Climate change adaptation for managing non-timber forest products in the Nepalese Himalaya

Modeling current and future distribution patterns of Uvaria chamae in Benin (West Africa): Challenges and opportunities for its sustainable management

Uvaria chamae is a wild shrub species widely used as a source for traditional medicine, food and fuel in West Africa. The species is threatened by uncontrolled harvesting of its roots for pharmaceutical applications and by the extension of agricultural land. This study assessed the role of environmental variables for the current distribution and the potential impact of climate change on the future spatial distribution of U. chamae in Benin. We used data related to climate, soil, topography and land cover to model the distribution of the species. Occurrence data were combined with six least correlated bioclimatic variables derived from the WorldClim database, data on soil layers (texture and pH) and topography (slope) obtained from the FAO world database and land cover from the DIVA-GIS site. Random Forest (RF), Generalized Additive Models (GAM), Generalized Linear Models (GLM) and the Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) algorithm were used to predict the current and future (2050-2070) distribution of the species. Two climate change scenarios (SSP245 and SSP585) were considered for the future predictions. The results showed that climate (i.e., water availability) and soil type are the key predictors of the distribution of the species. Based on future climate projections, RF, GLM and GAM models predict that the Guinean-Congolian and Sudano-Guinean zones of Benin will remain suitable for U. chamae, while it will decline in these zones according to the MaxEnt model. These results call for a timely management effort for the species in Benin through its introduction into agroforestry systems to ensure the continuity of its ecosystem services.

Education and sustainable forest management in the mid-hills of Nepal

There are only limited policy levers that governments can use to facilitate sustainable development within remote rural communities. Often marginalised communities are almost uniquely dependent on the exploitation of local natural resources to generate livelihoods. We examine how formal education, both of household heads and more broadly across households, influences perceived opportunities for the conception, management and utilisation of community forests in the mid-hills of Nepal. As societies transition, more sophisticated economies will require education to facilitate effective natural resource management. New challenges are emerging for community forestry as a result. The quantitative socio-ecological data analysis suggests that while the roles of community forests are evolving, education is key to household participation in commercial opportunities. Formal education in the household is shown to be associated with a greater recognition of the importance of the commercialisation of forest timber and food products, and the desire to participate in further commercial forest activities. Education in the household also provides respondents with a more sophisticated understanding of new opportunities, ecosystem services and risks associated with the forest, and the abilities to actively manage the forest and influence planning. Formal education empowers people to become local experts in forest management and participate in new opportunities that forests provide. Any failure to examine household education levels may be neglecting key sociological data on the importance of education for sustainable development outcomes. In the rural margins of the mid-hills of Nepal there are opportunities for further aligning formal education with forestry policy.