N. F. Emtage

Landholder Typologies Used in the Development of Natural Resource Management Programs in Australia – A Review

This article reviews the literature on the identification of landholder typologies that can be used to assist the design and delivery of natural resource management (NRM) programs. Australian researchers have developed typologies of landholders based on a variety of criteria. The rationale for developing landholder typologies is first discussed before reviewing the various approaches that have been used by Australian researchers and comparing their findings. The methods employed have differed according to the theories used to guide the research and the ‘clients’ or ‘sponsors’ of the research. The landholder types they describe, however, have a number of similarities. These similarities suggest that the studies have identified the same fundamental divisions in the rural community, and that it may be possible to integrate landholder typologies for a variety of NRM and non-NRM applications. It is concluded that further research could usefully investigate whether concepts of social class or sub-cultures may be appropriate to define and describe the variations in landholder types.

Socio-economic factors affecting smallholder tree planting and management intentions in Leyte Province, Philippines

Survey data have been collected from four rural communities in Leyte Province, the Philippines, on household tree planting and management intentions, as well as the socio-economic characteristics, attitudes to tree planting and management, farming practices and the number of trees planted. In relation to intended tree planting and management activities, respondents were asked a series of structured questions as to what tree species they intend to plant, how many individual trees of each of those species they plan to plant, and for what purpose they propose to plant each of the tree species. This paper reports the results of analyses of the stated tree management intentions of households in the four communities and identifies the socioeconomic factors that influence householders’ tree management intentions. Respondents were generally enthusiastic about the possibility for further tree planting on their land, 75% indicating they would undertake planting. About 60% indicated an interest in commercial tree farming, with no significant differences in this level of interest between communities. It was found that a number of socio-economic variables indicating higher levels of land ownership and previous experience in the forestry industry are related to the intention to plant trees to produce timber for sale. These include the use of materials from public lands, participation in community organisations and community forestry programs, and the present management of trees to produce timber for sale.

Past and present forestry support programs in the Philippines, and lessons for the future

A variety of government programs have been implemented to support smallholder forestry for production and conservation purposes in the Philippines. This paper briefly outlines the arrangements of the past and current programs, notes how they have evolved over time, and provides some comments on their performance. Over about 30 years, as weaknesses have been identified in programs, the program designs have been modified. For most of this time, there has been an increasing emphasis on community involvement as distinct from industrial or individual farmer forestry. However, some of the intractable constraints on community planting have led to recent interest in individual property rights.

Supporting Cooperative Forest Management among Small-Acreage Lifestyle Landowners in Southeast Queensland, Australia

Effective landscape-level biodiversity conservation requires cooperative forest management across public and private-tenure boundaries. This study explores the potential for cooperative cross-boundary forest management among small-acreage lifestyle landholders in southeast Queensland using 17 in-depth qualitative case-study analyses. Landholders typically possessed mutual objectives concerning forest management, a sense of neighborly stewardship, and positive predispositions toward cooperative cross-boundary forest management. However, capacity, institutional, and neighbor-related barriers were limiting landholder interest and involvement. We find that peer-mentoring networks have a critical role to play in promoting and delivering programs that support cross-boundary forest management. Government should ideally play a background “out-of-sight” facilitator role. We also find the capacity for urbanizing rural landscapes to retain their natural values can be greatly enhanced by facilitating small-acreage landholder cooperation to maintain and restore their contiguous forests, mitigate wildfire hazards, and revegetate paddocks to buffer existing forests or create new fire-retardant forests.

Stakeholder's roles and responsibilities in the community-based forest management program of the Philippines

This paper reviews the existing social and community forestry programs in the Philippines, these being the leading programs for natural resource management and rural development in the country. The paper takes the form of a stakeholder analysis of those involved in the Community-Based Forest Management Program, drawing on literature discussing the roles of and challenges faced by the various stakeholder groups and on interviews with participants in the program. Challenges to the success of the program come from a variety of sources, in particular from the economically and socially marginalised position of the target communities, lack of resources available to support them, deficiencies in physical and social infrastructure in the Philippines, and the difficulties caused by the continual revision of forestry policies and regulations. It is concluded that in order for CBFM to be successful, greater efforts are needed to ‘empower’ the communities, provide adequate budgetary support to agencies administering the program, and provide a stable policy and regulatory framework.

Potential performance of rainforest and eucalypt cabinet timber in plantations in North Queensland

Summary A brief outline is provided of the timber industry in North Queensland including a discussion of recent efforts to establish a plantation timber industry based on rainforest cabinet timbers to replace the industry lost with World Heritage listing in 1988. Results of a Delphi survey which sought expert opinion about the growth of rainforest and Eucalyptus species in mixed-species plantations in North Queensland are presented. Specifically, expert opinions about preferred species combinations and likely effects of mixed species plantations on timber yields are reported. Estimates of yield (m3 ha−1 y−1) and harvest age (years) are provided for 31 species commonly planted under the Community Rainforest Reforestation Program.

The Australian Farm Forestry Financial Model

Summary The Australian Farm Forestry Financial Model (AFFFM) has been developed as a tool for the financial appraisal of farm forestry investments. It is a whole-farm financial model developed in modules using Visual Basic as the programming language, and provides estimates of key financial criteria including net present value, land expectation value and internal rate of return. It also provides details of the effects of forestry options on cash flows and the business cash position. Included in the AFFFM are data sets for plantation establishment and maintenance costs, growth rates and potential timber products of a number of tree species, for three regions. This paper outlines the scope of the AFFFM including its structure, assumptions, input parameters and key variables. The paper also reports the process by which the model was validated through replication of previous studies, the development of case studies and testing by undergraduate students.

Conducting surveys on forestry attitudes and practices in Leyte Communities, Philippines: Experiences and lessons learnt

A survey of forestry practices and attitudes was undertaken in four communities in Leyte, the Philippines, to improve understanding of the social and economic factors affecting small-scale forestry development. The survey had three main data collection activities — initial focus group discussions (FGDs), household interviews, and reporting and validation FGDs. A team of enumerators was selected for household interviews which consisted of both males and females, to avoid potential problems of unwillingness of people to talk with those of the opposite gender. The interviewers were also required to be able to speak local dialects (Cebuano and Waray Waray), the survey questionnaires being administered in these dialects. Various methods were used to gain the support and assistance of local government units and barangay captains. Some difficulty was experienced by the survey team in the first community due to barangay elections at the time of the survey, and the requirement by the University of Queensland Ethics Committee that respondents sign a consent form. This requirement was found to be not culturally appropriate for the Leyte smallholder communities. Offering goods at the end of the interview was found to be of limited value for encouraging participation in the survey. Provision of food and drinks were found to encourage FGD participants to express their views, but too much alcohol had a negative effect. The importance of providing comprehensive feedback to respondents and involving them and other stakeholders in development of policy recommendations was apparent. These survey experiences provide valuable insights which are not generally available in textbooks on sample surveys, and provide lessons for planning and conducting smallholder community survey into natural resource management issues.