Inclusive Community Forest Management

Summary

Proponents of community-based natural resource management often use definitions of community that implicitly, if not explicitly, favor resident forest users over migrant forest users. This paper explores the shortcomings of the “fixed-in-place” model of community, using examples from ongoing community-based management projects in Mali. The author then summarizes strategies that these projects are using to expand migrant forest user participation in decisonmaking. The paper ends with a brief discussion of how these experiences in West Africa can enrich community-based natural resource management efforts in the United States.     

Testing Stewardship Concepts on Federal Land

Summary

The goal of this paper is to describe recent attempts to define the stewardship concept and to translate it into action on the ground. The focus is on national forest lands and the unique challenges federal land managers face in working with the public to implement a concept that has different meanings to a variety of stakeholders. Stewardship requires more flexibility than is often found under existing administrative authorities. Large, bureaucratic agencies face many barriers in applying creative and innovative solutions to existing problems, not the least of which are internal and external reward structures. While there exist some authorities that allow for the creative testing of stewardship contracting projects on the ground, a number of challenges remain. Two significant ones are: (1) the need for a clearer, consistent understanding (by both Forest Service employees and constituents) of the authorities that can be used to test stewardship concepts; and (2) a more broad-based agreement on the desired outcome of stewardship projects. Given the current lack of understanding and agreement on how to implement stewardship concepts, the most effective means of moving the issue forward will be to apply innovative tests of contracting methods under current or new temporary authorities. These tests should be designed, implemented, monitored, and evaluated using broad-based, inclusive, on-the-ground coalitions that create effective ties and linkages between local and national levels.     

Natural Resource Policy and the Paradox of Public Involvement

Summary

Immersed in natural resource policy approaches such as ecosystem management is the expectation that the best available science will be applied so that the best policy management decision will result. Citizens, like scientists and land managers, want natural resource management decisions based on good science rather than special interest group politics. Yet citizens also want to be involved in the decision process and are skeptical about the very science they claim must be the basis for policy actions.

Herein lies an apparent paradox. Citizens' want the best science to guide natural resource management decisions, but not to the exclusion of their input. Similarly, there seems to be a paradox in the sentiments expressed by natural resource management agency administrators and specialists. Agency personnel know they need meaningful citizen involvement in their management decisions, but they also want citizens to trust their scientific expertise.

This paper is about that paradox and innovative ways to work through it. We first discuss the nature of natural resource conflict, then address the paradox in some depth. A discussion of traditional public participation precedes innovative methods for working through the paradox.     

A Civic Conversation About Public Lands

Summary

Community-based ecosystem management (CBEM) is being offered as an alternative to agency-based public land management. Its fundamental premise is connecting communities to public lands for the purpose of increasing ecosystem stewardship and community sustainability. For CBEM to appropriately serve the public interest, new social and institutional relationships will need to be formed, collaborative learning will need to occur, and capacities in community participation and ecological literacy will need to be developed. A new civic conversation about public lands is essential to these relationships, learning, and capacities. Community governance processes, which guide these collaborative and participatory activities, must correspondingly reflect the community-based nature of CBEM, while preserving the national interests in public land resources.     

Assessing Well-Being in Forest Dependent Communities

Summary

This paper presents a new approach to the conceptualization and assessment of well-being in forest-dependent communities. Studies of well-being in agrarian communities, boomtowns (communities undergoing rapid growth), and forest-dependent communities are examined to highlight common themes in natural resource-dependent community studies. Social indicators are discussed and a summary of weaknesses presented. The county, a commonly used unit of analysis, is rejected in favor of a more socially relevant unit. This new approach to well-being in forest communities begins with definitions of the terms community and forest dependence. The work of Amartya Sen, whose conceptualization of well-being focuses on the real opportunities people have and their achievements in light of their opportunities, forms the foundation of the new approach proposed here. Sen's conceptualization is broadened by focusing on the community and acknowledging the importance of a sense of place. Methodologically, this new approach adds to the evaluation of social indicators an assessment of community capacity that consists of three components: physical, human, and social capital. It also involves evaluating how residents draw on and develop these aspects of their community to meet local needs and create opportunities. This results in a well-being assessment that includes static as well as dynamic measures of how communities respond to and create opportunities to improve local well-being.     

An Introduction to Community-Based Ecosystem Management

Abstract

This paper introduces the concept of community-based ecosystem management and explores cases and trends reflecting this emerging approach to natural resource management. It presents the workshop tone as a disciplined inquiry and addresses several questions such as where community-based ecosystem management came from, what it looks like, its potential benefits, and its key challenges.     

