Around the world, we increasingly observe the direct linkages between natural resource degradation, rural poverty, and social disruption and conflict. From the degraded sal scrub forests of West Bengal, where for six months each year Santhal tribal men are forced to migrate to urban areas for wage employment, to the rural cutback of Chiapas, Mexico, where violent rebellions by impoverished indigenous farmers have forced the state's military to intervene, the direct influences of environmental instability on the social and economic stability of agrarian communities are evident.
A growing body of field evidence uncovered by paleoecologists and biologists strongly indicates that most of the world's rain forests are not "virgin" forests at all. In fact, it appears humans have lived in and manipulated these forests for centuries or even millennia in both the New and Old World tropics. This reality is forcing radical redefinitions of western concepts of "primary" forest and its "scientific" management. New studies are also showing that the world's tropical rain forests are more resilient than was earlier believed. Destruction and regeneration appear part of a cycle, where small areas of forest recover from even severe natural disturbances as part of an efficient process of patch dynamics (
FN 7). Network studies indicate that this natural biological process of decline and regrowth is the basis for many indigenous swidden forest farming systems used sustainably throughout Asia for centuries. Such new research supports the wisdom of local forest communities as the logical and, indeed, original ecologists and forest managers.Participants at the Policy Dialogue repeatedly noted the exciting potential for community forest management throughout Asia. A common understanding emerged regarding the historical roots of the forest management crisis and the potential solutions that might be found in rural settings through a greater reliance on nature and local protection. The consensus of the body was that exchanges between countries are a key element in accelerating the learning of ways to build cooperative linkages between the formal forestry sector and informal forest user groups. Since each country deals with the same generic set of conflicts between rural communities and the urban, commercial, and government sectors, strategies to resolve conflicts and create partnerships for sustainable resource use have broad relevance. The Asia Sustainable Forest Management Network proposes to continue its program of diagnostic research, regional exchanges, publications, and training in an effort to disseminate learning and facilitate the greater involvement of rural people in the management of public forest lands.
1. Network publications can be obtained by writing to Mark Poffenberger and Betsy McGean, editors, Asia Sustainable Forest Network Secretariat, Program on Environment, East-West Center, 1777 East-West Road, Honolulu, Hawaii 96848 USA.
2. William Stevens, "Feeding a booming population without destroying the planet," New York Times, 5 April 1994, p. B5.
3. Lean and Hinrichsen (1992:71) note that in 1989, of India's total tropical timber production of 248.1 million cubic meters, 226.6 million is estimated to have been used as fuelwood.
4. FAO, 1988, as cited in Ritchie (1992).
5. From Table 5, Annual Reforestation by Objectives, in Royal Forest Department (1991).
6. According to Khare, current average productivity for good forests = 0.83 cubic metric ton/hectare/year; estimated potential productivity for same 6.53 cubic metric tons/hectare/year.
7. Julie Denslow, Tulane University, in 'Rain forests seen as shaped by human hand," New York Times, 27 July 1993, p. C10.
Cherail, Koshy 1993.
Battling for control. Down to Earth, 30 November, p. 9.
Dugan, Pat, et al. 1989.
Rehabilitation of logged-over forests in the Asia/Pacific region. Yokohama: ITTO.
Institute of Philippine Culture. 1989.
Case studies in upland development. Manila.
Korten, Frances. 1993.
The high costs of environmental loans. Asia Pacific Issues No. 7. Honolulu: East-West Center.
Lean, Geoffrey, and John Hinrichsen. 1992.
Atlas of the environment. Oxford: Helicon.
Nasol, C. 1994.
Current status report on the Community Forestry Program. Manila: Natural Resource Management Project/USAID.
Poffenberger, Mark, and Betsy McGean, eds. 1993a.
Communities and forest management in East Kalimantan: Pathway to environmental stability. Research Network Report No. 3 (August). Berkeley: Southeast Asia Sustainable Forest Management Network.
Poffenberger, Mark, and Betsy McGean, eds. 1993b.
