From plots to policy : how to ensure long-term forest plot data supports environmental management in intact tropical forest landscapes
Date
27/04/2021Author
Grant ID
NE/R000751/1
RPG-2018-306
Keywords
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Abstract
Long‐term data from permanent forest inventory plots have much to offer the management and conservation of intact tropical forest landscapes. Knowledge of the growth and mortality rates of economically important species, forest carbon balance, and the impact of climate change on forest composition are all central to effective management. However, this information is rarely integrated within the policymaking process. The problem reflects broader issues in using evidence to influence environmental management, and in particular, the need to engage with potential users beyond the collection and publication of high‐quality data. To ensure permanent plot data are used, (a) key “policy windows”—opportunities to integrate data within policy making—need to be identified; (b) long‐term relationships need to be developed between scientists and policy makers and policymaking organizations; and (c) leadership of plot networks needs to be shared among all participants, and particularly between institutions in the global north and those in tropical countries. Addressing these issues will allow permanent plot networks to make tangible contributions to ensuring that intact tropical forest persists over coming decades.
Citation
Baker , T R , Vicuña Miñano , E , Banda-R , K , del Castillo Torres , D , Farfan-Rios , W , Lawson , I T , Loja Alemán , E , Pallqui Camacho , N , Silman , M R , Roucoux , K H , Phillips , O L , Honorio Coronado , E N , Monteagudo Mendoza , A & Rojas Gonzáles , R 2021 , ' From plots to policy : how to ensure long-term forest plot data supports environmental management in intact tropical forest landscapes ' , Plants, People, Planet , vol. 3 , no. 3 , pp. 229-237 . https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10154
Publication
Plants, People, Planet
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
2572-2611Type
Journal item
Rights
Copyright © 2020 The Authors, Plants, People, Planet © New Phytologist Trust. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Description
Funded by Natural Environment Research Council (NERC; grants NE/R000751/1 and NE/H011773/1) and the Leverhulme Trust (grant RPG‐2018‐306). We thank the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for the grant “Monitoring Protected Areas in Peru to Increase Forest Resilience to Climate Change” (#5349), which funded the expansion and integration of the permanent plot network in Peru, 2017‐2020. We also thank the many funding agencies that have supported the establishment and maintenance of long‐term plots in Peru, including NERC, the National Geographic Society, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the European Research Council, and the US National Science Foundation Long‐Term Research in Environmental Biology Program.Collections
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