The natural timber resources of Ghana are declining and there is a need to reverse or stop this. Tree plantations are being promoted to reduce pressure on the natural forests but more needs to be done. Bamboo, a non-timber forest product, is a good alternative to timber and bamboo plantations could help reduce pressure on the natural forests. A number of initiatives and academic studies have been conducted to encourage the domestic and commercial use of bamboo in Ghana and this research sought to add to these. Appropriate incentives for the development of bamboo plantations were explored and arrangements for the design of a bamboo incentive scheme for Ghana were proposed. Large-scale and small-scale plantation developers in the Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo regions were interviewed using structured questionnaires. Purposive sampling was used and a total of 41 interviews were conducted. Profitability of bamboo and high demand for bamboo were the top two desirable incentives amongst large-scale developers. Direct financial support and capacity building, and direct financial support and financial benefits from bamboo were the top two desirable incentives for small-scale developers in the Ashanti and Brong-Ahafo regions, respectively. Furthermore, it is likely that the use of incentives for the development of bamboo plantations would have favourable outcomes in Ghana. Under both the large-scale and small-scale categories, lack of legal backing and favourable state policies and lack of transparency in incentive acquisition processes emerged among the major potential challenges to the use of incentives for bamboo plantation development. The study recommends that the identified incentives should not be administered separately but combined to achieve the desired results.

As reducing firewood intensity per household and increasing the uptake of LPG is central to the energy policy agenda of Ghana, firewood collection, consumption practices and barriers to the uptake of modern fuels among rural households in Ghana were investigated. An interview-based questionnaire was administered to 540 rural household heads in 32 communities in four different ecological zones. Whereas the ecological location of households was the most significant factor influencing daily firewood consumption per capita, the effect of household size on firewood consumption was ecological location dependent. The propensity for small households to adopt modern fuels such as LPG is greater than the larger ones. Females were found to collect firewood from sites farther away from their homestead suggesting that rural females are burdened when there is firewood scarcity and this could compromise their ability to engage in income generating activities. The heating values of the most firewood species used by households were in the range 14.79MJkg^–1–18.75 MJkg^–1. Cost, accessibility, and safety were the major barriers to modern fuels uptake. Rural energy policy should thus respond to these barriers by enforcing regulations and improving supply and distribution networks of LPG.

Cities are complex systems where many factors interconnect, therefore multidisciplinary research is crucial to understand their functional capacity and to improve the quality of life that these spaces offer. This research provides a decade of scientific literature review (2006 to 2016) about urban forest, air quality and health. This review aims to increase the discussion of the importance of multidisciplinary research in urban studies. In total we found 236 papers, from which 50 were selected for the systematic analyses. The number of multidisciplinary research papers is scarce in general, however, it has been growing in recent years. Most studies are found in the United States and China, a few in Latin America, but no studies have been reported in Africa. Few studies approached the three themes aforementioned simultaneously, which highlights the importance of strengthening a multidisciplinary approach for international urban forest research, creating results that allow integration of urban forest environments.

The paper assesses the extent of the forest area change in Turkey between 2005 and 2015 across 81 provinces and seven geographical regions. The results show that the situation varies at provincial and regional levels, but overall Turkey's forest area increased. An increase in forest areas in 60 out of 81 provinces was recorded, while there was a decrease in 19, and no change in the remaining two. There was a significant negative correlation between forest area and human population size. However, the change in forest area was found to have a significant positive relationship with the change in forest growing stock and current annual increment. Decrease in forest area was mainly seen in the provinces where there has been an intensive population increase, mainly through the impact of rapid urbanisation and industrialisation. In addition, it was observed that forest areas in these provinces became more fragmented due to allocations based on new legal regulations. A further finding was that the increase in total forest area was not the result of afforestation efforts by Turkey's forestry organisation but resulted from changes in the socioeconomic structure of the population, and related processes such as rural to urban migration.

This article aims to analyze the adoption of FSC Chain of Custody certification scheme in connection with the adoption of the main general meta-standards (e.g. ISO certifiable standards), in a challenging context such as that faced by Romanian forestry companies. Using a questionnaire-based survey covering a large number of recently certified firms, the study sheds light on the profile of these companies, the drivers of certification, its economic aspects, the perceived benefits, the intention to keep the Chain of Custody certification, as well as some aspects of the joint adoption of FSC Chain of Custody certifiable standards and general meta-standards. The findings show that companies in the sector use the FSC Chain of Custody certification scheme to maintain their external market and to improve their reputation in a context were the image of the Romanian forest sector has been questioned in the media. Premium price for certified products is pointed out by most of the respondents as one of the benefits, although the mentioned premium is below 5% for the majority of them. More than half of the companies have at least one type of ISO certification. Implications for scholars, managers and decisions markers are discussed in the article.