Community allies: Forest co-management in Thailand. Research Network Report No. 2 (August). Berkeley: Southeast Asia Sustainable Forest Management Network.
Poffenberger, Mark, and Betsy McGean, eds. 1993c.
Upland Philippine communities: Guardians of the final forest frontiers. Research Network Report No. 4 (August). Berkeley: Southeast Asia Sustainable Forest Management Network.
Pragtong, Komon, and David E. Thomas. 1990.
Evolving management systems in Thailand. In Keepers of the forest, ed. M. Poffenberger. West Hartford, Conn.: Kumarian Press.
Ritchie, Dan. 1992.
A strategy for Asian forestry development. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.
Royal Forest Department. 1991.
Royal forestry statistics of Thailand. Bangkok.
Talbott, Kirk, and Lauren Morris. 1993.
Ethnicity and environment in the mountains of Laos and Vietnam. Praxis 10(2): 90.
Uebelhor, K. 1989.
Impacts of selective logging on dipterocarp forests in Mindanao. Quezon City, Manila: DENR.
Dr. Oekan AbdoellahResearcher Mr. Romeo AcostaOfficer-in-Charge Dr. Ajit BanerjeeSenior Forestry Specialist Dr. Chip BarberBiological Resources and Institutions Program Mr. Jerry BissonEnvironment Officer |
Mr. Gilbert BraganzaResearch Assistant Professor Lert ChuntanaparbAssociate Professor Ir. Roedjai DjakariaSenior Advisor to the Minister of Forestry Dr. Deanna DonovanVisiting Fellow Dr. Michael DoveSenior Fellow |
Mr. Patrick DuganPrograms and Policy Consultant Dr. Jefferson FoxFellow Mr. Delfin Ganapin, Jr.Executive Director Dr. Madhav Prasad GhimireChief Planning Officer Mr. Agus Djoko IsmantoVisiting Fellow |
Mr. Malcolm JansenEnvironmental Specialist Ms. Cynthia JosaymaAffiliate Mr. Oktavianus KamusiExecutive Director Dr. Kuswata KartawinataSenior Program Officer Mr. Stephen KelleherSenior Program Officer |
Mr. Arvind KhareExecutive Director Dr. Abubakar LahjieHead of Forest Social Science Laboratory Mr. Marvic LeonenExecutive Director cfay@igc.apc.org Mr. Samer LimchoowongDirector Dr. Alex MoadNatural Forest Management |
Ms. Linda LindDirector Ms. Lye Tuck PoProgram on Education and Training Dr. Owen LynchAssociate/Professorial Lecturer Dr. Ben S. Malayang IIIUndersecretary for Environment and Research Mr. Delbert McCluskeyNatural Resources Officer Ms. Betsy McGeanConsultant |
Ms. Sandra MoniagaLembaga Bela Banua Talino Dr. Pamela MuickEcologist Mr. Nguyen Huy PhonDeputy Director Mr. Tri NugrohoDirector Mr. Jeff SirmonDeputy Chief for International Forestry Mr. Roger D. StoneDirector Ms. Wanida SubanseneeDirector |
Dr. Mark PoffenbergerVisiting Fellow Dr. Komon PragtongDirector of Community Forestry Branch Mr. Bunnalert RushatakulInspector General Mr. Chhun SarethDirector Dr. Kathryn SatersonExecutive Director Mr. Anil ShahPrincipal Advisor Mr. Peter W. Walpole, S.J.Division Head |
Mr. Kirk TalbottRegional Director for Asia and the Pacific Dr. Uraivan Tan-Kim-YongFaculty of Social Science Ms. Nusara ThaitawatBangkok Post Mr. Fumihiko YoshidaStaff Writer |
Ir. Sopari S. WangsadidjajaDirectorate General of Forest Utilization Mr. Jose Ernesto WijangcoScientist Dr. Eva K. WollenbergProgram Officer from May 1: c/o CIFOR Policy Program JI. Gunung Batu 5 Bogor, 16001 Indonesia |