Multi-Functional, Multipurpose, Multi-Discipline, Multiresource Inventory and Monitoring

Designing Multipurpose Resource Inventories

Workshop: 2000 February,Turrialba, Costa Rica 

top left: Gavin Nicol, Jim Bampton, Gyde Lund, Vic Rudis, Hans Schreuder, Armond Joyce, Christoph Kleinn
bottom left: Rudolfo Vieto, Claudia Scholz, Julian Evans, Bastiaan Louman, Alli Bisti Morgan, Sander van den Ende
(photo outside training facility. red shrubs with harvester ant defoliation.More on Costa Rica’s species and ecosystems) 
Sponsors: CATIE and USDA Scientific Cooperation Research Program
 
Highlights of my Costa Rica tour.about 4.5 MB of images in MS Powerpoint
 Perspectives of an FIA analyst | Acknowledgements Comments/additions welcomed: vrudis@fs.fed.us .
Online since April 2000, revised August. Last update: October 2, 2000
Instructors:
Participants:
Information on Guyana’s “forest inventory” is within : http://www.guyanaca.com/Update/june1999.html Excerpt below: An inventory is being created by the Guyana Forestry Commission to promote sustainable forestry management. Called the National Forest Inventory, it will be geared to support initiatives of the planning, implementation and monitoring of allocation and harvesting plans by operatives. The inventory is being prepared by the Ministry of Forestry with the assistance of Mr Gavin Nicol of Britain's Department for International Development. Mr Nicol is to be joined by other forest management specialists in working out specific aspects of the project. Meanwhile, as part of its drive to improve forest management, the Ministry recently held an eight-day field course in tree identification, forest measurement and forest inventory. The course, which took place at the Yarrowkabra Training and Research Center, was conducted by Mr Nicol and attended by 12 staff members of the Guyana Forestry Commission.
1998 M.Sc. SCM/DFID Manejo Florestal 1994 Pembroke College/Oxford Forestry Institute. "Stakeholder analysis of British forestry and the options for ownership and management of the State forests." Current project: http://www.cnpq.br/mamiraua/mamiraua2.htmThe Mamirauá Sustainable Development Reserve (RSDM) was created in 1990 as an Ecological Station by the Governor of the state of Amazonas. In 1996, with the completion of the Management Plan, its status was changed to that of a Sustainable Development Reserve, again by the state government. The Reserve’s objective is the protection of the várzea at the confluence of the Solimões and Japurá rivers, near the town of Tefé (see map).
I offer those of you who wish, a subscription to a newsletter (tri-annual) published by a creative reforestation company operating in the Pacific coastal zone of the Republic of Panama. To subscribe send a request to snfutfor@sinfo.net . We reforest semi abandoned to abandoned cow pastures with a mixture of native species (5 per hectare). We sell investments in plantation grown wood and sequestered carbon. We plant at extremely low densities and encourage natural regeneration. The newsletter is short, describes one article on technical aspects of forestry (enrichment plantings), one on ecology (Central America), and another on commercial aspects of forestry(Global). We accept relevant article contributions. Sander van den Ende, Futuro Forestal, Apdo 6-25-39, El Dorado Panamá, Rep. de Panamá 
Other Web links:
Recollections:
Epilogue to “designing multipurpose forest resource inventories” or “Lessons and Perspectives” I have learned:
(1)Having more than one estimate of forest cover is the norm, rather than the exception. Example: Costa Rica’s forest land estimates are varied, as are trends. Reference: Christoph Kleinn’s paper (in press) and presentation. 
The U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Program traditionally assumes that its estimates are the standard by which others draw conclusions. FIA may assume that it has the most rigorous estimation procedures. In the past, FIA has downplayed the significance of its nonforest estimates of pastureland and agricultural land. (That’s the primary responsibility of the U.S.'s National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and its Nationanl Resources Inventory (NRI). In reality, FIA estimates are not “the” only estimate, but one of several. NRCS’s NRI and interpretation of a variety of satellite images (AVHRR, LANDSAT, etc.) by state and regional agencies are some others. Some FIA estimates of nonforest categories are likely equally as justifiable  as interpreted by others.

