In 2006, the U.S. Forest Service implemented performance measures to evaluate urban forestry management in communities in each state. The Forest Service implemented these measures under its Community Accomplishment Reporting System (CARS). To achieve four CARS measures that pertain to management, communities must have a management plan, professional staff, tree ordinances, and an advisory or advocacy organization. It is unclear whether attaining the CARS measures reflects the status of the urban forest itself. We analyzed street tree inventories from communities in Massachusetts that met the CARS measures. We considered the net gain or loss in the number of street trees in 2007 and cost-benefit analyses from the Street Tree Resource Analysis Tool for Urban Forest Managers (STRATUM). We analyzed the diversity of street tree populations. We used a correlation analysis to discover associations between these variables and both community demographic measures and qualification of the urban forester managers. Thirty-three communities met the CARS measures and 9 had active street tree inventories. Fewer than half of the communities planted more trees than they removed in 2007. Planting and removal activity increased with tree budget. Cost-benefit analysis showed that for 8 of 9 communities with inventories, benefits of street trees outweighed the cost of management. Community population was associated with trees planted, trees removed, and tree budget. Demographic measures were not associated with tree performance. Tree warden certification did not impact tree condition or diversity, however non-certified tree wardens planted trees at a higher rate than non-certified tree wardens. Tree budgets were higher for communities with certified arborists and for communities with inventories used for management. Results serve as a baseline for future study of the impact of the CARS measures on street tree populations in Massachusetts.

No description available.

The environmental and human health benefits of urban forests have been well documented. In the United States, volunteers conduct 5% of municipal tree care-related activities in urban forests. A literature review related to urban forestry volunteers in the United States was conducted and it was concluded that urban forestry volunteers are often organized via a committee or non-governmental organization (NGO) and that there is limited understanding around many of these entities. Following Dillman’s methods, an electronic qualitative survey with a primary objective of better understanding their characteristics was disseminated to urban forestry NGOs throughout the temperate forest region of the United States. Private citizens are significant partners that are essential in forming and funding urban forestry NGOs. More than 40% of organizations were established to extend limited municipal resources and improve urban tree canopy cover. Nearly 80% of responding NGOs had helped develop, shape, or implement local urban forestry-related policy in their community.

