Volume 21 Number 1

2011

ISSN 1022–5439

A newsletter from the International Tropical Timber Organization to promote the conservation and sustainable development of tropical forests

Fellows for SFM

T

he lack of human capacity has been identified as a key constraining
factor to sustainable forest management (SFM) in most of thediagnoses and analyses to assess progress towards SFM carried out
in ITTO member countries over the past quarter century. One of ITTO’s
most effective contributions to addressing this constraint has been its
Fellowship Program, among the Organization’s earliest and most successful
initiatives and probably the world’s only such support program focused
specifically on tropical forests and their management.

The promise of the Fellowship Program was not immediately grasped by theCommittee on Forest Industry where it was first introduced as a Secretariatdrafted project 22 years ago. Some members and observers (including otherinternational organizations) questioned the need for such a program,pointing to various academic scholarships and bursaries available toqualified students, although none of these
focused specifically on tropicalforests. Only with thepersistence of ITTO’s second

Special issue on the ITTO Fellowship Program

Contents 
Following the fellows. .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 3Cloudy with a chanceof sustainability . .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 8Fellowships awarded. .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 11
Fellowship applications. .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 11
Cambodia’s cut. .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 12
Mucking in. .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 15
Pushing the PCI. .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 18
The limits to agriculture. .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 20
Out on a limb . .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  . 24

Note to readers: This issue of the TFU is shorter than usual due
to funding constraints and is not being circulated to our 15,000
subscribers (it will only be available online, with a limited numberof copies printed for the 47th ITTC session). Funding constraints
have also affected the publication schedule/frequency of the TFU
in 2011. It is hoped that the regular length and publication
schedule of the TFU can be resumed in 2012 through theprovision of sufficient voluntary contributions or through theinclusion of this work in ITTO’s core activities budget under theterms of the International Tropical Timber Agreement, 2006 when
it enters into force.

Co editors
DesignChisato Aoki
Steven Johnson
DesignOne		

The Tropical Forest Update is published quarterly in English, French and Spanish by
the International Tropical Timber Organization. Content does not necessarily reflect
the views or policies of ITTO. Articles may be reprinted without charge provided the
TFU and author(s) are credited. The editor should be sent a copy of the publication.
Printed using vegetable-based inks on stock that comprises 80% recycled fiberfrom postconsumer waste and 20% totally chlorine-free pulp, sourced from certified
sustainable forests.
The TFU is distributed free of charge to over 15 000 individuals and organizations
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notify us if you change address. The TFU is also available on-line at www.itto.int.
International Tropical Timber Organization		International Organizations Center – 5th Floor
Pacifico-Yokohama, 1–1–1 Minato Mirai, Nishi-ku
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www.itto.int

Cover image: Brazilian Fellow Danielle Celentano carries out
research towards her Master of Science degree.
Photo: D. Celentano

2… Editorial continued
Executive Director Manoel Sobral Filho(then ITTO’s Assistant Director of Forest
Industry) and the support of the chair of theCommittee on Forest Industry at that time(Markku Simula, who later became chair of
ITTO’s governing Council) were theseobjections overcome and the projectapproved. The rest, as they say, is history.
Over the past two decades, the ITTO
Fellowship Program has helped more than
1100 young and middle level professionals
from more than 40 ITTO member countries
to enhance their professional capacities inforestry and related disciplines and thereby
contributed substantially to promoting
sustainable management of tropical forests.
The Program has also developed a cadre offorestry officials throughout the world who
know ITTO’s programs and policies and help
to promote the Organization’s work while
simultaneously furthering its objectives.
In 2010, in order to assess the impacts of theFellowship Program on capacity
development in ITTO member countries at
the individual, institutional, national andinternational levels, ITTO undertook an
Impact Assessment survey of awardees. Thissurvey was conducted to commemorate the10th anniversary of the establishment of theFreezailah Fellowship Fund, a mechanism
established by the International Tropical
Timber Council (ITTC) to ensure financial
continuity of the Fellowship Program
named in honor of the Organization’s first
Executive Director.
The lead story in this special issue of the
TFU reports the results of the survey, basedon responses from more than 200 former
fellows from 34 countries (page 3). The
survey clearly shows the significant impactof the Program on capacity development intropical forestry, timber industries andrelated disciplines in ITTO member
countries. The survey also illustrates theProgram’s breadth, both in terms of therange of people who have benefited from it
and the scope of activities for whichassistance has been provided.
A sample of the type of work carried out
under (and the impacts of ) ITTO
fellowships is summarized in articles
prepared by five ITTO fellows from Peru,
Cambodia, Cameron, Gabon and Nepal inthis issue. From the work carried out by