(2)Consider what are truly “inaccessible” plots. Example:  Flooding in the rainy season allows boats to reach the trees. But flooding is also so high that only the crowns of trees are visible. Then when you get into the water to measure diameters, there are the pirhanas! (Not to worry, though. They only attack if they sense blood). When floodwaters recede, there are few roads, so visiting plots in dry season is near impossible. In Nicaragua, there is also the problem of military guerilla warfare.

FIA’s “inaccessible” plots don’t hold a candle to those in developing countries. FIA traditionally assumes that imagery is not very valuable unless there is ground truth. Remote imagery is the norm for developing countries. In some situations, FIA is justified in estimating resources remotely.

(3)Incorporate knowledge of existing resources and trends. Example: Uses and trends of resources in Brazil’s Amazon are limited to unwritten language or experience by locals. In many areas such as these, assembling indigenous knowledge about forest resources is a logical starting point, as precise observations are rare. As with many nontree species throught the world, annual wood ring counts to estimate growth and yield of trees are virtually nonexistent in the tropics, so the rare long-term observations may be the only other way to reliably estimate rates of growth and mortality. In Puerto Rico, long-term tree measurement studies, e.g., Weaver 1979, Parresol 1995 provide otherwise unavailable information to predict growth and yield of individual tree species.

FIA should count its blessings. Rates of change in nontraditional species (shrubs, etc.), human activities (trash dumping, hunting, livestock grazing, etc.),and ecological processes (fire, fire exclusion, succession) may be examined similarly with existing, or establishing new, long-term monitoring plots in each ecoregion for economically important species that otherwise do not lend themselves to traditional timber measurements. For examples, see item 5 (nontimber products).

(4)There are kernels of similarity among disparate countries’ capabilities and interests in forest survey information. Example:s: what is a forest, what is a tree, what is the product of interest extracted from the forest? Each country has differing needs, differing standards (or no standards) by which these are classified. See also Gyde Lund's forest and tree definitions from around the world. Less-developed countries can easily be taken advantage of without “basic” information about existing, often remote, resources being extracted by paternalistic loggers and company representatives.

FIA’s consistency and priority issues among FIA units and disciplines mirror those among countries. The protocols for what consititute traditional timber measurements, and what are the “other” important attributes to be measured, are two examples. Cultivate consensus where possible but appreciate differences in local products, local management practices (termed ethnoforestry), local priorities attached to their measurement, and differing measurement procedures. At the same time, recognize that a dominating timber-centric viewpoint, and the FS-NRCS framework (i.e., disparate division of inventory effort by resource responsibilities), limit other-resource-centered solutions. This is demonstrated, in part, by solutions proposed for other countries, with other institutional frameworks.

(5)Nontimber forest production is an important business in Latin America. Example: Items of the forest other than wood: In the tropics, they include heart of palm, ferns and orchid flowers for the floral trade. Another: ecotourism "hot spots" to see the charismatic megafauna (monkeys, sloths, scarlet macaw and other rare bird species) in their native environment.

National inventories in the U.S., traditionally focused on timber, such as the FIA Program, or agricultural production, such as the NRCS's NRI, could well adapt its forest surveys to measure the other important species, products, or practices. In the U.S. these might include agroforestry activities like peanuts, watermelons, or livestock grazing in the early years of pine plantations. Also, also important specialty products like morel mushrooms, bear grass in the Pacific Northwest, moss for the floral trade, orchids and other rare and endangered native woodland plants for the nursery industry. Still other examples are hunting lease sales, ecotourist visiting spots, etc.

(6)There are valuable perspectives to be gained from articles about inventories of developing countries, particularly solutions to selected special-purpose-inventory problems.. 

FIA and others would do well to examine the literature on resource estimation beyond the U.S. borders. Citations of selected, novel approaches to solve aspects of multipurpose inventories that were recently introduced will be assembled. One example is for the countries of the Caribbean islands. Also, check out the titles in the table of contents of articles by international authors in the publication: Hansen, M.H.; Burk, T.E., eds. Integrated tools for natural resources inventories in the 21st century: an international conference on the inventory and monitoring of forested ecosystems; 1998 August 16-19; Boise, ID. Gen. Tech. Rep. NC-212. St. Paul, MN: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, North Central Research Station. To obtain this publication (while supplies last), click on the North Central Research Station's publication website and ask for GTR-NC-212.  

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