In the analysis of watershed functions, we deal with complex factors that influence processes and patterns in the landscape that ultimately translate a temporal pattern of rainfall into a temporal pattern of stream flow, which aggregates up to a river. Downstream stakeholders start from what they want to see (”perfectly regular flow of clean water”) and observe a pattern of stream and river flow that doesn’t match their expectations. They search for interventions in the “anthropogenic” groups of causes (deforestation, land degradation), but need to understand the potential reach of such interventions, given the geological and climatic background. In the absence of knowledge of what happens upstream, an observer of river flow can deduce a fair amount of information from a time series of river flow data. The FlowPer model is focused on that. It can serve two functions: 1) summarize the key parameters that downstream stakeholders can observe on the flow pattern, for example, as a basis for conditional rewards for providing environmental services; and 2) serve as a parsimonious (parameter-sparse) “null model” that allows quantification of the increments in model prediction that is achieved with spatially explicit models (with parameterization first rather than parameter tuning to the data).
Variations in river flow tend to decrease with increasing area of consideration, partly due to a decrease in temporal correlation of rainfall events across space. Patchiness of rainfall can contribute to an increase of yield stability over space. Existing rainfall simulators tend to focus on station-level time series, not on space/time autocorrelation.
The Rainfall simulator described here was constructed to generate time series of rainfall that are fully compatible with existing station-level records of daily rainfall, but yet can represent substantially different degrees of spatial autocorrelation. Calculations start from the assumed spatial characteristics of a single rainstorm pathway, with a trajectory for the core area of the highest intensity and a decrease of rainfall intensity with increasing distance from this core. The model can derive daily amounts of rainfall for a grid of observation points by considering the possibility of multiple storm events per day, but not exceeding the long-term maximum of observed station-level rainfall. Options exist for including elevational effects on rainfall amount. Rainfall Simulator is implemented as an Excel workbook with macros that analyze semivariance as a function of increasing distance between observation points, as a way to characterize the resulting rainfall patterns accumulated over specified lengths of time (day, week, month, year).
The purpose of the SLIM software is to compute canopy closure (an index of long term light level) at any height above the ground within a forest canopy. It was initially developed as a module of the dynamic forest growth model, SExI Forest Simulator.
A simplified 3D description of the trees composing the stand is used.
Land use and land cover change are an important part (about 20%) of the total human-induced emission of greenhouse gasses that lead to global climate change. While most of the attention has so far gone to reductions in the other 80% that relate to fossil fuel use (and some other industrial processes), no opportunity to reduce emissions can be left ignored, if targets are to be met such as keeping global warming below 2oC. Reducing land-based emissions usually requires two things: A) dealing with the direct drivers of land use change that reduce C storage, e.g. through forest conversion; and B) supporting sustainable livelihood options that are compatible with high C stock landscapes, with trees that provide goods and services. A ‘REDD/REALU site-level feasibility appraisal’ (RESFA) will assess all these steps, as any of them can become a bottleneck when full project design (PDD), approval and implementation are attempted – a process that costs considerable time and investment and needs to have a reasonable probability of success to justify such investments.
Biofuels appeared to be such a nice way of reducing the climate change challenge: it reduces political dependence on fossil fuel supply, can be done with minimal change to existing engines and modes of transport, and provides new sources of income for rural economies. Calculations of the area needed to make a dent into current fossil fuel use quickly showed that it cannot be a substantial contribution to energy issues without requiring large areas and interfering with markets for food crops. If biofuel production extends beyond current agriculture, it will often increase emissions of carbondioxide. The net effect will be often a lower estimate of emission reduction than expected, but if high C-stock land is cleared, biofuel use can also increase net emissions.
Analysis of Land Use and Cover Trajectory (ALUCT) can go beyond direct visual interpretation of geogle earth and quantify change. ALUCT has four stages work flow as follow: (1) Clarification of the questions; (2) Image acquisition and pre-processing; (3) Image classification based on ground-truth sample points and/or pre-established spatial patterns; and (4) Post interpretation analysis focussed on the research questions of interest. This tool is an important part of several of the TUL-SEA Tools, including the RACSA, RHA and RABA (rapid appraisal of carbon stocks, hydrology and agrobiodiversity, respectively) methods. It also forms the basis of scenario studies (FALLOW), land tenure claim appraisal (RATA) and analysis of the drivers of land use change (DriLUC).