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

Constantino Aucca Chutas (page 8) to train
local communities in the utilization,conservation and management of cloudforests in Peru to Rabindra Roy’s research to
examine the contribution of non-timber
forest products (NTFPs) in daily livelihoods
in Nepal (page 20), the dedication of the
ITTO Fellows and the achievements of theFellowship Program shine clearly from thepages of this issue. In fact, one of the hardest
tasks in compiling this issue of the TFU wasin choosing between the many excellent
articles submitted by Fellows in response to
our request to showcase their work. We
thank all of those who submitted articles
and hope to be able to publish more of thearticles submitted in future TFUs in theregular Fellowship report section.
Despite its clear contribution to ITTO’s
objective of building human capacity to
implement sustainable forest management
and high returns on the relatively modest
investments made to date, the future of theFellowship Program is by no means assured.
As former ITTC chair Stephanie Caswell(who also chaired both the Fellowship
Selection Panel and the expert panel charged
with reviewing the Program a decade ago)
points out in Out on a limb (page 24), theProgram needs to widen its funding basewhich currently relies disproportionately onjust two donors. Ways also need to be found
to reduce the amount of voluntary
contributions absorbed by administrative
costs (which currently account for morethan a quarter of funds pledged to theProgram). Ms. Caswells’ recommendations
for further improvements should be
carefully considered by the ITTC in its
deliberations on the future of the Program.
As ITTO celebrates its 25th anniversaryduring the International Year of Forests in
2011, the Fellowship Program is among its
proudest achievements. The Secretariat, theCouncil and all ITTO Fellows must work
together to ensure that the Program
continues its important contributions tobuilding capacity for SFM over the next 25
years.

Chisato Aoki
Steve Johnson
Co-editors

Following the fellows
An assessment of
the ITTO Fellowship
Program shows it
has had far-reaching
impacts
By Chisato Aoki
ITTO Secretariat
aoki@itto.int

Listening: Rina Susanti (right) from Indonesia interviews local people as part of her ITTO fellowship. Photo: R. SusantiIn 2010, in commem­oration of the tenth anniversary of
the establishment of the Freezailah Fellowship Fund,
ITTO undertook a survey to assess the impact of the
ITTO Fellowship Program over the previous decade. The
survey showed that the program has had a significant
impact on capacity development in tropical forestry, timberindustries and related disciplines in ITTO member
countries. After the completion of their fellowships, ITTO
fellows continued to promote sustainable forest management
at the national and international levels and contributed
more to biodiversity conservation, the mitigation of andadaptation to climate change, and the improvement of local
livelihoods. This article provides a brief sketch of the historyof the ITTO Fellowship Program, presents the results of the
impact assessment survey, and suggests future directions forand improvements that could be made to the program.

