1. AIDEnvironment 1999. A methodology for the socio-economic valuation of non-timber forest products on a regional or national scale. Amsterdam. Unpublished Report.
AIDEnvironment has developed a standard methodology to estimate value (price and volume) of production and trade of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), on a regional or national scale. The purpose of this method was to measure the contribution of NTFPs to the national economy in different countries. A technical protocol for the application of this methodology has been developed, as well as standard interview schedules and training manuals to be used during the field surveys. The report describes the results of testing and fine-tuning the methodology in two provinces of Cameroon.
2. Arnold, J.E.M. 1991. Community forestry: Ten years in review. Community Forestry
Note 7. Rome, FAO.
In the recent past, community forestry has witnessed greater development and has influenced the nature of forestry activities more profoundly than any other field in the forestry profession. This review brings together and synthesizes what has been learned about "community forestry" over the last ten years. It focuses on the main theses and findings that have been advanced. The document is presented in four parts. The first part reviews the reasons why the concern with community forestry arose when it did, the original formulation of the problems and what was perceived to be needed at that time. It also outlines the main issues that emerged as projects and programs took shape. The second part summarizes what is now known about the ways rural people actually use and depend upon trees. It discusses the consequences of a diminution or degradation of the tree resource on them, and the implications of this enhanced understanding for intervention and support strategies. The third part similarly reviews the state of knowledge about how local people can best organize to manage and use trees and tree products. The final part pulls together the main lessons that emerge, and focuses on the implications for further improving the support that governments and aid agencies seek to provide to community forestry.
3. Arnold, J.E.M. 1998. Managing forests as common property. Rome, FAO.
The purpose of this study is to bring together available information about the role of common property as a system of governance and its present relevance to forest management and use, to review the historical record of common property systems that have disappeared or survived, to examine the experience of selected contemporary collective management programmes in different countries, and to identify the main factors that appear to determine success or failure at the present time.
4. Ascher, W. 1995. Communities and Sustainable Forestry in Developing Countries. San Francisco: ICS Press.
As a contribution to the self-governing communities series this book includes major case studies that merge design principles with direct experience. Who has the rights to exploit forest products? What is the key challenge in managing forest systems? What does the decline of forest mean? Why have reforestation efforts fallen short? This book argues that strong community forestry organizations- formed by traditional forest users- are the best hope of preserving and sustaining forests in developing countries.
5. Bass, S., Higman S., Judd N., Mayers J. & Nussbaum R. 1999. The Sustainable Forestry Handbook, London, Earthscan Publications Ltd.
The book provides forest managers with the necessary tools to understand and put into practice new standards for forest management. It is based around two major international initiatives for the promotion of sustainable forest management, which were developed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO). The handbook provides a framework for understanding, planning and implementing improved forest management techniques. It gives a method for identifying what activities are necessary, provides guidance on how to approach them and points the way to further sources of information. Case studies describe examples of existing situations, common problems are highlighted and some possible solutions suggested. Some of the methods described, especially the social areas, may be new to forest managers and even to some researcher. They are by the authors because it is important for the forest managers to be aware of current thinking about sustainable forest management.
6. Bishop, J. 1998. The Economics of Non-Timber Forest Benefits: An overview. IIED, UK.
This paper focuses on recent advances in the economic evaluation of forestry activities and, in particular, on how techniques for valuing non-timber forest benefits in monetary terms can assist the development of forest policy and management systems. The authors first consider the non-market benefits in monetary terms, and explores the long-term dynamics of forest value. Subsequently follows a brief discussion of how the results of valuation studies can contribute to improved forest policy and management.
7. Borrini-Feyerabend, G. (ed.) 1997. Beyond Fences: Seeking Social Sustainability in Conservation, Gland, Switzerland, IUCN. www.iucn.org/themes/spg/beyond_fences/
Beyond Fences is designed to help professionals involved in conservation initiatives to identify the social concerns that are relevant for their work, assess options for action and implement them. Volume 1 is a companion to a process of planning, evaluating or re-designing a conservation initiative; an experience of 'learning by doing' expected to involve a series of meetings and field-based activities. Volume 2 is a reference book to be consulted, as needed, at various stages in the same process.
However, Beyond Fences is not meant to be read from start to finish. The first volume is a companion to a process, and is meant to be used following the requirements of the process itself. It is not a guide and does not spell out step-by-step procedures. The second is a reference resource, to be consulted on specific items as needs arise. A number of internal links are provided so that the volumes can be used in tandem.
