Study on China's Timber Resource Shortage and Import Structure: Natural Forest Protection Program Outlook, 1998 to 2008

Has China’s Natural Forest Protection Program Protected Forests?—Heilongjiang’s Experience

Since the late 1990s, China has been implementing one of the largest ecological restoration initiatives in not only the country but also the world—the Natural Forest Protection Program (NFPP). An overarching question is how severe the regional deforestation had become before the NFPP was initiated and whether the forest condition in the protected area has significantly improved afterwards. The ...

Annual Energy Outlook 1998

OECD Employment Outlook 2008

Despite some progress, there is still evidence of discrimination on the grounds of gender and ethnic or racial origins in OECD labour markets. Field experiments show pervasive ethnic discrimination in many countries. Indirect evidence shows that on average at least 8% of the gender employment gap and a larger proportion of the gender wage gap can be attributed to discrimination. Virtually all O...

Forest Growth and Timber Quality

F OR ESTER S ROUTINELY ESTIM ATE THE economic potential of a standing forest resource as lumber. It is usual to consider the straightness and size of a tree to estimate gross recovery and the range of lumber products that might be produced. However, such estimates are usually subjective and depend on the knowledge and experience of the assessor. Several conversion modeling packages are availab...

Outlook on a Worldwide Forest Transition

It is not clear whether a worldwide "forest transition" to net reforestation will ever occur, and the need to address the main driver--agriculture--is compelling. We present a mathematical model of land use dynamics based on the world food equation that explains historical trends in global land use on the millennial scale. The model predicts that a global forest transition only occurs under a s...