• Benefiting from Conservation: How the collection of Thaumatococcus daniellii fruits in Ghana is emerging as a forest industry.

2

• Costa Rican program of payments for environmental services: Case Studies.

5

• Forest livelihoods and iron ore mines in Orissa, India. 10

• Perspectives on forestry in Turkey. 13

• What do we want for communities in the Amazon? 15

• MI Reflections: Mango Season. 17

• Czechia 2006. 18

• Strengthening global competence of students and faculty through collaboration in forestry.

19

• Conference Notes, News and Announcements. 22

A PUBLICATION OF THE INTERNATIONAL FORESTRY PROGRAM COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES, NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

A Nordman fir stand in the Black Sea region of Turkey. Photo by John Frampton

SYLVANET is published twice a year by the International Forestry Program at North Carolina State University. We welcome submissions of abstracts, travelogues, news, an-nouncements, photos, and up to 5 page papers, reports, or perspectives on issues pertaining to international forestry—especially by faculty, students, alumni, and associates of NC State. If you would like to submit an article or be added to our mailing list, email BJ Berenguer at bjberen-guer@hotmail.com or Dr. Erin Sills, the faculty advisor for SYLVANET at erin_sills@ncsu.edu

VOLUME 19/ISSUE 1/Spring 2006

In This Issue:

Benefiting from Conservation: How the collection of Thaumatococcus daniellii fruits in

Ghana is emerging as a forest industry. Edem Kodzo Ekpe and Reuben Ottou

“Socially, [the collection of T. daniellii] has increased the appreciation of and commitment to forest conservation by some community members, especially the young men involved in the harvesting.”

Preamble In 2004, a group of students and faculty from the Depart-ment of Forestry visited Ghana, including a stop in the Afadjato-Agumatsa area of the Volta Region. They met with the au-thors of this article, who are project officers of the Ghana Wildlife Society (GWS), manag-ing a community nature reserve in partnership with communities of Afadjato-Agumatsa. One of the topics discussed was non-timber forest products, and this article follows-up on that meet-ing by considering in detail the collection of fruit from the Sweet Prayers plant, Thaumato-coccus daniellii.

Introduction Forest resources are of great im-portance to people all over the world ranging from forest fringe communities to urban communi-ties, which live far from the for-ests. The resources also range from products such as timber, herbs, twines, fruits, etc. Many governments’ policies consider non-timber forest products (NTFPs) as minor products. However, a visit to a forest fringe community or even urban mar-kets in Ghana reveals the impor-tance of NTFPs in the daily lives of people. They are used as food, in medicine, for shelter, clothing, etc. While some are used in the natural state, others are processed before use. Owusu, 2001 listed seven major NTFPs used in the Afadjato-Agumatsa Area. One of these, which is becoming very important in the lives of the youths of the Afadjato-Agumatsa area, is the Sweet Prayers plant, Thaumatococcus daniellii. It is herbaceous and grows very well

in high forest areas. The arils of the seeds are a source of thau-matin, a natural low calorie sweetener. This article attempts to give an account of how the collection of the fruit of this plant is becoming an important forest industry in the Afadjato-Agumatsa Conservation Area and its current and potential impacts in the area.

The Afadjato-Agumatsa Area The Afadjato-Agumatsa area is located in the Hohoe District of the Volta Region of Ghana. The landscape is dominated by the Agumatsa Range and Mt. Afad-jato, part of the Akwapim-Togo Ranges which run in a northeast and southwest direction between the Volta River and the Ghana-Togo border. The area boasts Mt. Afadjato, the highest mountain in Ghana, and the Wli waterfalls, the highest waterfalls in West Africa. The forest in the area is one of the few remnants of the eastern edge of the Upper Guinea Forest, a major tropical forest biome. The area is a globally significant bird area, based on BirdLife International’s criteria. The Ghana Wildlife Society, in partnership with the Gbledi and Fodome Ahor Communities is implementing the Mt. Afadjato-Agumatsa Community Forest Conservation Project with the aim of conserving biodiversity and aesthetics on Mt. Afadjato as well as the area in the adjoining Agumatsa Range. The project, which was funded by the Nether-lands Government between 1998 and 2003, resulted in the develop-ment of micro-scale income gen-erating activities, promotion of eco-tourism and the establish-ment of a 12 km2 Community

Nature Reserve (CNR). Activities under the project include nature reserve management, ecotourism development, microenterprise development and conservation education. Other communities in the area that are also undertaking community ecotourism activities are Wli and Liati Wote Crop farming is the main liveli-hood activity of the communities. Most of other activities, like palm oil production and gari (a staple coarse powder made from cas-sava) are therefore agro-based. Many NTFPs, like fuelwood, fruits, snails, etc., are also col-lected for domestic use. How-ever, in recent times, some youths are undertaking collection of fruits of T. daniellii during the fruiting season for commercial purposes. Biology of the Plant

T. daniellii belongs to the Maran-taceae family. It grows well in semi-deciduous and deciduous forests where annual rainfall does not transcend 2000mm. It is a rhizomatous and monocotyledon-ous herb, propagating itself by rhizomes. Long petioles about 2 to 2.5m arise from the rhizomes depending on the environment of the plant. These long petioles end in large broad and oval papery leaves that can grow to around 45cm long and 30cm broad. The leaves are ovate-elliptic rounded, truncate at the base, and shortly acuminate at the apex (Yeboah et al, 1997). Inflorescence usually arises from the lowest node and may be sim-ple or forked with spikes about 8 to 10cm in length and bracts, usually imbricate, about 3 to 4cm in length. The flowers, which may be as long as the bracts, form in short spikes close to the ground at the base of a swollen petiole. Sepals are broadly linear

Page 2

The authors talking with NCSU students and faculty visiting the Afadjato-Agumatsa area of Ghana. .

Page 3 Page 3

and about 2.5cm long. As many as 10 to 12 purplish-pink flow-ers may form on each inflorescence, but usually only 2, 3, or 4 rarely more than 4, of these form matured fruits. The fruit grows on short stalks close to the ground and may be covered with plant debris as it clusters on the soil surface within the reach of insects and rodents. It is pyramidal or trigonal in shape, maturing from a dark-green through brown to crimson or bright red colour when fully ripe and may weigh between 6 and 30 g depending on whether it has 1, 2 or 3 seeds. Within the fruit are the black hard seeds that are covered by a thin layer of sticky, transparent gel. The seed has a soft, fleshy juicy cap called an aril, which contains the sweet substance. The plant flowers most of the year but is most prolific from July until late October. Fruit formation, maturing and ripening pre-dominantly occurs from January until mid April. This time is usually off-season for farming.

Uses of the Plant The plant is known in many forest areas all over West Africa for many local uses. In Ghana, the leaves of the tree are the best known as they are used for wrapping food. This is also done in the Afadjato area, where women are the main collectors. This practice is currently reducing due to the introduction of poly-thene bags for food wrapping in recent years. Local hunters also chew the petioles for water during long hunting expeditions. In the Afadjato-Agumatsa area, the fruits are becoming the key product of the sweet prayers plant. Locally, some people use them as sweeteners by licking the seeds to sweeten porridge or fermented palm wine. The fruits are also collected and sold in large quantities to an exporter who exports the arils for commer-cial use. The full range of the uses have not been investigated but preliminary investigations reveal that the arils are used to pro-duce Talin, a non-sugar sweetener used in the food, beverages and pharmaceutical industries and by diabetics. Stephen ( Bon-ne’hin 1997) explains that Talin has a low caloric value and a sweetening power 5000 times more than sugar. Collection of fruits - an emerging industry Collection of fruits has become important in the Afadjato-Agumatsa area. Commercial quantities are harvested as a result of the forest conservation initiative embarked on by the commu-nities since 1998. Young men usually undertake the harvesting during the ripening season, usually January to April, which is usually dry and an off-season for farming. This activity is there-fore becoming a means of livelihood during the season when farming activities are lower.

Harvesting is done by hand and is usually done by the youth in groups. About 50 young men in the project area are involved in this activity. During the major fruit-ripening season, one person may collect from 10 to 20kg of fruits in a day. The fruits are

bagged and transported to Hohoe the district capital to be sold to exporters. Before exporting, the fruits are opened, and the arils cut off leaving viable seeds. These arils are then frozen and exported. Though most of the fruits are collected from the forest in the project area, some are bought from other areas outside the project area. Impact of fruits collection The impact of this emerging forest industry is varied. There are ecological, social and economic impacts in the area. Ecologically, the collection of the fruits may result in loss of food for the insects and rodents of the forest floor. Also, during harvest-ing, a lot of stampeding occurs because each harvester tries to out-wit the others. This results in the trampling of young T. daniellii and other plants. However, during interviews with collectors, they re-ported that since the active commercial harvesting started in 2001, there has been an increase in the quantity collected from the forests in the area. A thorough assessment of the impact of trampling on regeneration and fruiting is therefore necessary. Economically, it has provided employment for the harvesters, the processors and the exporters. The exporters determine the buying price of the fruits, currently at 3,500 Cedis ($0.39) per kilogram. As outlined earlier, if a person collects 10kg a day, it works out to $3.90/day. Though this may not be high, it compares well with the local estimated daily income of $1 and a national minimum daily wage of $1.50. With the increasing economic value and use of the fruit have come some existing and potential social impacts. Socially, it has increased the appreciation of and commitment to forest conservation by some community members, especially the young men involved in the harvesting. This is because they have realized that protecting the forest from fires will help increase fruit production, therefore increasing their income. However, it may result in some potential conflicts. Prior to the commercial harvest-ing, the fruit was considered a common-property though it is on

A View from the community nature reserve in Afadjato-Agumatsa

Vol 19(1)

Page 4 Page 4 Page 4

lands owned by some families. However, because of the increas-ing economic value for the fruits, some landowning families com-plain about the collection of fruits from their lands for commer-cial benefits without a share coming to them. This may be ad-dressed by making the harvesters contribute to a community fund. Also, since some of the fruits are collected from forests outside the traditional areas, it may result in conflicts. This may also be addressed by the harvesters seeking permission from the land-owning families in those traditional areas. Potentials for development The development of T. daniellii to increase production will en-courage the sustainable conservation of forests in the Afadjato-Agumatsa area. Also it will help improve livelihoods by provid-ing employment and increasing income. Research has shown that T. daniellii can be cultivated by integrating it into agroforestry systems (Yeboah et al, 1997). The plant requirements include optimum light in humid forest undergrowths. Since the removal of the arils does not destroy the viability of the seeds, they can be nursed and transplanted onto the field with other crops. Apart from the local benefits, it may also help to meet the industrial demands of thaumatin. Potential Challenges to Development

Like any other initiative, the development of T. daniellii will not be without challenge. Hurdles to overcome are financial and tech-nical. Financial and technical support are needed for experiments to better the cultivation of the crop. However, access to markets will also need to be further developed. This will mean the im-provement of the roads to the area and the availability of markets for the products. In the area, it will take time and extension ser-

vices to get people to accept cultivating T. danielli. Conclusion

The collection of the fruits of T. daniellii is an example of linking eco-nomic benefits to sustainable forest management. With the emerging market for the fruits, the sustainability of the harvesting of the fruits in the Afadjato-Agumatsa is in question. This is extremely important, especially in this era of increasing calls and markets for sustainably managed forest products. The sustainability of T. daniellii production is therefore an issue worth investigating. Edem Kodzo Ekpe(e_edem@yahoo.com) and Reuben Ottou(reubenott@yahoo.co.uk) are extension agents with the Ghana Wildlife Society (www.ghanawildlifesociety.org). References

Bonne’hin L., 1997. Economic Value and Role of Non-timber Forest Products in the Long-term Management of Forest Resources in the Cote D’Ivoire. In: Proceedings of an IUCN and the European Union Workshop on Non-timber Forest Products (value, use and management issues in Africa, including examples from Latin America. Pg. 68. Naro Moru, Kenya.