8. Castro, A.P., 1999. Rapid Community Assessment Field Test, South Wello, Ethiopia. Addis Ababa: BASIS Horn of Africa Program and Addis Ababa University, Institute of Development Research 72 pp. (BASIS CRSP Fourth Annual Report, available at the BASIS web site at: http://www.wisc.edu/ltc/basisnews.html).
The research report depicts an integrated study of social and economic causes of food insecurity at intra-household, household, community and regional level in South Wollo, Ethiopia. The community assessments worked with two focus groups (women and men) and contained some inventory-orientated questions, but it also sought to elicit local views, perceptions and aspirations on a range of subjects: Agricultural land, land, agrarian change, access to input and markets, saving patterns, community relations, food security and coping strategies during times of food shortage.
9. Chambers, R. 1994. The Origins and Practice of Participatory Rural Appraisal. UK. World Development, Vol. 22, No. 7, p. 953-969.
The summary describes Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) as a growing family of approaches and methods to enable local people to share, enhance and analyze their knowledge of life and conditions, to plan and to act. PRA has sources in activist participatory research, agroecosystem analysis, applied anthropology, field research on farming systems, and rapid rural appraisal (RRA). In RRA information is more elicited and extracted by outsiders; in PRA it is more shared and owned by local people. Participatory methods include mapping and modeling, transect walks, matrix scoring, seasonal calendars, trend and change analysis, well-being and wealth ranking and grouping, and analytical diagramming. In PRA applications include natural resources management, agriculture, poverty and social programs, and health and food security. Dominant behaviour by outsiders may explain why it has taken until the 1990s for the analytical capabilities of local people to be better recognized and for PRA to emerge, grow and spread.
10. Davis-Case, D. 1990. The community's toolbox: The idea, methods and tools for participatory assessment, monitoring and evaluation in community forestry, Bangkok, FAO.
The field manual provides a practical set of guidelines for many of the different approaches considered essential for sustainable and successful community forestry. It reassesses many of the conventional monitoring and evaluation methods and tools by emphasizing participatory techniques in community forestry.
The manual is organized into three sections. The first section introduces the principles of PAME, Participatory Assessment, Monitoring, and Evaluation. The principles of PAME, where it will work and where it can begin are discussed along with its benefits. This section also offers suggestions for dialogue among field staff members. Section two provides the methods for determining the ways in which data can be analyzed and presented. Each of the chapters introduces the method, defines its benefits, and examines the steps which must be taken using the particular approach. The final chapter in the section looks closely at the importance of presenting results of the collected information. The third section of the manual introduces 23 different tools, ranging from group meetings to a participatory video evaluation, and their uses. Guidelines for choosing the most appropriate tool are given and an overview of the main characteristics is provided. A glossary of definitions of terms used, illustrations and brief summaries of the written text make the information in this manual easily accessible and appropriate for use by field staff in many different parts of the world.
11. Falconer, J. 1990. The major significance of ' minor' forest products: The local use and value of forests in the West African humid forest zone. Community Forestry Note 6, Rome, FAO.
Forests have traditionally been valued mainly as a source of timber, pulp and fuel while all other products have been classified as "minor". The forests of the West African humid zone region are, however, extremely diverse and the ways in which people use them are just as diverse. This publication, which is based on an extensive literature survey, examines all forest products, both tangible and intangible, that are garnered by local people both for home consumption and sale. It provides a foundation upon which participatory development projects advocating multipurpose forest management can be designed.
The study is divided into two parts. Part I serves two purposes. The first four chapters review what is known about the way people use and value the forests of the region. It divides the uses of forest products by function. The second set of three chapters is analytical in nature. It examines the ways that increasing population pressure, changes in agricultural and hunting practices and increasing commercialization are affecting forest areas, their use and utility. It also examines how the importance of non-timber forest products can be assessed and how forestry activities can be developed in order to incorporate the values and needs of rural people. Part II is an extensive annotated bibliography that includes an overview of the literature and assesses the availability of information. More than 300 sources are reviewed.
12. FAO 2000. Field Documentation of Forest Cover Changes for the Global Forest Resources Assessment 2000. Forest Resources Assessment Programme Working Paper 25. Rome, FAO. http://www.fao.org/forestry/fo/fra/index.jsp
The study undertaken in the Northeastern part of Thailand set out to verify satellite image interpretation on the ground, document the socio-economic situation affecting the management of the land, investigate causes of recent changes and outlook for the future. In the findings it is noted that some land-classes were corrected in the RSS interpretation. Furthermore, agricultural practice was the main visible cause of change in land management. But the factors identified affecting this change was predominantly tenure and user rights, the degree of official control and interference, access to agricultural inputs (physical and economic) and ethnic and cultural aspects. The study also set out to test methods and these were found feasable and possible to implement due to close collaboration with national partners. The combination of field observation and interviews proved useful. An overall experience was that carrying out local forest change assessments is controversial due to conflicting interests and often biased information available.