Two decades of support
The ITTO Fellowship Program began in 1989 as ITTO
project PD 60/89 (M,F,I) under the Committee on Forest
Industry with the aim of promoting human resource
development and institutional strengthening in the forest
sectors of ITTO member countries. Initially the program
mainly supported participation in study tours, conferences
and short training courses (including tailor-madeinstitutional training), especially in forest industry
operations and timber marketing.
In 1993, the Fellowship Program was renewed under ITTO
project PD 1/93 (M,F,I), which expanded the program’s
scope, particularly to promote activities that would help inachieving the ITTO Year 2000 Objective. More people weretrained in sustainable forest management and reforestation
during this phase, which also supported an increasing

number of post-graduate studies although the focus
remained on short-term activities.
In 2000, the Freezailah Fellowship Fund was created tohonour the achievements of ITTO’s first executive director
and to expand funding opportunities. The objective of the
ITTO Fellowship Program was restated as “to develop
human resources and enhance professional expertise inmember countries in tropical forestry, tropical timberindustries and related disciplines, with a view to promoting
sustainable management of tropical forests, efficientutilization and processing of tropical timber, and better
economic information on the international trade in tropicaltimber”. More detailed information about the three phasesof the program can be found in Aoki (2006).
Over the past two decades (1989-2010), the ITTO Fellowship
Program has awarded about US$6.3 million to 1083 mostly
young and mid-career individuals from research institutes(32% of all ITTO fellows), governments (28%), universities(17%), NGOs (12%), the private sector (5%) and others (6%)
in 44 ITTO member countries. About 30% of all fellowships
have been won by women. Fellowships have been distributed
to applicants from producer member countries in AsiaPacific (32%), Africa (30%) and Latin America and Caribbean(23%), from developing consumer countries such as Nepal
and China (11%), and from developed consumer countries(4%). In the last decade there were about 3200 applications
for fellowships, of which about 540 (17%) were successful,showing the strong demand (and competition) for support
under the program.
The program continues to fund short-term activities such as
short training courses and internship programs (30%),
conference participation (19%) and study and/or

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

3

	
  

demonstration tours (9%). However, the program has
increased its support for post-graduate studies: about half ofall fellows since 2000 have obtained master’s or PhD degrees
in forestry or related disciplines, and the proportion of
fellows pursuing post-graduate studies continues to increase(Figure 1).

The rise of post-graduates
Figure 1

Fellowship activities, by phase (1083 fellows)

109Long-term activities8% of total fellowships

7
6
5
4

Short-term activities

3
1

All respondents gave positive feedback about the benefits of the ITTO
Fellowship Program. Figure 2 shows that the program has had significant
impacts on careers. Some of these impacts are discussed below.
Figure 2

1989-1992

1993-1999

Impacts of fellowships (206 respondents)

2000-2010

Research

Study tour

Technical document

Short training internship

Post-graduate Program

Short training course

Lecture/demonstration tour

Conference

Of all fellowships awarded, 70% have been for activities
related to reforestation and forest management, 21% havebeen for activities related to forest industry, and 9% havebeen for activities in the field of economic information andmarket intelligence. Popular fellowship topics include
sustainable forest management, biodiversity conservation,
forest rehabilitation and restoration, and community or
participatory forestry. The role of forests in the mitigation ofand adaptation to climate change, particularly REDD, is afast-growing subject for fellowship applications.

Survey method andresponses
In order to assess the impact of the ITTO Fellowship
Program on capacity development in ITTO member
countries, a questionnaire was prepared based on thecontribution analysis approach recommended and adaptedby the 17th Meeting of the Senior Fellowship Officers of theUnited Nations System (United Nations 2009; Rotem et al.
2010). The questionnaire contained eleven personalquestions and 33 questions about the fellowship activity andits impacts. It was sent by email in March and April 2010 to376 ITTO fellows who completed their fellowships between
2000 and 2009. Due largely to the difficulty of contacting
fellows who completed their fellowships in the early years of
this period, the overall response rate was 55%.
Responses were received from 206 fellows in 34 ITTO
member countries: 86% were from producer countries(Africa—30%, Asia Pacific—30% and Latin America/
Caribbean—26%), 12% were from developing consumer
countries such as Nepal and China, and 2% were from