Owusu E.H., 2001. Unpublished. Community Forest Conservation in Ghana: The Potential of Mount Afadjato and Agumatsa Range for Ecotourism. PhD Thesis. University of Kent, Canterbury, UK.

Yeboah S.O., Hilger T.H. and Kroschel J. Thaumatococcus daniellii (Benn.) Benth. – A natural Sweetener from the Rain Forest Zone in West Africa with Potential for Income Generation in Small Scale Farming. institute of Plant Production and Agroecology of the Tropics and Subtropics. Hohen-heim University, Stuttgart, Germany

A village at the foot of the Afadjato-Agumatsa.

The fruit of Thaumatococcus daniellii.

Payments for environmental services A gift is something you give to another person to benefit him or her. Then, we could say that envi-ronmental services are gifts that Nature gives us for our own bene-fit. Forests, for example, provide multiple services, including con-servation of biological diversity, soil and water, supplying of wood and non-wood products, provi-sion of recreation opportunities and specific services as carbon sinks. However, key findings of The Global Forest Resources Assessment 2005 (FRA 2005) published by FAO shows that each year about 13 million hec-tares of the world’s forests are lost due to deforestation. Accord-ing with FRA 2005, North and Central America together had a net loss of 333,000 ha/yr. In gen-eral, this report shows that the rate of net forest loss is slowing down, thanks to new planting and natural expansion of existing forests. One of the reasons that could explain the increasing rate of forest designated for protection and conservation in Costa Rica is the implementation of the “Programa de Pagos por Servi-cios Ambientales”. The Costa Rican payments for environ-mental services (PES) program, implemented since 1997, is a mechanism whereby the State provides financial compensation, through the National Fund of Forest Financing (FONAFIFO), to owners of forests and forest plantations for the environmental services that these provide, di-rectly contributing to the protec-tion and improvement of the en-vironment. According with FONAFIFO, the most important feature of this Program is that it has changed the traditional concept of a "subsidy" or "incentive", replacing it with

the idea of "economic compensa-tion" for the environmental ser-vices provided by forests and increasing their ecological, social and economic value. Interest for using PES has in-creased in recent years. Latin America has been particularly receptive to this approach. PES programs are also in operation in Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and elsewhere, and others are under preparation or study in several countries (Pagiola et al, 2005). A fundamental dimension of these PES systems concerns their impact on forest conservation. Because the success of incentive-based programs is based on en-suring effective demand it is criti-cal to understand participants’ motivations to enroll. Under-standing of landowner motiva-tions to participate along with a detailed description of the enroll-ment process is needed before the programs’ impact can be ana-lyzed. This information can help to ensure future sustainability of the Costa Rican PES program. As part of a study on the impact of the Costa Rican PES program, led by Erin Sills, PhD and associ-ate professor of the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at NC State Univer-sity, during the summer of 2004 a series of in-depth interviews were carried out in the North-East part of Costa Rica. Interviews were developed with participants and non-participants in the program with the main purpose of trying to understand main motivations to enroll in the Costa Rican PES program. The study takes a par-ticipatory econometrics approach to address the hypothesis: “conservation payments generate a net increase in the area of pro-tected forest”. The hope is that case studies will help to uncover the predictors that affect PES participation and identify other

Profile of Landowners in PSA

Our study of PSA in Costa Rica uses multiple methods, including case studies, GIS analysis of remote sensing data on forest cover, and a survey of landowners. The first phase of this survey was to inter-view 50 landowners in our study area who signed up for PSA con-tracts to protect forest in 1997 – 1999.

Analysis of this initial data shows that the typical land-owner is mid-fifties, married male, with 8 years of education, who does not live on the farm. He/she has an average of 20 years experience with agriculture, is not a member of an environmental organization, and 60% have no previous experience with tree planting. The average PSA family has 5 members with the highest level of education being 10 years. These demographics are simi-lar to those cited by other studies.

Turning to farm character-istics, we see that the average farm size is 165.1± 96.0 ha with a median of 73 ha. Half of the PSA farms have had timber harvested in the past 50 years, and 10-15% of the farms currently sell cattle or agricul-tural products. About 30% of the farms have ‘poor’ soils and about 40% have ‘steep’ slopes.

Survey data has also pro-vided some information on the im-pacts of the PSA program. We found that around 70% feel that the PSA program has improved their overall quality of life, are either satisfied or very satisfied with PSA, and plan to participate in the PSA program in the future. 86% have recommended the program to their neighbors. The money from the PSA contracts is used primarily for consumption (46%), investment in farm (34%) or other assets (14%), or savings (12%). Since 1996, PSA landholders increased their owner-ship of automobiles and consumer electronics such as TV, phones (cell phone & landline), microwaves, refrigerators, washing machines,

Costa Rican Program of Payments for Environmental Services Case Studies Rodrigo Arriagada

“Areas designated for the conservation of biological diversity, which make up 11% of designated forests, have increased by an estimated 96 million hectares since 1990. Costa Rica is just one example of a country where forest devoted to biodiversity conservation and watershed protection is increasing (FRA 2005)..”

The author visiting one of the properties included in the case studies.

Vol 19(1)

Page 6

unobservable factors that can complement our quantitative data. Case Study Interviews For the case studies, we used iterative field re-search in which data collection was combined with detailed observation and conversation to elicit knowledge about participant motivations. In addition to interviews with participants and non-participants, we also interviewed government officials, forest professionals and local authori-ties. This information was taken together with review of documentation, properties observation, including collection of GPS points throughout properties boundaries, following recommenda-tions in Udry (2003), Rao and Woolcock (forthcoming), Berg (2004), and Yin (1994). In-depth interviews with forest officials and local professionals were implemented to get a clear understanding of the Costa Rican PES program administration. Special interest was focused on application procedures, applicant selection meth-ods, rejection/wait listing criteria, cancellation of contracts and renewal process. Specifically, top-

ics of conversation included in these semi-structured in-depth interviews were: • Perceptions about determinants of PES partici-

pation. • Variables that affect participation and land-

owner land-use decisions. • Criteria to select applicants to the PES pro-

gram • Program administration, including guidelines

for rejecting/ wait-listing applications, cancel-ing, and renewing contracts.

Forest officials and local professionals also ad-vised on the selection of PES and non-PES par-ticipants for in-depth interviews. From their sug-gestions, a total of seven landowners were given in-depth interviews. During the landowner interviews, we explored key observable and “unobservable” factors in PES program participation. We asked partici-pants why they chose to enter to the program, and then asked non-participants about those same factors. This approach allowed us to explore differences and similarities across landowners that we had matched on observable characteris-

Page 6

and stereos. We also see a modest increase in ownership of bicycles, chainsaws, water filters, and satellite dishes. Horses, mules, and donkeys and oxen are the only two asset cate-gories that witnessed a decline over this time period. Of course, the key is to determine if this reflects a general improvement in living standards and prosperity in Costa Rica, or if PSA landholders saw a significantly greater increase in consumer durables com-pared to non-PSA landholders. The survey is continuing with inter-views of randomly selected landown-ers who do not participate in PSA. The next phase of our analysis will be to “match” PSA landowners with simi-lar non-PSA landowners and then estimate the impact of the program on forest conservation and livelihoods. -Katie Caldwell MS student in DFER

Table 1: Type of landowners included in case studies and their land use. Type of PES partici-

pant* Property size

(ha) Main land use Others land use Main source of income

Participant landowner on site

29 Forest conservation Pepper crop Pepper crop, PES payment

Participant absentee landowner

108 Cattle Plantain crop, Forest conservation

Cattle, off-farm job

Non-participant absen-tee landowner

50 Forest conservation n/a Off-farm job

Non-participant absen-tee landowner

126 Forest conservation Cattle Off-farm job

Non-participant landowner on-site

20 Forest conservation Vegetables and cattle Off-farm job

Non-renewed land-owner on-site

29 Forest manage-ment / Forest con-

servation

Cattle / pepper crop Off-farm job

Rejected absentee landowner

93 Forest conservation Abandoned prairies Off-farm job

tics and to identify other stable, reliable, and observable predictors of participation. Specifically, during the semi-structured in-depth interviews, topics of conversation included: Why people choose not to participate: • Perceived value of environmental services • Perceived importance in the enforcement of environmental pro-

tection • Land use and factors that determine use • Knowledge of the Costa Rican PES program, including admini-

stration and application process • Quantifiable and qualitative successes of the PES program in

forest conservation In addition to the in-depth interviews, every property was visited to: • Check current management practices • Analyze household strategies governing land management deci-

sions • Collect specific information about property size, forest type,

location, landscape features, access to roads • Collect GPS points and get good information about location,

including maps Determinants of participation in the Costa Rican PES pro-gram Properties were located within the Sarapiqui Canton, the biggest Canton of Costa Rica. One property was located in the Central Can-ton and corresponds to the only rejected applicant that could be found from 1997 and 1998. Figure 1, shows the study region where these cases studies were implemented. In total, seven case studies were included. Direct observation of the farms gave reason to believe that household strategies are different; however, most farms have some form of forest conservation regard-

less of participation in the PES program. Table 1 shows characteristics of the landowners interviewed for the case studies and their properties. Table 1 also shows a diverse situation in terms of sources of income. For the case of the PES participant on site, PES payment represents a big proportion of the total source of income and in this case, this family does not receive any off-property income. For the case of the absentee PES participant, main sources are not related with PES and part of the income comes from sources not related with the farm. For non-participants in general, off-farm labor income is the main source of income. Case studies also showed that people expressed different reasons for participating in the PES program. Reasons to participate include: • Lack of more profitable land use alternative due to land characteris-

tics (e.g. poor soil quality, slope). • Law restrictions to manage forest (e.g. forest management on high

slopes or near watersheds, prohibition to make land use changes). • Depressed cattle activity. • Program payment. • Simple application process. • Human restrictions (e.g. age). Reasons to not participate include: • Eligibility problems (e.g. legal property rights). • Benefit/cost relation (e.g. application and maintenance costs vs. pay-

ments). • Fear that participation will weaken private property rights. • Low payments • High cost associated with technical assistance In general, low payments and maintenance cost are the main motives that make an eligible person to decide not to participate. In our case, all the non-participants receive off-farm income, so they do not depend on

