News - Forests and Societies Research unit

A common framework for modelling the regeneration of disturbed tropical forests

15/08/2023

Until now, there has been no model of forest regeneration trajectories, considering disturbed forests within a common framework, along a gradient of disturbance intensity, according to different types of disturbance. This model, developed by an international team of researchers including three members of the UPR Forêts et Sociétés and published in the journal Ecological Modelling, makes it possible to understand and compare the way in which vegetation attributes overlap in disturbed forests. The abstract of this publication is reproduced below.

What potential does certification have in the fight against imported tropical deforestation?

25/07/2023

For almost thirty years, private certification standards have been developed and implemented to differentiate and promote sustainable agricultural and forestry sectors. These standards are now being considered as a way of helping to combat deforestation imported by France, and potentially by the European Union. But are they up to the challenge?

To combat deforestation, let's help small producers change their practices

27/06/2023

Europe is now banning imports of products derived from deforestation. But for Plinio Sist, author of an article published in Reporterre, the measure will be ineffective unless producers are helped to change their practices.

Putting the forest landscape restoration approach into practice

20/06/2023

The result of a thematic day and the reflections of a working group on the Restoration of Forest Landscapes (GT-RPF) in which several members of the UPR Forêts et Sociétés participated, a summary note drawn up by the CST Forêt aims to complete the very many existing works on the subject, in particular by highlighting the critical points with regard to the operationalisation of the approach.

Biogeography of central African forests: Determinants, ongoing threats and conservation priorities of mammal assemblages

06/06/2023

Central Africa is home to a diverse and emblematic megafauna, which is threatened by changes in climate and land use, as well as increased defaunation due to hunting. Although crucial for the coordination of regional conservation actions, the way in which species assemblages are spatially structured remains poorly understood. A recent study, the results of which have been published in Diversity and Distributions, aims to fill this gap for the mammals of the Central African forests.

Two new PROFEAAC practical guides

30/05/2023

Publication of two new practical guides As part of the PROmouvoir et Formaliser l'Exploitation Artisanale du bois d'œuvre en Afrique Centrale (PROFEAAC) project, two illustrated practical guides have been produced and will shortly be distributed to volunteers supervised as part of forest rehabilitation activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Cameroon.

Un inventaire d'environ 12 000 arbres a été effectué dans plus de 150 cacaoyères à travers la Côte d’Ivoire © B. Hérault, Cirad

Cocoa and agroforestry: betting on natural tree regeneration

02/05/2023

Cocoa growing is still one of the main causes of deforestation in West Africa. However, nowadays, using agroforestry, the value chain is helping to reintroduce trees into the landscape. This is a vital transition, but one that relies on costly programmes. In Ivory Coast, scientists have gone over 240 hectares of cocoa plantings with a fine-tooth comb. Their results are encouraging the value chain to bet more on natural regeneration, either of the trees already there or via spontaneous new trees.

Tropical forests: "Recognition of community land rights is a virtuous bulwark against deforestation".

18/04/2023

Wanting to preserve biodiversity in tropical forest areas without involving the local and indigenous communities who live there is neither fair nor effective, say geographer Christian Kull and ecologist Jacques Tassin in an article for "Le Monde".

An environmental justice perspective on ecosystem services

14/03/2023

Mainstreaming of ecosystem service approaches has been proposed as one path toward sustainable development. Meanwhile, critics of ecosystem services question if the approach can account for the multiple values of ecosystems to diverse groups of people, or for aspects of inter- and intra-generational justice. In particular, an ecosystem service approach often overlooks power dimensions and capabilities that are core to environmental justice.

Summary of the different steps to build the thesaurus

Semantics about soil organic carbon storage: DATA4C+, a comprehensive thesaurus and classification of management practices in agriculture and forestry

07/03/2023

Identifying the drivers of soil organic carbon (SOC) stock changes is of the utmost importance to contribute to global challenges like climate change, land degradation, biodiversity loss, or food security.

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