Community Forestry at Home and Abroad
Key Concepts

Community: "Community is as complex as an old growth forest." David Brynn, Vermont Family Forests Generally speaking, community is defined as a group of people connected by interaction and identity. There are different types of community, two of which are place-based and communities of interest. Place based communities have boundaries based on social and economic interactions that are influenced by geography and local government. Think of these as towns/cities/counties. Communities of interest pertain to a group of individuals with a common goal or belief system, for example a religious community. The idea of "community" has a wholesome image and generally implies a homogeneous, functional, and moral group of persons living and working together. However, the reality is that communities are diverse, stratified, and politically fractured--much like the society in which they are embedded Through face-to-face interactions in multiple arenas and a common identity and commitment to place, communities can develop the capacity for consensus decision-making and collective action (especially when core values and livelihoods are threatened). Source: Danks, Cecilia. 2000. Forest Community: Forest communities vary, but common characteristics include - physical isolation high poverty high and seasonally high unemployment little local capital lack of control over forest resources: government control of majority of forest land external ownership of private timber lands and sawmills degraded forest resources due to extraction for export to urban communities little reinvestment in the land and local communities politically and economically weak dependent on forest in diverse ways (not just commodities but also subsistence, recreation and cultural practices) strong identity with place deep concern over the fate of local forests deep concern about socio-economic conditions diverstiy among residence history of conflict over resource use: between community and national government over forest management between groups and the government over forest managment among local user groups relatively low-level education small businesses low capital resources - tied up in land and/or equipment resourceful people history of forest products, ranching, or mining varying levels and kinds of in and out migration

Community Forestry: Institutional arrangements in which communities share in decision-making & benefits, and contribute labor and knowledge to achieve healthy forests and social well being.  A mix of public and private goods is produced. To achieve successful community forestry, both the public and private sectors must work together to produce needed goods. Communities must be given the responsibility to manage their resources, and more importantly, the power and authority to do so. Decentralization without the devolution of power will not be successful in achieving the goals of community forestry. View a diagram of the inputs and outputs of community forestry.

Decentralization: The relocation of administrative functions away from a central location. Devolution: The relocation of power away from a central location. Enabling Meaningful Devolution: This requires local level managers to have the capacity to manage forests. Tthose with current authority must be prepared to transfer that authority. A major prerequisite is to build levels of trust in local management, increase trust between foresters and communities and within communities. Arrangements must include checks and balances through third party monitoring. Monitoring is important to identify successful community level managers and good examples of what is working. Source:Fischer, R. J. 1999. Devolution and Decentralization of Forest Management in Asia and the Pacific. Unasylva 199 50:3-5. Public Goods: Available to everyone for free.  Typically not produced in the marketplace, hard to exclude and hardly subtractable - such as clean air or broadcast TV. They are difficult to get the public to pay for. View a diagram illustrating the differentiations between public and private goods. Click here to return to community forestry diagram. Private Goods: Produced in the marketplace, easy to exclude and highly subtractable, such as a sandwich or a car. Bureaucracies: governed by rules hierarchical structures keep and follow written documents regulated qualification for employees specialized knowledge of experts fixed jurisdictions "official" separate from "private" paid a fixed salary and old age pension Source: Weber, Max. n.d. ("after 1914"). Excerpt on Bureaucracy. In H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills. 1946. From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press. Social Capital: Norms of trust, reciprocity and repeated interaction that help to create sustainable improvements in the welfare of citizens and facilitate cooperative action. View a diagram of the inputs and outputs of community forestry, which includes social capital. Organizational Capital: Elements of human, physical and financial capital which is organized and available to accomplish group tasks.  For example, staff, stamps, computer, copy machine, meeting space, ability to administer funds, etc. Embeddedness: The intimate interconnection among public and private actors which evolves through repeated interaction. View a diagram of the inputs and outputs of community forestry, including the role of agency ambeddedness. Healthy Forests: "Health is the capacity for self renewal." Aldo Leopold The ability of the forest to sustain itself ecologically and provide what society wants and needs is what defines a healthy forest. Maintaining the balance between forest sustainability and production of goods and services is the challenge for owners and managers of the state's forests. Ecological: A healthy forest maintains its unique species and processes, while maintaining its basic structure, composition and function. Social: A healthy forest has the ability to accommodate current and future needs of people for values, products and services. These components are inextricably linked. Forests cannot meet social needs without possessing the sustained capacity to grow, reproduce, recycle nutrients, and carry out other ecological functions. From: USDA Forest Service, Idaho View a diagram of the inputs and outputs of community forestry, including the role of healthy forests Coproduction: A collaboration between private and public sectors in which the outcome ends up being beneficial for both. View a diagram of the inputs and outputs of community forestry, including the role of coproduction. Synergy in Coproduction: Occurs when the outcomes are better than had either sector acted alone, and both sectors are strengthened by the interaction. Social Well-being: *Social well-being is the satisfaction people experience when they see themselves as part of a compassionate community they have helped create - a community in which all have an opportunity to live a satisfying life, and public and private institutions share with the entire citizenry the responsibility to secure for everyone a humanizing education, living wages, public safety, equal justice under the law, environmental protection, and unfettered religious and political participation. --Jorge Lara-Braud, 1999 Chair Community Action Network Community Council *In a sustainable community, equity, education, respect for human rights and the meeting of basic needs combine to create social wealth. Everyone has the right to access a safe and healthful environment in which to live, work, play and learn, including contact with nature through access to other species. Everyone has the right to the fulfillment of basic human needs, including safe and healthful shelter, dignified work, sufficient food, education that meets their needs and skills. Everyone has the right to be part of a community that offers mutual respect. --Josh Wolfe, International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives View a diagram of the inputs and outputs of community forestry, including the role of social well-being.  Note: Much of the information on this page -which is not otherwise cited- came from classroom lectures: Professor Cecilia Danks. 2002 and 2005. "Community Forestry At Home and Abroad" a course offered through the Rubenstein School of Natural Resources, Environmental Studies and Forestry Departments, University of Vermont.