Evidence correlates physical activity, psychological restoration, and social health to proximity to parks and sites of recreation. The purpose of this study was to identify perceived constraints to park use in low-income communities facing significant health disparities, but with proximate access to underutilized parks. The authors used a series of focus groups with families, teens, and older a...

Introduction Community Based Forestry (CBF) implies commitment to the long term ecological, economic and social well being of forest dependent communities. CBF, or community scale sustainable forestry, constitutes a departure from industrial forestry due to this commitment to the preservation of the ecological integrity of the forest ecosystem in perpetuity and to the maintenance or improvement...

Aim of study: Orchidaceae has the largest number of species of any family in the plant kingdom. This family is subject to a high risk of extinction in natural environments, such as natural parks and protected areas. Recent studies have shown the prevalence of many species of orchids to be linked to fungal soil diversity, due to their myco-heterotrophic behaviour. Plant communities determine fun...

We studied the Noel Kempff Mercado Climate Action Project (NKMCAP), Bolivia, to assess whether forest protection carbon (C) projects can significantly benefit local people. We hypothesized that forest protection can only securely deliver C if significant stakeholders are meaningfully and transparently involved, traditional or customary rights are recognized and their loss compensated for, and t...

Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, as well as conservation and enhancement of forest carbon stocks and promoting sustainable management of forests in developing countries (REDD+) has been proposed as an effective mechanism to mitigate the impacts of climate change. However, in view of the significant dependence of the local communities, indigenous peoples, women and o...

Urban green spaces provide important recreational, social and psychological benefits to stressed city residents. This paper aims to understand the importance of parks for visitors. We focus on Delhi, the world’s second most populous city, drawing on 123 interviews with park visitors in four prominent city parks. Almost all respondents expressed the need for more green spaces. Visitors valued pa...

Key points • Regions where community forest enterprises dominate the landscape have low to non-existent deforestation, sustainable forest management, enhancement of carbon stocks, forest conservation and substantial generation of sustainable livelihoods. Corruption and deforestation are also associated with some Mexican forest communities, but these regions have created a sector with hundreds o...

The Agaricomycotina are a phylogenetically diverse group of fungi that includes both saprotrophic and mycorrhizal species, and that form species--rich communities in forest ecosystems. Most species are infrequently observed, and this hampers assessment of the role that environmental heterogeneity plays in determining local community composition and in driving beta-diversity. We used a combinati...