Natural regeneration forest landscape restoration for asia pacific forests 2016 04 eng

18 diversification of income for the farmer, and includes practices such as planting fallow areas, taungya, alley cropping, and home gardens. Next is the silvopastoral system where trees, pasture andor animals are incorporated. They are represented by trees on rangeland or pastures and tree plantations with pastures and animals. The practice of raising cattle or goats in coconut and rubber plantations represents the latter. The final one is described as agrosilvopastoral system where trees, crops and animals are raised together. The examples include home gardens involving animals, apiculture with trees, and aquaforestry trees lining fish ponds, with tree leaves being used to feed fish. Among the practices, the ones with highest relevance to forest restoration are the home gardens and farm forestry. Tree฀home฀gardens:฀These are land-use systems that consist of multipurpose trees and shrubs with annual and perennial agricultural crops within homesteads, and managed by the family to meet domestic needs. These home gardens are common in high rainfall areas of the tropics, and have been practiced for centuries. Of course home gardens without trees do exist and they are not relevant for forestry. Forestry-related home gardens are preferably referred to as tree home gardens Torquebiau 1992. The typical tree home gardens have high species diversity, and the vegetation is usually in 3-4 strata, with emergent timber and fruit trees in the upper layers, the second layer with food crops such as papaya and banana, and the ground floor with vegetables and spices. The choice of species varies depending on what is locally available and cultivated. According to a survey in Sri Lanka, home gardens covered 858,000 ha which is about 30 percent of the forest area of the country Ariyadasa 2002. Some of their common timber species included Alstonia macrophylla, Artocarpus integer, Cocos nucifera, Eucalyptus spp., Hevea brasiliensis, Mangifera indica, Swietenia macrophylla and Tectona grandis. These home gardens produced 41 percent of the nation’s sawlogs and 26 percent of the biofuel needs. In fact, trees raised in homesteads and other agroforestry systems have become the main strategy to meet domestic timber needs of Sri Lanka. Farm฀forests: Farm forestry is the incorporation of commercial tree growing into farming systems, and may come in the form of woodlots, timber belts, alleys and widespread tree plantings. It differs from the classical agroforestry system which refers to production of timber and an agricultural product from the same parcel of land. Besides the commercial gain, farm forests provide substantial environmental benefits. In countries like Australia farm forests are gaining interest as their benefits include carbon sequestration, water table management, salinity hazard management, fire breaks, and enhancement of farm productivity and diversification of incomes. Farm forests are increasing in importance in Asian countries that are facing shortages in wood supply. Farmers with small holdings in Laos, Philippines and Thailand are encouraged to plant timber trees on their marginal lands. Mainly fast growing exotic species of Acacia, Casuarina, Eucalyptus and Leucaena are raised. Some native species of Tectona and Pterocarpus are being introduced as well. In India, where private companies are not allowed large land holdings, the paper industries have entered into contracts with farmers to plant clonal Eucalyptus species with guaranteed purchase prices. This has accelerated the growth of farm forests in the country. But there still remain many constraints for the growth of farm forests in Asia, particularly as a result of antiquated rules and regulations that limit the felling, transport and sale of farm forestry species Appanah et al. 2012.