Page 7 Page 7

Figure 1. Study area where cases studies were implemented

Vol 19(1)

income from the farm. For cases where people do not live in the farm, opportu-nity cost of time has a great influence. In general, our case studies suggest that off-farm income is driving the decision not to participate. For the case of people that decide to par-ticipate, lack of profitable land use alter-natives and program payments have the greatest influence in the decision. Pro-gram participants that live on-site and depend largely on farm income have lower opportunity costs associated with the time maintaining the forest. For the case of absentee program partici-pants that do not depend on farm income, participation is more complex. The absen-tee PES participant included in these case studies is a wealthy farmer. Because he was already involved in some forest maintenance and surveillance, extra costs for participating in the program were minimal. In this case, lack of a better alternative land use may have affected the participation decision. Figure 3 shows the decision process that determined partici-pation in the Costa Rican PES program during 1997 and 1998 based on these case studies. If we consider the opinions collected from government officials and forest profes-sionals, many of the results derived from the in-depth conversations about motiva-tions to participate are confirmed. The main determinants of PES participation from the perspective of forest professional and government officials are as follows: • No alternative land use due to topogra-

phy or poor soil quality. • Lack of property title • Economic incentive motivation, par-

ticularly for poor farmers. • A “collective fever” or neighbor effect

to participate. • Owners of big properties are en-

rolled in PES “to protect” their land.

It is worth noting that in the study region, enrollment in PES started in 1997. During 1997 all applications were accepted; in fact, in 1997 MI-NAE received applications twice be-cause not enough applications were

received in the first call. In 1998, num-ber of applications increased. Selection of applicants was based on priorities defined by MINAE and timing of appli-cations (early applications received pref-erence after accepting applications on priority areas). Figure 2 shows the PES application process followed during 1997 and 1998. Another important consideration is that MINAE was not involved in any kind of program promotion in 1997-1998, so the first applications came from people al-ready involved in some way with MI-NAE or a NGO (e.g. FUNDECOR). Some promotion existed during these years from the creation of the Costa Rican Office on Joint Implementation (OCIC). OCIC was created as a coop-erative effort between the government (represented by MINAE), a private or-ganization specialized in the attraction

of foreign investment (CINDE, Costa Rican Trade and Development Board) and two non-governmental organiza-tions (FUNDECOR and ACOPE). One of the main objectives of OCIC was to develop a framework to consolidate the national "Forest Environmental Ser-vices Payment" (FESP) program. Conclusions Although this is an ongoing program evalua-tion and the NC State research team is still collecting information, we can anticipate some conclusions about the main factors that influence program participation. In general, program participation will de-pend on the socio-economic situation of the applicant. For applicants that do not depend on their farms to survive (e.g. they do not receive income from their properties), par-ticipation factors can be grouped as follow:

Page 8

PSA enrollment application submitted to the Ministry of The Environment

Notification of application acceptance

Proof of property right (included owners without title but in possession of the land)

Property maps delivered to MINAE (included geographical location on official maps)

Forest management plans prepared by a forest engineer delivered to MINAE

Proof of payment of property taxes to local municipality

Final Rejection/Approval PES application

Applications are filed according with date of reception

FONAFIFO/SINAC negotiations to define priority areas

Applications selection (only applications with contact

information were considered)

PSA enrollment application submitted to the Ministry of The Environment

Notification of application acceptance

Proof of property right (included owners without title but in possession of the land)

Property maps delivered to MINAE (included geographical location on official maps)

Forest management plans prepared by a forest engineer delivered to MINAE

Proof of payment of property taxes to local municipality

Final Rejection/Approval

Applications are filed according with date of reception

FONAFIFO/SINAC negotiations to define priority areas

Applications selection (only applications with contact

information were considered)

Figure 2. Application process to enroll in the Costa Rican PES program

1. People that are not considering managing their forest tend to consider participation in the program. Given that almost none of the landowners included in this case study depend on their farms to survive, it seems that this could explain partici-pation in many cases. 2. Legal issues also influence program participation. The only rejected application found from the period between 1997 and 1998 failed to participate due to a legal fight with another party that was also claiming ownership of the same property. 3. Property protection is also an important factor, especially for big farms. Land under PES is automatically protected by MINAE which means that the property cannot be occupied by anyone. 4. Farms in possession cannot be managed. According with the Costa Rican law, the main requisite to have a forest man-agement plan approved by MINAE is the title. This conclusion comes from conversation with government officials and forest professionals; all of the case studies already had titles. 5. In general, farms that do not offer alternatives for land use tend to be enrolled in the program; however there are excep-tions. Several people in this study did not participate even when they did not have alternatives. Opportunity cost of time and main sources of income also seem to affect the participa-tion decision. Finally, though less clear, people with high environmental awareness are more inclined to participate.

This conclusion mainly comes from conversation with governmental offi-cers and local foresters and is not supported by case study findings. Rodrigo Arriagada is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Forest Economics at NC State University. This project is funded by the National Science Foundation, SES-0519194. PIs include Erin Sills, Subhrendu Pattanayak, and Paul Ferraro. Assis-tance was also given by Luis Carrasco and Silvia Cordero. Citations: Berg, B.L. 2004. Qualitative research methods for the social sciences. Boston: Pearson Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2005. Global forest re-sources assessment 2005. Progress towards sustainable forest management. FAO Forestry Paper 147. Rome, Italy. Pagiola, S., Arcenas, A. and Platais, G. 2005. Can payment for environmental services help reduce poverty? An exploration of the issues and the evidence to date from Latin America. World Development 33(2): 237-253. Rao, V., and Ibáñez, A (forthcoming). “The Social Impact of Social Funds in Ja-maica: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Participation, Targeting and Collective Action in ommunity-Driven Development.” Journal of Development Studies. Udry, C. 2003. Fieldwork, Economic Theory, and Research on Institutions in Devel-oping Countries. American Economic Review 93:107-111 Yin, Robert K. 1994. Case study research: design and methods. Sage Publications.

Eligible potential program

participant

Non-PSA participantYes

No Other more profitable land use alternative and lack of legal restrictions?

Yes

No PSA participant

Non-PSA participant

On-site owner?

Off farm main source of income?

Yes

Yes

No

No

Non-PSA participant

Off farm main source of income?

Yes

No

High opportunity cost of time?

Low benefit/cost ratio with

participation?

Yes

No PSA participant

Non-PSA participant

Other more profitable land use alternative and lack of legal restrictions?

Yes

No PSA participant

Non-PSA participantYes

No PSA participant

Non-PSA participant

Figure 3. Decision tree involved in participation in the Costa Rican PES program

Vol 19(1)

Forest Livelihoods and Iron Ore Mines in Orissa, India Jennifer Miller, Shubhayu Saha, Erin Sills, and Subhrendu Pattanayak

Page 10

Rasmussen and Koroleva 2003). Further, employment opportunities in mines often attract workers from neighboring regions. This migration is likely to cause expanded human settlment and loss of forests directly or through accompanied agricultural expan-sion.

Given this context, the World Bank com-missioned a study of the impact of mines on forest resources and livelihoods in neighboring villages. In this article, we consider the linkages between exposure to iron ore mines, forest resources and local livelihoods, in order to inform policy-making in Orissa.

Sample Selection and Data The district of Keonjhar in Orissa was se-lected for the study, because it is one of the most important iron ore mining regions in the country. Two blocks in this district, Joda and Keonjhar Sadar, were selected in order to compare villages with similar for-est access but different exposure to mines. The ten sample villages in Joda are 2.1 km from mining areas on average and are highly exposed to mine pollution. The ten sample villages in Keonjhar Sadar are 11.8 km from mining areas on average and are less exposed to pollution from mines. Within each village, thirty households were interviewed, resulting in a total sample size of 600 households including 3000 individu-als. Land cover data from IRS images (Indian Remote Sensing satellite) for 1989 and 2004, geographic information system (GIS) data on village and mines locations, and Census data from the Government of India statistics are also utilized in the analysis. Results Of the 600 households surveyed, 94% are aware of mining activities. Seventy-two percent believe that mining has caused deforestation, 32% say that mines have reduced elephant habitat, and 35% say mines have increased health problems. On the other hand, 56% reported that mines provide income. To represent exposure to mines, we use two objective measures de-rived from GIS. The first is simply the

block where a household resides: Joda is much more exposed to mining activity than Keonjhar Sadar. Second is the euclid-ean distance from a village to the nearest iron ore mine. In the following tables, villages are grouped by block, and within blocks, listed in order of increasing dis-tance from mines. The first step was to assess the condition of the forest vis-à-vis proximity to the existing iron ore mines (Table 1). In order to judge forest condition, we used meas-ures derived based on the remote sensing data and on the survey responses. From the GIS, we calculate percent of forest cover, including dense and open forest with greater than 10% canopy cover, in 2km buffers around each village. Average responses to the survey in a village also reflect forest condition. For example, time required to walk to the nearest forest prox-ies for the stock of forest. Average num-ber of times households sight different wildlife species and total number of wild-life species observed and NTFPs collected in a village proxy for biodiversity. On average, the villages in Keonjhar Sadar (further from mines) have more forests in a 2km buffer, although this is not a statisti-cally significant difference. Village resi-dents must walk 45 minutes on average to the nearest forest, again with no statisti-cally significant differences across the two blocks. Village residents further from mines do report collecting a greater variety of forest products, calculated as a percent of all forest products listed in the house-hold survey. There are also significant

Figure 1. Orissa in India

In the eastern Indian state of Orissa (see figure 1), non-timber forest products (NTFPs) contribute as much as 50% of household income (Mallik & Das, 2004). Forests play a multifaceted and critical role in rural livelihoods, providing fuel-wood, timber, food, medicine, and habitat for wildlife species.

