The reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) framework has been implemented over the past decade, and has led to a restructuring of forest governance systems in host countries. In the case of Lao People’s Democratic Republic, which is promoting REDD+, activities have been implemented at project, sub-national, and national scales. Project-scale REDD+ is assumed to be compatible with small-scale forestry, and usually targets local people to enhance participatory forest management through technology transfer. Such projects were also supported by foreign governments under bilateral cooperation or by private funding. In the case of sub-national- or national-scale REDD+, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic government aims to develop a system of forest monitoring, as well as related structures required by international REDD+ entities. These activities are supported by substantial funding from multilateral organizations. Lessons learned from project-scale REDD+ in northern Lao People’s Democratic Republic showed a gap in expectations among different donors and recipients regarding how to implement REDD+, in particular how to reduce dependency on forest resources in rural areas, and how to estimate and account for greenhouse gas emissions reductions with consistent methodologies at different scales. Such differences are related to the attitudes of local people toward participation, and those of the private entities that fund projects and ground-based activities. In future REDD+ schemes, the structural network or structural social capital among project-, sub- national-, and national-scale activities should be reconsidered to enhance the continued participation of stakeholders and make use of their accumulated experience and knowledge of small-scale forestry management.

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+) to address climate change has historically included little evaluation of how heterogeneous local communities respond to REDD+ interventions and new land-use activities. We assessed differences in the acceptance of new land-use activities as a function of livelihoods of the Hmong and Khmu ethnic groups in northern Lao People’s Democratic Republic, where REDD+ was implemented between 2011 and 2018. Our socioeconomic data, collected by a questionnaire-based survey and focal group discussions, showed that the Hmong more effectively incorporated support from REDD+ than the Khmu because the Hmong owned grazing land. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding the capabilities and characteristics of each ethnic group when implementing new land-use activities (i.e., designing and implementing alternative livelihoods) within a target area to ensure distributional equity in heterogeneous communities. Such a consideration should be included in land-use policy and also be a part of the social safeguards in the land-use sector.

In the tropics, the area covered by degraded and fragmented secondary forests has expanded following forest fires and intensive land-use. We studied a fragmented secondary forest in South Kalimantan Province, Indonesia, to gain ecological information and to quantify the effect of human activities on accumulated biomass and tree composition. A fragmented secondary forest of about 0.5 ha was divided into 27 edge and 18 inside plots with size of 10 mx10 m and the stand biomass, tree composition and human activities were analyzed. Mean aboveground biomass (AGB) in edge and inside plots were 63.2 and 71.2 Mg ha(-1), respectively and the difference was insignificant (t-test: p 0.1), while the Shannon-Wiener index (H') value of the later tended larger than former (t-test: p<0.1). Native trees tended to be more in inside plots comparing with edge plots, and human planted trees were identified in mainly edge plots. There were also large differences in biomass (wood) removal by rural people (1.350 and 0.248 Mg ha(-1) year(-1), respectively). The characteristics of each type of fragmented secondary forest were influenced by the human activity of wood collection: small-diameter trees, which should have been successors to the existing canopy, were frequently removed.

Under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world has pledged to “leaving no one behind”. Responding to goal No. 7 on the agenda, efforts to provide modern energy to all the world population must be pushed forward. This is important because electrification in the rural area can indirectly support opportunities for social and economic development resulting in an acceleration of the eradication of poverty. The research goal of this study is to contribute insights about the scale of energy demand in unelectrified villages in the Southeast Asian countries and to discuss some factors that might influence the energy demand growth. This is done by making projections based on surveys and interviews, including a time-use survey, in three off-grid villages located in Myanmar, Indonesia, and Laos. Our analysis presented the living condition, highlight the types of energy sources, how, and in what rhythms people use energy on a daily basis in those villages. The demands in each case study villages were then projected based on several constructed scenarios. It was found that the factors of household size, proximity to the city, climate, and topography may influence the present and future growth of energy demands in the villages. The estimated energy demand may be useful for project managers to design a pilot off-grid energy system project in a similar environment and pointed out important factors to consider when formulating off-grid energy policies in the region.

To improve the livelihood of local people involved in the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation and the role of conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks in developing countries (REDD+) project, we examined the necessary factors to incorporate Melaleuca (Melaleuca cajupti) timber production as a new income source. At PM Village, with Central Kalimantan as research target, we conducted Project Cycle Management (PCM) to investigate Melaleuca timber production. Findings clarified that the main problem was access to the timber market. Therefore, we conducted market surveys to search for and develop a distribution channel. We discovered two markets for Melaleuca timber; market of a small-diameter timber and a middle-diameter timber. Eventually, it became apparent that there was no room to enter the small-diameter market. In the middle-diameter market, a shortage of timber was occurring simultaneously with an increase in Melaleuca demand because the amount of timber available from Kalimantan (e.g., Meranti: Shorea spp.) had decreased. In PM Village, there were no middle-diameter trees, so forest management (i.e., silviculture) was identified as an objective for the area. Moreover, forest management in this area has become additionality of the REDD+ project. Accordingly, it is anticipated that Melaleuca grown in peatlands will generate profitable income for REDD+ projects in other peatland areas.

