Aslib, IAALD, Intute, IUFROConference

Frontiers in Information Provision for the Bio- and Environmental Sciences

(FIBS)

London 25 January 2007

Developing an evidence-based approach for forestry

Professor Jeffery Burley

Director-Emeritus, Oxford Forestry Institute

Past-President, IUFRO

Development Fellow, Green College

and

Mrs Gillian Petrokofsky

Doctoral Candidate

Department of Plant Sciences

Oxford University

Overview

1. Forest types, locations and changes2. Concepts of sustainable forestry and

benefits 3. Current issues and future challenges4. Information generation and utilization5. Evidence-based policy6. Systematic reviews to improve quality of

forestry evidence base

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTSUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENTThe integration of three spheres of resource use*

Environmental Economic

Social

Goals- genetic diversity- environmental resilience- biological productivity (A)

Goals- increase satisfaction of basic needs- maximum financial returns (C)

Goals- cultural diversity (G)- social justice participation- international stability- enhance equity

(D) (F)

(B)

S.D. (E)

(A) Traditional conservation

(B) Environmental economics

(C) Traditional development

(D) Public forestry

(E) Sustainable development

(F) Marxist economics

(G) Traditional welfare aid

Modified from Hall, J.E. (1992) Doctoral thesis, Oxford Forestry Institute. *Adapted from Barbier (1987)

Sustainable forest managementSustainable forest management

Sustainable management means the stewardship

and use of forest land in a way, and at a rate, that

maintains their biodiversity, productivity,

regeneration capacity, vitality and their potential to

fulfil now, and in the future, relevant ecological,

economic and social functions at local, national, and

global levels; and that does not cause damage to

other ecosystems.

Inter-Ministerial Conference on European Forests, Helsinki, 1993

ATLANTIC FOREST LOSS, BRAZIL, 1945-1990

Source: WWF, NYBG, WCMC

Global forest areas

• Global land area 13 billion ha• Global forest area 3952 million ha

– Africa, Asia, S & Central America 52%– Europe, N. America, Oceania 48%

– Primary forest 36%– Modified natural & semi-natural 60%– Plantations 4%

source: Forest Resources Assessment, 2005

Forests are managed for a multitude of uses and values

Forest Resources Assessment 2005

Environmental challenges

• Natural environment – climate, diseases• Man-made environment – pollution • Managerial environment – additives,

technologies• Technological environment - processing and

uses (environmentally friendly; diversity; small sizes; new products; market preferences)

• Socio-cultural-political environment

Forestry issues in the third millennium

– Biodiversity conservation; indigenous species

– Environmental quality and changes– Carbon sequestration/trading

– Renewable energy

– Deforestation - desertification and flooding

– Commoditization, trade, incentives, corruption, conflict

– Food security, poverty alleviation and human health

– Policy reform, professional status and public/political support; internationalization of forests

Research problems in developing countriesResearch problems in developing countries

• Researchers often work in isolation (geographically & socially) or in small groups.

• Lack of access to resources- skills- manpower- research facilities- finance- current information- opportunities for international collaboration- channels through which to disseminate results

• Lack of recognition between policy makers and scientists

Examples of types of collaboration

International political, economic and technical organizations, e.g. NAFTA, EEC,WTA,FAO, UNFF

Trade federations , e.g. TTF

Joint forest management, e.g. IndiaCo-operative research centres, e.g. ENSISInternational research centres, e.g. CIFORResearch networks, e.g. APAFRI, IUFRO

Forest education

Google492,000,000

Google492,000,000

Sources of forestry information

• Primary data

• Research Journals

• Books

• Working papers, reports, etc.

• Bibliographic databases

• Subject gateways, portals – Intute, GFIS

• Institutions, societies - IUFRO

Growth in forestry researchgrowth of research

0

50000

100000

150000

200000

250000

PY <= "1939" PY = 1940-1949 PY = 1950-1959 PY = 1960-1969 PY = 1970-1979 PY = 1980-1989 PY = 1990-1999 PY=2000-2010

date range

#of

abst

ract

s fo

r d

ate

ran

ge

source: CAB International 2005

Plethora of journal papers

Forest Ecology & Management (471) Canadian J. Forest Research (243) Forest Products Journal (163) Acta Ecologica Sinica (126) Forestry Chronicle (119) International Geoscience & Remote Sensing Symposium IGARSS (111) Biological Conservation (102) USDA Forest Service General Technical Report PNW (97) Chinese J. Applied Ecology (92) Journal of Forestry (82) Biodiversity and Conservation (78) Trees Structure and Function (77)