高黎贡山西坡大塘村社林业活动研究

村社林业是指在一个具体的村社或农村生态系统内，以农户为主题，旨在解决农户自身生存和发展所需的林业活动，是林业发展的重要组成部分。高黎贡山西坡大塘村农户在社区森林资源管理方面做了有益的尝试，多形式、多内容的林业经营管理活动使该村社区森林资源得到了合理的利用和保护，为周围村社提供了有益的经验。本文以大塘村的各项村社林业活动为例，叙述了广泛开展村社林业活动对高黎贡山森林资源有效保护与周围农村经济持续发展的作用和意义。     

Public Involvement in Forest Management Planning

Summary

In 1997, the US Forest Service initiated public involvement processes in three national forests in the northeastern United States-the Finger Lakes National Forest in central New York, the Green Mountain National Forest in Vermont, and the White Mountain National Forest in New Hampshire and Maine. Citizens' perspectives were sought on forest management prior to determining the changes needed for revising the Land and Resource Management Plans (Forest Plans) as well as to exchange information on management of these three forests. These processes represent a pro-active effort by the US Forest Service to engage communities of interest in dialogue about the management of these national forests. The Forest Service has emphasized the principles of ecosystem management and community partnership in developing these plans. The paper describes the policy framework for forest planning and an outline of the Plan Revision process as developed in the Northeast. It further offers a preliminary analysis of this approach, including lessons to date, their implication for subsequent phases of plan revision processes in the Northeast, and possible relevance for agencies embarking on similar public planning initiatives.     

以人造板为例论我国木材工业发展的走向

改革开放20年来,我国木材工业取得了长足发展,生产规模迅速扩大,产品质量不断提高,但仍难以满足人民群众的市场需求,特别是加入WTO和实施天然林保护政策后,木材工业面临资源短缺与技术落后等诸多因素的困扰。由于人造板工业是当今木材工业的基础的核心,文中着重以人造板为例来分析、解剖我国木材工业的现状、问题和所面临的资源形势,并就新世纪我国木材工业发展的走向进行探讨。     

Strategies for Managing Protected Areas

Abstract

Community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) has assumed increasing importance in protected area management throughout the developing world. Largely a response to previous state-centered protectionist policies, CBNRM seeks to simultaneously promote community development and biodiversity conservation. Where human populations exist within state-controlled protected areas, successful application of CBNRM requires a legal basis for community participation in resource decision-making. Community management agreements (CMAs) are one contractual mechanism that can provide this foundation. Their goals are to: (1) resolve issues of land tenure; (2) devolve authority and guarantee rights of access to communities; and (3) establish conditions that promote subsequent management planning and activities. This chapter examines three case studies involving the use of CMAs within the Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve (RECAY), part of the Condor Bioreserve of central Ecuador. CMAs were found to be successful in achieving the first two goals mentioned above, but had mixed success in achieving the third. CMAs should: (1) devolve decision-making, implementation, and conflict resolution powers to communities; (2) clearly define rights and responsibilities for all parties; and (3) guarantee continual government oversight and support. Although their applicability may be limited to certain circumstances, criteria should be developed to guide their future implementation in Ecuador and internationally.     

Exploring Reinvestment from a Community-Based Watershed Perspective

Summary

Increasingly, urban and rural communities across the U.S. are looking at ecological systems as capital assets with values that are diminishing as they are degraded. Investments are needed so they can continue to provide ecological services critical to the environmental, social, and economic well-being of the communities.

This paper explores “reinvestment” as term encouraging the development of mechanisms for sustained and long-term investment in “natural capital,” as well as the other forms of capital on which communities and society depend. It raises important questions on which there are information gaps, such as the value of ecological services, the level of investment needed to restore and maintain ecological systems, the activities to which investment dollars should be allocated, and where public and private investment dollars might come from. These questions are discussed at national, regional, and local scales, focusing on water-an ecological resource with immense value that connects ecosystems and communities at many scales. The paper presents lessons and reinvestment mechanisms from studies in California's Sierra Nevada ecosystem and community-based efforts in its northernmost drainage, the Feather River watershed.     

Participatory Research for Adaptive Ecosystem Management

Summary

Participatory research involves members of interested communities who work with researchers to apply their joint skills and experience to explore issues of mutual concern. There is an increasingly explicit federal mandate for participatory research efforts involving stakeholder groups in public land management. This paper presents a case study of one effort ongoing in the Hayfork Adaptive Management Area (AMA) on the Six Rivers and Shasta-Trinity national forests of northern California. There, a network of U.S. Forest Service staff, scientists, local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and nontimber forest product harvesters (wildcrafters) has been working to address ecological, economic, and social aspects of harvesting nontimber forest products (NTFP) from public land. This paper discusses the challenges of NTFP management on public lands and analyzes participatory research as an approach for addressing some of these challenges.     

