Participatory upland resource management
Developing participatory and integrated watershed management. P. Warren. 1998. Community Forestry Case Study Series No. 13. Rome, FAO.
This document, a case study of the FAO/Italy Inter-regional Project for Participatory Upland Conservation and Development (PUCD), focuses on the project's experience in establishing participatory and integrated (collaborative) watershed management schemes in selected locations in five developing countries: Bolivia, Burundi, Nepal, Pakistan and Tunisia. It begins with the history of the PUCD project, highlighting the process by which the donor government, FAO and the national counterparts identified the institutional and territorial settings for the project. Part 1 also presents the project design and describes the creation and tasks of the National Field Teams which were in charge of project implementation.
Part 2 describes the methods adopted by the PUCD project's field teams to start up and support the participatory and integrated watershed management process, including activities for both natural resource management and development. It describes the identification of goals and actions by local actors, project implementation and preliminary outcomes. The last chapter in Part 2 addresses participatory monitoring, evaluation and re-planning.
Part 3 of the case study deals with the ongoing process of ensuring the continuity of the project activities after the end of international support, and methods being developed to share experiences with a wider audience. The concepts of participation, integration and watershed management are discussed and redefined in light of project experience.
This publication examines participatory and integrated watershed management as a specific example of collaborative natural resource management. It will be of particular interest to people working in mountain development, especially in poor areas. It will also be of interest to a wider audience, as many aspects of this experience and of the lessons learned from the project are highly relevant to other collaborative natural resource management contexts.
Substitution of forest products
The competitive climate for wood products and paper packaging: the factors causing substitution with emphasis on environmental promotions. J. Burrows and B. Sanness, eds. 1999. Oslo, Norway, Living Forests. ISBN 82-91994-10-2.
This report was prepared as an initiative of the Subgroup Substitution Project of the FAO/Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) Team of Public Relations Specialists in the Forest and Forest Industries Sector. Its purpose is to review the competitive climate for the forest products industry relative to plastics, aluminium, steel, concrete and gypsum industries, with a special focus on environmental protection. The report covers the production, structure, market shares and trends, issues, environmental promotion and advertising of forestry and the above-mentioned industries. The study was undertaken against a backdrop of increasing substitution of wood and paper packaging products by competing materials as a result of both technical considerations and changing consumer preferences.
The report provides a wide range of information aimed at increasing understanding of substitution. It gives an overview of the forest, plastics, aluminium, steel, concrete and gypsum industries, including their production volumes, production by country, ownership, size, structure and fragmentation. Where possible, price trends over the past 20 years are presented for competing products across the industries studied. The report analyses government policies that affect substitution of wood products with those from competing industries. It describes trends in environmental awareness among consumers and the activities and positions of non-governmental organizations, both those promoting the industries and those focusing on related environmental concerns, with an emphasis on European and North American organizations. Throughout the book, examples of public relations and advertising campaigns highlighting the environmental benefits of wood products or of substitutes are presented.
The report, overall, provides valuable information that could be used to advance the cause of forest products as environmentally friendly and cost-effective in terms of energy balance. However, the report also evidences the high degree of fragmentation of the forest products industry, as compared with its competitors, and notes that this complicates any attempt to promote wood products generically. The study concludes by calling for increased international networking among forest industries to promote forest-based products as environmentally friendly and renewable resources.
Integrating environmental protection and economic progress
Tropical forest conservation: an economic assessment of the alternatives in Latin America. D. Southgate. 1998. New York, USA, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-510996-1.
This book presents an economic assessment of forest conservation strategies based on the fostering of sustainable economic activities in and around threatened habitats.
The first part of the book considers deforestation and its causes, and the challenges facing sustainable forest-based activities. Chapter 1 considers the extent and consequences of deforestation. In the second chapter, various factors that contribute to land use change are analysed. Among these factors are population and income growth, poorly articulated property rights, infrastructure development, the tendency of deforestation agents to neglect environmental impacts of their activities, and direct and indirect subsidies for land clearing. Particular emphasis is given to logging road construction which provides access to previously inaccessible areas. Chapter 3 considers the potential contribution of integrated conservation and development projects to habitat conservation.
The second part of the book represents the core of the analysis, comprising four case studies. A study on the harvesting of non-wood forest products analyses who benefits from these activities (primarily processors and exporters) and who does not (often the local households engaged in harvesting and primary processing). A chapter on environmentally sound timber production reports on various modes of timber harvesting and extraction, primarily in the eastern Amazon. The third case study examines the potential of raw materials from the forests of Latin America as the basis for biomedical research and pharmaceutics. The last focuses on nature-based tourism in Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands, noting that while both areas have drawn large numbers of international visitors and provided sizeable benefits to national economies, direct value to local communities has been more modest.
