Search

International audience

International audience; Promoting tropical forest sustainability among corporate players is a major challenge. Many tools have been developed, but without much success. Southeast Asia has become a laboratory of globalization processes, where the development and success of agribusiness transnationals raises questions about their commitment to environmental concerns. An abundance of literature discusses what determines the behavior of Asian corporations, with a particular emphasis on cultural factors. Our hypothesis is that financial factors, such as ownership structure, may also have a fundamental role. We analyzed the audited accounts of four major Asian agribusiness transnationals. Using network analysis, we deciphered how the 931 companies relate to each other and determine the behavior of the transnationals to which they belong. We compared various metrics with the environmental commitment of these transnationals. We found that ownership structures reflect differences in flexibility, control and transaction costs, but not in ethnicities. Capital and its control, ownership structure, and flexibility explain 97% of the environmental behavior. It means that existing market-based tools to promote environmental sustainability do not engage transnationals at the scale where most of their behavior is determined. For OPEN ACCESS Forests 2015, 6 1455 the first time, the inner mechanisms of corporate governance are unraveled in agricultural and forest sustainability. New implications such as the convergence of environmental sustainability with family business sustainability emerged.

Vibrational properties of wood are affected by several parameters, of which extractives can be one of the most important ones. Wood for European musical instruments has been often studied, but traditional Middle Eastern ones had been left unnoticed. In this study white mulberry (Morus alba L.), the main material for long-necked lutes in Iran, was extracted by five solvents of various polarities (water included). Free-free bar forced vibrations were used to measure longitudinal (L) loss tangent (tanδ), storage (elastic) modulus (E′) and specific modulus (E′/γ) in the acoustic range. Their anisotropy between the 3 axes of orthotropy was determined by dynamic mechanical analysis. Native wood had a quite low E L′/γ but its tanδ was smaller than expected, and the anisotropy of tanδ and E′/γ was very low. Removal of extractives caused tanδ to increase and moduli to decrease. Acetone, the most effective solvent on damping despite a moderate extraction yield, increased tanδ L by at least 20% but did not modify E′/γ as much. When used successively, its effects masked those of solvents used afterwards. Anisotropy of E′/γ was nearly unchanged after extraction in methanol or hot water, while tanδ was much more increased in R than in T direction. Results suggest that in white mulberry, damping is governed more by nature and localization of extractives rather than by their crud abundance.

Mulberry wood (Morus alba L.) is traditionally used in Iran to manufacture music instruments such as tar and setar. But little is know and contradictory statements are found on the natural durability of Morus alba. Moreover, in many cases, Iranian instrument makers leave freshly cut Mulberry timber into water (cold or hot) for a time period depending on the craftsman habit, without any real knowledge or rationalization of the process. It is believed that this step induces a better acoustic behaviour of the wood. It also has to be underline that the leaching waters are very aggressive and contribute to severe skin disorders amongst the wood workers. In this study, the natural durability of leached (according to EN84) and un-leached Morus alba was evaluated against both fungi and termites. The fungal tests followed the guidelines of XP Cen/TS 15083-1, and the wood was exposed to temperate and tropical fungal strains. The termite tests were performed according to EN 117 and the mass loss of the samples was measured along with the visual rating. As a second step, wood powder was extracted using different solvents (including water) and preliminary tests on the activity of these extracts on termites were conducted. The chemical analysis of these extractives is still on going.