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Palm oil is the world's most important vegetable oil in terms of production quantity. Indonesia; the world's largest palm-oil producer, plans to double its production by 2020, with unclear implications for the other national priorities of food (rice) production, forest and biodiversity protection, and carbon conservation. We modeled the outcomes of alternative development scenarios and show that every single-priority scenario had substantial tradeoffs associated with other priorities. The exception was a hybrid approach wherein expansion targeted degraded and agricultural lands that are most productive for oil palm, least suitable for food cultivation, and contain the lowest carbon stocks. This approach avoided any loss in forest or biodiversity and substantially ameliorated the impacts of oil-palm expansion on carbon stocks (limiting net loss to 191.6 million tons) and annual food production capacity (loss of 1.9 million tons). Our results suggest that the environmental and land-use tradeoffs associated with oil-palm expansion can be largely avoided through the implementation of a properly planned and spatially explicit development strategy. oil palm | biofuels | conservation biology | sustainability | tropical deforestation doi/ 10.1073/pnas.1000530107

Tropical moist forests contain the majority of terrestrial species. Human actions destroy between 1 and 2 million [km.sup.2] of such forests per decade, with concomitant carbon release into the atmosphere. Within these forests, protected areas are the principle defense against forest loss and species extinctions. Four regions--the Amazon, Congo, South American Atlantic Coast, and West Africa--once constituted about half the world's tropical moist forest. We measure forest cover at progressively larger distances inside and outside of protected areas within these four regions, using datasets on protected areas and land-cover. We find important geographical differences. In the Amazon and Congo, protected areas are generally large and retain high levels of forest cover, as do their surroundings. These areas are protected de facto by being inaccessible and will likely remain protected if they continue to be so. Deciding whether they are also protected de jure--that is, whether effective laws also protect them--is statistically difficult, for there are few controls. In contrast, protected areas in the Atlantic Coast forest and West Africa show sharp boundaries in forest cover at their edges. This effective protection of forest cover is partially offset by their very small size: little area is deep inside protected area boundaries. Lands outside protected areas in the Atlantic Coast forest are unusually fragmented. Finally, we ask whether global databases on protected areas are biased toward highly protected areas and ignore 'paper parks.' Analysis of a Brazilian database does not support this presumption. biodiversity | tropical forest | conservation | deforestation

The article takes at a look at the different reasons for the setback in the success of the Shelterbelt project during the 1930s.

The growing wealth and power of urban Mexicans has continued to influence conservation policies through most of the twentieth century, with government officials seeking to urbanize the countryside with an inadequate understanding of fire, logging and biodiversity in Mexico. In Oaxaca, Mexico, it is seen that communal forestry institutions are more effective with communally managed forests, more stable than those managed by state conservation institutions.

This article explores the social capital of the Applegate Partnership forest stewardship group with an adaptation of Flora and Flora's model of Entrepreneurial Social Infrastructure (ESI), arguing that social capital [...]

The need for the forest certification rules, which helps to monitor the development of the forest management rules, is discussed. The effectiveness of Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) certification schemes in Sweden, are studied.

It is argued that human residents in tropical forests inevitably deplete populations of large animals through hunting. This triggers a chain reaction of ecological events, which diminishes the conservation value of these forests. The establishment of pristine, tropical forest park is an important conservation goal.

The woodlands in the Resettlement Areas of post-Independence Zimbabwe are under severe stress. The recent Land Tenure Commission (Rukuni 1994), identified the problem as the common property management system in the woodlands, and recommended a change to private tenure. The government of Zimbabwe has accepted this recommendation. This paper explores the common property woodland management system in a case study of a Model A resettlement scheme in order to consider this policy shift. Key institutional inadequacies and widespread 'poaching' of resources by neighboring communities emerge as the major macro causes for deforestation in common property areas. In addition, private control in some areas of the woodlands appears to have positive effects. While these dynamics at first appear to support the shift to private tenure, doubts emerge when the woodland management system is placed in historical cultural context, and the poaching problem is seen as an aspect of the macro context of overall inequity in land and resource distribution.