Orissa is also rich in mineral resources, and the state government is seeking to develop the mining sector and in particu-lar, the export of high quality iron ore to China. The Government believes that the mining sector offers potential not only for overall economic growth in Orissa, but also for creating local employment oppor-tunities. Accordingly, plans are being developed to expand mining output three-fold within the next five years.

Environmental NGOs and social activists have been critical of these government plans, highlighting the detrimental envi-ronmental impacts and displacement of tribal communities associated with mine operations. Mining directly replaces for-est land as well as causing air, water and soil pollution. Mining can acidify the soil and water, increase toxic chemical avail-ability, and increase siltation of water and leaf surfaces. These effects in turn are known to cause decreased water avail-ability, decreased plant growth, and as a result, decreased wildlife abundance and diversity (Ripley et al. 1996; Suri et al. 1996; Marchus 1997; Saxena et al. 2002;

Mining the Forest in Orissa

differences in sightings of individual species, with elephant and bear more frequently observed close to mines, while other species – such as porcupine – are more often observed far from mines. Figure 2 presents a summary measure of the percent of all species listed in the survey that were observed by anyone in the village. The next step is to examine how prox-imity to mines affects these forest-dependent communities (Table 2). Mines may affect forest livelihoods through their impact on the forest resource and/or directly, for example, by offering alterna-tive employment. Residents of villages further from the mines took more trips to collect forest products compared to those who live closer, but the amount of labor devoted to collection of forest products does not differ across blocks. Households in villages further from mines collect more forest products, whether measured as (a) number of NTFPs collected, (b) collection of five major NTFPs that con-tribute most to household consumption, or (c) sale of forest products. On aver-age, income from sale of forest products was four times higher in villages further from mines. See Figure 3. Finally, we also consider how household welfare differs across the two blocks with different exposure to mines. We test various measures of welfare, including total cash income, income from agricul-ture and factory employment, number of days family members were sick, educa-tion level, and average count of produc-tive and consumptive assets. Average total cash income for households in vil-lages further from mines was 20% greater than those closer to mines (the sample average being US$533 per year). Resi-dents of villages further from mines own more land on average and are clearly more dependent on agriculture and live-stock for cash income. The higher count of productive assets (farm equipment) in these villages tells a similar story. People in villages closer to mines benefit from more employment in mines, but those in villages further away are apparently also able to obtain employment, for example in the service sector that is expanding due to rapid urbanization of the region. Fi-nally, respondents in villages closer to mines report higher incidence of illness, measured in terms of number of days they

were too sick to work. Discussion Though overall forest cover is much higher in Joda (the mining block) as compared to Keonjhar Sadar, access to the forest is simi-lar for villages in the two blocks. However, residents of Keonjhar Sadar report obtain-ing significantly higher cash and consump-tion benefits from forest products. These villages also happen to be closer to the market in the district headquarter of Keon-jhar, but multivariate analysis (not reported here) shows that forest benefits are higher for villages further from mines even after controlling for market access. There are also interesting patterns in wildlife encoun-ters. The Intermediate Disturbance Hy-pothesis could be one explanation for these patterns. In undisturbed areas, there is an abundance of habitat providing cover for individuals to avoid being seen. In highly disturbed areas, there is little habitat, so species exist in very low numbers or are locally extinct, causing them to not be seen. At intermediate level of disturbance, spe-cies are present, but have less cover and need to move more to find suitable habitat, increasing sightings. The results presented here reflect the im-pact of mining to date. Mines have been expanding: between 1989 and 2004, the mining area in Joda block increased by 12.35 sq. km, with about 35% of that area directly replacing forest. If these trends

continue and accelerate, there could be greater impacts on forest condition and the forest benefits that local people derive from the forest. Futher, we do not have data on water and soil quality, and this could mask more serious long-term envi-ronmental damages caused by the mines. Though mining is almost 40 years old in Keonjhar district, the government’s re-newed interest in it from an economic standpoint has launched bitter debates. Displacement of tribal villages due to ex-pansion of existing mines and establish-ment of new ones is a sensitive issue. We observe in our sample that villagers closer to mines have smaller landholdings and are less dependent on agriculture. While mines offer income opportunities at the local level, people closer to mines have poorer access to education and report falling sick more often. New concepts of benefit- sharing between the government, industry and local communities are being discussed right now that will have critical implica-tions for the welfare of the people directly being affected by mining in the future. Acknowledgements This article reports preliminary findings from a study funded by the World Bank and led by RTI International. Verve Con-sulting implemented the survey. Jui-Chen Yang from RTI International assisted with data analysis.

Figure 2.

Vol 19(1)

Page 12

Figure 3

Table 1. Summary of Forest Resources

4 2 3 8 10 7 9 5 1 6 20 18 11 15 13 16 12 14 17 19variable mean (<1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (2) (2) (3) (4) (4) (6) (9) (10) (10) (11) (13) (14) (14) (17) (21)

% Forest in 2km buffer 7.1 - - + - - - - - - - - - + + + + - - - +Distance to forest in minutes 44.8 + - - + + + - - + + + + - - + - - - + -

Percent of wildlife species observed 22.4 - + - + + - - - - - + - + + + + - + - +Percent of forest species collected 5.4* - - - - + - - - - - - + + + + + + - - +

Elephant observations 12.3* + + + + + - - - - - - - -Sambar observations 3.98 + - - + 0 0 + 0 0 + - 0 0 -

Porcupine observations 2.68* 0 0 0 0 0 0 + + 0 0 - + + 0 +Bear observations 12.68* + + + + + - - - - -Owl observations 14.72* - - - - - + - - + + - + + +

Civet observations 8.95 0 + 0 0 + - - 0 - - - + +Tortoise observations 12.15 + - + + + - + - - - +

* indicates high exposure villages are significantly different from low exposure villages at 95% level+ above mean - below mean 0 no observations

village number (distance to mine in km)high exposure low exposure

Table 2. Summary of Forest Benefits

4 2 3 8 10 7 9 5 1 6 20 18 11 15 13 16 12 14 17 19variable (<1) (1) (1) (1) (1) (2) (2) (3) (4) (4) (6) (9) (10) (10) (11) (13) (14) (14) (17) (21)

Total trips to collect forest products 127.62* - - - - - - - - + + + - +Labor devoted to collection of fuel

and forest products 19% - - - + + - - - + + + - - +

Count of all NTFP collected 3.87* - + - - - - + + + + + - -Wildlife encounters 87% + - - + + + + + + - + + +

Collection of major NTFP 1.02* - - - - - - - - + + + + + + - +Count of all forest products 5.38* - - - - - - - - + + + + + - +

Count of forest products sold 0.62* - - - - - - - - - + - + + - - -* indicates high exposure villages are significantly different from low exposure villages at 95% level

+ above mean - below mean

high exposure low exposure

meanvillage number (distance to mine in km)

Jennifer Miller received her MS from the De-partment of Forestry and Environmental Re-sources in December of 2005. Shubhayu Saha is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Forest Economics at NC State University. Erin Sills is an associate professor in the De-partment of Forestry and Environmental Re-sources. Subhrendu Pattanayak is a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources. Literature Cited Mallik, R.M. and Das, C.R. 2004. Access to forest resources and livelihoods: Study of forest/NTFP policies and tribal livelihoods. Marchus, J.J., ed. 1997. Mining Environ-mental Handbook. Rasmussen, R.O. and N.E. Koroleva, ed. 2003. Social and Environmental Impacts in the North. Ripley, E.A., R.E. Redman, and A.A. Crowder. 1996. Environmental Effects of Mining. Saxena, N.C., G. Singh, and R. Gosh. 2002. Environmental Management in Mining Areas. Suri, R.K, O.N. Kaul, and S.P. Banerjee. 1996. Mining, Evnironment, and Forests.

Background

Modern Turkey was founded in 1923 from the remnants of the defeated Ottoman Empire by national hero Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Under his leadership, the country adopted wide-ranging social, legal, and political re-forms. Turkey became a member of NATO in 1952. In 1964, Tur-key became an associate member of the European Community and candidate for full-membership in 2005. Over the past decade, it has undertaken many reforms to strengthen its democracy and economy, enabling it to begin accession membership talks with the European Union. History

Turks were originally from Cen-tral Asia. Their ancestors in Cen-tral Asia date back to some time before 2000 B.C. Roaming widely throughout Asia and Europe, the Turks established vast empires throughout these continents. The Ottomans ruled for more than six centuries (1281 - 1922). The Ottoman Empire at its zenith became one of the larg-est empires in world history cov-ering most of Mediterranean basin region extending from North Africa to Eastern Europe. The Ottoman Empire was dis-solved after World War I. Even-tually; Anatolia the mainland of Turkey, was divided and occu-pied by allied forces. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, a highly re-spected army general from World War I, led the Turkish people in their War of independence (1919-1922) against the allied occupi-ers. In 1923, a national Turkish state, the Republic of Turkey was established. As the leader of the new nation, Ataturk created the foundations for a modern, secular state based on human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Turkish foreign policy

Turkey become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organiza-tion (NATO) in 1953. Since then, Turkey has been a close ally of the United States since then. To bolster its relationship with the West, Turkey has joined the Council of Europe and other ma-jor Western organizations. Turkey is a candidate for full membership to the European Union. As a mod-ern, secular democracy with a free market economy, Turkey is con-sidered to be a model for Middle East and other Muslim nations. Landscapes and Forests

There is an incredible diversity in nature, culture, and history in Turkey. For example, we ob-served abrupt changes in scenery and vegetation while driving on the Istanbul-Ankara highway being surrounded by dark green Turkish forests at one moment and by dry country with barren hills the next moment. The coun-try is a high plateau with an aver-age elevation of 1,000 m above sea level. Two major mountain chains run in the south and in the north. Interior of the mountains is high country with dry summers and cold snowy winters. The mountain chains join in the east, towards Iran. The climate is harsher in this region. Turkey has one of the longest Mediterranean coast lines. This region has dry and hot summers but rainy and mild winters. The Black Sea re-gion in the north is characterized by year-round precipitation and broadleaf forests. The average rain fall in this region can be as high 2,500 mm. Tea and hazelnut plantations along the coast are common. The forests are distributed along the mountain chains. About 26% of Turkey’s area is designated as forest land (~20 million ha). Al-most all the forest land is owned

by the state. A total of 54% of the forests are coniferous, the remaining is broadleaf, or mixed forests. A large majority of forest land is de-graded and not productive. On aver-age about 7 million m³ of industrial wood and 9 million m³ of firewood is harvested from production for-ests. Production forests are natural old growth forests. One of the major problems of forestry in Turkey is the presence of more than 18,000 villages in forested areas. The vil-lagers are heavily dependent on forests for their livelihood. Illegal grazing, logging, and clearing for-ests for agricultural land has ad-versely impacted the forests. How-ever, this adverse impact of villag-ers has declined in the most recent two decades due to migration to major metropolitan areas. In the Mediterranean region of the coun-try, frequent forest fires cause de-struction of thousands of hectares every year. Fir Seed Collection

In western North Carolina, the Fra-

Perspectives on Forestry in Turkey John Frampton and Fikret Isik

“In western North Carolina, the Fraser fir Christmas tree industry loses over $1 million annually from Phytophthora cinna-momi… all inocu-lated seedlings of Turkish fir (Abies bornnmulleriana L.) showed resistance.”