Local Ecological Knowledge (LEK) refers to what people know about their natural environment, based primarily on their own experience and observation. LEK is widely seen as important and of potential use in research and development programs related to natural resource management. However, effective methods for exploring, accessing and evaluating LEK are needed, if it is to be integrated into the planning process in an explicit manner. A knowledge-based systems approach is one method developed to enable representation of local knowledge. In this method, qualitative LEK is articulated by local people and represented using computer technology. This is based on earlier studies and conclusions that the majority of articulated knowledge can be broken down into unitary statements that can then be represented on a computer using a formal grammar and a local taxonomy of terms. Such represented knowledge can then be subjected to synthesis and evaluation in an objective and unbiased manner.
This directory was developed to address the tree seed information and linkage gaps prevalent in Indonesia. It provides reliable information to seed consumers − farmers, NGOs, projects, government institutions and others − and promotes the services and products of seed suppliers. Most importantly the directory provides a channel for consumers and suppliers to build linkages. The information in the directory was collected through a survey of 140 seed suppliers operating throughout Indonesia. The seed suppliers were identified by compiling the experience of five forest tree seed centres (BPTH - Balai Perbenihan Tanaman Hutan located in Palembang, Bandung, Denpasar, Banjar Baru and Ujung Pandang) ; the Directorate of Forest Tree Seed (DFTS), Ministry of Forestry; and, ICRAF/Winrock's network of NGOs, farmer groups and development organisations. In addition to the survey, more information was gathered through interviews with key seed suppliers in Wonogiri, Central Java and Ponorogo, East Java, which are Indonesia’s primary sources of tree seed.
Wood density varies with tree species, growth conditions and the part of the tree measured. The main stem generally has a higher wood density than the branches, while fast growth is generally related to relatively low wood density. For most species the literature thus gives a range with low, medium and high values. In this database we have collected quantitative information from a number of publicly available sources. As you will note, there is no standardisation of the moisture content of the (‘air dry') wood in the densities reported, and some conversions may be needed.
The AFTree database includes 350 species of fruit trees, timber trees, rattans and bamboo that are commonly used in agroforestry systems in Southeast Asia. For each species the database summarises taxonomy, botanic description, geographic distribution, habitat characteristics, biophysical limits, products and services, pests and diseases, propagation, tree management, growth and development, yields and harvest methods, trading and prospects. From the database on biophysical limits, (altitude, mean annual rainfall and mean annual temperature), maps are made of the likely site matches within Southeast Asia and neighbouring parts of South and East Asia (taking 70°E and 40°N as arbitrary boundaries).
REDD stands for ‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation in Developing Countries’ and details of how this can be done are currently under investigation. The FERVA method was designed to help in this process. In reducing emissions from deforestation, peat land and forest degradation, and other land use changes in developing countries, a major challenge is how to combine efficiency and fairness. A middle ground and combination of policy instruments is needed to actually reduce emissions and also stimulate sustainable livelihood options and development pathways. FERVA is based on ‘focus group discussions’ with different stakeholder groups. Details and examples have to be adjusted to local context.
Current relationships between agroforestry and plantation forestry are perceived to be complementary, neutral or competitive, depending on the ability of (inter)national policy frameworks to provide a level playing field for productive and protective forest functions. In conditions where large-scale plantations operate with substantial government subsidies (direct or indirect, partly justified by environmental service functions), in contrast to non-existent or minimal subsidies for agroforestry, the potential for agroforestry to produce wood and simultaneously provide forest benefits and ecological services is placed at a disadvantage, to the detriment of society at large. WNoTree surveys will generally have three stages: i) checklist of potential issues in focus group discussions with farmers and local government agencies to identify the most significant constraints to tree management and domestication in the local context; ii) follow-up surveys to test the hypotheses that emerge from these consultations, in combination with spatial analysis of actual tree presence in the landscape; and, iii) action research engagement with local communities and governments to address the primary constraints, and provide a direct test of the preceding analysis.