Research was conducted in three study sites in Lesotho, and the fourth, which was used on comparative basis, was in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study was suitable for Lesotho as it is a small country with very limited natural resources. Lesotho's weak economy, exacerbated by the increasing population, needs concerted efforts to redress its socio-economic problems. This study is one of such efforts to explore the potentials of the indigenous forests with the aim of addressing wood demands. Celtis africana is one of the species with a proven record in Lesotho to have been a well adapted, resourceful timber tree in the past. Over-exploitation has degenerated it to its brink of extinction. It is against this background that this research was conducted with the aim of restoring Celtis africana to its original status in Lesotho. The results revealed that due to climatic conditions, seeds from Kwazulu-Natal are heavier than those from localities in Lesotho. However, wood densities from study sites in Lesotho are higher than those of KwaZulu-Natal. Pre-treatment method of manual scarification showed the best outcomes in terms of germination percent and vigour while the control was the last. The diverse nature of Celtis africana allows it to survive and prosper in a wide and varying range of habitats. Its pliable and adaptive characters are manifested by its ability to adapt in novel environments. Under ideal warm and moist conditions Celtis africana keeps its foliage all the year round, but in dry or abnormally cold years it becomes a deciduous tree. Though it is distributed in a variety of habitats, Celtis africana prefers moist habitats. It also demonstrates greater "affinities" for the carbonates in the soils, in particular, calcium carbonate (CaC03) and dolomite (CaMgC03). More research and determined reforestation programmes are required in order to improve the status of Celtis africana in Lesotho. Its natural existence in Lesotho can curtail expense of provenance identification. Both extension strategies and silvicultural operations, which can assist in tree improvement, should be adopted. Social benefits which, are rendered by Celtis africana in South Africa, can be emulated and adopted in Lesotho. Other than being an admired and valuable recreational tree (planted in parks and in the homesteads), it is a protected tree in South Africa. / Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis critically analyses collective action processes and outcomes in Community Forestry through the concept of embeddedness. This research focuses on the questions of when people cooperate, how and why collective action emerges and evolves, and what leads or does not lead to equitable outcomes. The thesis makes a fundamental distinction between equality and equity. The research focuses specifically on the Nepalese experience with Community Forestry (CF), which is regarded as one of the most progressive CF programs being implemented in one of the poorest countries in the world. The thesis adopts an integrated research approach involving multiple actors, scales and methods with a focus on local level CF processes and forest users. This study considers the Forest Users Group (FUG) as a unit for analysis. Field work was conducted in three FUGs from the mid-hill region of Nepal over seven months between August 2001 and February 2002. The field research moves downwards to the household level and upward to the district, national and international level actors. It employs a combination of the process analysis and actor oriented approach and qualitative and quantitative methods to understand how CF is being driven, who is driving it and why CF is advancing in a certain direction. The study shows that the emergence, evolution and outcomes of collective action in CF are complex and varied due to specific and changing socio-cultural, economic, political and ecological contexts. Without understanding the complexities, in which peoples’ motivation and collective action are embedded, we cannot explain the emergence and evolution of collective action in CF. This thesis challenges the rational choice tradition and some key points of Common Property Regimes (CPR) theory and highlights the concept of embeddedness in participatory natural resource management. The thesis highlights the problem of decentralised CF policy and the forest bureaucracy. Decentralisation universally imposes a formal democratic system based on equality without acknowledging unequal societies. In Nepal, there has been little reorganisation of the forest bureaucracy. Despite being an international model for community forestry, in Nepal the existing bureaucracy has been unable or unwilling to transfer knowledge to forest users. The thesis concludes by stating the need to avoid the pitfalls of some democratic principles associated with standardisation and formalism. This means transforming bureaucratic norms and ideology. Context is central for the sustainable and equitable management of natural resources. It must be further researched and applied in decision-making if CF is going to achieve its potential to improve the condition of forests and the welfare of rural people.

Community forestry is now a popular approach in forest management globally. Although local communities have previously been involved in forest management in various minor ways, community-based forestry is very new in the Australian context. Because of the multiple interests of forest users and other community interest groups, a wider range of up-to-date information is being requested in community forestry, than has been used in ‘conventional’ government-based forest management in the past. The overall aim of this research was to explore the potential and constraints for the application of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology in community forest management in Australia and to relate the results also to Nepal. Specific objectives were to: (i) review the applications of GIS in forestry and community forestry worldwide, (ii) determine stakeholders’ views on their requirements for the use of GIS in community-based forest management, (iii) prepare and demonstrate various practical applications of GIS requested by community groups in the Wombat State Forest, (iv) identify the strengths and limitations of GIS in community forestry, and (v) relate findings on GIS applications in Australia to community forestry in Nepal. This study involved a combination of three approaches: review of global literature on GIS, use of GIS and related technologies, and participatory action research. A wide variety of spatial information was identified through community groups as important for community forest planning and management.

