Recent Asian Forest Transitions in Relation to Forest-Transition Theory

International Forestry Review 9(1):491-502. 2007 
https://doi.org/10.1505/ifor.9.1.491

Transitions récentes de forêts asiatiques, et leur relation à la théorie de transition des forêts
Teoría de transición forestal y casos recientes de transición forestal en Asia

Author

A. S. Mather

[-] Author & Article Info

Author Affiliations

A. S. Mather

Professor Mather sadly died before completing revisions on this paper. The original manuscript was, however, regarded highly by the referees and required minimal modification. This task was undertaken by two of Professor Mather's colleagues, Pekka Kauppi and Paul E Waggoner with the approval of the author's family.Department of Geography and Environment, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 3UF, Scotland

SUMMARY

China, India and Viet Nam have recently experienced forest transitions from net deforestation to net reforestation as many European countries and US states underwent in the past. An embryonic forest-transition theory seeks to explain the phenomenon. Three recent Asian cases indicate that long established trends, usually perceived as representing environmental degradation, can be halted and reversed in the global South. Similarities and differences among the cases confirm that existing forest-transition theory needs refinement, in part by acknowledging the significant role played by government.

La Chine, l'Inde et le Vietnam on récemment fait l'expérience de transitions forestières du déboisement net au reboisement net, comme celles qu'ont connu plusieurs pays Européens et Etats américains dans le passé. Une théorie de transition forestière embryonique s'efforce d'expliquer ce phénomène. Trois cas asiatiques récents indiquent que des courants établis depuis longtemps et habituellement perçus comme une repésentation du dégradement environnemental, peuvent être arrêtés et changer de direction dans le Sud global. Différences et similarités parmi les cas confirment que la théorie de transition forestière actuellement en cours a besoin d'être raffinée, et que le rôle important joué par le gouvernement doit être pris en compte.

En los últimes tiempos, China, la India y Vietnam han experimentado un proceso de transitión forestal similar al proceso vivido en el pasado por muchos países europeos y estados norteamericanos, con una transitión entre la deforestatión neta y la reforestatión neta. Una teoría de transición forestal embriónica tiene como objetivo explicar este fenómeno. Tres casos recientes en Asia parecen indicar que resulta posible que en los países del Sur tendencias establecidas que se consideran normalmente como representativas de la degradatión ambientalse se detengan y se inviertan. Los parecidos y las diferencias entre los casos en cuestión confirman la necesidad de perfeccionar la teoría existente de transición forestal, como por ejemplo en el reconocimiento del papel importante que desempeñan los gobiernos.

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Their paper implies steady expansion of the forest area from 1961. This is at odds with other data on Indian forest trends

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