Biogeosciences Discussions (75) Ecology (73) Remote Sensing of Environment (71) Agricultural & Forest Meteorology (69) Journal of Tropical Ecology (68) Journal of Forest Research (66) Ecological Applications (66) Biotropica (66) Proceedings of SPIE the International Society for Optical Engineering (65) Chinese Journal of Ecology (65) PPI this Week (64) Journal of Forest Science (62) Conservation Biology (61)

Forest Science lists ca. 4700 titles abstracted

Scopus lists 133 journals publishing >20 papers in 2005

Journals with high numbers of papers on ‘forestry’

Bibliographic databases Total

23/1/2007

Published >2002

Resource “Silviculture” in title

Google Scholar

Web of Knowledge [1970]

Scopus [1965]

CAB Abstracts – Forest Science/TREECD [1937]

Biological Abstracts [1968]

Cambridge Scientific Abstracts [1975]

1750 359 250 2000 207 139

176 65 50 137 25 23

Brief history of Forestry Bureau

• Established in 1938 – part of Imperial Agricultural Bureaux (1927)

• Took over work of Documentation Section of Imperial Forestry Institute in Oxford (later CFI then OFI)

• Professor Schlich (School of Forestry 1905) • Current Monthly Record of forestry literature

(1936-39) became Forestry Abstracts (June1939)• Launched with plea that “any shortcomings in it will

be leniently regarded…in view of its preparation in circumstances of some difficulty”

Work of Bureau

• Literature from Oxford Forestry Institute• Literature received directly by Bureau• Literature abstracted at other libraries (in Oxford or

elsewhere in UK)• In 1980/81 the CFI library received

– 2376 periodical issues – 1992 ‘bulletins’, – 286 annual reports, – 193 books, 10 maps

• 380 periodical titles (12% increase on 1977/78)

What is evidence-based forestry?

Best research evidence

Stakeholder acceptability(practical values, circumstances)

Professional expertise

Evidence based policy

• Review existing research • Commission new research • Consult ‘experts’….stakeholders • Consider a wide range of properly costed and

appraised options

Evidence based policy

quality of information quality of utilization

good good

poor poor

‘4S’ levels of research evidence

Haynes, R.B. Evidence Based Mental Health 2001

Steps to practise EBF

1. convert need for information into an answerable question

2. track down best evidence with which to answer question

3. systematically appraise that evidence for validity (closeness to truth), impact (size of effect) and applicability (usefulness to current purpose)

4. integrate systematic appraisal with professional expertise and with practical values and circumstances defined

5. evaluate effectiveness and efficiency in executing steps

1-4 and improve them (feedback loop)

Development of the Field of Systematic Reviewing

19801980 20002000

C2C2

19881988

CSLPCSLP

19931993

C1C1

EPPIEPPI

19941994

CRDCRD

19951995

JBIJBI

19991999

CERMCERM

20022002

WWCWWC

2006200619871987

SCTASCTA

Outside US:Outside US:

(Sweden, CA, UK, AU)(Sweden, CA, UK, AU)11

Inside USInside US

BVP(US)BVP(US)

1Not shown are organizations that will be included in round 2 of data collection: CDC GAO, Policy Hub, UK Home Office, DE&S, SSIE, and NICE.

Cochrane Collaboration

• founded in 1993 and named for the British epidemiologist, Archie Cochrane

• international non-profit and independent• dedicated to making readily available,

worldwide, up-to-date, accurate information about the effects of healthcare

• Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews • promotes the search for evidence in the form of

clinical trials and other studies of interventions• Sir Iain Chalmers

Centre for Evidence-Based Conservation

• established in the UK in 2003 • support decision making in conservation and

environmental management through the production and dissemination of systematic reviews on the effectiveness of management and policy interventions

• support from a wide range of organizations in the environmental and academic sectors

• undertakes systematic reviews • website acts as the primary gateway to reliable

information on effectiveness based on the best available scientific evidence

Systematic reviews

• Development of a protocol in collaboration with stakeholders

• Development of appropriate searching strategy• Develop and apply critical appraisal tools

– internal validity – bias associated with experimental or monitoring designs

• Data synthesis – qualitative syntheses– multivariate quantitative approaches– meta-analysis– publication bias

Systematic reviews

    • Are Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica)

Control and Eradication Interventions Effective?

• Do Hedgerow Corridors Increase the Population Viability of Woodland Species?

• Acupuncture for Parkinson's Disease • Vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella in

children

ConclusionsConclusions• Multiple benefits of forests• Prioritize issues and associated research and

policy needs using information better• Need increased collaboration among

disciplines and stakeholders• Cooperation between developing and

developed countries mutually beneficial• Need targetted financial and political

support on the basis of sound evidence