Dead planet, living planet

implementation strategies, duration, and in how much they considered socio-economic and institutional aspects, which are essential for successful restoration (CIFOR, 2002). Forest restoration can restore many ecosystem functions and recover many components of the original biodiversity. Approaches to restoring functionality in forest ecosystems depend strongly on the initial state of forest or land degradation and the desired outcome, time frame, and financial constraints (Fig. 6). In many deforested, degraded and fragmented forest habitats investments in restoration and rehabilitation forests can yield high biodiversity conservation and livelihood benefits (Sayer et al , 2003, Chazdon, 2008; TEEB, 2009; TEEB, 2009). What are the benefits to biodiversity/conservation from forest restoration? Restoration in densely settled tropical areas can have more im- pact on biodiversity than further extension of “paper parks” in remote, pristine forests and can also deliver important forest

goods and services to a wider range of stakeholders (Sayer et al , 2003). Retention of even small fragments of natural vegetation is justified by their great potential value in providing the build- ing blocks for future restoration programmes. Restored forests can improve ecosystem services and enhance biodiversity con- servation (Chazdon, 2008). Along the Mata Atlantica in Brazil a non-profit organization named Instituto Terra undertakes ac- tive restoration of degraded stands of Atlantic Forest by estab- lishing tree nurseries to replant denuded areas (Instituto Terra 2007). Benefits include biodiversity enhancement, water regu- lation, carbon storage and sequestration as well as preventing soil erosion. In Vietnam, forest restoration thorough planting indigenous tree species and fostering natural regeneration has lead to increased water supply as well as increased and higher quality habitats for animals and plants as shown in case study 2 (Poffenberger, 2006). Restoring eucalyptus woodlands and dry forests on land used for intensive cattle farming in south- east Australia was found to yield numerous benefits including reversing the loss of biodiversity, halting land degradation due to dryland salinisation and thereby increasing land productivity (Dorrough and Moxham, 2005).

CASE STUDY #2

In Son La District in Northwestern Vietnam, Tai and Hmong communities have managed upland forests for generations. Forests are classified according to function including old growth protected areas (Pa Dong), younger secondary forests that are part of long rotation swiddens (Pa Kai), early regenerating for- ests (Pa Loa) and bamboo forests (Pa). The lands are held un- der communal tenure and allow for a well-managed landscape that supports considerable biodiversity. In Cao Bang Province, to the North the Nung an ethnic community found that their lime- stone forests had degraded because of the growing fuelwood and timber extraction pressures from State Forest Enterprises and local villages. After biodiversity and hydrology began to de- teriorate in the 1960s and1970s, the communities in Phuc Sen organised to divide forest protection among the 12 villages. A combination of planting with indigenous pioneering tree species like mac, rac and more valuable timber species, combined with Restoration of limestone forests in Phuc Sen in Northwestern Vietnam natural regeneration, has led to the reforestation of many of the limestone hillocks in the area. The restoration of the limestone forests has facilitated the reestablishment of spring flows that provide water for the lowland rice fields. It has also allowed for the return of many indigenous mammal species, including five endemic and 26 rare species. The process is currently being rep- licated through a Community Forest Network operating at the district and provincial level (Dzung et al ., 2004). In many parts of upland Southeast Asia, communities are organising to pro- tect threatened upland forests. Part of these initiatives deal with outside pressures from private sector timber enterprises as well as from the expansion and commercialisation of agriculture. The emergence of community forestry networks is apparent in up- land areas of Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and Cambodia. Source: Poffenberger, 2006 pg. 11

26