The third and final section of the book sets out basic elements for an integrated strategy for habitat protection and economic progress. It emphasizes the potential of such an approach and warns that this may be the only way to raise overall standards of living.
Basic texts and resources for French speakers
Foresterie internationale: textes de base et références à l'usage des forestiers francophones. 1999. Les Dossiers Forestiers No. 4. Paris, France, Office national des forêts.
This reference book brings together for the first time in French the complete basic texts of international and regional processes, declarations and agreements on forestry or having forestry-related implications. It has been prepared by the Association forestière francophone internationale (AFFI), the Agence intergouvernementale de la francophonie and its subsidiary organization, the Institut de l'énergie et de l'environnement de la francophonie, organizations dedicated to the dissemination of information in French.
Included, among many others, are basic texts of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention to Combat Desertification. Also included are forestry-related texts of the European Community, texts of ministerial conferences and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. A general overview summarizes the common features of international processes and defines frequently used terms.
The basic texts are preceded by a directory of national and international governmental and non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies, national forest services of French-speaking countries and institutions of research and higher learning.
Finally, the useful annexes include an extensive bilingual list of acronyms (French and English), a bibliography of key French-language publications, an address list of forestry periodicals published in French and a list of forestry sites on the Internet.
This first-of-its-kind publication, which its publishers intend to expand in future editions, will facilitate dialogue among foresters throughout the French-speaking world.
Case studies on evolving forest policy
Policy that works for forests and people: series overview. J. Mayers and S. Bass. 1999. Policy That Works for Forests and People Series No. 7. London, UK, International Institute for Environment and Development.
Ineffective policy is at the root of many forest problems common to many countries - continuing loss of natural forests, inequitable access to forests, lack of public information and ineffectual, underfunded forestry institutions. This report explores how policy can be evolved to provide a framework that works for forests and people, i.e. that can tackle forest problems and deliver equitable and sustainable benefits. The publication analyses the findings of case studies from six countries - Costa Rica, Ghana, India, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and Zimbabwe - and draws them together with a review of international policy initiatives.
The case studies illustrate, through both successes and failures, a number of recurring themes in policy that works: changing power over time; formal policy reform approaches (shown to be a mixed blessing); reinvention of State roles; linking the people who make change; shifting away from the emphasis on forest reserves to give more attention to smallholders; improving learning about policy; dealing with tensions in devolution; and the building of policy communities.
The publication goes on to discuss the promising role of international policy processes (multilateral environmental agreements, the criteria and indicators processes, certification, national forest programmes and focused regional agreements) and policy instruments (including mechanisms for increasing local negotiating capacity and changes in property rights).
In the concluding chapter, the authors summarize the characteristics of good policy and delineate seven processes to achieve it: a forum and participation process; national definition of and goals for sustainable forest management; agreement on ways to set priorities; extrasectoral engagement; monitoring and information on forest assets, demand and use; devolution of decision-making power; and democratic access to knowledge and technology. Finally, steps are outlined to put these processes in place. In addition, the book includes six annexes giving detailed approaches for analysing and influencing policy.
A pictorial history of American forestry
The greatest good: 100 years of forestry in America. C. Miller and R. Staebler. 1999. Bethesda, Maryland, USA, Society of American Foresters. ISBN 0-939970-80-5.
The greatest good is a large-format photographic history of forestry in the United States, published to celebrate the centennial year of the Society of American Foresters. The concise text is copiously illustrated with black and white and colour photographs, historical drawings, quotations and timelines highlighting key events.
Chapter 1 evidences the importance of wood to nineteenth-century Americans and illustrates that even in the 1800s there were concerns about how to provide timber without destroying forests. Chapter 2 describes the growth of forestry as a profession in the United States, the creation of the United States Forest Service and the controversies that often erupted over new practices and controls. Chapter 3 discusses the new challenges that confronted forestry after the Second World War, against a backdrop of increasing demand for wood products, paralleled by a heightening of environmental consciousness. Chapter 4 brings the reader up to the present, focusing on developments in the past 25 years, including the advent of recycling, biotechnologies and a widespread commitment to sustainable forestry.
The greatest good is a celebration of the positive contributions of forestry to American society. The images focus on practices that have worked, but also serve to remind readers of those that have not. The publication emphasizes the need for ongoing commitment to a flexible and dynamic approach to the challenges that will face forestry in the future.