4

Findings

Great benefits

20developed consumer countries. Thirty-five percent of respondents were
women. Five percent of fellows were aged 20–29 years, 44% were aged 30–39
years, 33% were aged 40–49 years, 16% were aged 50–59 years and 2% wereaged 60 years or more. The respondents currently work at universities (27%),
research institutes (24%), governments (17%), NGOs (10%),intergovernmental organizations (6%), consulting companies (3%), industry
or trading companies (2%) and others (11%). For their fellowships, 41% of
respondents undertook post-graduate degree programs, 32% participated in
short training courses or internship programs, 12% attended international
conferences, 10% published technical documents and 5% undertook study or
demonstration tours.

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

Relevant job position
or job promotion
Improved institutional
productivity and performance
Developed new programs/
innovation
Passed knowlwedge andexperiences to others
Published papers/
books/manuals
Holding PhD or
masters degreee
Strenghtened professional
networks
Contribution to SFM
Contribution to reforestation/
forest conservation
Impact on national forest/
environmental policy
Working on international
forestry issue, including REDD
0

20

40

60

80

100

% of respondents

Return home to relevant position
The fellowship awards have clearly benefited fellows’ professional
development and improved their career prospects. More than half (59%) of
respondents obtained a relevant job position or job promotion after
completing their fellowship activities. A majority (83%) attributed theirpromotion or new job position to the skills and knowledge they gained
through the fellowship. Seventy-four percent of respondents who undertook
a post-graduate degree obtained a relevant job or promotion, compared with
71% of those who completed training internships, 67% of those who usedtheir fellowships to publish a manuals or monographs, 47% of those whose
awards facilitated participation in short-term training course participationand 42% of those who attended a conference.
Most respondents (89%) returned home immediately on completion of theirfellowship activities, 6% continued advanced study (master’s or PhD
programs) abroad and 2% took a job in a country other than their own.
Currently 10% of respondents are undertaking PhD programs abroad and
6% are working outside their home countries for international organizations
or global consulting companies related to tropical forestry and sustainable
development. Therefore, most ITTO fellows have remained in or returned totheir home countries, indicating that the ITTO Fellowship Program—whichmainly funds citizens of tropical countries—is contributing to thedevelopment of human capacity where it is needed most.

Tracking upwards: Abraham Baffoe (left) from Ghana studies a log-tracking system as part of his ITTO fellowship. Photo: A. Baffoe

Positive contribution to work
A majority of respondents (86%) reported that they have improved theirproductivity and performance in the institution in which they work. Morethan half (52%) indicated that their fellowships had enabled them to improve
institutional capacity, resulting in their achieving a relevant job position or
promotion.
Many respondents (82%) stated that they had developed new programs or
innovative ways of working that have helped to improve work performanceat their institutions. For instance, an ITTO fellow from India developed
techniques to process satellite images and light detection and ranging(LIDAR) data for monitoring and assessing forest cover, growing stock andbiomass. An ITTO fellow from Ghana developed a smoke dryer to replace
conventional kilns, thereby improving timber-processing efficiency. Many
university teachers replied that they had improved their teaching andresearch skills and developed new courses, curricula and research proposals
in tropical forestry and related disciplines.

a direct result of their fellowships, while others havecontinued their higher education inspired by theirfellowships.
The fellowships helped fellows to strengthen theirprofessional networks. A majority of respondents (86%)
reported that the contacts they developed through theirfellowships strengthened their professional networks andenhanced their work performance and productivity; somefelt they had succeeded in fostering international
collaboration through their work.

Contribution to SFM and conservation

A majority of respondents (90%) passed to others the knowledge andexperiences they acquired during their fellowships. For example, many
fellows conducted workshops and seminars where they work, trained
community members, gave lectures at universities and post-graduate
schools, and/or presented the results of the fellowships at national orinternational conferences. Seventy-three percent of respondents publishedscientific papers, books, field manuals or national language reports based on
the results of their fellowships. Some of the publications produced by fellows
during the period are listed in the box on page xx.

