Organizers: Cynthia Miner (U.S. Forest Service), Jurij Begus (Slovenia Forest Service), Guy Smith (NRCan- Canadian Wood Fibre Centre) & Alejandra Real (National Forestry Corporation, Chile)
A systematic, evidence-based review of key issues facing Oregon family forest owners. Creighton, J., Johnson, J., Carlson, D.
(Oregon State University, United States; Janean.Creighton@oregonstate.edu; jim.johnson@oregonstate.edu; Deanne.Carlson@
oregonstate.edu).
This investigation examines contemporary literature describing attributes of Oregon family forest owners with the objective of identifying potential educational interests of these owners, and evidence of their prior knowledge, interest, and concerns about topics at the intersection of small woodland owner interests and the interests of society: Intergenerational Transfer; Invasive Species; Climate Change; Riparian Management; and Management Plans. We used systematic evidence review as an analytical framework and content analysis as a methodology for data extraction to evaluate disparate sources of information to objectively inform a uniform construct representative of Oregon family forest owners. We identifi ed 18 literature sources based on studies conducted between 2000 and present. Analysis of the literature for manifest expressions suggested varying degrees of landowner interest over the fi ve program topics. However, a substantial amount of the extracted information came from un-interpreted fi ndings that are poorly generalizable, both internally and externally. Although the landowner expressions extracted from the literature form a solid basis for directing further inquiry, interest alone is unlikely to adequately inform the development of theory-based educational programs. We suggest that future assessments of the educational needs of family forest owners be built on specifi c educational frameworks that would allow for more generalizable fi ndings.
Assessment of the impact of Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria activities on neighboring communities. Julius, A., Onilude, Q., Akinyemi, O., Olayiwola, I., Oniroko, N., Eyinfunjowu, L., Solanke, I. (Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria, Nigeria; talktobayo247@yahoo.com; omoonilu@yahoo.com; akinyemi77@yahoo.com; funbola2003@yahoo.com; chopperfl ows@
yahoo.com; tessysplace1@gmail.com; solancy1983@hotmail.com).
The main objective of this study was to assess the impact of Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria (FRIN) activities on the surrounding communities in the past 20 years. The assessment was carried out in 6 research outstations of FRIN and the 4 colleges of forestry spread across the 6 geopolitical zones of the Country. Two sets of structured questionnaire were designed to collect information on the impacts of colleges of Forestry and research Outstations on their neighboring communities. For each outstation and college, 4 communities were sampled, and 25 household heads in each community were interviewed. A total of 1000 questionnaires were distributed within the 6 geopolitical zones of Nigeria for the study. Results showed that FRIN activities in the sampled communities has translated to sustainable growth and development in the areas of environmental protection, forest conservation and management, education and training, plantation establishment, employment opportunities and a better healthcare delivery through forest products. It is suggested that research funding should be a government priority, and that support from international communities will go along way in further strengthening FRIN to deliver her research mandates at local, national and international levels.
Communication gaps regarding biodiversity in the mass media: experience from the Convention on Biological Diversity COP10 meeting and beyond. Kohsaka, R., Kohsaka, R. (Kanazawa University, Japan; kohsaka@hotmail.com; tomiyoshi@staff.
kanazawa-u.ac.jp).
Communicating the importance of biodiversity and ecosystem services of forests is critical for policy makers and scientists. To date, scientists and policy makers have aimed to demonstrate the value of biodiversity in various channels, such as science-policy
report (CBD’s Global Biodiversity Outlook), economic evaluations (e.g., The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) initiative), designation of sites (protected areas, MAB reserves) or general education activities. Yet scientists, practitioners, policy makers are struggling with the challenge to communicate and demonstrate the value of biodiversity. The 10th CBD Conference of the Parties meeting (COP 10) held in Japan provides us with unique opportunity to explore the media strategies of various stakeholders and the discourses in mass media. The COP10 is a benchmarking conference for the process because the Parties agreed on Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefi ts Arising from their Utilization (ABS) and post-2010 Target. We analyze the gap of newspaper articles between pre-COP10 and COP10 conference period. The issues relevant to ABS was largely absent in pre-COP10 but emerged as major news during the COP10, analyzing the trends and internal politics of media through detailed interviews.
Social mapping for the determination of environmental dynamics in rural contexts: the case of the Rio Grande basin, Department of Antioquia, Colombia. Lopez Gomez, C., Botero Fernandez, V., Ortega Molina, L. (Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia; cplopezg@unal.edu.co; vbotero@unal.edu.co; lfortega@unal.edu.co).
