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Valuing Coastal Ecosystems as Economic Assets











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    Article
    Planting design, survival and blue carbon stock of mangrove plantations in Banacon Island, Philippines
    XV World Forestry Congress, 2-6 May 2022
    2022
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    Mangrove forests have the capacity to store and sequester vast amount of atmospheric carbon. Coastal reforestation in the tropics became more popular because of this ecosystem service and their value to protect human from the impacts of tsunami and storm surge. To illustrate mangrove’s blue carbon potential in view of planting design, carbon stock assessment of 20-year old Rhizophora stylosa plantations was done. Tree and sediment carbon stocks were determined using standard nested plot technique. These parameters were further examined in terms of the plant spacing used during the plantation establishment, namely: 0.5m x 0.5m; and 1.0m x 1.0m. Key findings showed that plantations that were established with closer spacing i.e. 0.5m x 0.5m spacing have higher stand density values than those with 1.0m x 1.0m interval by about 23,900 trees ha-1. Survival rate was also significantly higher in the former than the latter with a mean difference of 23%. In view of total carbon stocks, 0.5m x 0.5m spaced stands contain 276.8±11.6 tC ha-1, of which sediment has contributed about 110.1 tC ha-1 (40%). On the other hand, stands of 1.0m x 1.0m spacing have only 157.6±40.1 tC ha-1, wherein 21.3 tC ha-1 (48.2%) is attributable to sediments. Overall findings suggested that planting at a closer spacing (0.5m distance) could produce larger sediment carbon stock. A significant mean difference of 88.80 tC ha-1 was computed in favor of 0.5m x 0.5m stand, which is indicative of two possible reasons: a) thicker vegetation provides larger source organic material through litterfall; b) more interlinked roots help stabilize sediment from erosion while effectively trapping more organic material from other sources during tidal movements. ID: 3477110
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    Book (stand-alone)
    Sustainable management of Miombo woodlands
    Food security, nutrition and wood energy
    2018
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    The Miombo woodland is a vast African dryland forest ecosystem covering close to 2.7 million km2 across southern Africa (Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe). The woodlands are characterized by the dominance of Brachystegia species, either alone or in association with Julbernardia and Isoberlinia species. It is estimated that the woodlands – through their numerous goods and services which include various non-wood forest products (NWFPs) (e.g. insects, mushrooms, fruits, tubers, medicine, fodder, honey, seeds) and woodfuels, which, for simplicity, will be referred to as non-timber forest products, or NTFPs, throughout the publication – sustain the livelihoods of more than 100 million rural poor and 50 million urban people. The charcoal sector alone employs vast numbers of rural people and offers additional income to many poor rural families. Communities moreover rely directly on the woodlands for food and nutrition. NWFPs add vital micro- and macronutrients to local diets and contribute to diversified food systems, while woodfuel is essential for cooking and sterilizing, thus ensuring proper nutrient absorption and providing clean water for drinking. Forests and trees, if managed sustainably, are an important source of resilience for rural people in the Miombo woodlands, supporting households to absorb and recover from climatic or economic calamities and contributing to resolving the underlying causes of food insecurity, undernutrition and poverty by providing nutritious edible products and woodfuel for cooking in addition to conserving biodiversity and water resources, buffering extreme weather conditions and preventing land degradation and desertification. Generally speaking, it is now accepted that forests managed for both timber and NTFPs retain more biodiversity and resilience than forests managed solely for one aspect, e.g. timber and exotic timber plantations. However, a growing population in high need of agricultural land and unsustainable use and overharvesting of natural resources in parts of the Miombo woodlands, combined with climate change impacts (e.g. drought, fires), leave insufficient time for many trees and associated species to regenerate naturally, posing a serious threat to the products and services of the woodlands, and to the livelihoods depending on them. Compounding the problem and hindering development of the Miombo ecosystem, are: i) lack of an enabling policy environment; ii) unsustainable management; iii) limited willingness and ability to pay for and access to energy-efficiency technologies; iv) inadequate awareness and information, including technical capacity; v) high poverty levels; and