The highest Mountain in Tur-key, (3100 m above sea level) in the west with natural Lebanon cedar (Cedrus li-bani).

Dr. John Frampton posing in front of mature Turkish fir trees near Safran-bolu, the north eastern distribution of the species. Mature trees of Turkish fir have pyramidal full crowns, a desirable trait for Christmas tree.

Vol 19(1)

ser fir Christmas tree industry loses over $1 million annually from mortality in nurseries and plantations due to a root rot disease caused primarily by Phytophthora cinnamomi. Research suggests that no resistance occurs in Fraser fir but in two greenhouse resistance screening trials, all inoculated seedlings of Turkish fir (Abies bornnmulleriana L.) showed resistance. In a third larger and more recent trial, Turk-ish fir ranked third most resistant of 32 Abies species evaluated. However, despite its high ranking, only 39% of the inocu-lated Turkish fir seedlings in that trial survived indicating within species varia-tion in resistance. In addition, field trials have indicated that some Turkish fir seed-lings can survive when planted in the piedmont or coastal plain of North Caro-lina suggesting the species may also have potential as a Christmas tree or ornamen-tal in the central and eastern parts of the state. To provide material for investigating the genetic variation in root rot resistance, adaptability, and growth, a cone collection expedition was carried out during Fall 2005 for Turkish fir and another closely related endemic species of Turkey, Trojan fir (Abies equi-trojani). We spent about six months preparing for the trip. An official permit was obtained from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Turkey to collect firs seeds. The details of the preparation were planned with the help of the Turkish For-est Tree Breeding Institute. The trip started on September 24 and continued through October 21, 2005. Our first stop was Ankara, the capital of Turkey. We

spent four days in Ankara where we visited the Middle East Technical University and gave a seminar in the Department of Biologi-cal Sciences. We spent the next two days visiting the Ministry of Environment and Forestry officials preparing for the field ex-pedition. The ministry officials notified their regional offices about our program. The cone collection began in the northwest-ern region of Turkey, sampling a Turkish fir stand near the city of Bursa. On the way from Ankara to Bursa, we stopped in Eskisehir to pick up tree climbers. We sampled 20 trees in the stand along a road, starting from the lowest occurrence of the species up to the highest occurrence. The cones were shipped to the Turkish Forest Tree Breeding Institute in Ankara at the end of the day. The next day, we drove to Canakkale prov-ince near the Aegean coastline and spent four days there sampling 42 trees in two prove-nances of Trojan fir. Next we drove to back eastward to Akyazi to sample another natural Turkish fir stand. And lastly, we sampled two more natural stands in the eastern part of the Turkish fir range from mountains near Bolu and Safranbolu, about 150 miles apart. In total, 123 trees were sampled from two fir species. Following each collection, cones of each tree were put into bags, labeled and shipped to Turkish Forest Tree Breeding Institute in Ankara. The Turkish Forest Trees Breeding Institute extracted seeds from the cones during No-vember and December. Seeds of each tree were separately cleaned, bagged, and labeled then shipped under the appropriate import

permit via the USDA-APHIS Plant Inspec-tion Center in Miami to campus. Currently, seeds are being further cleaned and counted and will be placed into stratification soon. We anticipate growing enough seedlings of each seedlot to 1) inoculate in a Phy-tophthora root rot resistance evaluation and 2) establish two field trials to evaluate adaptability and growth in the piedmont and mountains of North Carolina. Hopefully, a reliable seed source of resistant material will be identified. Conclusion During our trip, we developed new col-laborative relationships with various institu-tions. In addition to our Ankara contacts in the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, we met numerous regional officials includ-ing scientists at the Poplar and Fast Grow-ing Forest Tree Institute near Izmit. Addi-tionally, we presented seminars and held discussions at three universities: Middle East Technical University (Ankara), Ak-deniz University (Antalya), and the Univer-sity of Istanbul. We hope to continue to nourish these relationships and to develop a summer study abroad trip to Turkey for NCSU students in the near future. John Frampton is an Associate Professor in the Department of Forestry and Environ-mental Resources. Fikret Isikis a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Forestry and Environ-mental Resources.

Page 14 Page 14 Page 14

Safranbolu

Bolu Akyazi

Bursa Kaz Mt

Can

Safranbolu

Bolu Akyazi

Bursa Kaz Mt

Can

Left: Dr. Fikret Isik holding a Turkish fir cone in Uludag Mt.; Right: Seed collection route in Tur-key.

A ancient bridge from Romans in the Can-yon National Park in Antalya region.

What do we want for communities in the Amazon? Simone Bauch

Page 15 Page 15

It is early; the sounds are cries of a rooster and peeping from all around, while the first daylight comes into the house through the unevenly-spaced boards that make up the walls. Soon people start to get up and fold their hammocks. The morning sky in several different hues of yel-low, red, orange, pink, purple and blue goes unnoticed. Back in the house, breakfast (consisting of black coffee) is ready and soon the kids leave for school in their canoe, taking some mangoes for their recess snack. This is the beginning of a typical day in one of the thousands of communities located along the rivers in the Brazilian Amazon. By com-munity, I mean a group of people (usually relatives) living in a remote area in the Amazon. These communities are diverse and vary a lot, de-pending on length of time at their present location (varying from 5 to 300 years), distance to urban centers and isolation, means of access, eco-nomic activities (planted cash crops, commercial timber species in their area), social organization and whether they have external support. The isolation of a community has a lot of influence over its sources of mone-tary income, due to transportation costs and lack of market information. Mr. Ezequiel’s community (community A) represents what I will call an organized but unassisted community. An organized community is one which has an undisputed leadership and a formal association or coopera-tive. Having a formal association enables the community to act as a firm and thus ask for loans, make requests to politicians with the support of a larger group of people and commercialize their production legally (meaning they can get through all the paperwork required by law). Usu-ally organized communities receive some external financial support. When a community receives external financial support, it usually also receives external assistance for organizational or other social aspects. Whether a community receives external support or not determines its classification into an “assisted” or “unassisted” community. By assisted I mean a community that has been “adopted” by some project, non-profit organization or government program. This is not unusual for organized communities, athough there is variation in the amount and duration of financial support and other assistance. The longer a non-profit has worked with a community and the more support it has provided, the greater its influence over decisions concerning the community, its activi-ties, politics and involvement in other organizations or projects. Commu-nity A (the unassisted community) has received some projects, mainly short and very specific, like a project that gave some families filters for their drinking water or another in which, as an attempt to stop slash and burn agriculture, four families received agricultural implements and seeds to try to plant a plot without burning the remains of the forest cover. Logging is more capital intensive, meaning only that families opting for this activity might own a chainsaw and have expenses regarding its maintenance and fuel. Trees are felled and sawed into boards in the for-est with chainsaws and then pulled out of the forest using human labor. The boards are sold for US$127/m3. The income of the families relying on timber is not very different from the income of those relying primar-ily on agriculture. However, there is one more preoccupation regarding this activity: it is illegal. The community has no land titles (as in most of the Amazon) and no authorization to manage the forest. Thus the com-munity is located on land that is technically owned by the Brazilian gov-ernment although, due to lack of enforcement, there are various occu-

pants: families from the communities live along the rivers, loggers extract timber illegally from the interior, ranchers buy and sell land based on unofficial papers and deforest for pasture. Threats from illegal loggers are not uncommon in communities. They go unpun-ished because local politics are controlled by loggers and therefore they have control over the local police and mayor. In the comparison community (Community B), the main sources of income are açaí palmberries, palm heart and timber. Some families also catch shrimp, although its importance in the overall community earnings is very limited. This community is located in an area that is flooded daily by the tides and more so during the ‘winter’ months (December through May) when the rains fill the rivers and the water level increases. This makes it impossible to have plots for commer-cial crops and therefore agriculture is insipient. The season for the açaí palmberries is the winter. These fruits of a palm tree (the same that yields the palm heart) are made into pulp which is a favorite when eaten with cassava flour. In the last 5 years the market for açaí has increased greatly, mainly due to its introduc-tion as a high energy food in the national market. A few years ago it was impossible to find this product outside of the areas of produc-tion (which includes much of the Amazon) but today it can be found at any beach or gym in Brazil and even in some specialty markets abroad. The production process for this fruit is rather sim-ple. Early in the morning the men and boys of a household go to the açaízal (groves of açaí palm which occur naturally but can be im-proved by management). Boys as young as four years old help their fathers harvest the panicles by climbing up the trees using nothing but a ring made of palm leaves to help fix their feet to the trunk. At the top they cut the panicle and slide down to the ground with it. The palmberries are taken home in a basket woven by the women.