This work defi nes the dynamics of environmental change in the basin to the Rio Grande-Antioquia-Colombia, through the development of social baseline mapping. It was hypothesized that the development of social mapping produced by a community of its territory, allows us to reconstruct the process of change for the territory, generating a valid cartographic document, facilitat-ing relationships between the community and public bodies for environmental management and local governance processes, and fi ll the information gap in rural settings which limits decisions on these. The study showed that the loss of the areas’s native forests began over 30 years ago and that by 2012, the area’s vegetation became dominated by grasses. However this transition from forest to pasture not apparent from available offi cial data sources, but could be reconstructed by developing baseline social mapping. The work shows that where only limited information available for understanding dynamic environmental change, a larger more detailed picture can reconstructed by utilizing local knowledge, thereby increasing the level of knowledge of the territory, and possibilities for governance and decision making.
Forest as a place for health, recreation and learning – case studies. Marusakova, L., Sarvas, M. (National Forest Centre, Slovakia; marusakova@nlcsk.org; sarvas@nlcsk.org).
In this paper we discuss the variety of social benefi ts connected with forests and forestry. In central Europe countries, forestry is considered mostly in contex of productive aspects, but the general public is not aware of other benefi ts, like tourism, recreation, education, and rural development. The problem seems to be connected with the interruption of the contact and relationship among human being and nature and insuffi cient communication by those in the forestry sector with society. The study is focused on best practises examples of programmes dealing with forest related environmental education, woodland learning, ecotourism and forestry communications projects across the Slovak republic and neighbouring countries. The programmes highlight increasing knowledge about forests together with physical activities in woodland and strengthening personal responsibility for natural resources conservation. Public participation and involvement in programmes results in better understanding and perception of forest sector as well as benefi ts to society in spending more time outdoor in healthy environment.
Predicting wildland-urban interface homeowners’ perceptions of risk and willingness to conduct defensible space activities.
Olsen, C. (Oregon State University, USA; christine.olsen@oregonstate.edu), Kline, J., Ager, A. (U.S. Forest Service, USA;
jkline@fs.fed.us; aager@fs.fed.us).
Two factors that infl uence forest policy in dry-land forests are: (1) the increased size and number of wildfi res over the last decade; and (2) expansion of the wildland-urban interface (WUI) owing to amenity migration and growing suburban populations.
These factors result in more human lives, properties and values at risk of fi re. Notably, WUI homeowners can reduce fi re hazard on their own land, by using non-fl ammable construction materials, pruning branches, or reducing trees. Commonly known as defensible space activities, these actions are believed to greatly improve the survivability of a home during a fi re. However, many homeowners still do not act. In this study we examine factors that infl uence WUI homeowners’ willingness to conduct these activities. We report on fi ndings from a 2012 mail survey in central Oregon (USA) that asked WUI homeowners about their defensible space activities. In our study, we evaluated factors that are correlated with homeowners’ self-reported mitigation measures, including objective and perceived wildfi re experience and risk, as well as other social and spatial variables. Results help us understand what infl uences homeowners’ willingness to conduct mitigation activities so that resources and policies can be aimed at those infl uencing factors, with the goal of getting more homes and lives protected.
Differences in biodiversity assessment strategies between experts and novices in ecology in logged forests. Pihel, J., Ode Sang, Å. (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden; johan.pihel@slu.se; asa.sang@slu.se), Nyström, M.
(Lund University, Sweden; marcus.nystrom@humlab.lu.se), Hagerhall, C. (Swedish Agricultural University, Sweden;
caroline.hagerhall@slu.se).
The study investigates the impact of expert knowledge on strategies when assessing biodiversity in photographs of recently cut forests. 13 experts and 17 novices viewed photographs on screen and were asked to place a square over the area that contained most species. After all images had been presented, the participants reported what strategies that they used. The strategies used as reported by the participants were coded into a common set of content based categories. These included categories also identifi ed from previous research such as dead wood and standing trees. All squares for the each participant were screened for any of the content based categories which meant that a square could contain several categories. The present study discusses the implications of having expert design for biodiversity, and that the novices might not acknowledge the same areas as important. In connection to Fry et al. (2009) the aspect of different groups having varying strength in the connections between visual indicators and management of the site is something planners and managers of forests need to deal with if the goal is a truly multifunctional forestry.
Capacity building – training for forestry sector to support better cooperation with local population: Guyana case study.
Poljanec, A. (University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; ales.poljanec@bf.uni-lj.si), Benn, S., Mohase, A. (Guyana Forestry Commission, Guyana; 1simonebenn@gmail.com; a_mohase@yahoo.com), Beguš, J. (Slovenia Forest Service, Slovenia; jurij.begus@zgs.gov.si).
