APP May 2014 presenters

Recordings of our 2021 online seminars now available to view

If you missed any of our 2021 online seminars and would like to catch up, recordings are now available to view HERE.

meg-lowman

Treetops at Risk: new book co-authored by Margaret Lowman, former OCTF Senior Visiting Research Associate

Treetops at Risk

Treetops at Risk

Treetops at Risk brings together the world’s foremost experts on forest canopies, and summarizes their views on the current and future status of forests. Forest canopies not only support high terrestrial biodiversity but also represent a critical interface between atmosphere and the earth. They provide goods and services to support humans, and represent important energy production centers for the planet. Millions of people depend upon forest canopies for their livelihoods, and millions more depend upon future sustainable use of forest resources. The canopy also serves as a hook for education outreach and conservation, inspiring ecotourism and recreation. Despite these critical services provided by forest canopies, very little dedicated research in the treetops was initiated until as recently as the late 1970s when single rope techniques were adapted for use in the canopy. Subsequently, an array of canopy access tools was designed that have opened up this “eighth continent” for global exploration and discovery.

In 2009, the fifth International Canopy Conference was held in Bangalore, India, representing the first time that canopy researchers had convened in a developing country. Not only did this conference jumpstart canopy initiatives in India, but it fostered a broader approach to critical canopy issues facing many emerging countries where forest resources are seriously in decline. Despite the global efforts of hundreds of forest scientists over the past 3 decades, forests are degrading at an accelerated rate and canopy biodiversity is increasingly threatened by human activities. Given these trends, new and innovative approaches must be taken. This volume summarizes the issue of “treetops at risk” and assembles a global authorship to examine past accomplishments and future initiatives critical in forest conservation.

Read more at Springer.com

In addition, Methods in Forest Canopy Research, also co-authored by Margaret Lowman, was published in December 2012 and distributed earlier in the year. Further details available at UCPress.edu

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Law, Tropical Forests and Carbon: The Case of REDD+ – new book co-edited by Dr Constance McDermott, University of Oxford

Emerging from the scientific parameters underpinning REDD+ (including the measurement of carbon stocks, reporting and verification), Law, Tropical Forests and Carbon considers the crucial challenges for global and national governance and the legal rights and interests of indigenous people and local communities, all of which have fundamental implications for development and poverty alleviation. With contributions from leading experts in the fields of law, governance, science, development studies and geography, it sheds light on the complexity of REDD+ and offers perspectives on the extent to which REDD+ agreements can be enforced under international law and in concert with new private and public domestic institutions.

Read more at http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/law/environmental-law/law-…

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"Governing the Provision of Ecosystem Services" – new book co-edited by Dr Laura Rival (Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, University of Oxford)

• Cutting-edge commentary and analysis of governance mechanisms for enhancing the provision of ecosystem services
• Features authors and case studies from around the world
• Offers multiple research perspectives from a range of disciplines

Founded on the core notion that we have reached a turning point in the governance, and thus the conservation, of ecosystems and the environment, this edited volume features more than 20 original chapters, each informed by the paradigm shift in the sector over the last decade. Where once the emphasis was on strategies for conservation, enacted through instruments of control such as planning and ‘polluter pays’ legislation, more recent developments have shown a shift towards incentive-based arrangements aimed at those responsible for providing the environmental services enabled by such ecosystems. Encouraging shared responsibility for watershed management, developed in Costa Rica, is a prime example, and the various interests involved in its instauration in Java are one of the subjects examined here.

Other topics including the interplay between property rights and bioprospecting (a live issue in places where but a small proportion of the insect and plant life has been identified). Other issues explored include the management of marine protected areas, and the controversial issue of payment for ecosystem services. Offering a comprehensive and worldwide perspective on the burgeoning research being devoted to the topic,the authors show how former divisions and dichotomies between state and market, regulation and incentive, or conservation and development, are being broken down by a growing and urgent sense that solutions must be decentralized, more flexible, and more on polycentric institutional arrangements.

For further details, a free preview and/or to purchase, please visit http://www.springer.com/environment/environmental+management/book/978-94…