Illegal loggers in community area

Vol 19(1)

The price for a basket containing 18kg of ber-ries varies a lot, according to the season. At the beginning and end of the season, it can be sold for as much as US$17 in the city, but the price drops as low as US$1.81 during the peak of the season. The alternative for most families out-side of the açaí season is harvesting timber, which is done in the same way as described above. Community B has received external support since 1976, when a young researcher did his masters research there and then convinced a non-profit to intervene. The non-profit opened a local office in the closest town and has been working mainly on social organization, land tenure and forest management with this com-munity and others in the county. Among its measurable achievements is the creation of a Sustainable Development Reserve in the area, after the non-profit lobbied the federal govern-ment to create this conservation unit that is compatible with traditional local residents and use. The benefit of living in a Sustainable De-velopment Reserve is that the families cannot be pushed off the land, and although they do not have individual land titles, they can decide about land use (within limits determined by law). However, due to lack of enforcement there is still illegal logging in some areas of the reserve. Another achievement of the non-profit is the approval of 24 management plans that allow the families to log their forest legally. The families have not yet harvested their first annual

timber quota due to lack of buyers. This is due to the fact that the supply of illegal timber is still very large, and therefore the community has not received any offer of a higher price for their legal wood. The assisting non-profit has been searching for other market possibilities besides local middlemen, but so far it has been difficult to find a win-win agreement, especially because community members do not understand basic market concepts, such as average price, variance, or the importance of on-time delivery. Communities A and B can be compared based on a household survey that assessed basic socio-economic information and captured some infor-mation on preferences and opinions using an adapted satisfaction with life scale (SWLS) (Diener et al, 1985). All the households in each community responded to the survey (38 in each) and whithin the household the questionnaire was aimed at the male and female heads of household (when one was not present the other answered). Table 1 reports the annual per capita income (cash receipts from farm, forest, and river products, wage labor, and any other sources of cash income) and the number of children per household in each community. The first parameter we compare is the cash income per capita per year in each community. In community A (the assisted community) the average cash income per capita was US$629 in 2005, while in community B, it was US$641. Despite the differences in the sources of in-come, the resulting revenue is very similar. However, it is interesting to note that the vari-ance in cash income is much larger in commu-nity A, showing a greater difference among the families. When looking at a long-term factor such as number of children, again there is no difference among the communities. The average in the assisted community is 6 children per household; in the unassisted community the average is 5.6. We do not compare schooling because the schools in both communities are state-owned and therefore probably have not been directly influenced by the presence (or not) of a non-profit. Likewise, the county gov-ernment is responsible for providing medical care even in these distant communities.

Page 16 Page 16 Page 16

We then compare responses to the questions about satisfaction with life. Respondents were asked to evaluate statements about their gen-eral quality of life (as they perceive it) on a Likert scale ranging from 1 (meaning “definitely not”) to 5 (meaning “of course”). The average answers are shown in Table 2. As we can see in Table 2, for most statements, there is no significant difference between the two commu-nities. On three statements, there is greater satisfaction in the assisted than the unassisted community. People are more content with their life as they live it in community A, although the mode for both commu-nities is 2 – the lowest of any state-ment. People in community A are also more satisfied with their jobs, and they are more likely to say that their family is healthy. Public health is a troublesome issue in Amazonian communities. For ex-ample, families in both of these communities have to travel more than five hours by boat to reach a hospital. Thus, it is surprising that the modal answer to the question about health is a 4. This may be because there are no endemic dis-eases in this region (e.g., no ma-laria). It is also possible that the presence of the non-profit serves as a sort of health insurance for the community by assisting them with occasional transportation to hospi-tals is they are in the community anyway and someone is sick. In general, people in both communi-ties think they have not achieved their life objectives; that is, they tend not to agree with the statement that “I have obtained the important things I want in life.” The general agreement with the statement about belonging to the community shows that people intend to stay where they are, although most think that their communities could be better organ-

Community leader describing his community on a satellite image for non-profit visitors.

average variance average varianceA 628.54 2,149,647.48 6.00 10.86B 635.44 1,412,615.03 5.50 10.69

Annual revenue Num ber of childrenCom m unity

Table 1: Annual cash income per capita and number of children per household in each community

MI Reflections: Mango Season Amanda Rogers

average variance average varianceI like life as I live it 2.74 0.63 2.47 0.69 1.50*I like my job/work 4.13 0.12 3.95 0.16 2.02**I like the food I get 4.05 0.11 4.00 0.11 0.81I think my family is healthy 3.61 0.30 3.08 0.78 3.22***I miss something in my life 4.16 0.89 4.32 0.49 -1.00I have obtained the important things I want in life 3.39 0.35 3.39 1.11 0.00If you could live again I would change many things 3.78 0.95 3.97 0.80 -0.88My place is in the community 3.89 0.37 4.03 0.24 -0.96I think the community is well organized 2.97 0.46 3.13 1.09 -0.75I am satisfied with the place I live 3.84 0.24 3.95 0.27 -1.00If there was no forest I would miss it 4.61 0.25 4.58 0.41 0.22

UnassistedAssistedSatisfaction with life statements T stat

Table 2: Average answers on a Likert Scale from 1 to 5 to the SWLS statements

There are many seasons in Guinea. There is wet season, dry season, and cold season, all of which are hot. There is also hungry season, when the food is planted but not yet ready for harvest. There is fish season, milk season, and maize season. There are two orange seasons, thanks to grafting. And then there is mango season. I’ve never heard a Guinean say they don’t like man-gos. Mango trees are everywhere within the village and almost nowhere outside of it. Almost all fami-lies have at least one mango tree within their com-pound. They might also have other trees located in other parts of the village. Somehow they all keep track of which mango tree belongs to which family. A mango tree is never cut down. Ever. And so it is that during mango season, there really are too many mangos. There are several different varieties of mangos grown in Guinea. Local mangos are smaller and the fruit is sweet and stringy. These are the most com-mon and they ripen first. Most of the grafted varie-ties are large and the fruit is smooth and a little tart. These usually ripen later in the season. Mango har-

vesting can be a time consuming chore. The fruit lowest on the tree is picked with a long bamboo pole that is used to knock the mango to the ground. The majority of mango trees are very tall though and children climb up in them to try and harvest the rest of the fruit. By no means do they even come close to harvesting all of the mangos on each tree. At the height of mango season, women will be selling piles of the small local mangos for 100 Francs Guinean. The only other things you could hope to purchase for that small amount of money are a bouillon cube, a plastic bag or a single cigarette (yes, they sell them individually). But in May, those 100 Francs will also buy 5 or 6 mangos. Mangos are sometimes eaten green before the sea-son begins. It tastes a little like an apple. When ripe, mangos can be boiled, but are mostly just eaten raw. Children like to squish the mangos until the inside is all pulpy juice before they bite into it and suck out the inside. Guineans can all gracefully eat a mango by biting into it and spitting out pieces of peel. They don’t have juice running down the entire length of

their arm like I do. They can eat them while riding in a bush taxi but I need a knife and a bib even if I’m sitting on solid ground.

I have two goals for the mango season that will shortly be starting. One is to keep the juice from running down my entire arm. The other is to try and generate some interest in solar drying mangos. Drying is a common practice for some types of food here, but not for mangos. I will admit that a dried mango does not taste as good as a fresh mango. But mango season in my village only lasts from April until July. During those 4 months there are more mangos than all the people and livestock combined can eat. I’m hoping that I can show them how to make a simple solar dryer to keep more nutrients in their food and keep out germs. And how good a (properly stored) dried mango can taste in November.

Amanda Rogers is a MI student at NCSU currently serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Guinea.

Vol 19(1)

ized. Notably, this is equally true for the com-munity that has been receiving assistance, including organizational assistance. Finally, most people are somewhat satisfied with the place they live and are concerned about their lifestyle or subsistence in the absence of the forest. When analyzing these results to try to answer Mr. Ezequiel’s question, it is important to acknowledge that there may have been initial differences between these communities. That is, we do not have a baseline before assistance in community A. There is no indication that community A was initially worse off than community B, but we have no quantitative evidence on this. Assuming that the commu-nities were initially similar, our results suggest that project assistance does not make a com-

munity rich, in the sense of cash income or perceived quality of life. Even by Mr. Ezequiel’s simple definition of “rich” as having a constant supply of food for his fam-ily, there is no evidence that this will be en-hanced by project assistance. Judging by past experience, most things in the community will probably not change and families will continue living their life as they do now, with possibly some increase in satisfaction with their life, job, and family’s health. There might also be some benefits of resolving land tenure issues in favor of the communities, obtaining an official determination that they can stay on their land although these resolu-tions might only have impacts in the long run (as a consequence of long-term investment on their own land).

Finally, the evidence reported above is all from the communities’ perspective. However, it is also relevant to consider the objectives of the non-profit. If the goal is conservation of natural resources, then perhaps it is a positive outcome to maintain cash income and satisfac-tion with life at a constant level, while promot-ing conservation of resources (something not measured by the survey). In fact, increasing income would probably increase human pres-sure on the landscape, either by resident fami-lies or new families moving in. However, if the intentions of the non-profit are develop-ment of the community, and if we consider community B as being a baseline for commu-nity A, then the survey reported here shows that very little has been achieved. However, we can also use this questionnaire, including measures of cash income and stated satisfac-tion with life, as one way to establish a base-line, work with the community to develop a strategy, and measure progress towards com-mon goals. Simone Bauch is an Assistant Researcher at IMA-ZON in Belem, Brazil and will enter the forest eco-nomics doctoral program in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources in Au-gust of this year. Literature: Diener, E., Emmons, R.A., Larsen, R.J., Griffin, S.

The Satisfaction With Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49:1 p.71-75, 1985

Page 18

Walking from the tram across the park at Obilni beneath a star-filled sky a few weeks ago, I was struck by a connection between my current ex-perience and a similar walk across a snowy park in Moscow, Idaho many years ago. Then, as a graduate student, I was also in a place totally new to me physically and mentally. I was embarking on a different phase in life and I was invigorated by so many changes. Here in Brno I was remembering that night decades ago as a turning point and wonder-ing how this experience of teaching at Mendel and Masaryk Universities for the spring semester would change things. In this short article I pre-sent a few impressions and illustrative experiences unfolding around me as a Fulbright Teaching Fellow. The first week after I arrived in Brno, Fulbright Fellows in Czechia and Slovakia gathered for a conference in the small southern Moravian town of Velke Bilovice. The purpose was to orient those newly arriving in country and provide a chance for those already having been in country since last fall to discuss experiences working here. It became obvious during the several days that an English language skills gradient exists from west to east, meaning the farther east from Prague one goes, the fewer people use English. A Fulbright alumnus I met at a conference in Berlin noted that the gradient also extends from urban to rural land-scapes. I find in Brno, outside the university communities, one seldom encoun-ters spoken English. I first saw during the process of getting settled. For instance, I had to appear at the police station to have my visa stamped to declare my presence; I opened a CSOB bank account; and I had to have a photo taken so I could purchase my one-month tram pass. Luckily I had Ms. Sedlakova, the local Fulbright representative, accompany me to accomplish these tasks because at none of the locations were English speakers evident and my Czech language skills are still rudimentary despite Marie Lstiburkova’s diligent tutoring last year in Raleigh. Though Hana said she thought I could have managed, I doubt things would have gone as smoothly. Without her help, obtaining essential

