Linking scientific knowledge with political decision-making has never been an easy task. This is also the case in the forestry sector, especially with its wide array of stakeholders at local, national, and global levels. Considerable constraints appear to exist in translating innovative ideas generated through science into practical application for policy-making and on-the-ground forest management. Over the past few years, the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO) therefore has addressed the issue of the science–policy interface through in-depth study by a special task force, and by providing training on the subject for the forest science community in developing countries. This paper reports on the results and ongoing activities of these IUFRO initiatives, including a best practices guide on how to work effectively at the interface of forest science and forest policy and a training program that has been implemented in Africa, Asia, and Latin America over the past few years. As an example of successful training in science–policy interfacing, we present results of a workshop focused on mountain forestry development. This workshop was organized for scientists from developing countries in Africa and Asia in conjunction with the International Conference on “Mountain Forests in a Changing World” held in Vienna, Austria, in April 2008. Experiences gained in implementing the training on science–policy interfacing for scientists from developing countries show that interaction between the science community and decision-makers is very limited. Although in some developing countries there are established formal processes for reporting research results to the government at higher levels, greater efforts in terms of resources and awareness creation are required for more effective integration of scientific knowledge into policy-making. The science–policy guidelines and training presented in this paper are an essential step toward this end.

The livelihoods of most Ugandans intimately depend on the environment, both as a source of subsistence and as a basis for production. Environmental degradation in the country—which includes wetland encroachment and contamination of water resources—is critical: based on estimates, degradation costs represent an environmental debt of about US$ 1–4 billion today. Although the country's water resources are rich, severe water scarcity is predicted for the near future, particularly in more populated areas and in the more fragile arid and semiarid pastoral areas. The Ugandan government has formulated a number of policies to regulate land use and impacts on the environment. However, the alarming rate at which natural resources are being depleted shows that these laws and policies are not enforced effectively. Using both qualitative and quantitative research methods, the study presented here focused on water resources, assessing their status in 4 mountainous districts of Uganda and evaluating the effectiveness of government policies with regard to restoration and conservation of water catchments. The study revealed a glaring gap between the existence of laws and policies on the one hand, and the reality of implementation on the ground on the other—there is rapid depletion of water resources, and water scarcity has already led to conflicts. The paper calls for effective implementation of existing policies and laws without fear or favor and for increased budgetary allocations from the current 25.6 billion shillings (2006–2007) to 34.45 billion or more, to accommodate funding for the execution of policies and laws. It also calls for meticulous review of the existing environmental policy regime with a view to tailoring, customizing, and localizing it for practical purposes.

Northern Peru is the center of the so-called Andean “health axis,” where the continuous use of more than 500 medicinal plants has been documented. Local healers as well as patients purchase a large portion of their plants at local markets. While scientific studies of medicinal plants are under way, concern has arisen over the preservation of both the large diversity of medicinal plants and the traditional knowledge of healing methods that accompanies them. To promote further conservation work, this study attempted to document the sources of the most popular and rarest medicinal plants sold at the markets of Trujillo (Mayorista and Hermelinda) and Chiclayo (Modelo and Moshoqueque), as well as to create an inventory of the plants sold in these markets. The present paper reports on the complete market flow from collection to middlemen to vendor from the perspective of an herb collector/vendor. Although prior studies have indicated that at least some plants, mostly introduced species, are grown in home gardens on the coast, this study shows that increasing plant demand in the large coastal markets has not led to significant cultivation of medicinal plants in home gardens. The vast bulk of the plant material sold in the markets of northern Peru consists of plants collected in the wild. Both collection of plants and their transport to the coastal markets require long-distance travel. Low profit margins indicate that the herb trade is very fragile, since collectors might decide to engage in activities that offer higher income or higher turnover. This, coupled with the fact that most plant material is wild-crafted, could easily lead to overharvesting of rare medicinal species in the region.

Leaves and twigs of indigenous woody plant species are used as a source of supplemental animal feed in the mountainous landscapes of central Ethiopia. A study was carried out from 2004 to 2006 to assess the nutritional value of 3 indigenous and 1 exotic species, based on the chemical composition, tannin contents, in vitro dry matter digestibility, and digestible energy. The species studied were Hagenia abyssinica (Bruce) J.F. Gmel., Dombeya torrida (J.F. Gmel.) P. Bamps, Buddleja polystachya Fres., and Chamaecytisus palmensis (Christ) Bisby & K. Nicholls. The first three are indigenous, and the last one is an exotic species. The Na content of the foliage and flower bud in the 4 species was much lower than the minimum requirement for ruminants, while other micro- and macronutrients were within the recommended range of nutrient concentrations in animal feeds. On the other hand, the crude protein content of the foliage and flower bud in the 4 fodder species was higher than the minimum required level. The foliage and flower bud in vitro dry matter digestibility of H. abyssinica and C. palmensis was 70% and 71%, respectively. The digestible energy of the foliage of H. abyssinica and C. palmensis was significantly higher than the digestible energy of D. torrida and B. polystachya. Therefore, the foliage and flower bud of most of those species can be used as sources of supplemental fodder with a proper feeding management scheme.

