Suchergebnisse

Governments around the world are increasingly devolving authority for forest management to the local level in an attempt to strengthen the management of national forests. Community forestry programs are recognized as providing a range of economic and social benefits and having a positive impact on increasing forest cover. However, concerns have been raised about the capability of user groups to manage community forests in a sustainable and equitable manner. This study analyzed the initial experience with community forestry in Bhutan and assessed the degree to which national policies have enhanced the likelihood of successful management by forestry user groups. The study found that the studied communities possess many attributes of successful forest user groups due to historical and socio-cultural reasons. National policies, including the unusual provision of handing over well-stocked forests to user groups, have further enhanced the likelihood of sustainable management by forest user groups. The initial experience of forest management by user groups in Bhutan is promising, and merits further study now that that a much larger number of community forests (CFs) have experience with harvesting.

Encouraging family forest owners to create early successional habitat is a high priority for wildlife conservation agencies in the northeastern USA, where most forest land is privately owned. Many studies have linked regional declines in wildlife populations to the loss of early successional habitat. The government provides financial incentives to create early successional habitat, but the number of family forest owners who actively manage their forests remains low. Several studies have analyzed participation of family forest owners in federal forestry programs, but no study to date has focused specifically on creation of wildlife habitat. The objective of our study was to analyze the experience of a group of wildlife-oriented family forest owners who were trained to create early successional habitat. This type of family forest owners represents a small portion of the total population of family forest owners, but we believe they can play an important role in creating wildlife habitat, so it is important to understand how outreach programs can best reach them. The respondents shared some characteristics but differed in terms of forest holdings, forestry experience and interest in earning forestry income. Despite their strong interest in wildlife, awareness about the importance of early successional habitat was low. Financial support from the federal government appeared to be important in motivating respondents to follow up after the training with activities on their own properties: 84% of respondents who had implemented activities received federal financial support and 47% would not have implemented the activities without financial assistance. In order to mobilize greater numbers of wildlife-oriented family forest owners to create early successional habitat we recommend focusing outreach efforts on increasing awareness about the importance of early successional habitat and the availability of technical and financial assistance.

Engaging private landowners in the conservation of American woodcock (Scolopax minor; hereafter, woodcock) in the northeastern United States is important because most forests in the region are privately owned. For this reason, a consortium of conservation agencies in the region has been encouraging private landowners to create young forest vegetation types. This study summarizes the achievements and lessons learned through 3 components of a collaborative outreach program as practiced in Rhode Island, USA since 2008: 1) providing technical and financial assistance to private landowners to support woodcock habitat creation, 2) developing a woodcock management demonstration area in the Great Swamp Wildlife Management Area to support research and landowner trainings, and 3) conducting research on landowner involvement in the creation of young forest. We found that the financial and technical assistance was an important factor motivating private landowners to create young forest. Furthermore, response to a follow-up questionnaire after our trainings was encouraging; 83% of the participants followed up with forest management on their own properties, and creation of young forest was the most common activity. The woodcock demonstration area strongly supported the training programs by allowing landowners to see regenerating clearcuts of 4 different ages in close proximity, and it was used as a research site to determine how woodcock selected certain-aged young forest patches. Our spatial analysis confirmed that the extent of young forest created in Rhode Island during the 7 years after 2004 was almost double the extent created during the previous 7 years, and that private landowners created more habitat than either government agencies or nongovernment organizations. We conclude that private landowners can play an important role in the conservation of woodcock, and recommend an expanded outreach program to mobilize them.

Engaging private landowners in the conservation of American woodcock (Scolopax minor; hereafter, woodcock) in the northeastern United States is important because most forests in the region are privately owned. For this reason, a consortium of conservation agencies in the region has been encouraging private landowners to create young forest vegetation types. This study summarizes the achievements and lessons learned through 3 components of a collaborative outreach program as practiced in Rhode Island, USA since 2008: 1) providing technical and financial assistance to private landowners to support woodcock habitat creation, 2) developing a woodcock management demonstration area in the Great Swamp Wildlife Management Area to support research and landowner trainings, and 3) conducting research on landowner involvement in the creation of young forest. We found that the financial and technical assistance was an important factor motivating private landowners to create young forest. Furthermore, response to a follow-up questionnaire after our trainings was encouraging; 83% of the participants followed up with forest management on their own properties, and creation of young forest was the most common activity. The woodcock demonstration area strongly supported the training programs by allowing landowners to see regenerating clearcuts of 4 different ages in close proximity, and it was used as a research site to determine how woodcock selected certain-aged young forest patches. Our spatial analysis confirmed that the extent of young forest created in Rhode Island during the 7 years after 2004 was almost double the extent created during the previous 7 years, and that private landowners created more habitat than either government agencies or nongovernment organizations. We conclude that private landowners can play an important role in the conservation of woodcock, and recommend an expanded outreach program to mobilize them.