domestic items stretched my vocabulary immediately, like when I went to obtain a strainer for pasta and to purchase hot pads in a shop selling domestic items. One day arranging to get a pair of slacks and several shirts laundered taught me the value of writing out what I needed in Czech so my poor accent and weak grammar wouldn’t get in the way of communicating basic messages. Even with Czechs who speak English differences between American English and British English enunciation and pronunciation pose barriers to clear communication. Most Czechs learn English from the Brits, so we Americans seem to mumble and slur our words. Language aside, there are some profoundly different attitudes and be-haviors evident here. One Saturday late in February, Dave Jackson (Senior Fulbright Scholar with whom I share my office at Mendel) and I accompanied Ledos Urednicek to Ricmanice Arboretum for what the Czechs call an Open Door (Open House). When we arrived at the arboretum entrance a group, mostly men dressed in forest service garb, were gathered around a blazing fire, a portable cooker, and several vehicles, setting up tables and chairs and arranging various comestibles. It appeared they were preparing for a crowd, and the thought crossed my mind that they seemed overly optimistic on a very cold Saturday morning in what appeared to be a fairly remote place. Offered mulled wine as we stood around the fire, we chatted and Ledos explained that Ricmanice Arboretum was established in 1969 and features primarily conifers, which is why this open house is held in January. He gave us each a booklet in English about the Arboretum and Memorial of Trees. In places the language is florid and Joyce Kilmer comes to mind. After a while, still only a few people had arrived and my suspicions about the hosts‘ optimism seemed bourne out. Ledos suggested we tour the arboretum and led Dave, a few other university folks and me along snow-plowed paths, pointing out specimens and explaining various features of the arboretum plan. The collection includes quite a few North American and Asian species though none of the southern yellow pines (not surprising as cold as we were). Most trees from North America are western and boreal firs and spruces. Numerous eastern red cedar and white pine specimens occur, as well as single Canadian hemlock and Fraser fir specimens. One small bald cypress planted near several metasequoia specimens appears terribly out of place but I did not ask about it. Douglas fir does marvelously here, as does Englemann spruce. I also noticed that as we were completing the tour the number of visitors walking through the arboretum was steadily increasing and when we returned to the entrance visitor numbers increased markedly. Dave and I were served bowls of spicy wild boar gulash with bread and onions and more mulled wine while Ledos made arrangements for a driver to take us down to the train at Bilovice. As we prepared to leave, busloads of folks arrived all at once and Ledos explained that he would be leading groups through the Arboretum all afternoon. People of all ages obviously here only for the open house milled around, purchased wine, liquors and food, and were going to learn about trees displayed in this frigid forest on top a mountain outside Brno. It is not clear to me what except simple interest in natural features of their environment would motivate this number of people on such a cold day but it beats anything I could imagine seeing in the States in midwinter. Probably the biggest change of habit from life in the states involves my

Czechia 2006 Gary B. Blank

The monastery garden in Brno where Gregor Mendel conducted his experiments

Strengthening Global Competence of Students and Faculty through Collaboration in Forestry Erin Sills, Bill Dvorak, Barry Goldfarb and Susan Moore

daily commute and routine transport. Like nearly everyone, I walk and ride the trams. My apartment is only a few blocks from the office and classroom at Masaryk but living across town from Mendel, I am still only about a ten minute tram ride from my nearest stop to the stop outside the building where I teach and have an office. Frequent and on time, trams make getting around both easily dependable and interesting. Brno’s downtown is remarkably compact but, of course, when shopping I have to remember that everything I buy I have to carry, first on the tram and then several blocks from tram stop to apartment. So visits to the grocery store are frequent, small quantity purchases being the rule. Supplying some basics in my apartment required multiple visits to the mall where IKEA, TESCO and DATART are located. But riding the trams is somewhat addictive, and the first week I set a goal to ride all the lines from one end to the other before I leave Brno in June. Brno sits in a basin ringed by ridges except to the south and the tram lines tend to extend outward to the communities on these ridges. On successive days early in my stay I rode each of two trams passing near my apartment to their endpoints. Tram number 4 runs between heights just west of the city center through town, and then northeast almost to the ancient village of Obřany, ending at a small park beside the Svitava River. Tram 11 runs from a Communist-era high rise apartment complex near the city reservoir beyond the northwest suburbs, along the Svratka River, through downtown and then north to Lesna, another residential complex of big brown boxes. Four is the line closest to my apartment, and Line 11 takes me to Mendel University. Line 8 links apartment boxes to the southwest and a complex of big boxes to the east on the way to the village of Lisen. In Lisen a charming old church and a castle (really a chateau) complex provided focus for one of my exploratory outings. Tram 5 runs past the monastery where Mendel did his inheritance studies (see photo).

While getting to know the place and settling into life here, I also lecture two classes at Mendel and one at Masaryk: Environmental Impact Assess-ment and Historical Landscapes at Mendel and Historical Environments at Masaryk. Three classes may seem like a lot, but each only meets once a week for 1.5 hours. So my lectures are Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, and I have office hours scheduled for those days as well. I have about twenty students in each of the classes at Mendel and closer to thirty at Masaryk. Moreover, the courses historical landscape and environments course are essentially the same though one is a week ahead of the other. Many of the students admit that besides being interested in the subject mat-ter of the course, one of their strongest motivations is to improve their Eng-lish. Thus I am trying to make the classes as interactive as possible to get them talking and using the language rather than sitting passively as I talk. That is a challenge but gradually I see them becoming more responsive in spoken English. The bigger challenge may be with their written English but we will see how that progresses. Sabbaticals are supposed to change the scholar’s routine, provide distance to recharge intellectual and physical resources and, I think, shift the lens of reflection. That certainly has happened thus far for me. Even the teaching is opening a range of new thoughts about the subject matter. I subtitled the environmental impact assessment course “global perspectives” and am challenging my students to help me learn about impact assessment in Czechia and the EU. I cannot imagine that this experience will not substan-tially improve my teaching when I return to Raleigh, and I guarantee it will have shifted my frames of reference. Gary Blank is an associate professor of Forestry in the Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources currently on a Fullbright exchange in Czechia .

Introduction Chile is located in the southwestern part of South America that possesses a wide variety of ecosystems, ranging from deserts in the north to temperate rainforests in the south. The Chilean forest covers 20.7% of the national territory which is equal to 15.6 millions of hectares. The rest of the country is covered by deserts (32.7%), and prai-ries and shrubs (27.1%). Chilean native forests cover 17.8% of the national territory, whereas, forest plantations, mainly Pinus radiata and different species of Eucalyptus, cover 2.8% of the national area. Chilean forests range from Chilean Palm forests and Sclerophyllous forests (composed of tree species adapted to drier climates), in north-central Chile, to prehistoric Araucaria forests, temperate rainforests, and Alerce for- Conguillio National Park, Chile.

(http://www.conguillio.cl/

Vol 19(1)

ests— the “redwoods of the Andes”—to the South. These forests are classed as temperate forests because of their geographical location outside the tropics, and because they experience high rainfall and low temperatures in winter. Similar forests are found in Tasmania, New Zealand and the Pacific Northwest in North America. Protection of natural ecosystems in Chile is centered on SNASPE which is the National System of Protected Natural Areas. SNASPE is administered by CONAF (National Forest Corpora-tion) and include 31 national parks, 48 national reserves and 15 natural monuments. 14 millions of hectares are protected under this system. The growing of the forest sector plays a fundamental role in the economy, currently representing 3.5% of the Internal Gross Prod-uct, which makes the forest sector the second most important economic activity after mining. Currently, forest exports amount to US$3,397 millions, which represent 11% of the total exports. Currently, Chile exports more than 500 different forest products, with different associated level of elaboration, where participate more than 940 companies. Forest products are exported to 86 markets in the five continents, which include the most important destinies: U.S., Japan, South Korea, Argentina, China and Bel-gium. Linking Chile and the US South The Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources is just completing the first year of an International Science and Educa-tion Grant from the USDA CSREES. The title of the grant is “Strengthening Global Competence of Students and Faculty through Collaboration in Forestry”; the PIs are Erin Sills, Susan Moore, Lee Allen, and Doug Frederick; and our partners are two of the leading forestry universities in Chile: Concepción and Aus-

Page 20

tral (in Valdivia). Comparing Chile and the US South The recent free trade agreement between the US and Chile creates new opportunities and challenges for the US for-estry and environmental sectors. Relative to the southeast-ern US, Chile is highly competitive in the plantation for-estry sector, faces many parallel environmental concerns, and serves as a laboratory for technical and policy re-sponses to water scarcity. Both Chile and the US South have substantial forest cover, including native and plantations. According to WRI, “WWF has catalogued Chile’s temperate forests as one of the top conservation-priority forest eco-regions in the Southern Hemisphere, while CI and IUCN have identified Chile’s forests as one of the 25 ‘hot spots’ for biodiversity conservation in the world” (Neira et al. 2002: 18). While the native forest of Chile is unique in terms of biodiver-sity, due to its evolutionary history, but it has similar structure and character – and thus management challenges – as the forest of the US South. In both places, private landowners control a significant portion of the forests (Neira et al. 2002; Wear and Greis 2002). The US South has about 20% (13.5 million hectares) of the world's fast-grown industrial wood plantations, defined by Cubbage and Siry (2003) as plantations of exotic or native species with growth rates of at least 5m3/ha/yr and rotations typically shorter than 30 years. Chile also has a growing percentage of global fast-grown industrial wood plantations, estimated at 2 million hectares in 2002, with a much higher average growth of over 25 m3/ha/yr for ra-diata pine and eucalyptus (Trade and Media Services Ltd. 2002). There are many environmental policy concerns common to Chile and the US South. Two examples in the forestry sector are (a) opposition to chip mills in the late 1990s, due to their more efficient utilization of native forest and thus potential to encourage cutting of those forests; and (b) growing interest in certification as a mechanism to demon-strate sustainable forest management, with US landowners generally selecting certification under either the Sustain-able Forest Initiative (SFI) or the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Chilean landowners relying on ISO or emerging national standards under PEFC (Program for Endorsement of Forest Certification). Water is clearly a limiting factor in Chilean forest man-agement and is expected to become a more important con-straint in the US South. This leads to conflicts and contro-versies, whether due to erosion from poorly constructed logging roads or competition between alternative land uses Pumalin Reserve, Chile. (http://www.conguillio.cl/)