Byline: J. B. Shukla (1), B. Dubey (1) Keywords: Key words:aDepletion; Conservation; Population; Pollution; Stability Abstract: aIn this paper, a mathematical model is proposed to study the depletion of resources in a forest habitat due to the increase of both population and pollution. It is shown that if the rate of pollutant emission into the environment is either population dependent, constant, or periodic, the equilibrium biomass density of the resource settles down to a lower equilibrium than its original carrying capacity, the magnitude of which decreases as the equilibrium levels of the density of population and the concentration of pollutant increase. However, in the case of an instantaneous spill of pollutant into the environment, the equilibrium biomass density decreases with the increase of the equilibrium density of population only. It is found that if the population density and the emission rate of pollutant increase without control, the forestry resource may become extinct. A conservation model is also proposed, the analysis of which shows that the resource biomass can be maintained at a desired level by conserving the forestry resource and by controlling the growth of population and the emission rate of pollutant in the habitat. Author Affiliation: (1) Department of Mathematics, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur - 208016, India, IN Article note: Received 1 June 1993 received in revised form 1 January 1997

In many cases the management of certain common property natural resources has been successfully shared between government agencies and groups claiming co-management rights. This analysis adds to existing middle-range theoretical propositions about how such co-management arrangements develop, and specifically how groups overcome barriers to co-management when their co-management rights are protected in law but resisted politically. The paper examines a range of strategies used successfully by a coalition of environmental groups and Indian tribes with rights to participate in fish and wildlife habitat protection in the state of Washington. Their struggle first to procure co-management agreements and then to have the agreements implemented has implications for the theory and practice of joint management of other common property resources, especially where multiple agencies and parties are involved. Key words: co-management, fisheries, forests, wildlife, environmental protection, common property theory, issue networks, Five strategies successfully used by American Indian tribes and government and environmentalist groups in co-managing the protection of fish and wildlife habitat in Washington state are discussed. Issue networks/alliances, legislation and threatened legislative amendments, threat of greater regulation and public review, court action and threat of court action to reform laws and amend regulations and moves to prevent conversion of forest land to real estate are employed to bring the logging industry to the negotiating table and to encourage implementation at various stages.

The US Forest Service's below-cost timber program has proven ineffective as the agency incurred losses amounting to nearly $440 million between 1990 and 1992 alone. The Forest Service's loss has been attributed to wasteful methods. To remedy the situation, some environmentalists have proposed raising the price of Forest Service timber or stopping sales altogether. Neither method is effective, because the success of the timber program lies in cutting costs. This is demonstrated in Montana, where the state has made a profit selling its timber in three regions of the state.

A study to examine the dependence of the informal protection of the hot spot dry forest in southern Madagascar on the taboos and forest governance is conducted. Results show that efficient conservation of such forests require proper incorporation of various social factors, including the local beliefs and legitimate sanctioning systems.

A study on land-cover change due to massive deforestation in the 1970s in lowland tropical Bolivia is presented. Though, Bolivia is the recipient of numerous initiatives designed to manage the environmental and social impacts of development, it has had a limited success because regulatory mechanisms lack economic incentives.

The Coptis teeta-based agroforestry system in the Nujiang Lisu Autonomous Prefecture (NLAP) of Northwest Yunnan is presented in the context of traditional knowledge of its cultivation and harvest, economic returns and capacity for forest conservation.

The mangrove habitats and related issues from the Indian subcontinent are presented in the context of climatic variations along with recommendations for their integrated long-term monitoring.

The details of the Karukinka project of the Wildlife Conservation Society, which aims at protecting the flora and fauna of the Tierra del Feugo region in South America, are presented. The project is funded by The Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

Snag needs for fire-dependent birds, such as the Black-backed Woodpecker, are examined. Currently, snag management guidelines focus on the needs of cavity-nesting birds.

Conservation biology has provided evidence that roadless-area protection has scientific and environmental merit, but the emphasis on top-down, large-scale, national approaches has made policy-making problematic.

Site selection is modeled using edge effect, patch size, isolation, and habitat structure for forest bird conservation. Its use for other taxa and ecosystems is also discussed.

Research indicates that the Northwest Forest Plan, implemented in 1994, has contributed to old-growth forest conservation, but that periodical monitoring and stronger protections are key to its ultimate success.

The Northwest Forest Plan is reassessed in light of environmental changes since its adoption in 1994. Discussion focuses on the impacts of cutting large firs and pines, and fire suppression practices.

The article examines the impact of demand for, rather than supply of, wood products and wood fiber on the effectiveness of the Northwest Forest Plan in protecting the region's woodlands.

The Northwest Forest Plan, implemented in 1994, has been effective in preventing harm to old-growth forests, but has not achieved social, economic, or restoration goals. Recommendations are made.

Analysis is presented on deforestation occurring in the Brazilian Amazon, and the exacerbating and mitigating factors affecting its rate. Findings show that indigenous lands present a key barrier to deforestation; implications for successful forest conservation policies are discussed.

Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) was used to map Kalimantan, Indonesia forest cover. Findings show that more than two thirds of deforestation occurred in existing and proposed protected areas, suggesting that alternative conservation strategies, including timber certification, are required to adequately protect forest habitat.

The failure of Indonesian forest conservation does not reflect the failure of the science of conservation biology but a failure of conservation biology. There are many conservation programs in Indonesia but jobs in conservation are rare with poor pay and all these factors make Indonesia a less attractive place of doctoral students or professional biologists.