Wood is globally the most widely used renewable energy source, and accounts for a large
part of e... more Wood is globally the most widely used renewable energy source, and accounts for a large part of energy consumption in developing countries. However, unsustainable production and conversion regimes (e.g. lack of land-use management, corruption) have led to a negative perception of woodfuel. Today, the use of fuelwood or charcoal is often blamed as a major driver in deforestation. When woodfuel is produced sustainably, it is seen in a different light. Experience from many projects shows how sustainable fuelwood or charcoal production positively contributes to energy supply, economical development, environmental protection and social issues. An analysis of six projects, working on sustainable woodfuel production in developing countries, highlights the positive effects of a modern woodfuel value chain with qualitative and quantitative impact data. Almost every project is reporting an increase in local income generation and improved energy supply. Furthermore, every project clearly shows that its activities are creating a positive impact on the environment, such as the rehabilitation of degraded land or forest protection. Besides these positive effects on national and local development, there are specific advantages that should promote its political promotion: it can be renewable, easily accessible and has huge potential as a source of modern energy.
Since the early 1990’s Laos has increasingly opened up for foreign investors interested into natu... more Since the early 1990’s Laos has increasingly opened up for foreign investors interested into natural- and land resources of the country in order to develop its market economy. This has lead to a strong upsurge of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and consequently to dramatic land-use changes. To get more control of these developments and to tackle potential land conflicts, the Lao Government (with support from international donors) has set up a nationwide inventory on land concessions. The inventory was conducted using QGIS as a user-backend and a PostGIS database to manage the complex informations related to the land concessions. The programming and implementation of the concession database has shown that it is possible to setup a sophisticated database management system with zero license costs and, using QGIS as a backend, no need to develop additional user interfaces for data entry. Once setup, the concession database application can be used by governmental staff after a couple of days training and being used as a powerful tool to spatially visualize and analyse the current situation of land concessions countrywide.
In dieser Diplomarbeit soll anhand eines kleinen regionalen Beispieles die Problematik der "Regen... more In dieser Diplomarbeit soll anhand eines kleinen regionalen Beispieles die Problematik der "Regenwald-Zerstörung" untersucht werden. Dabei soll es nicht darum gehen, weitere Argumente für oder gegen die Vernichtung weiterer Regenwaldressourcen zu finden, sondern es wird versucht zu verstehen, was im Moment mit den Wäldern der südwestlichen Zentralafrikanischen Republik geschieht. Im Moment bezieht sich dabei auf einen relativ eng gesetzten Zeitraum, der sich auf Veränderungen innerhalb der ca. letzten dreißig Jahre bezieht. "Geschieht" soll von vornherein implizieren, daß der Wald natürlicherweise einer ständigen Eigendynamik unterliegt, andererseits aber auch stark durch exogene Einflüsse mitgestaltet wird. "Verstehen" meint hier, daß die postulierten rezenten Veränderungen in tropischen Regenwäldern mit geographischen Methoden erfasst und analysiert werden sollen, um eine Aussage über die räumliche Konfiguration von Landbedeckungsmustern machen zu können, die schlussendlich zu einer Beurteilung der aktuell wirkenden Gestaltungskräfte in den wechselfeuchten Tropen der Zentralafrikanischen Republik führen sollen.
Wood is globally the most widely used renewable energy source, and accounts for a large
part of e... more Wood is globally the most widely used renewable energy source, and accounts for a large part of energy consumption in developing countries. However, unsustainable production and conversion regimes (e.g. lack of land-use management, corruption) have led to a negative perception of woodfuel. Today, the use of fuelwood or charcoal is often blamed as a major driver in deforestation. When woodfuel is produced sustainably, it is seen in a different light. Experience from many projects shows how sustainable fuelwood or charcoal production positively contributes to energy supply, economical development, environmental protection and social issues. An analysis of six projects, working on sustainable woodfuel production in developing countries, highlights the positive effects of a modern woodfuel value chain with qualitative and quantitative impact data. Almost every project is reporting an increase in local income generation and improved energy supply. Furthermore, every project clearly shows that its activities are creating a positive impact on the environment, such as the rehabilitation of degraded land or forest protection. Besides these positive effects on national and local development, there are specific advantages that should promote its political promotion: it can be renewable, easily accessible and has huge potential as a source of modern energy.