Almost all respondents (99%) reported that they were
promoting SFM in their countries and about 90% were also
contributing to reforestation and forest conservation. For
example, a Cameroonian ITTO fellow became a focal point
for mangrove conservation in his country under the
Ministry of Forestry and Wildlife as a result of his fellowship
research. A Philippine ITTO fellow developed a strategy at
the local level for the conservation of Philippine tropicaltimber species. The top five current interests of ITTO fellows
are: sustainable forest management (35%), biodiversity
conservation (11%), mitigation of and adaptation to climatechange (11%), reforestation and forest conservation (10%)
and efficient utilization and processing of tropicaltimber (8%).

Continuing development

Impact on policy

Most fellows have continued their professional and personal development.
Eighty-five percent of respondents now hold an advanced degree in forestry
and related disciplines at the PhD (39%) or master’s (46%) level. Amongthem, 45% of fellows responded that they had received their qualification as

A majority of respondents (83%) reported that theknowledge, skills and networks they gained from thefellowships helped them to influence national forestry andenvironmental policy in their home countries. Half said that

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

5

	
  

they have had a significant impact on policymaking. For
example, an ITTO fellow from the Democratic Republic of
the Congo led an initiative to improve the legal frameworkfor small-scale logging in the country’s Orientale province,
contributing to the national effort to combat illegal logging
by small-scale loggers. Ghanaian ITTO fellows contributed
to an ongoing forest policy review program in their country
and played key roles in national policymaking as membersof several national committees. An ITTO fellow from
Venezuela was commissioned to work with the legal adviser
to the Forestry Department’s Director General to draft amanagement plan for Ticoporo Forest Reserve, developing a
new management model based on shared responsibility
between local communities and the state government whichbecame fully effective in 2008. An Indian ITTO fellow has
been requested by the country’s federal Ministry ofEnvironment and Forests to investigate diseases affecting
teak and to propose appropriate management strategies forthe country.
Just under half (44%) of respondents are currently working
on international forestry issues. Consistent with global
trends, many are working on issues related to climatechange, especially REDD.

Host institution and country
A majority of respondents (81%) undertook their activities
at either universities or research institutes. The remaining
respondents carried out their activities within NGOs (5%),
governments (4%), intergovernmental organizations (4%),
industries (1%) or other (4%). Almost all respondents (99%)
were satisfied with the quality of their host institutions andfelt that they provided relevant expertise and adequate
resources for their fellowships.
About 80% of the host institutions were located in ITTO
member countries. The most popular ITTO host countries
accounted for half of all fellows: United States (11%), Nepal(7%), Philippines (7%), Indonesia (4%), Ghana (4%), France(4%), Canada (3%), Germany (3%), Netherlands (3%),
Australia (2%) and Gabon (2%). Among non-member
countries, Costa Rica was very popular among fellows from
Latin America and the Caribbean, accounting for about 40%of the fellowships awarded in that region.
South–south cooperation has gained increasing expression
in the ITTO Fellowship Program over the last decade. About
two-thirds (64%) of respondents conducted their activities
in ITTO developing member countries (45%) or in nonmember developing countries (19%). Thirty-six percent of
fellows conducted their activities in their own countries—
mainly master’s or PhD research or the preparation oftechnical documents. This proportion includes people who
enrolled in universities abroad but undertook their thesis
research on an issue related to tropical forests, tropical forest
industry or community livelihood improvement in theirown countries. This phenomenon is at least partly due to theceiling on the fellowship value (US$10 000), which is usually

6

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

Humming along: Peruvian Constantino Aucca’s fellowship promoted community
conservation of spatuletail hummingbird habitat. Photo: ECOAN

insufficient to support graduate programs in developed countries. On theother hand, most short-course participants took courses abroad, particularly
in developed countries such as the United States, the Netherlands, France,
the United Kingdom and Australia, since the fellowships are usually
sufficient to cover the full cost of such courses.