This study focuses on the influence of the 2008 ice storm in China and subsequent forest rehabilitation dynamics up until 2011. All seven plots studied exhibited significant damage, with the total number of damaged trees varying between 63 and 92%. In addition, most trees suffered stem bending in 2008 and the extent of damage varied with tree diameter at breast high (DBH). Relationships between loss of biomass as dead trees and stand characteristics were analyzed by multiple stepwise regression. The results showed that the decrease in biomass (<italic>Y</italic>) could be related to altitude (<italic>X</italic>1), slope (<italic>X</italic>2), and aboveground biomass (AGB) in 2008 (<italic>X</italic>5) according to the following formula:<mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" id="M1"><mml:mi>Y</mml:mi><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mo>−</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.02456</mml:mn><mml:mi>X</mml:mi><mml:mn>1</mml:mn><mml:mo>+</mml:mo><mml:mn>0.2815</mml:mn><mml:mi>X</mml:mi><mml:mn>5</mml:mn><mml:mo>−</mml:mo><mml:mn>1.480</mml:mn><mml:mi>X</mml:mi><mml:mn>2</mml:mn><mml:mo>+</mml:mo><mml:mn>51.23</mml:mn></mml:math>. After 2 to 3 years, tree numbers had declined in all seven plots. The mean increase in AGB (4.9 t ha⁻¹) for six of the plots was less than the biomass loss as dead trees (9.4 t ha⁻¹) over the 3 year periods. This corresponds to a release of CO₂to the atmosphere for each plot. Therefore, the forests of Lechang in the Nanling Montains have probably acted as a carbon source to the atmosphere for a short period after the 2008 ice storm.

Trunk diameter (D, cm) and tree height (H, m) growth curves were produced for 49 timber tree species from planted forests in West Java, Indonesia. Data were available covering a period of more than 40 years. The D and H of all trees of various ages were measured and coefficients of the Gompertz growth function were determined for each tree species. The tree species were then classified according to their wood production potential, on the basis of the relationship between their potential growth rate k, and asymptotic maximum carrying capacity A. The relationships between k and A, for both D and H growth curves of the tree species investigated, were negatively correlated (p < 0.05). Tree species of the Dipterocarpaceae exhibited a variety of growth characteristics with respect to D. In contrast the H growth characteristics for this family tended to be similar, with lower k values and higher A values than other tree species. These growth performance data for specific timber tree species will be useful to aid in the selection of tree species to plant, and in facilitating the establishment of forestry systems with long-term rotations (30 to 50 years) in the humid tropics.

After the 1998 forest fire in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, biomass recovery of naturally regenerated vegetation was estimated in order to evaluate the initial secondary succession patterns of the burned land. We established research plots in naturally regenerated vegetation that included pioneer tree species, and the dominant pioneer species were Homalanthus populneus, Macaranga gigantea and M. hypoleuca, Mallotus paniculatus, Melastoma malabathricum, Piper aduncum, or Trema cannabina and T. orietalis. Annual tree censuses over 4 years (from 2000 to 2003) showed that on plots where the initially dominant tree species were M. malabathricum and T. cannabina and T. orietalis, they tended to disappear, and were replaced with M. gigantea and M. hypoleuca. In contrast, on plots where the initially dominant species were M. gigantea and M. hypoleuca, M. paniculatus, or P. aduncum, they continued to dominate 5 years after the fire. We classified tree species that were initially dominant but disappeared within 5 years after the fire as extremely short-lived tree species. The aboveground biomass of trees (AGB) averaged 12.3 Mg ha^-1 (ranging from 9.2 to 17.0 Mg ha^-1) in 2000 and 15.9 Mg ha^-1 (ranging from 7.4 to 25.0 Mg ha^-1) in 2003. Between 2000 and 2003, some plots exhibited an increase in AGB and some a decrease in AGB. In the plots dominated by M. gigantea and M. hypoleuca, the AGB increased to over 20 Mg ha^-1, but other plots accumulated significantly less AGB in the 5 years following the fire. These results suggest that the pattern of AGB accumulation in secondary forests is strongly dependent on the dominant pioneer tree species.

Increment of household wastes and that complication relate to our life-style closely. For the solution of those problems, our consciousness reform is significantly needed. The university students (n = 439) and high school students (n = 845) who might be the key persons of the future society were investigated in this study. The knowledge of the university students about the separation of the trash was higher than the high school students. The separation of the trash was being carried out at the high rate of the university students than the high school students. There were many answers which were negative toward the thing connected with the cost of living such as "charging for the trash" and "the rather expensive items for the environment preservation". Overall, there was small difference between the university students and the high school students. However, a difference in consciousness for the separation of the trash became distinct obviously, in the difference in each residence form and sex of person. A person living alone and a woman were more negative toward the increase of cost of living for the environmental preservation, rather than persons living with families and men. (Waseda Journal of Human Sciences, 18 (1) : 101-107, 2005)

We investigated the distribution of indigenous and exotic dandelions and their growing environmental conditions in Mikajima district, Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture in Japan. In the overall 167 investigated points in Mikajima district, colonies with indigenous dandelion were 16 (9.6%), exotic dandelion were 132 (79.9%), and both dandelions were 17 (10.2%). There were many other exotic plants in the communities with dandelion colonies. From the comparison of soil properties at each colony, the indigenous dandelion grew in weak acidic soil and the exotic dandelion grew in the slightly alkaline soil. Additionally, exotic dandelion distributed widely in the soil with low to high water contents and wide range of soil hardness. Those distribution characteristics of exotic dandelion indicated that this species easily invaded and distributed in urban area. (Waseda Journal of Human Sciences, 18 (1) : 31-36, 2005)