Summary:

The book Understanding Community-Based Forest Ecosystem Management compiles papers prepared for a national workshop on community-based ecosystem management that convened in Bend, Oregon. Drawing on the diverse experiences of workshop participants —including community practitioners; staff from local, regional, and national nonprofit groups; employees of federal agencies; and academics —the book presents a much-needed framework for thinking about community-based forest ecosystem management. It guides instructors, students, government officials, community practitioners, and others interested in identifying the challenges and opportunities facing those involved in the community-based forest management field.

Ordering Information:

The book can be ordered through the publisher: Haworth Press Inc.

Single copies of the 36 page booklet "Understanding Community Based Forest Ecosystem Management: An Editorial Synthesis of the American Forest Workshop, Bend, Oregon--June, 1998" are available free of charge by contacting Policy Department at policyintern@amfor.org

Book Review:

I am not usually a fan of books which are proceedings of conferences or workshops, but this is a distinct exception. Perhaps the old adage that the "medium is the message" best explains how the genesis of the workshop and processes which produced the book reflects its central message: ecosystem management is fundamentally a community-based collaborative endeavor.

Also, the format and content of the book was shaped by editors who are seasoned forest policy professionals, as are the 50 members of the steering committee and work groups - a diverse group of men and women from a wide range of public, private, NGO, and academic institutions. The impressive list of financial supporter testifies to the collaborative effort of the workshop and book.

Simultaneously co-published in several issues of the Journal of Sustainable Forestry, the book is divided into three parts: a brief editorial synthesis by the editors of the overall topic; a series of seven work group papers which explore the essential components of community-based ecosystem management; and twelve individual papers reporting on community case studies and field research.

The central theme of the book is that "interdependence between healthy ecosystems and community well-being lies at the heart of community-based ecosystem management." This fundamental conviction, the authors argue, rests on the principle of stewardship which is sustained in open, democratic communities committed to citizen empowerment, monitoring and learning, and investment in human communities and ecosystems. It is a process best described with word-concepts like collaboration, inclusiveness, transparency, and adaptability.

Each of these principles and concepts are explored in depth by the work groups, supported by the case studies and research findings reported in the individual papers. Together they make a reasoned argument that community-based ecosystem management is a sound alternative to the " special interest-based, conflict ridden" approach of traditional "output-based resource management."

Here are 400 pages of solid theory, practice, and policy analysis to enrich the debate about the path to a truly sustainable future for our forests and forest-dependent communities -- a book which reaffirms the historic leadership role of American Forests in shaping national forestry policy, from the grass roots to the global village.