Review Plantations for Protective Purposes and Rehabilitation

Abstract

Planting trees for protective purposes is an increasingly important aspect in tropical forestry. Protective forest plantations are not only key elements in the protection of water resources, of soils from erosion, etc., but also they are elements in the mitigation of carbon emissions and minimizing loss of forest biodiversity. The area of tropical forest plantations for protection is 30.1 million ha (2005), with about two-thirds of the area in Asia. This chapter reviews various aspects of protective forest plantations in the tropics, including rehabilitation and restoration.