Land tenure conflicts are common in many developing countries where traditional land rights are often not codified, leaving local populations defenceless against a change in the legal status of open access lands. The RaTA approach can help explore in-depth the nature of those competing claims. It aims to seek and reveal the competing perceived legal claims among the stakeholders who hold different rights and interests. Using policy study for analysing the roles of policies in land conflicts and competing claims, RaTA can provide policy options and interventions as an alternative solution to settle land conflicts.
The main issues in evaluating development strategies for rural agro-forested landscapes in developing countries are related to non-linear baseline trajectories, trade-offs between economic utilities and environmental services, and so forth. The FALLOW model has been developed as a tool to identify the likely shifts of some scenarios on such strategies from the baseline. The strategies may imply losses in both economical and ecological values (collapse); gains in economical value but loss in ecological value; gain in ecological value but loss in economical value (conservation); or gains in both economical and ecological values.
Land cover change can significantly affect watershed functions by altering the proportion of rainfall reaching the ground, the subsequent pathways of water flow over and through the soil and the rate of water use by plants. Impacts on river flow can be explained mainly by simple vegetation characteristics (monthly patterns of leaf biomass, influencing canopy interception and transpiration, and the ability to extract water from deeper soil layers) and soil (especially compaction of the macropores that store water between ‘saturation’ and ‘field capacity’). GenRiver is a generic model on river flow based on ‘first principles’ that integrates land cover change and change in soil properties. This model can be used as a tool to explore scenarios of land use change, if it passes a ‘validation’ test against observed data.
Biodiversity at a landscape level can be lost quickly through forest conversion to intensive agriculture and monoculture plantation. Biodiversity plays an important role in sustainable ecosystems. Rapid Agro-Biodiversity Appraisal (RABA) is designed to identify the necessary information about the beneficiaries of biodiversity and the perspectives of sellers, buyers and intermediaries to engage in developing a reward system. Otherwise, the availability of biodiversity data in potential sites becomes a constraint, because of the time and expertise required for a detailed inventory. The Quick Biodiversity Survey (QBS), which is based on the inventory of species indicators, can relieve this constraint. QBS is a biodiversity survey based on species indicators such as bats, small mammals, dung beetles, primates, birds and vegetation.
RABA is designed to appraise the perspectives of concerned stakeholders on biodiversity conservation and the feasibility of a compensation or reward for environmental services (RES) in any area or landscape of interest. RABA uses different techniques and tools from Rapid Rural Appraisal, Stakeholder Analysis and local ecological knowledge approaches. It captures the perspectives of seller, buyer and intermediaries and generates initial data necessary for sellers, intermediaries and buyers to engage in developing a reward system.
ROSA is a method to assert whether or not the rosy view of tropical forests as the lungs of the world and suppliers of oxygen has any basis. As for other TUL-SEA methods, it has a LEK (Local Ecological Knowledge), a PEK (Policy/public Ecological Knowledge), a MEK (Modellers' Ecological Knowledge) and a Spatial Analysis component. It can be done rapidly and at relatively low cost.
Global warming and climate change have increasingly become international concerns. A significant technical issue in mitigation schemes is the availability of standard set of methods and procedures to inventory and assess carbon (C) stocks and sequestration in current and potential land uses and management approaches. The RaCSA approach assesses the current status of carbon stocks in a given geographical area and develops scenarios of carbon sequestration or restoration resulting from potential land use and management changes. The approach integrates procedures for developing land use scenarios that can enhance carbon sequestration, prevent land degradation, promote sustainable land productivity and increase people’s livelihoods.
Landslide or slope instability, which can kill hundreds of people, can be due to tree removal, because trees contribute to soil building up until it is too heavy for extremely steep slopes if the trees are then removed. Landslides can be triggered by road construction and other structures that interfere with water flows across and under slopes. RaLMA is a relatively inexpensive appraisal method that can be used to guide local natural resource managers in taking precautionary measures and/or responding to early signs of slope instability. The combination of LEK, MEK and PEK in RaLMA can lead a further discussion of local choices of species, taking account of potential direct economic gain, local utility and landslide risks.
Rapid Hydrological Appraisal (RHA) aims to provide clarity around watershed functions, who is responsible for providing watershed function services, the impacts on watershed function, and how rewards can be channelled to effectively enhance or at least maintain the function. RHA can help to bridge knowledge gaps that may exist between watershed stakeholders. This approach hopefully leads to a situation where all knowledge is integrated and linked.
