Thesis (Ph. D.)--Australian National University, 1996. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Dec. 13, 2006). Electronic version of thesis incomplete: all after p. 208 wanting. Includes bibliographical references.

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Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Geography, 2005. / Title from first page of PDF document. Document formatted into pages; contains [1], vi, 99 p. : ill. Includes bibliographical references (p. 77-93).

Thesis (licentiate)--Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 2006. / Thesis documentation sheet inserted. Appendix includes reprints of two papers co-authored with others. Includes bibliographical references. Issued also electronically via World Wide Web in PDF format; online version lacks appendix of papers.

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Extending Nepal's community forestry programme and its protected area network into lekh forests has been hampered by the assumption that people who live in or near lekh forests treat them as unregulated open access resources. This study tests this assumption by examining the interaction between local people and forests in two lekh areas of the central Middle Hills. The research is comprised of an action research approach, a theoretical framework of ecological anthropology that was also informed by forestry science, and tools and methods drawn from ethnographic fieldwork and rapid rural appraisal. The belief that lekh forests are treated as unregulated open access is challenged by demonstrating that there are clearly defined local use rights to lekh forests. Access to forest resources is regulated by forest users and relatively sophisticated and dynamic indigenous systems of forest management have been developed. The potential for implementing community forestry in the two lekh areas was explored by incorporating an element of action research in the study. A number of challenges are highlighted for the Nepal government to facilitate the improved management and conservation of lekh forests while ensuring an equitable flow of benefits to the people who depend on these forests. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

In 1998, the government of British Columbia introduced a new form of tenure for community forestry. The Community Forest Agreement (CFA) was envisioned as a unique institutional mechanism for devolution, providing resource-dependent communities and First Nations in B.C. with the authority to set the direction of forest management in their locale, and to create local benefits. Relative to the industrial status quo, there were high expectations of community forestry and what it might achieve. This study empirically tested some of these expectations with respect to B.C.’s Community Forest Program. Taking a realist approach to evaluation, a variety of qualitative research methods were used to critically assess the structure, performance, and outcomes of the CFA. Analysis of the CFA revealed that its structure is virtually identical to tenures designed for industrial forestry with a few minor exceptions. In the current tenure regime, the CFA devolves limited power over strategic decisions and community control largely resides at the operational level, affecting on-the-ground aspects of timber harvesting rather than enabling a broader and more holistic approach to forest management. Outcomes of the CFA generally did not satisfy expectations that communities would commercially harvest botanical non-timber forest products, develop capacity for value-added wood processing, and utilize more environmentally-sensitive harvesting treatments. The study did find that CFAs supported local employment and were more labour intensive than industrial licensees in harvesting and silvicultural activities. Assessing the CFA structure and the on-the-ground outcomes side-by-side, this study suggests that the impediments to realizing a more holistic form of community forestry likely have their roots in the institutional mechanism itself, rather than in the efforts of communities. Flowing from the evaluation are recommendations for government to consider devolving more power over key strategic management decisions and increasing the size of CFAs to improve their economies of scale; and recommendations for communities to build their capacity and critical social mass to leverage policy changes that may further the evolution of community forestry in B.C.

Community forestry is considered a collaborative governance approach that notionally provides local communities with some decision-making authority about forest management, as well as being promoted as a promising approach for ensuring forest sustainability and encouraging social learning among participants. Based on these potential benefits, this research investigated how collaboration and learning can help in managing community forests sustainably. The research involved a qualitative case study, focused on the Wetzinkwa Community Forest Corporation (WCFC) located in Smithers, British Columbia. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with WCFC participants, forest tours, participant observation, and document review. The results indicate that individual and social learning did occur through collaborating on forest management issues such as sustainable forest management and benefit distribution. Further, the data shows the WCFC was making progress in sustainably managing the forest through efforts such as protecting forest under-story and embarking on a project to ensure forest health and resiliency.