured by decentralising and recentralising forces across governmental levels. This study illustrates how the Indonesian central government is on its way to reclaiming its authority for forest administration and management through so-called Forest Management Units (FMU) and closely related community forestry programmes. This study reveals that the sources of real contention in KPH and community forestry policies are the power struggles between national, provincial and district bureaucracies. The conceptual model and the results of this study contribute to the understanding of underlying dynamics of bureaucratic politics in the process of political power reconfigurations.

Financing has been one of the primary topics of ongoing discussions on sustainable forest management (SFM) for at least two decades. Yet despite a wide array of existing data and literature, attempts to understand—let alone quantify—SFM financing as a whole remain surprisingly rare. The focus of existing research on individual flows and sectors prevents us from getting the bigger picture.

This paper attempts to conceptualise SFM financing by offering a holistic approach inspired by two complementary typologies based on the source of flows and cross-sectoral interactions respectively. Together, these two typologies contribute to a better understanding of SFM financing in three ways: first, they help visualise the SFM financing landscape, composed not only of a variety of flows but also the trade-offs and synergies between them. Secondly, they help identify a set of recommendations to improve and increase SFM financing over the long term. Thirdly, they highlight the glaring data gaps that need to be filled before any attempt can be made at quantifying SFM financing in its entirety.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with its extensive forest cover is the biggest target country for the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD ) mechanism in Africa. Despite high levels of gender inequality in rural DRC, the impacts of REDD interventions on gender have not been sufficiently addressed.

This study examines the gender dimension at two project sites in the Equateur Province. Focus group discussions and individual interviews reveal that women spend as much time as men in the forest. Nonetheless, men's activities in the forest are often much more highly valued. This systemic devaluation of women's work, and their knowledge about the forest, legitimises men's dominance in forest governance. The results of this study finds that alongside investment in women's education, which is central for women's empowerment and their participation in forest management, local opinion leaders who shape social norms and perceptions, such as church-based organisations, are indispensable partners to make REDD more equitable.

Agriculture faces enormous challenges with the new realities of climate risks, environmental sustainability, and social changes, particularly in Mountainous Mainland Southeast Asia. It has been commonly viewed that agriculture is a threat to ecosystems, including forests, and this places developing countries in a dilemma.

This article presents two case studies from Yunnan, China and discusses multifaceted roles of forests in sustainable food production and functioning of ecosystem services. The cases represent the survival of farming system for centuries, sustained by forests, ecosystem services, and traditional ecological knowledge. Forests play a vital role in food security while traditional ecological knowledge has maintained sustainable and longstanding production systems with forests.

Food security involves context- and location-specific challenges. It necessitates to address the multifaceted food security issue with localized approaches for synergy between farming and forests, to build local resilience against climate variability and social changes.