Community forestry is now a popular approach in forest management globally. Although local communities have previously been involved in forest management in various minor ways, community-based forestry is very new in the Australian context. Because of the multiple interests of forest users and other community interest groups, a wider range of up-to-date information is being requested in community forestry, than has been used in ‘conventional’ government-based forest management in the past. The overall aim of this research was to explore the potential and constraints for the application of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology in community forest management in Australia and to relate the results also to Nepal. Specific objectives were to: (i) review the applications of GIS in forestry and community forestry worldwide, (ii) determine stakeholders’ views on their requirements for the use of GIS in community-based forest management, (iii) prepare and demonstrate various practical applications of GIS requested by community groups in the Wombat State Forest, (iv) identify the strengths and limitations of GIS in community forestry, and (v) relate findings on GIS applications in Australia to community forestry in Nepal. This study involved a combination of three approaches: review of global literature on GIS, use of GIS and related technologies, and participatory action research. A wide variety of spatial information was identified through community groups as important for community forest planning and management.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This thesis critically analyses collective action processes and outcomes in Community Forestry through the concept of embeddedness. This research focuses on the questions of when people cooperate, how and why collective action emerges and evolves, and what leads or does not lead to equitable outcomes. The thesis makes a fundamental distinction between equality and equity. The research focuses specifically on the Nepalese experience with Community Forestry (CF), which is regarded as one of the most progressive CF programs being implemented in one of the poorest countries in the world. The thesis adopts an integrated research approach involving multiple actors, scales and methods with a focus on local level CF processes and forest users. This study considers the Forest Users Group (FUG) as a unit for analysis. Field work was conducted in three FUGs from the mid-hill region of Nepal over seven months between August 2001 and February 2002. The field research moves downwards to the household level and upward to the district, national and international level actors. It employs a combination of the process analysis and actor oriented approach and qualitative and quantitative methods to understand how CF is being driven, who is driving it and why CF is advancing in a certain direction. The study shows that the emergence, evolution and outcomes of collective action in CF are complex and varied due to specific and changing socio-cultural, economic, political and ecological contexts. Without understanding the complexities, in which peoples’ motivation and collective action are embedded, we cannot explain the emergence and evolution of collective action in CF. This thesis challenges the rational choice tradition and some key points of Common Property Regimes (CPR) theory and highlights the concept of embeddedness in participatory natural resource management. The thesis highlights the problem of decentralised CF policy and the forest bureaucracy. Decentralisation universally imposes a formal democratic system based on equality without acknowledging unequal societies. In Nepal, there has been little reorganisation of the forest bureaucracy. Despite being an international model for community forestry, in Nepal the existing bureaucracy has been unable or unwilling to transfer knowledge to forest users. The thesis concludes by stating the need to avoid the pitfalls of some democratic principles associated with standardisation and formalism. This means transforming bureaucratic norms and ideology. Context is central for the sustainable and equitable management of natural resources. It must be further researched and applied in decision-making if CF is going to achieve its potential to improve the condition of forests and the welfare of rural people.

No description available.

Community forestry has become a prominent policy instrument over the past decades as a response to deforestation pressures and rural poverty. Its political implementation involves a complex process with a profound structural change - away from state-based forestry to locally based decision-making authority. The research analyzes the internal development among policy actors in order to understand how community forestry can emerge in a regional policy system. It explores three different case studies with distinct policy processes towards community forestry: an international development project (Ecuador: Esmeraldas), a grassroot environmental movement (Canada: British Columbia), and an institutional restructuring process (Mexico: Quintana Roo). The theoretical approach is based on the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF). The ACF views policy change as a result of competing advocacy coalitions which act according to their policy beliefs. Policy change can be affected by internal changes (policy learning and changes of beliefs) or by external perturbations which affect the power constellation between the coalitions. Each policy process is analyzed over more than a decade, based on empirical data from semi-structured interviews with key actors and complemented by literature. The major actors and coalitions are identified, as well as their learning and changes of beliefs over time to understand their influence on the policy process. In summary, the research found that policy learning has a high importance for the internal development of community forestry policy, while often hidden behind the strong presence of an external perturbation. Although not as a singular force, policy learning has been shown to have a very potent role in enhancing, or sustaining, policy changes. Policy learning can have a stabilizing effect against adverse events, once the implementation process has started (Mexico). Policy learning can even generate the major momentum of change that unfolds when released by an external catalyst event (Canada). It can also, however, have a very limited influence, if not form an internal challenge to the implementation (Ecuador). It has been found that a change of policy beliefs is not a requirement for policy change in the early stages of community forestry, and cannot be indicated by visible changes in the policy network or local forestry arrangements. These might concern other adjustments of the actors to the changes, which do not reflect their substantial policy beliefs. The changes of policy beliefs in the three case studies show some similar patterns in the way the Community Forestry Coalition developed their policy goals over time, as well as in the way the State Forestry Coalition adjusted strategically to the new impact of the CFC on the network. The research discusses three distinct strategic approaches of the coalitions and their varying success.