13. FAO 2000. Global Forest Survey - Concept Paper. Forest Resources Assessment Programme Working Paper 28, Rome, FAO. www.fao.org/forestry/fo/fra/index.jsp
The Forestry Department of FAO is developing a Global Forest Survey (GFS) following its broad mandate to carry out global assessments of forests and forestry. The GFS would be part of the Forest Resources Assessment Programme and would complement the compilation and analyses of national reports and information. The current paper outlines the background and suggested approach. The GFS would be a large undertaking that would rely on FAO’s role for co-ordinating global information efforts, as well as funding and implementation by international organisations and governments. The GFS has a strong emphasis on FAO’s co-ordinating and facilitating role, inviting partners to implement the survey through independent country projects.
The background to the GFS is the gap between required and available information on forests and forestry. Despite considerable attention in international fora over the past decades, information on basic forestry parameters is still missing or of a poor quality for most countries. Systematic inventories are carried out only by a small proportion of the world’s countries. The efforts to establish forest inventories in developing countries have generally not lead to ongoing monitoring of the resources and its use, nor to a sustained capacity to carry out forest surveys.
14. FAO Forestry Department Website: http://www.fao.org/forestry
Subject-specific sites on a broad and increasing list of forestry-related topics, such as Forest Resource Assessment, Community Forestry, Unasylva Newsletter, Non Wood Forest Products, etc. The subject sites offer detailed information - statistics, documents, contact information, links to other providers of relevant information, interactive fora, etc.
15. FAO Year Book on Forest Product, 1994-1998, Rome, 2000, FAO.
The FAO Yearbook of Forest Products is a compilation of statistical data on basic forest products for all countries and territories of the world. It contains series of annual data on the volume of production and the volume and value of trade in forest products. It includes tables showing direction of trade and average unit values of trade for certain products. Statistical information in the yearbook is based primarily on data provided to the FAO Forestry Department by the countries through questionnaires or official publications. In the absence of official data, FAO makes an estimate based on the best information available.
16. Freudenberger, K.S. 1995. Tree and Land Tenure: Using Rapid Rural Appraisal to Study Natural Resources Management, Community Forestry Case Study 10, Rome, FAO.
The case study is from the village of Anivorano in Madagascar, the fourth largest island in the world and home to an extraordinary variety of endemic plant and animal species. The degradation of these rich natural resources has been cause for both international and local concern and the rapid rural appraisal (RRA) described in this case study formed part of a year-long research program to inform policy debate on land use and tenure in Madagascar.
This study applies the methodology outlined in Community Forestry Field Manual 4, Tree and land tenure: Rapid appraisal tools. The first part of the case study discusses the mechanics of carrying out an RRA and addresses in detail how the study was conducted. The second part focuses on the results of the study and what the team learned during the field research. It is hoped that by seeing methodological issues presented alongside the findings, the reader will gain a better sense of both the potential of RRA to provide information on such complex subjects as tenure and resource management and the practicalities of carrying out such studies in the field.
17. Freudenberger, S.K. 1994. Tree and land tenure: Rapid appraisal tools, Rome, FAO.
This manual offers guidelines for using rapid appraisal methods to gather information on tenure and natural resource management. It translates the concepts elaborated in Community Forestry Note 5, Rapid appraisal of tree and land tenure. The author defines rapid appraisal as "a family of methodologies designed to encourage the participation of local communities in the collection and use of information to improve their livelihood. The methods which have been used in all parts of the world, put a premium on the usefulness of research as well as the rapidity with which results are obtained." The method developed divides resources into three broad categories – holdings, commons and reserves - and helps to structure information gathered to gain an understanding how villages and households approach tree and forest resource management in each category. To be effective, this method must not only provide information quickly but also ensure that it is used. That is, agencies must be prepared to adapt their programs and activities in response to what they have learned about local realities.
Chapter 1 of this manual gives a brief introduction to tenure and rapid appraisal. Preparations needed to carry out a tenure study are discussed in Chapter 2.
Chapter 3 suggests practical techniques that have proved useful in gathering information in the field. Chapter 4 presents methods that may be helpful in organizing and analyzing the information collected as well as writing the report. The final chapter discusses issues that may come up in using the information that has been gathered and notes some of the common problems that may arise.