Since the early 1990’s Laos has increasingly opened up for foreign investors interested into natu... more Since the early 1990’s Laos has increasingly opened up for foreign investors interested into natural- and land resources of the country in order to develop its market economy. This has lead to a strong upsurge of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) and consequently to dramatic land-use changes. To get more control of these developments and to tackle potential land conflicts, the Lao Government (with support from international donors) has set up a nationwide inventory on land concessions. The inventory was conducted using QGIS as a user-backend and a PostGIS database to manage the complex informations related to the land concessions. The programming and implementation of the concession database has shown that it is possible to setup a sophisticated database management system with zero license costs and, using QGIS as a backend, no need to develop additional user interfaces for data entry. Once setup, the concession database application can be used by governmental staff after a couple of days training and being used as a powerful tool to spatially visualize and analyse the current situation of land concessions countrywide.
In dieser Diplomarbeit soll anhand eines kleinen regionalen Beispieles die Problematik der "Regen... more In dieser Diplomarbeit soll anhand eines kleinen regionalen Beispieles die Problematik der "Regenwald-Zerstörung" untersucht werden. Dabei soll es nicht darum gehen, weitere Argumente für oder gegen die Vernichtung weiterer Regenwaldressourcen zu finden, sondern es wird versucht zu verstehen, was im Moment mit den Wäldern der südwestlichen Zentralafrikanischen Republik geschieht. Im Moment bezieht sich dabei auf einen relativ eng gesetzten Zeitraum, der sich auf Veränderungen innerhalb der ca. letzten dreißig Jahre bezieht. "Geschieht" soll von vornherein implizieren, daß der Wald natürlicherweise einer ständigen Eigendynamik unterliegt, andererseits aber auch stark durch exogene Einflüsse mitgestaltet wird. "Verstehen" meint hier, daß die postulierten rezenten Veränderungen in tropischen Regenwäldern mit geographischen Methoden erfasst und analysiert werden sollen, um eine Aussage über die räumliche Konfiguration von Landbedeckungsmustern machen zu können, die schlussendlich zu einer Beurteilung der aktuell wirkenden Gestaltungskräfte in den wechselfeuchten Tropen der Zentralafrikanischen Republik führen sollen.
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part of energy consumption in developing countries. However, unsustainable production and
conversion regimes (e.g. lack of land-use management, corruption) have led to a negative
perception of woodfuel. Today, the use of fuelwood or charcoal is often blamed as a major
driver in deforestation. When woodfuel is produced sustainably, it is seen in a different light.
Experience from many projects shows how sustainable fuelwood or charcoal production
positively contributes to energy supply, economical development, environmental protection
and social issues. An analysis of six projects, working on sustainable woodfuel production in
developing countries, highlights the positive effects of a modern woodfuel value chain with
qualitative and quantitative impact data. Almost every project is reporting an increase in local
income generation and improved energy supply. Furthermore, every project clearly shows
that its activities are creating a positive impact on the environment, such as the rehabilitation
of degraded land or forest protection.
Besides these positive effects on national and local development, there are specific
advantages that should promote its political promotion: it can be renewable, easily accessible
and has huge potential as a source of modern energy.
part of energy consumption in developing countries. However, unsustainable production and
conversion regimes (e.g. lack of land-use management, corruption) have led to a negative
perception of woodfuel. Today, the use of fuelwood or charcoal is often blamed as a major
driver in deforestation. When woodfuel is produced sustainably, it is seen in a different light.
Experience from many projects shows how sustainable fuelwood or charcoal production
positively contributes to energy supply, economical development, environmental protection
and social issues. An analysis of six projects, working on sustainable woodfuel production in
developing countries, highlights the positive effects of a modern woodfuel value chain with
qualitative and quantitative impact data. Almost every project is reporting an increase in local
income generation and improved energy supply. Furthermore, every project clearly shows
that its activities are creating a positive impact on the environment, such as the rehabilitation
of degraded land or forest protection.
Besides these positive effects on national and local development, there are specific
advantages that should promote its political promotion: it can be renewable, easily accessible
and has huge potential as a source of modern energy.