In relation between forestry professionals and forest dependent communities, ways of participation and extension have the most important role. To improve such skills and knowledge, we designed the project “Capacity building – training for forestry sector to support better cooperation with local population”, where the most important goal was to create trained group of selected forestry stuff in Guyana. In the fi rst phase of the project the situation analysis were performed including stakeholder analysis, analysis of extension and participatory needs. The role of different stakeholders was analyzed using guided interviews, while the relations between stakeholders were analyzed using Vann diagram. The extension needs were analyzed using Delphi approach where in the fi rst step writestorming was used to identify extension needs and in the second step extension needs were grouped and voting was performed to identify extension priorities. The participation needs were analyzed using H-form, guided interviews and expert estimations. In the second phase the initial curriculum of extension skills and participatory methods was modifi ed according the situation analysis and the training for selected Guyana Forestry Commission and Forestry Training Centre staff was performed.
In the paper content of the project, experiences and problems in organizing and implementation are discussed and evaluated.
Science in forest policy program and political discussion: the example of Bangladeshi forest policy program and print media discourse. Sadath, M. (Khulna University, Bangladesh & University of Göttingen, Germany; mnsadath@yahoo.com).
Forest issues are very important in Bangladesh and are widely discussed in the print media. The print media play an important role in the construction of the social, environmental and economic context of the Bangladeshi forest sector where forest policies are formulated and modifi ed. As forest issues are mostly science driven problem, the information provided by the forest science in the media has greater importance in infl uencing public opinion and hence to policy directives. This paper explores the scientifi c communication in forest media discourses in the Bangladeshi print media as well as the presence of scientifi c research fi ndings in Bangladeshi forest policy programs over last 12 years. It analyses the media discourse in the “The Daily Ittefaq”, a reputed Bangladeshi print medium and Bangladeshi forest policy documents from 2001 to 2012. A quantitative, qualitative content analysis, followed by interviews of policy decision makers and scientists was chosen as methodology. The empirical fi ndings reveal low presence of scientifi c communication in the print media, where only 17% of speaking actors are scientists. This study also reveals limited presence of scientifi c research fi ndings in forest policy decision making process, where only 29% of examined policy decisions were driven by scientifi c research fi ndings.
Exploring the science-stakeholder interface in climate change adaptation research within Swedish forestry. Swartling, Å.G.
(Stockholm Environment Institute & Stockholm Resilience Centre, Sweden; asa.swartling@sei-international.org), Jönsson, A.
(Lund University, Sweden; anna_maria.jonsson@nateko.lu.se).
Stakeholder engagement has gained increasing importance in research programmes over the past few years. Several scientifi c arguments for involving stakeholders in the research process have been put forward in the recent literature, including the value of providing a reality check and identifying social relevant research questions. However the communication between researchers and stakeholders in the sustainability science sphere is often impaired by linguistic barriers, different priorities and time constraints.
We have studied the organizational aspects of the science-stakeholder interface in climate change adaptation research in the context of Swedish forestry. Our study indicated some diffi culties in conducting fruitful science-practice dialogues on research on climate change impacts in the forestry domain. Researchers focusing on a multitude of ecosystem services and uncertainties associated with future projections may experience a confl ict between producing general recommendations and providing support to a planning process carried out external to the research process, with negotiations among stakeholders on common goals and shared responsibilities. We conclude that researchers should take responsibility for this issue by refl ecting upon which stakeholders are invited to the dialogue and whose perspectives are included in the research process.
Posters
Forest models dissemination and knowledge transfer on cork oak based ecosystems: bridging the gap between research and practice. Amaral Paulo, J., Faias, S., Palma, J., Tomé, M. (Technical University of Lisbon, Portugal; joanaap@isa.utl.pt;
soniapf@isa.utl.pt; joaopalma@isa.ulisboa.pt; magatome@isa.utl.pt).
The objective of this work was to defi ne a new strategy for the dissemination of the improved version of the SUBER growth and yield model released in the end of 2011. This strategy was supported in 3 pillars: on the Web; at the university; in the forest. The SUBER model is now included in the sIMfLOR platform, a user-friendly interface available for free download in the FcTools web-site (www.isa.utl.pt/cef/forchange/fctools). This site was specifi cally developed for the purpose of forest models dissemina-tion, knowledge transfer from the research group and user’s feedback collection. Other tools are also available, such as a cork growth simulator. At the university, technical education courses are being organized regarding the best use of existing forest models tools by private and public forest managers. Seminars for the presentation of research and project results are periodically organized including multidisciplinary programs. These events are made outside the university, in collaboration to forest owners associations and other organizations, with practical fi eld trips ‘in the forest’ if needed. Inquiries made to participants and on the web site reveal an increase interest in the existing forest management tools and research results.
