Yhteenveto. - Sammendrag.

leading to an overall decrease in the world's forest cover. The forests of Asia, in particular, have been strongly impacted. A number of initiatives have suggested forest policy reforms, and the need for the sustainable management of forests has been widely recognized and encouraged. But because implementation of reforms at the local level has been insufficient, it is imperative that local people begin to effectively participate in forest planning and management as well as in protected-area management. The Forest Conservation Project, launched in April 1998 by the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), has carried out research activities on forest strategies, including policy analysis and on-site surveys. This book gives an overview of the project's research activities in its first three-year phase (April1998-March 2001). Since viable forest strategies work best when based on the involvement of local people, this report is addressed to stakeholders in the communities of the relevant countries, including local people and authorities, community-based organizations, experts, national agencies, and international institutions.

With tens of millions of hectares and hundreds of millions of lives in the balance, the debate over who should control South Asias forests is of tremendous political significance. This book provides an insightful and thorough assessment of important forest management transitions currently underway. MARK POFFENBERGER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY FORESTRY INTERNATIONAL The contributions in this volume not only breathe life into the fi eld of writing and analysis related to forests, they do so on the strength of extraordinarily insightful research. Kudos to Springate-Baginski and Blaikie for providing us with a set of thoroughly researched, provocative studies that should be required reading not only for those interested in community forestry in south Asia, but in resource governance anywhere. ARUN AGRAWAL, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF NATURAL RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN, USA Makes a significant contribution to theory and practice of participatory forest management. YAM MALLA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, REGIONAL COMMUNITY FORESTRY TRAINING CENTER FOR ASIA AND THE PACIFIC, BANGKOK This excellent and timely book provides thought-provoking insights to the issues of power and politics in forestry and the difficulties of transforming age-old structures that circumscribe the access of the poor to forests and their resources; it challenges our assumptions of the benefits of participatory forest management and the role of forestry in poverty reduction. It should be of interest to policy-makers and to all those who have been involved with the struggle of transforming forestry over the decades. DR MARY HOBLEY, HOBLEY SHIELDS ASSOCIATES (NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND PLANNING CONSULTANCY) A rare combination of extensive field study, social science insights and policy studies will be of immense value DR N. C. SAXENA, MEMBER OF NATIONAL ADVISORY COUNCIL, GOVERNMENT OF INDIA In recent decades participatory approaches to forest management have been introduced around the world. This book assesses their implementation in the highly politicized environments of India and Nepal. The authors critically examine the policy, implementation processes and causal factors affecting livelihood impacts. Considering narratives and field practice, with data from over 60 study villages and over 1000 household interviews, the book demonstrates why particular field outcomes have occurred and why policy reform often proves so difficult. Research findings on which the book is based are already influencing policy in India and Nepal, and the research and analysis have great relevance to forestry management in a wide range of countries. Published with DFID.

Fourth in the series, this profile explores the diverse and changing nature of Community Involvement in Forest Management (CIFM) in Western Europe. It provides some comparative European-level data on important social institutions which shape patterns of community involvement in forestry, and it briefly examines different national contexts. Through 12 case studies, this publication discusses some of the main economic, social, ecological and policy opportunities and challenges of CIFM in Europe, and outlines the principal lessons learned according to three key groups of actors: governments, NGOs and local communities. The profile also proposes some recommendations for policy and action in Europe.

Sustainable Forest Management provides the necessary material to educate students about forestry and the contemporary role of forests in ecosystems and society. This comprehensive textbook on the concept and practice of sustainable forest management sets the standard for practice worldwide. Early chapters concentrate on conceptual aspects, relating sustainable forestry management to international policy. In particular, they consider the concept of criteria and indicators and how this has determined the practice of forest management, taken here to be the management of forested lands and of all ecosystems present on such lands. Later chapters are more practical in focus, concentrating on the management of the many values associated with forests. Overall the book provides a major new synthesis which will serve as a textbook for undergraduates of forestry as well as those from related disciplines such as ecology or geography who are taking a course in forests or natural resource management.