18. Gunatilleke, I.A.U.N., Gunatilleke, C.V.S., & Abeygunawardena, P. 1994. “Interdisciplinary Research Towards Management of Non-timber Forest Resources in Lowland Rainforest of Sri Lanka”. In: Economic Botany 47(3). July-September 1993. Bronx. NewYork. The New York Botanical Garden, p. 282-290.
The issue of Economic Botany consists of papers from a workshop on Economic valuation and sustainable management of non-timber tropical forest products. Some are concept and method papers, others are case studies.
This paper examines some of the deficiencies in forestry planning at national level in Sri Lanka with regard to the traditional forest users for non-timber resources. It seeks possible reasons for the lack of appreciation of traditional rural dependencies on the forest and their consequences, and provides scientific information needed for remedial action. It also discusses the interdisciplinary research at Sinharaja and further studies needed for policy level changes in the forestry sector development.
19. IIED 1997. Valuing the Hidden Harvest: Methodological Approaches for Local-Level Economic Analysis of Wild Resources, Research Series Volume 3 No. 4, UK.
The IIED’s experience with the Hidden Harvest research programme aimed to investigate, through local level valuation, the importance of wild plant and animal resources to rural livelihoods. The study focuses on valuing species that are not incorporated in formal economic calculations, yet which are often part of informal agricultural-based economies. By falling outside official statistics, such species are implied to be ‘valueless’, thus giving an incomplete and, therefore, false value to the landscapes in which they are found. Development and natural resource policies based on such incomplete assessments of resource values are likely to be inappropriate, ineffective, or counterproductive. The methodology involves seeking local level perspectives on economic questions about resource values and incentives, bringing together the two fundamentally different methodological traditions of participatory research and economics. This paper describes the methodological approach adopted and its conceptual background, illustrated with examples from Zimbabwe, Botswana, Brazil, Nigeria and Papua New Guinea.
20. Jackson, W.J. & Ingles, A.W. 1998. Participatory Techniques for Community Forestry: A Field Manual, Switzerland/UK, IUCN.
The manual is written to help people make choices about how they will do their community forestry job. The authors claim the manual is different than other publications because it deals with the use of participatory techniques for specific tasks within community forestry and sets out ideas about how the toolkit of participatory approaches can be used to complete such tasks. The manual was prepared for use in Nepal, but it is reiterated that many tasks, problems, issues and choices of programme managers and field workers in Nepal are similar to those faced in natural resources management programmes in other countries.
21. McKean, M. & Ostrom, E. 1995. “Common property regimes in the forest: just a relic from the past?” In: Unasylva (46) 180:p., Rome, FAO.
The article is an examination of the current and future potential of common property regimes in the conservation and sustainable use of forest resources. It addresses the question of what common property is and then considers the potential advantages of using common property regimes to administer and manage forest resources. The final section examines current knowledge about successful common property regimes for forests. It also provides examples from the field and gives examples of current research programmes.
22. Molnar, A. 1989. Community forestry: Rapid appraisal, Community Forestry Note 3. Rome, FAO.
The need for relevant socio-economic information in forestry has led to the development of several new field research methods over the past years. Among these methods, rapid appraisal - a process of learning about rural conditions in an intensive, though expeditious manner – has been used increasingly. It is a flexible methodology which improves the quality and timeliness of research while reducing its cost. This publication reviews and assesses the range and effectiveness of the various rapid appraisal techniques that are used by specialists in the field. It also serves as a guide to the most promising approaches which have thus far been developed. An annotated bibliography is included.
23. Poffenberger, M., McGean, B., Ravindranath, N.H. & Gadgil, M. 1992. Field Methods Manual, Volume I: Diagnostic Tools for Supporting Joint Forest Management Systems. Poffenberger, M., McGean, B., Khare, A. & Campbell, J. 1992. Field Methods Manual, Volume II: Community Forest Economy and Use Patterns: Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) Methods in South Gujarat, India. New Delhi, Society for promotion of Wastelands Development.
The Manual is a two-volume set which is being developed to support the implementation of Joint Forest Management (JFM) programs. Volume 1 of the manual describes a range of diagnostic tools and techniques which can be employed to better understand the complexities of the community-forest relationship and thereby help derive improved participatory management strategies between user communities and Forest Departments. Volume II summarises learning from a field training workshop held in Gujarat 1992. Experiences from the Gujarat Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) illustrate the utility of methods described in Vol. 1 and the types of forest management issues and implementation options that can be generated.
24. Ohler, F.M.J, Rimal, B.K. & Warren, P. 2000. Manual 1: Participatory and Integrated Watershed Management in Nepal- a resource book.
