forests

In this special issue on Disempowering Democracies, Melis Ece, James Murombedzi and Jesse Ribot show how, though all major agencies intervening in community-based and carbon forestry – such as international development agencies, conservation institutions, and national governments – state that their interventions must engage local participation in decision making, forestry interventions conversely weaken local democracy.

In this special issue on Disempowering Democracies, Dan Brockington reviews the book Democracy in the Woods: Environmental Conservation and Social Justice in India, Tanzania, and Mexico (Studies in Comparative Energy and Environmental Politics) by Prakash Kashwan.

Kamaljit Kaur Sangha and Jeremy Russell-Smith propose an integrated ecosystem services (ES) valuation framework for an indigenous savanna estate in northern Australia, describing how capabilities along with biophysical and socio-cultural ES benefits play a vital role for peoples’ well-being.

Allison L. Mayberry, Alice J. Hovorka and Kate E. Evans use qualitative methods to explore human experiences with elephants and perceived impacts of elephants on human well-being in northern Botswana. They emphasize the importance of investigating both visible and hidden impacts of elephants on human well-being to foster holistic understanding of human-elephant conflict scenarios and to inform future mitigation strategies.

In this Special Section on the Green Economy in the South, Peter Howson reflects on the Sungai Lamandau REDD+ demonstration activity in Indonesia. He focuses on “intimate exclusions” – everyday processes of accumulation and dispossession among villagers and small-holders – to highlight the hazards of developing REDD+ projects structured with limited sympathy for marginalized actors.

Kimberly R. Marion Suiseeya draws attention to the persistent justice debates in Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation plus the enhancement of carbon stocks (REDD+) and the role of norms in constraining and shaping policy designs and outcomes.

Across eleven chapters, the contributors to this edited volume survey the histories of state forestry policy in Scandinavia, the Low Countries, Germany, Poland, and Great Britain from the early modern period to the present.

Alice B. Kelly Pennaz traces the complex history of the United States (US) Park Ranger through time to show how the Ranger as an outward embodiment of state power has been contradicted by administrative and practical logics directing rangers to educate, welcome, and guide park visitors.

This issue of Forest Voice, a publication of the Native Forest Council, showcases the work of the NFC, of other activist groups, and of citizens to investigate legal action on forest plans. It highlights the power of the Big Timber lobby and critiques the Forest Service for “sleeping with the industry.” Vortic Kezor offers a children’s fairy tale with a moral about the value of stubbornness and faith in one’s own power.

This issue of Forest Voice, a publication of the Native Forest Council, showcases the work of the NFC, of other activist groups, and of citizens to investigate legal action on forest plans. It focuses on Congress efforts to sneak unlimited “salvage” logging past the law and the people. Victor Rozek draws a connection between inflammatory rhetoric and violence. In his column, Howie Wolke reflects on the large-scale grassroots “uprising” as a strategy for conservation groups dealing with politicians.