The SExI forest simulator focuses on tree-tree interactions in a mixed, multi-species agroforest. The high level of structural complexity in such traditional agroforestry systems defies classical forestry approaches when it comes to optimising management practices. The major objective of such a model is to get a coherent dynamic representation of a complex system, where complexity refers to the assemblage of locally interacting individuals with different properties, rather than to the complexity of the elementary processes involved. The model provides insight into the critical processes and parameters of the system’s dynamic. It should also allow prospective management scenarios to be explored, help in assessing the relevance of present management techniques, and so forth.
The WaNuLCAS model is developed to represent tree-soil-crop interactions in a wide range of agroforestry systems where trees and crops overlap in space and/or time (simultaneous and sequential agroforestry). The model is based on the above and below ground architecture of trees and crops, elementary tree and crop physiology and soil science (daily water, N, P and SOM balance for four soil layers and four horizontal zones).
Trees come in various shapes, grow at different rates and interact with their neighbours. Yet, many properties of an individual tree can be predicted if we know its stem diameter. The relationship between this diameter and properties such as tree height, tree biomass, leaf area and harvestable timber are called ‘scaling rules’, or allometrics. The functional branch analysis protocol and program are designed to efficiently describe a tree’s architecture and key properties, to use the derived parameters to reconstruct trees with simple, repetitive (‘fractal’) rules, and derive scaling rules that relate stem and/or proximal root diameter to total biomass and other properties.
RMA is a tool to understand how products or commodities flow to end users, and to understand of how a commodity system is organised, operates and performs. RMA helps us to realise how valuable market information is. It will inspire farmers to learn and to develop new ideas on the commodities that they produce and test their marketability by asking customers what they think. Smallholder farmers will begin to see why it is important to listen to customers and to carefully research their markets.
Agroforestry is an umbrella term for a wide range of practices and situations in which trees are allowed to grow or are grown on farms and in agricultural landscapes. Specific terms for specific forms of agroforestry are needed before we can understand the strengths and weaknesses of the use of woody perennials as providers of goods and services, and appreciate the opportunities for and threats to their further enhancement. The RAFT framework provides guidelines for the description and analysis of the ways trees are used and of use in rural livelihoods.
Land use is dynamic. It is the result of decisions and choices made by many actors and agents, and many groups have a stake in the consequences of the change. At an early stage of Integrated Natural Resource Management of a certain landscape, key ‘system’ features need to be mapped and understood. Looking at a dynamic landscape as a system implies a concept of ‘internal’ (endogenous) and ‘external’ (exogenous) drivers of change (even though the system boundary is fluid). The system is subject to ‘pressure’, has ‘response options’, ‘time lags’ and ‘feedback mechanisms’ that allow learning and internal adjustment. A ‘political ecology’ view of the multiple interests and stakes in the landscape can help to form a platform for discussions and negotiations among stakeholders. DRILUC is intended to provide a systems-level understanding of the way local drivers of land use change in a landscape relate to external conditions, and the types of local/regional/national feedback that currently impact on livelihoods and the provision of goods and services.
Poverty, people’s livelihood strategies, and the natural environment are inter-linked in space and time. Some inter-linkages are distinctly spatial phenomena, which can be measured using household surveys and remote sensing technologies, and mapped using geographic information systems. Other inter-linkages are more context-specific and difficult to observe. The method of Participatory Analysis of Poverty, Livelihoods and Environment Dynamics (PAPOLD) was developed to capture local specific issues arising from these inter-linkages. The method is asserted to be more comparative than other methods because it is participatory, dynamic and comparable.
PaLA was designed to capture local knowledge at temporal and spatial scales by packaging up some appropriate Rapid Rural Appraisal/Participatory Rural Appraisal (RRA/PRA) tools/methods in combination with an agro-ecological analysis approach. PaLA is a useful method/tool for scoping studies, and community awareness-raising on problems and issues connected with ecological and administrative boundaries. PaLA is designed, (i) to study farmers’ perception on the lateral flows and internal filter functions in the landscape, as well as to understand farmers’ management options and choices; and, (ii) to understand landscape composition, unit and interaction between landscape units. Thereafter, issues of concerns in, for example water, soil erosion, biodiversity, etc. can be defined in a participatory manner.