Towards a third decade
The results of the impact assessment survey show that the ITTO Fellowship
Program is having a significant impact on the development of professional
capacity in ITTO producer member countries. Admittedly the survey reflects
the views of ITTO fellows only; soliciting the views of employers and hostinstitutions as well would provide a more holistic assessment. Nevertheless,based on the findings of the survey it is possible to discern ways in which theprogram can be improved as it enters its third decade.

Variety of activities
The ITTO Fellowship Program is unique, differing from other programs inthe variety of activities it supports and as the only specializedintergovernmental funding source for increasing capacity in the tropicalforest sector. Many fellows appreciated the wide range of activities supportedby the program because it can meet the needs of diverse applicants at
differing stages of their professional careers. For example, a small grant for
post-graduate study helps young and mid-career professionals to advancetheir knowledge and expertise and widen their career prospects. Short-term
training courses, internships and study tours help young and mid-career
professionals to fill gaps in knowledge and skills and have an immediate
impact on improving work performance and efficiency. Conference
participation enables young, mid-career and senior professionals to share
their knowledge and experiences and to develop international networks for
future collaboration. The publication of manuals and books gives recognition
to the work achieved by mid-career and senior fellows and helps field
workers and other professionals by providing them with up-to-date, practicalinformation. All types of activity had positive effects on career development
and work performance. The ITTO Fellowship Program, therefore, should
continue to support a broad range of activities.

In the past decade there has been a preponderance of
fellowship applications for the activities related toreforestation and forest management (82%) over forest
industry (11%) and economic information and market
intelligence (7%). To achieve the objective of the program ina balanced manner, more applications to promote theefficient use and processing of tropical timber and improved
information on the international trade of tropical forest
products should be encouraged.

Increase in the number of host institutions
Fellowship applications are currently concentrated on
certain training programs and post-graduate programs in a
relatively small number of renowned institutions withexcellent training capacities and facilities. Exploring
partnerships with other training institutions and universities
specialized in tropical forestry, sustainable forest
management, wood science and industry and climatechange could open new avenues for capacity-building,especially in light of the new objectives set out in theInternational Tropical Timber Agreement, 2006.

Opportunities for a wider range of nationalities
Another challenge is to expand the benefits of the ITTO
Fellowship Program to nationals of a wider range ofcountries. In the decade to 2010, more than half the
fellowships have been granted to nationals of sevencountries—Ghana (10%), Nepal (9%), Cameroon (9%), India(8%), Colombia (7%), Indonesia (7%) and Peru (5%)—mainly
because many good applications have been received fromthose countries. The program needs to be better promoted inother ITTO member countries through such avenues as
ITTO contact points, forestry schools, research institutes,
course and conference organizers and forestry journals.

Funding
The ITTO Fellowship Program has received a total voluntary
contribution of about US$7.9 million, three-quarters ofwhich was provided by the Government of Japan (75%), withsignificant contributions from the governments of theUnited States, the Netherlands, Australia and others (Figure3). Eighty percent of these funds have been expended on
fellowship awards and the remainder to meet administrativeand operational costs.
Annual funding was stable in the last decade at about
US$400 000 thanks mainly to the regular contributions of
the governments of Japan and the United States. However,
due to increasing demand for support under the programand a gradual increase in the cost of fellowship activities(including administration costs), the program now faces afundraising challenge. Stephanie Caswell proposes a
potential solution in Out on a limb in this edition (page 24):that is, the ITTO Fellowship Program could be included as
one of the core ITTO activities to be funded under theadministrative budget, thereby shifting the allocation of atleast the operational costs of the program from voluntary to
mandatory contributions. Contributions from other

Contributors

Figure 3	Fellowship voluntary contributions by governments(percentage of US$7.9 million)
Others (1)Australia (4)Netherlands (7)USA (13)

Japan (75)governments, foundations and the private sector should also
be sought to ensure that the program continues its importantrole in building capacity in tropical forestry.