(Huber and Iroumé 2001; Lara et al. 2003). There are per-sistent environmental concerns in both Chile and the US South that plantations are replacing native forests either di-rectly or through land markets. Environmental organizations often cite the establishment of plantations as one of the ma-jor threats to Chile’s native forests (Clapp 2001), while oth-ers argue that plantations are taking pressure off of the na-tive forests through more efficient timber production (Sedjo 1999). The limited water availability in Chile’s Mediterranean cli-mate makes it an excellent laboratory for various forest man-agement and institutional responses to managing water scar-city. Some global climate change models suggest that water will become an increasingly scarce resource in the US South, with important implications for plantation silviculture and watershed management (Sampson et al.; SE Regional Assessment Team). Chile is recognized as a leader in devel-oping innovative market solutions for water resources issues, and “there are important lessons to be learned from the Chil-ean experience,” including the importance of the legal and institutional framework, as well as management and techni-cal rules (Bauer: 12). Chile is both a strong competitor in the forestry sector and a potential market for environmental services, especially with the recent free trade agreement (U.S. Commercial Service Santiago 2004; USTR 2003). Chilean imports have an in-creasingly important share of the solid wood products mar-ket in the US, and on the world market, Chile and the US South compete in the pulpwood market. The US Commer-cial Service in Santiago (2004) has highlighted the new mar-ket opportunities, as well as competition, resulting from the free trade agreement, including investment in forestry, for-estry and wood processing equipment, and environmental services. The ISE Grant Building on the Department’s strong research ties with in-dustrial and academic forestry in Chile, the ISE grant will allow us to expand on this existing research collaboration to address water and forest resources more broadly, to provide opportunities for students to gain international experience in Chile, and to disseminate findings from Chile through the university classroom, outreach activities, and continuing education. Camcore, the NC State international tree breeding and con-servation cooperative has long had industrial members from Chile. Both Arauco and CMPC Forestal joined Camcore in 1991 and have played a leadership role in the development of the program. Camcore has provided partial stipends to

both companies to have their researchers study tree improvement at NCSU. This year, in March and April, Camcore will co-host the International Tree Improvement Short Course, along with the University of Concepcion, the Department of Forestry and Envi-ronmental Resources and the College of Natural Resources at NC State and several other Chilean organizations. The course mate-rial, primarily in Spanish, will be directed toward Latin American forest scientists and practitioners and will include several instruc-tors from NC State. The ISE grant is also helping solidify faculty ties between coun-tries. Lee Allen has been appointed an adjunct faculty member at the University of Concepcion. In addition, Rafael Rubilar, a for-mer graduate student and post-doctoral researcher with Lee is assuming a faculty position at Concepcion. Among his duties will be to work with South American companies who are mem-bers of the Forest Nutrition Cooperative, joint between NC State and Virginia Tech. The Department of Forestry and Environ-mental Resources at NC State is also pursuing adjunct faculty status for Rafael. Ties are strengthening in the forest biotechnology research arena, as well. Chile is forming a new forest biotechnology research partnership among private companies, the University of Concep-cion and the Chilean government. The new partnership will work closely with the NC State Forest Biotechnology Industrial Re-search Consortium, led by co-Directors Vincent Chiang, Ron

Cuernos del Paine, Torres del Paine. (http://www.torresdelpaine.com/secciones/02/c/galeria.asp#)

Vol 19(1)

Conservation and the Agricultural Frontier: Integrating Forests and Agricul-ture in the Tropics.—Conference Report Jill Braly

Sederoff and Hou-min Chang. We have initiated three activities under the grant: (1) Conversational Spanish seminars at the beginner and

intermediate levels: In the fall, ten faculty and five graduate students attended the seminars. Evaluations were generally excellent.

(2) Faculty exchange: representatives from the University of

Concepcion visited NCSU in July, and Dr. Lee Allen (co-PI) spent the fall semester on sabbatical at the Uni-versity of Concepcion. Several NCSU faculty have been awarded seed grants for travel to Chile. Jose Alvarez of Forestal Mininco in Chile is spending a year at NCSU as a visiting scholar.

Page 22

(3) Student exchange: we have planned internships, research projects, and a study tour to involve students in the project. These activities should get underway this summer.

Erin Sills is an associate professor in the Department of Forest and Environ-mental Resources. Bill Dvorak is a professor in the Department of Forest and Environmental Re-sources and the director of CAMCORE. Barry Goldfarb is a professor and Department Head of the Department of For-est and Environmental Resources. Susan Moore is the Director of Education and Outreach in the Department of Forest and Environmental Resources. For more information, see the webpage: www.ncsu.edu/feop/Chile

On the night of April 6, 2006, seven members of the Interna-tional Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF) student chapter at NC State University piled into a departmental van. Twelve hours and two gallons of coffee later, they reached their desti-nation – New Haven, Connecticut. The group of students at-tended a two day annual conference of the Yale School of For-estry & Environmental Studies chapter of ISTF. The central theme of the conference was Conservation and the Agricultural Frontier: Integrating Forests and Agriculture in the Tropics. The group consisted of graduate students from the Departments of Forestry and Environmental Resources. They arrived at Yale just in time to catch the opening words delivered by Les Whit-more, the President of ISTF, and the Yale ISTF co-chairs. Following the introduction, the first speakers presented re-search on Agroforestry and Biodiversity. Before breaking for lunch, the keynote speaker, David Kai-mowitz, the Director General of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) in Bogor, Indonesia, delivered an innovational talk entitled, “On the Frontier of Multidiscipli-nary Research, What’s at the End of the Road?”. His talk em-phasized the researcher’s responsibility to build alliances and address the lack of integration in conservation and develop-ment projects. He highlighted the disunity between biologists, agronomists, and interest groups, using CIFOR’s experiences in Malinau as an example. He noted that it is essential for re-searchers to target their communication at their desired audi-ence. They must work at multiple scales, being able to synthe-size information at one level and taking it to another. Finally, he stressed the possibility of multidisciplinary research to build bridges between groups and create new constituencies.

The afternoon speakers presented research on the economic strate-gies for integrating conservation and agriculture. The second day of the conference included talks on the socioeconomic dimensions of agroforestry and land-use and buffer zone issues. Unfortunately, the closing keynote speaker, Susanna Hecht, was unable to attend the conference. However, this did not prevent the NCSU student chapter of ISTF from having an informative and engaging weekend. Jill Braly is a MS student in Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources at NCSU.

Conference Attendees (Clockwise from top right): BJ Berenguer, Katie Caldwell, Jill Braly, Anna Araos, Rodrigo Arriagada, Greg Frey and Nia Atmadja.

News and Announcements Pedro Sanchez to Speak at NCSU This fall, on Monday October 16th, CNR and CALS will be host-ing 2002 World Food Prize winner and agroforestry specialist Dr. Pedro Sanchez. Dr. Pedro Sanchez is the Director of Tropical Agriculture and Senior Research Scholar at the Earth Institute of Columbia Uni-versity in New York City. He also currently serves as Co-Chair of the Hunger Task Force of the Millennium Project, an advisory body to the United Nations. Sanchez served as Director General of the World Agroforestry Center (ICRAF) headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya from 1991-2001. He is also Professor Emeritus of Soil Science and Forestry at North Carolina State University, and was a visiting professor at the University of California, Berkeley. In April 2006 he was elected a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow in 2003, and received the World Food Prize in 2002. Dr. Sanchez will be providing a campus-wide presentation at about 3pm on October 16 and we hope you will reserve this time on your calendar! Earlier on October 16th there will also be individual technical presentations and/or a joint panel discussion with Dr. Sanchez and Dr. Cheryl Palm, Senior Research Scientist, Tropical Agriculture Program, Columbia Earth Institute. For more information on Dr. Pedro Sanchez, please visit: (http://www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/tropag/about/bios/sanchez_p.php). For more information on Dr. Cheryl Palm, please visit: (http://iri.columbia.edu/cgi-bin/staff?cpalm). Agro-forestry Tour of China Fifteen participants comprised of professors, graduate and under-graduate students in the Department of Forestry and Environ-mental Resources will partake in an agro-forestry study tour to China on May 14-26, 2006. The objectives of the study tour are for students to learn changing agriculture system, agro-forestry, forest plantations, natural forests, resource management and sustainability. The study tour will include intensive field visits, lectures, field investigations, and interviews of farmers and for-esters. Participants will travel to Xian, Beijing and Jilin in China. In Xian Participants will visit Chinese agriculture system, farming communities, and tree planting program for combating desert progressing in western China. Near Beijing, Participants will visit community forest farms, poplar plantations, urban forestry, nursery and greenhouse. The third stop near Jilin to visit Chang-baishan mountain for China’s natural forests and national parks.

International Society of Tropical Foresters (ISTF) Activi-ties Prepared by Nia Atmadja and Nevin Dawson

ISTF is a club for students who are interested in tropical and inter-national forestry issues. Its members participate in many CNR events with international themes, host monthly potluck seminars, and organize trips to conferences/events related to tropical forestry. In September 2005, ISTF members took part in the International Tea event sponsored by CNR and the Office of International Ser-vices. Members served teas and snacks from eight countries, com-ing from South America, Africa and Asia. ISTF hosted a diverse lineup of speakers for its monthly potluck seminar series. These seminars take place in the homes of club members and feature a wide variety of home-cooked traditional and ethnic dishes. The following speakers presented seminars this year: • Dr. Ted Shear : Ecotourism in China • Dr. Jerry Jacka: Tree tenure in Papua New Guinea • Nevin Dawson: Cashew adoption in Senegal • Michelle Zweede: USDA Forest Service International Programs • Dr. Mats Olson: Carbon sequestration in Ethiopia • Dr. Dan Turk: NCSU conservation and development roles in Madagas-

car Our events are open to everyone, so come out and get involved in the issues that make the world go round! Questions? Email BJ Berenguer at bjberenguer@hotmail.com News From Masters International Students Abroad: Ellen Hats is currently serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ba-bade, Togo. She is interested in studying how relationships between a national park and communities along its boundary are affected by environmental education. Amanda Rogers is currently serving in Guinea, West Africa. She is working with her local health center on small-scale moringa plan-tations for use in nutrition and anti-biotics.

Vol 19(1)

Dr. Ted Shear presents on ecotourism in China.

COLLEGE OF NATURAL RESOURCES North Carolina State University Box 8002 Raleigh, NC 27695

NC State’s Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources has an active international pro-gram . Over one-quarter of the graduate students are either international students or are in pro-grams leading towards professional employment in international forestry. Opportunities for un-dergraduate participation include the International Society for Tropical Foresters, international field trips, and scholarships for study abroad. Several graduate students are pursuing an MI, Mas-ters International degree, in which graduate work is combined with Peace Corps service in agro-forestry extension and other forestry and natural resource development fields. Faculty involve-ment in research throughout the world generates diverse international opportunities for students. For more information on international activities in the department, please visit: http://www.cnr.ncsu.edu/for/research/intlfor.html

SYLVANET is printed by: GRASS ROOTS PRESS 401 1/2 West Peace St. Raleigh, NC 27603 TEL: 919-828-2364 FAX: 919-828-2621 info@grassrootspress.net