Peletier-Jellema, A.A.C., de Klein, C.H. & Chapa, D.R., 2000. Manual 2: Starting up participatory integrated watershed management in new area: A training manual. Kathmandu, FAO.
The purpose of the Resource Book for District Soil Conservation Officers (Manual 1) is to make available a reading, learning and consultation tool which can assist in adopting the Participatory and Integrated Watershed Management (PIWM) approach in Nepal. Part One is a “story” in which a District Soil Conservation Officer establishes PIWM. Part Two is a “practical guide”. It contains the main message of the Resource Book, and consists of a presentation of basic concepts in the Nepal context such as issues, problems and methods related to starting-up, planning, implementing and monitoring, evaluating and re-planning, and making a PIWM process self-sustained. Part Three consists of “learning modules”, which readers can use for informal self-learning. In Part Four a number of “Selected Participatory Tools” are described. The training manual (Manual 2) is a training package for mid-level technicians and group motivators on group mobilisation and empowerment in PIWM.
25. UNEP & FAO 2000. Technical Guidelines for the assessment and measurement of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management in Dry Zone Africa. Rome. FAO.
The global community has recognised the need for internationally agreed criteria and indicators to be used as a pillar for assessing and reporting the state of the forests. The following reports is the outcome of the process of various meetings with the countries of Dry zone Africa. The present guidelines have been prepared in response to recommendations of the November 1997 workshop on criteria and indicators and in consistence with the proposals for action of the Inter-Governmental Panel of Forests. They are based on reports, experiences from other processes and initiatives and constitute a frame of reference to benefit different agencies in implementation at the national and/or FMU levels.
For further reading on Criteria and Indicators see the forthcoming website at the FAO Forestry Department.
26. Shaner, W.W., Philipp P.F. & Schmehl W.R. 1982. Farming Systems Research and Development: Guidelines for Developing Countries. Boulder, Colorado, Westview Press.
A comprehensive book that provides guidelines (from 1982) for farming systems research and development as applied to conditions in developing countries. The purpose of the guidelines is to assist national governments interested in helping small-scale farmers with limited resources.
27. Wilson, K. 1993. “Thinking about the ethics of fieldwork”. In: Devereux, S., Hoddinott, J., Fieldwork in Developing Countries, Boulder, Colorado p. 179-199.
This chapter concentrates on ethical considerations that arise because of the fieldworker’s close engagement in the life of the locality studied. This can be particularly difficult for Western or local elite researchers working in the so-called ‘Third World’, and it is to such scholars that this chapter is addressed. Researches have to made decision about the form and content of their involvement in other people’s societies, and the responsibilities that this entails. Tensions are further increased by the fact that the fieldworker has to deal with the problems of getting as much information as possible out of people. This dual engagement (personal and professional) raises questions about the management of ego and ambition; about friendships; about what is legitimate to collect data on, and how; about obligations to truth, openness and confidentiality; and about commitment to expose and transform power relations.
28. Wollenberg, E. & Ingles, A. (eds.) 1998. Incomes from the Forest; methods for the development and conservation of forest products for local communities. Bogor, Indonesia, CIFOR and IUCN.
This book documents and compares methods to assess options for forest-based livelihoods and their outcomes. The contributions are based on the premise that livelihood and conservation goals can be best achieved by improving information flows about changes in the environment, and the impacts of forest use. There are 16 authors that report on the strengths and weaknesses of methods that have been tried in the field. Their experience and analysis should be of interest to practitioners everywhere concerned with developing livelihood options for people living in forests.
29. Wong, J. 1999. The biometrics of non-timber forest product resource assessment - a review of current methodology. Draft Report, unpublished, UK, DFID.
The review assesses studies of in-situ non-timber forest products (NTFPs) from anglophone literature. A review of the methods developed for assessing biodiversity and ethnobiology are describes with regard to applicability to NTFP resources assessment. The main thrust of the paper discusses biometric methods, but also methods assessing the social sciences are reviewed with regard to best practice. Quantitative methods for resource assessment are described for determining resources abundance, product yield and productivity. The uses of these data for determining sustainable harvesting levels and monitoring are described, as well the case of the use of indicators for monitoring compliance with certification standards. Based on the review, a number of priority issues and opportunites are raised and recommendations made for a program of research to address them.
30. World Bank, 1980. Sociological Aspects of Forestry Project Design, AGR Technical Note No. 3. Unpublished.
The report is a brief review of some Bank forestry projects and attempts to identify those sociological factors most pertinent to project design. It gives some preliminary guidelines for the benefit of project staff likely to be involved in forestry project preparation and appraisal.