vi) limited access to microcredit facilities. With the Committee on World Food Security’s endorsement of the recommendations presented in the High Level Panel of Experts Report on Sustainable Forestry for Food Security and Nutrition in late 2017 – which include promoting multifunctional landscapes, integrated food-forestry systems, and research on associated linkages, among other things – forests and trees are expected to play a greater role in future land-use decisions and related policies. This paper provides an overview of these linkages in the context of the Miombo woodlands, in the hope that future land use, policy decisions and financial investments are shaped to support the contributions of forests and trees to the health and livelihoods of communities in the ecoregion. The following key messages were formulated: • Forests and trees, if managed sustainably, are an important source of resilience for rural people in the Miombo woodlands, supporting households to absorb and recover from climatic or economic calamities and contributing to resolving the underlying causes of food insecurity, undernutrition and poverty by providing nutritious edible products and woodfuel for cooking in addition to conserving biodiversity and water resources, buffering extreme weather conditions and preventing land degradation and desertification. • Current data bases referring to the value of the Miombo must be analysed and used as evidence to improve policy-making. • Miombo woodlands may be dominant (spatially), but they have not been addressed as a single unit but as part of the region’s forests. They form part of the overall forestry strategies and no specific mention in the conventions does not suggest that their importance is underplayed. • The management of Miombo will require some changes in management structures, especially in providing benefits emerging from trade in forest products to local managers. • Local forest managers should play a greater role in allocating resources for feedstock for charcoal production.
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    Document
    Myanmar fisheries legislation with particular reference to freshwater fisheries legislation 2011
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      The fisheries sector in Myanmar, comprising the freshwater fisheries, marine capture fisheries and aquaculture, plays a very important role in the economy of the country and provides an important source of food security for the people of Myanmar. Presently, the freshwater capture sector is by far the most important economically and socially. The Ayeyarwady Delta once supported half of the mangrove forests in Myanmar. but there are competing demands on the mangrove ad fisheries ecosystem in the Ayeyarwady Delta. Several years of pressure on the mangrove forests, including demand for firewood and charcoal, hunting mangrove animals, conversion of mangrove areas for rice and shrimp farming and destructive fishing practices such as excessive fishing efforts, have significantly reduced the productivity of the mangrove forest areas. Specifically in relation to fisheries, there are now clear signs of serious depletion in the Delta. The observed volume fish landings are declining and there is a reduction in the size of species caught.  The Sustaible Small Scale Fisheries and Aquaculture Livelihoods in Coastal Mangrove Ecosystems was part of the Environmentally Sustaible Food Security Programme (ESFSP). The aim of the Sustaible Small Scale Fisheries and Aquaculture Livelihoods in Coastal Mangrove Ecosystems project is to promote and undertake pilot level implementation of practices for the co-magement of fisheries in a demarcated magement area in the Ayeyarwady Delta. One of the acti vities of the ESFSP to address the problem of conservation of fisheries resources in the mangrove areas is the “formulation and promotion of better co-magement practices and sustaible utilisation guidance for mangrove ecosystems.”  Implementation of co-magement in the pilot areas for the project, and in Myanmar as a whole, is not supported by the existing fisheries and related legal framework. An additiol complicating issue that has arisen is the substantial overlap and contradictions between th e fresh water fisheries legislation and legislation dealing with forestry and wildlife conservation in the mangrove areas. Additiolly, enforcement of existing legislation is weak. The factors listed above have given rise to the need to undertake an evaluation of the legal framework underpinning forestry and fisheries legislation, including co-magement arrangements and enforcement challenges to inform proposals for change. This review contains an overivew of these legal issues as they pertain to aquatic resources magement especially in freshwaters and their relationship to other legislation on tural resources in Myanmar. There is particular reference to co-magement and the legal aspects relating to its emergence in Myanmar.

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