IUFRO-LIBRO

ORAL SESSIOnS
IUFRO Landscape Ecology Working Group International Conference
system tries to ensure the duo‐goal of biodiversity conservation as well as production of forest products,
whereas the older systemtries toensure species conservation giving less or no emphasis on the reproductive
biology of forests; and 3. the new system seeks the dual responsibility of Government as well as local people
in the decision‐making process so as to regulate the forests and forest products, whereas the old system
solely sought the government agencies to control the forests and forest products. A synopsis of the new
management regime is somewhere in between the two extreme philosophies of forest management: to leave
all management responsibility to the local people vs. to give total control of forests and forest products to the
government. Whatever the management regime enforced in forest management in Nepal, the outcomesare
largely based on how people actually see the new policy. People have expressed mixed opinions regarding this.
Community forests users groups who actually are enjoying full access and withdrawal rights over the forests
with full autonomy have been observed perceiving this idea as curtailing of their freedom over the forests.
On the other hand, people living far away from the forests see this new policy as an opportunity of equal
benefit sharing as they do have equal representation in all decision‐making proceses. Being an independent
analyst, I can largely explore three major observations regarding the new forest management regime in
Nepal ‐ 1. The government’s initiation to regulate the ill‐practicing community forests in the plain seems
somehow logical; 2. A multi‐stakeholder approach to this policy has been seen lacking; 3. The government’s
willingness to conserve biodiversity and meet peoples’ needs of timber and fuel‐wood is a worthwhile policy
decision for the nation. Upon cautious implementation, the objectives of the policy are largely achievable as
the reproductive biology of the forests always tends to make a trade‐off between biodiversity conservation
and silvicultural intervention to augment the forests products.
Key words: Protection forest, Nepal, Sapkota, Biodiversity, Conservation.
Acknowledgements: Nepal Government.
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Effects on epiphyte orchids of cloud forest at local landscape scale
Edicson Parra‐Sánchez a *, Dolors Armenteras a , Oscar Pérez a
*Corresponding author: a Universidad Nacional de Columbia, Bogata, Columbia, 1100123.
eaparras@unal.edu.co
The cloud forest is one of the world’s main biodiversity hotspots, but the land changes by the rural
communities lead to extinction processes in this ecosystem. Orchids are one of the most beautiful and
endangered taxathreatened from extinction, due to the particular and specific habitat relationships. Despite
the fact that orchids have been the object of many researches, scarce information exists regarding their
response to habitat alteration. The goal of this study was quantify and qualify with the community, the
impact of changing landscapes on the abundance/richness of wildorchids in the cloud forest. We sampled
transects in six relicts belonging to rural associations of cloud forest in two Andean ranges (west/central
cordillera) in Valle del Cauca. Alfa and beta diversity; variables related to tree structure (density, frequency
and coverage), and the coverture/use around each relict, were measured. We found new species and
differences in abundance/richness among mountain chains. Abundance and richness were related to the
tree structure. The study showed a marked decrease in abundance and richness of species near the borders
as opposed to the inner areas of each relict, due to tree structure. The orchids abundance at the borders
depended also on the surrounding vegetation, with the multi‐purpose crops with tree coverture showing
higher orchid abundance than other covertures. This finding suggests that changes in land use/cover and
tree structure in cloud forest directly affect the diversity of orchids, and this effect maybe greater in endemic
species. Management activities are necessary to concentrate/maintenance/transform the land use/cover
around the habitat to prevent loss of genetic diversity due to genetic drift.