Increased out-migration from rural areas indicates a significant socio-demographic shift that is increasingly being studied for its impact on community-based forestry institutions. Previous studies in Nepal, Mexico and India have highlighted changes in community-based forestry institutions through increased participation of women following out-migration of men. Therefore, this paper analyses the participation of women in Van Panchayats in a representative sample of six Van Panchayats from Almora district, which is facing one of the highest rates of out-migration in Kumaon region of India. The analysis suggests there is low participation of women in the leadership positions of Van Panchayats despite landmark legislations to increase women's participation. Further, there was no statistically significant difference between participation of women from migrant versus non-migrant households in general assembly meetings of Van Panchayats, suggesting lack of supporting evidence on previous claims about out-migration leading to increased participation of women. Moreover, the position of women in the household (whether household head or not) was significant in explaining their participation in Van Panchayats, and other community-based institutions. The reported findings are relevant to the design of gender inclusive public policy on Van Panchayats as well as to the literature on impact of out-migration on community-based forestry.

Although Indonesia has various policy initiatives designed to encourage smallholder forestry, it has not yet achieved its potential. Aggregated national-level data can often mask the variability in household income, making it difficult to tailor national policies to be effective for rural development. This article discusses results from a household survey, with data collected in 2013 and 2017 from a sample of 240 households in eight villages of three provinces in Indonesia: Central Java, South Sulawesi and Yogyakarta. The results indicate farmers across a wide wealth spectrum utilise forestry as an integral component of their farming systems, and that trees provide scope to offset declines in income from other sources. Local economies were found to be dynamic and volatile, with smallholders relying on planted forests to support their livelihoods. Survey results also revealed that most households derived the majority of income from non-farm sources, indicating a diverse rural economy operates across much of Indonesia.

To what extent does consulting with indigenous communities improve the legitimacy of environmental governance? This question was addressed by analysing the consultation process organised within the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) readiness phase in Mexico. Criteria to assess governance legitimacy were compiled from scientific literature and compared with those adopted by international indigenous rights agreements. The extent to which these criteria were met and how they were implemented in two indigenous communities in the Yucatan Peninsula was assessed through documents and interviews analyses. Results show that, despite the progress that Mexico's consultation protocol represents, it did not include an intra-community representation criterion; transparency, accountability and deliberation criteria were not completely reached in practice; there was discordance between official and local participants' understanding of consultation objectives; and no agreement or consent were sought from the participants. These findings provide lessons for other governance projects implemented through consultation with local communities both in Mexico and elsewhere.

In Peru, concessions for harvesting Brazil nuts (fruits of the Amazon tree Bertholletia excelsa) were launched in the Madre de Dios Department in 2000. This study analyses the extent to which the Brazil nut concession system (which covers about 1 million ha of closed canopy forest) has met its objective of providing a governance model for sustainable and equitable use. Primary and secondary information sources were used to analyse governance outcomes based on 10 indicators, and the performance of Brazil nut concessions in two contrasting land-use types in Madre de Dios were compared (within and outside protected areas). It was found that corresponding institutional arrangements have led, more than a decade later, to different socioeconomic, ecological and legal outcomes. Particularly outside protected areas, where the vast majority of the concessions are located, a paradoxical situation was found of ineffective over-regulation on paper but minimal intervention from state agencies; ineffective state monitoring and sanctions; poor law enforcement with excessive punitive measures; power imbalances in the value chain and illegal timber harvesting; the lack of a multiple forest-use framework; and overlapping, conflictual customary and regulatory governance. This paper argues that at present, the long-term sustainability of the Brazil nut concession system seems compromised. If the Brazil nut concession system is to enter into a new decade, this may only be possible by formally recognizing the multiplicity of land uses, implementing and validating sound silvicultural approaches, minimizing land use and management trade-offs in alignment with local aspirations, and establishing effective negotiation platforms with different productive sectors and government agencies.