The Community Biomass Handbook and computer app. Becker, D. (University of Minnesota, USA; drbecker@umn.edu), Lowell, E. (U.S. Forest Service, USA; elowell@fs.fed.us), Bihn, D. (Bihn Systems, USA; dan@danbihn.com), Anderson, R.
(The Beck Group, USA; Roya@beckgroupconsulting.com), Taff, S. (University of Minnesota, USA; sjtaff@umn.edu).
The Community Biomass Handbook is a multimedia electronic library to help community partners rapidly explore and initially evaluate a variety of thermal energy options without having to invest signifi cant time, resources, or pursue costly feasibility studies. The Handbook showcases successful projects from around the country using text, photos, video interviews, diagrams,
and – most importantly – an interactive fi nancial computer app. The Handbook connects forest planning with value chain and pre-feasibilitiy analysis in an interactive PDF, ebook, and conventional webpage format.
“Forest Culture“ network in Austria: a new approach to put international agreements into practice for the benefi t of local people. Johann, E. (IUFRO Research Group 9.03, Austria; elisabet.johann@aon.at).
Austrian’s forests are the most characteristic element of the cultural landscape and render a number of extremely important economic, ecological and social services. Due to the long history of utilization the sustainable management of forests bas been an objective of forest policy for generations. People depended heavily on the products of the forest both in their personal lives and in the general economy. A high amount of traces of this traditional forest utilisation practises are still visible in the landscape and give evidence of forest management as well as of industrial growth. However, migration and socioeconomic development have deeply changed the relationship between society and forest resources, interrupting the transmission of traditional forest related knowledge between generations and reducing their role in representing the cultural identity of specifi c regions. The study intends to reveal the Austrian attempts to put international and European agreements such as Forest Europe and the Unesco Convention on Immaterial Cultural Heritage into action for the benefi t of the local people. It addresses the establishment of the network Forest Culture in Austria, its targets and visions and introduces its stakeholders. The paper also puts attention on the efforts to raise awareness to this topic by specifi c educational programs.
Participatory approach potentials in adoption of agronomic, land and water management technologies in semi-arid areas of Tanzania. Kagosi, P. (Tanzania Forestry Research Institute (TAFORI), Tanzania; pjkagosi@yahoo.com).
The study was conducted to asses the potentials of participatory approach (PA) in enhancing adoption of improved technologies.
The literature provides much general information on Participatory Approach (PA) in Tanzania, but there is insuffi cient scholarly work available on the contribution of PA in adoption of improved technologies. Specifi cally, this study determined technologies adoption rates in the study areas using a cross-sectional research design. Methodologies used for data collection includes focus group discussions, questionnaires survey, key informant Interviews and participant observation. Questionnaire data were collected from 240 randomly selected households. Data were analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences and content analysis. The results show that PA improved knowledge and skills of benefi ciaries as most of respondents from Participatory Irrigation Development Programme (PIDP) schemes (61.3%) adopted improved technologies than respondents in Non-PIDP schemes (25%). The results further revealed that farmers using PA adopted more improved agronomic technologies as 63.7% of respondents in PIDP adopted improved maize varieties vs 22.5% of non-PIDP respondents. Furthermore, 61.2% of respondents in PIDP schemes planted trees vs 24.4% in non-PIDP schemes. It was concluded that PA encourage a large proportion of farmers to adopt improved technologies as farmer’s ideas have been incorporated.
Pedagogy of Place Institute. Kruger, L. (U.S.Forest Service, USA; lindalaska2003@gmail.com), Standley, M. (University of Alaska Southeast, USA; mark.standley@uas.alaska.edu).
Educators at the University of Alaska Southeast and an array of partners designed and implemented a three-day professional K-12 development program based on incorporating scientifi c, cultural and local knowledge in place-based learning. During the four day experiential event held July 17–19. 2013, Alaska teachers explored Southeast Alaska’s Coastal Temperate Rainforest, including visiting an estuary, a beach and tidal area, a lake, a river, and a retreating glacier. The institute integrated the threads of STREAM – Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art and Math and incorporated local Tlingit culture bearers as speakers and fi eld
Educators at the University of Alaska Southeast and an array of partners designed and implemented a three-day professional K-12 development program based on incorporating scientifi c, cultural and local knowledge in place-based learning. During the four day experiential event held July 17–19. 2013, Alaska teachers explored Southeast Alaska’s Coastal Temperate Rainforest, including visiting an estuary, a beach and tidal area, a lake, a river, and a retreating glacier. The institute integrated the threads of STREAM – Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Art and Math and incorporated local Tlingit culture bearers as speakers and fi eld