从社会林业到社区林业

30多年前出现的社会林业 ,以其与传统林业的概念和模式不同的参与性特点而为广大群众接受和理解 ,如今随着这种经营管理形式的不断完善 ,深入发展和对参与主体的更为关注 ,以及出于对词义正确性的考虑 ,国际上已普遍使用“社区林业”来表达和称谓。除此之外 ,社会林业向社区林业转变的内涵和本质还包括管理机制的转变 ;管理技术的转变 ;观念的转变。     

对我国自然保护区实行共同管理制度的探讨

可持续发展原则和我国的国情决定了我国自然保护区不能长期实行完全封闭式的保护管理制度.为了协调自然保护区中森林资源保护和利用的矛盾,宜引入保护区共同管理体制模式,即在林业与环境部门的指导下,设置由代表不同利益的群体包括所组成的林业自然保护区共同管理委员会,并在遵循生态完整性、公平性与科学性三大原则基础上建立和实施权力制约、民主协商和监督机制.     

基于组件式GIS的森林资源管理信息系统的设计与开发--以郑州市森林资源管理信息系统设计与开发为例

在简要介绍组件式GIS和WebGIS的基础上,采用组件式GIS技术,从系统的总体结构、系统功能、数据库建立、系统集成方式方面来完成森林资源管理信息系统的设计。实现了森林资源管理中数据的输入、统计,专题地图输出,对外信息发布,完成了森林资源管理信息系统的开发。组件式GIS技术应用于森林资源管理信息系统的开发,可以方便林业部门对森林数据的管理,为实现数字化林业奠定基础。     

Community-based forestry and community forestry enterprises in quintana roo,mexico and petén,guatemala: how have policies,history, and culture shaped their trajectories?

ABSTRACT

The Mayan Biosphere Reserve in the region of Petén, Guatemala and the state of Quintana Roo, Mexico have well-established experiences of community-based forestry and community forestry enterprises within the area known as the Mayan forest. Context has been a key factor shaping the trajectories of these two cases. Several scholars have highlighted the usefulness of understanding the role of context in the emergence and functioning of common property regimes. However, scholarship has been dominated by the mainstream school of common property, which sees these regimes as arising out of voluntary, rational action with the main intent of conserving a common-pool natural resource. This paper seeks to answer the call for more research on context for common property regimes. The article discusses how policies, history, and culture have shaped the trajectory of community forestry in both countries. Policies present choices, opportunities, and constraints, while history and culture can facilitate or hinder taking advantage of such opportunities. Communities have agency not only to react, but also to adapt. These two cases present overriding themes that strengthen the alternative literature on common property regimes and also offer lessons to policy makers, practitioners, nongovernmental organizations, and communities practicing forestry.     

森林认证现状与发展趋势

通过分析最新的有关森林认证的研究资料,综述了森林认证产生的背景和起源、现状、认证体系及进展.森林认证是20世纪90年代初逐步发展起来的由环境非政府组织和民间组织发起、作为促进森林可持续经营的一种市场机制.目前共有两大全球认证体系(森林管理委员会(FSC)和ISO14001环境管理体系),两大区域认证体系(泛欧森林认证体系(PEFC)与泛非森林认证体系(PAFC))和10多个国家的认证体系正在运作.森林认证将是全球林业经营的主要模式.     

The Practice of Stewardship

Abstract

Community-based ecosystem management efforts are proliferating around the United States. While these projects differ greatly in style, substance, players, and places, they share common elements; the philosophy of stewardship appears to be one of the most powerful. The effort to promote stewardship of local ecosystems has shown remarkable power to engage broad and diverse interests. The authors hypothesize that the concept of stewardship is central to many community-based ecosystem management efforts, acting as the ‘glue’ that holds these efforts together. This chapter explores the emerging philosophy of stewardship, its defining characteristics, and how it differs for community-based ecosystem management efforts. It examines a framework for stewardship at the practitioner's level, with an emphasis on key concerns local practitioners need to address in their projects. The chapter closes with an examination of some of the largest challenges ahead-consistency and accountability, the economics of stewardship, and the need to build a favorable institutional environment-in the continued development of stewardship as an organizing principle for community-based ecosystem management.     

林业局级森林资源管理信息系统设想

介绍了森林资源管理目前发展的状况，阐述了研建林业局级森林资源管理系统的必要性，提出了该系统的设计方案。     

现代林业生态建设与林政资源管理

森林资源保护是现代林业生态建设的主要工作内容,现代林业生态建设的成果,需要通过加强林政资源管理来巩固。阐述在新形势下林政资源管理中关于林木、林地、林权的三个关键层面,从组织与机构、法制建设、技术与设备三个方面提出林政资源管理的建设重点。