The Afromontane forests of northern Ethiopia have been degraded and fragmented for centuries. Recently, efforts have been made to restore these forests by protecting them from livestock interference. In this study, the natural regeneration of Juniperus procera Hochst. ex Endl. and Olea europaea L. subsp cuspidata (Wall. ex G. Don) Cif. is investigated under protected conditions after 3 years of enclosure and under open management systems in a dry Afromontane forest in northern Ethiopia. Data on the floristic and structural compositions of the vascular plants were collected using 32 randomly selected plots (20 m × 20 m), while nested plots (10 m × 10 m) were used to investigate the seedling bank at the protected and adjacent open sites. The results reveal that there was a significantly higher regeneration of O. europaea on the protected site than on the open site (P  =  0.01). However, there was no significant difference between the 2 sites for J. procera (P  =  0.16). Thus, protecting the degraded forest in northern Ethiopia seems to be an appropriate management option for the regeneration of O. europaea. The regeneration status of J. procera at both sites is poor, which indicates that protecting the forest from livestock and human disturbance is unlikely to lead to regeneration of this species. Further investigation of other factors that hinder the regeneration of J. procera is therefore recommended.

Many forested areas in industrial countries are exposed to excess deposition of airborne nitrogen (N) and sulfur (S). Biodiversity decline is one of many observed effects. Unlike N deposition, S loads have been decreasing continuously over the last 25 years. In this paper, we evaluated the use of species diversity in 4 taxonomic groups (vascular plants, lichens, bryophytes, birds) as indicators of N and S deposition. Long-term monitoring data from 1992 to 2005 were taken from an intensively monitored site in Austria. Both temporal changes and determinants of diversity were explored. On average, diversity declined from the beginning of the 1990s until the year 2005, but there was a considerable variation among the organisms and the diversity indicators. Few changes in diversity were statistically significant. Strongest changes occurred at the level of single species, as an increase or decrease of their abundance. Factors other than N and S deposition—particularly historical forest management and natural disturbances—were significant, complicating interpretation of the observed diversity changes. We conclude that species diversity alone is not a reliable indicator of N and S impacts on forests, particularly if few indicator species groups are used and the observation period is short.

In this study, we analyzed the variation of forest land cover in a mountain area of Veneto Region in northeast Italy. The analysis was done by comparing orthorectified aerial photographs taken in 1991 with orthophotos dated 2003, using photo interpretation of points with casual distribution on sample areas, according to a stratified sampling. The study yielded a statistically relevant increment of about 0.095% (ie about 42 ha) of forestland only up to 1500 m above sea level compared with the estimated forest cover for 1990, highlighting that this low increase was mainly due to abandoned grazing; the forest surface area estimate in 1990 was affected by a standard error of approximately 2.8%. We then estimated the carbon sink in the areas where forests had expanded. This was achieved by collecting biometric data in the field, and then using allometric functions. The annual carbon sink was estimated as 0.69 Mg ha⁻¹ year⁻¹.

A static stand density management diagram was constructed for Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii [Mirb.] Franco) plantations in Spain on the basis of 3 equations that were fitted simultaneously by the full information maximum likelihood procedure to data derived from 172 plots measured across the Cantabrian and pre-Pyrenean ranges. The first equation relates quadratic mean diameter to the number of stems per hectare and dominant height. The other 2 equations relate stand volume and stand aboveground biomass to quadratic mean diameter, number of stems per hectare, and dominant height. An estimation of the average slenderness coefficient for the 250 largest trees per hectare and the canopy bulk density were included. The stand density management diagram outlined here enables rapid, straightforward comparisons among different thinning schedules for forest plantations in mountain regions, in which timber production, risk of crown fire, and the risk of damage from wind or snow are considered.

The goal of the study was to derive up-to-date and complex information on the current vegetation cover of the Praděd Reserve (Hrubý Jeseník Mountains, Czech Republic), with special regard to the unique alpine treeline ecotone formed by krummholz of Norway spruce. We argue that the data of remote sensing and automated techniques of image processing should be preferably used. Accordingly, a color-infrared orthophoto map was classified in a land cover map employing maximum likelihood spectral classifier, ancillary data, texture analysis, and a knowledge base classification technique. The overall classification accuracy was about 78%, distinguishing 7 land cover classes. Using a reclassified land cover map and the moving window mean filter, a spruce canopy closure map was calculated. The continuous map of the canopy closure was subsequently reclassified in predefined intervals that were used for an automated delimitation and mapping of complex transitional borders of the alpine treeline ecotone. The proposed method can serve for objectified mapping of gradual transitions between any land cover or vegetation classes.