3.2.4 Ecological restoration

In general, ecological restoration involves assisting a destroyed or degraded ecosystem to recover and eventually reach its former historical structure and composition. While this approach represents the ultimate goal in forest restoration, it is costly and difficult to manage. Techniques include the so-called framework method in which a small number of mostly pioneer species is used to initiate successional development and more complex planting and direct seeding schemes. Some of the various techniques are described by Lamb 2011 and Elliott et al. 2013. 3.3฀Comparison฀of฀restoration฀approaches Section 3.2 reviewed various forest restoration approaches. Researchers have tried to assemble these approaches schematically in terms of their end results, i.e. forest structure and biodiversity. This is best captured in Figure 3 adapted from Lamb and Gilmour 2003. Plantation monoculture Multi-species forest Ecological Restoration Bad logging Well-managed logging Degraded Further degradation Biodiversity BiomassStructure F G A E D B C Figure฀3.฀Impact฀of฀forest฀harvesting฀and฀different฀forms฀of฀rehabilitation฀on฀biodiversity฀and฀forest฀structure฀ 19 A natural forest original condition of point A following logging may reach the state of point D. Through ecological restoration, natural recovery, the site is likely to return to its former condition point A in terms of forest structure and biodiversity. If the logging is poorly managed, this would lead the site to a state of point E, where more species can be lost, structure further damaged and the site may be dominated by pioneer species. Ecological restoration in the form of natural recovery is likely to occur, but may take longer and the species composition may differ somewhat, but the potential to return to condition of point A exists. Deforestation can take the forest back to point B, which can result in changes to its structure and species composition. If the site is degraded further by fire or grazing, for example, the condition may lead to point C where few of the original species are left, and the site is taken over by weeds. A number of restoration approaches are available for returning such degraded sites to productive ones. Reverting back from condition B to A through ecological restoration would occur through natural regrowth and planting seedlings of the original species. Other options exist, one being monoculture planting of a timber species. This results in a new state point F. If the multispecies plantations approach is adopted, the forest is likely to reach the condition indicated by point G. The three approaches provide the owner with choices for a forest that can produce goods, ecosystem services or a mixture of both. The time scales differ as well, with monoculture plantations reaching their objectives fast, while ecological restoration may take much longer, perhaps a century. 3.4฀Forest฀restoration฀–฀what฀is฀being฀done? Earlier, we briefly examined the early history of forest restoration in the region, some country successes and many of the restoration techniques in common use or which are under development. At this juncture we shall examine what the countries under review are doing and what conditions are needed for success. The findings from China, Indonesia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam are summarized below.

3.4.1 China

Earlier it was indicated how China recovered from forest loss through massive monoculture plantations. China conducted reforestation projects in the 1950s and promoted intercropping and shelterbelts in the 1960s Hyde 2003. Several topical reforms were introduced which emulated the success of agricultural reforms. However, the environmental disasters of 1998 precipitated massive changes in China’s forestry development – laws and regulations were revised and forest policies were given higher attention SFA 2009. The main objectives of the policy changes are outlined in Box 1. Authority to control forests was devolved to various management bodies of collectives and state-owned forests. Major forestry programmes were initiated; investments in forest establishment and rehabilitation were stepped up; a forest management classification was introduced; compensation funds for forest ecological services were established; and collective forest ownership systems and clear property rights were introduced. Despite the criticisms the afforestation programmes have received, some of the policy changes and management practices have clearly proven to be positive in China’s restoration efforts. Some of the more recent programmes for promoting forest expansion include the Six Major Forestry Programmes Box 2. Among them is the Protection and Conversion of Croplands Programme which is referred to as the ‘Grain-for-Green Programme’ which resulted in planting trees in marginal agricultural area. Others include afforestation and greening programmes for desertification control, wildlife conservation and development of shelterbelts and plantations. As a result, forest cover increased at 1.6 percent annually during the period 2000-2010 FAO 2010 a,b. Box฀1.฀Main฀policy฀objectives฀of฀China฀since฀1998฀ •฀ To improve biodiversity conservation and secure national ecological safety. •฀ To restore key ecosystems. •฀ To promote sustainable forest management – switching from forest expansion to forest quality. •฀ To clarify forest land tenure and secure farmers’ rights to forest and forest land management. •฀ To promote forest industry, which favours a balance between production and conservation. •฀ To strengthen international cooperation. Source: Chen 2008 Box฀2.฀Programmes฀promoting฀China’s฀plantation฀expansion฀ In line with the national forestry strategy, major forestry programmes were initiated. These are referred to as the Six Major Forestry Programmes: 1. The Natural Forest Protection Programme includes logging bans and afforestation with incentives to forest enterprises. 2. Conversion of Cropland for Forests and Grassland Programme often referred to as the Grain for Green Programme.