Alumni network
ITTO fellows are important assets for their countries and
ITTO and their increasing knowledge and experiences
should be shared with others. A majority (93%) of fellows
surveyed showed interest in joining an ITTO fellowshipalumni network, should one be created, to share theirexperiences and ideas. Many issues concerning tropicalforests are not just local, national or regional but also global,
which require collaborative solutions. A web-based
discussion group for ITTO fellowship alumni could serve asa platform for innovative ideas on tropical SFM, including
the role of tropical forests in climate change mitigation andadaptation.
Two decades of the ITTO Fellowship Program have shown it
be effective in developing capacity in the tropical forest
sector. In its third decade, the ITTO Fellowship Program
needs to review its scope and objectives in accordance with
the ITTA 2006, which will come into force soon, to ensurethat it contributes efficiently to meeting ITTO’s new
objectives and priorities and the demands of its member
countries.
A detailed report of the survey (Aoki 2010) is available on
request from the ITTO secretariat.

References
Aoki, C. 2006. ITTO Fellowship Program: contribution to capacitybuilding in sustainable forest management. Tropical Forest Update
16(4): 22–25.
Aoki, C. 2010. Impact assessment survey of the ITTO Fellowship
Programme. Paper presented at the 18th Meeting of Senior Fellowship
Programme Officers of United Nations Organizations and Host Country
Agencies, UNESCO, Paris, 2–3 November 2010.
Rotem, A., Zinovieff, M. and Goubarev, A. 2010. A framework forevaluating the impact of the United Nations fellowship programs.
Human Resources for Health 8(7): 1–8.
United Nations 2009. Final report of the 17th Meeting of Senior
Fellowship Officers of the United Nations System and Host country
Agencies. International Maritime Organization, London, 17–19
November 2008. United Nations, New York, USA.
ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

7

Cloudy with a chance ofsustainability
ITTO Fellowshipdevelops training
program on
utilization andmanagement ofcloud forests in Peru
By Constantino
Aucca Chutas
Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos
caucca@ecoanperu.org
Mr Constantino Aucca Chutas(Peru) received his fellowship in
2007 to carry out a lecture/demonstration tour to raise
conservation awareness and train
community people on the use andmanagement of cloud forests in
the Abra Patricia - Alto Nieva
Private Conservation Area in Peru.

Cloud forest: Abra Patricia forest area and surroundings. Photo: W. PalominoThe Abra Patricia forest region of Peru and its
surrounding areas have remained almost intact fora very long time. There is, however, a void ofscientific information about this region, which is also a very
important watershed of the Mayo and Nieva river valleys.
The Marginal Forest Highway (Carretera Marginal de laSelva) was designed and built during the 1960s. This accessroad was built with the aim of increasing the migration of
settlers into the pristine forests of the Amazon Region (aspart of the Social and Economic Development Planpromoted by the then President of the Republic, Mr
Fernando Belaúnde Terry, in 19681, ZEE, 2008). To alleviate
their extreme poverty, these new settlers became involved in
logging and shifting agricultural and cattle-raising activities,
causing a huge impact in many of these pristine forests(INRENA, 2008). The Alto Mayo Protection Forest (Bosquede Protección de Alto Mayo – BPAM) was established in
1987 over an area of 182 000 ha. Today, there are more than
5400 people illegally settled within the BPAM, endangering
the stability of the management and conservation of thisarea (INRENA, 2008). The Abra Patricia and Alto Nieva
areas are located in the buffer zone of the BPAM (INRENA,
2008).

Throughout the Andes, watershed areas as well as forestsand vegetation cover have been degraded, thus affecting
their stability. Deforestation and unsound human activities
have disturbed the natural balance leading to impacts onwater sources such as glaciers, landslides, floods, droughts,
etc. The vegetation cover that drains water to various
tributaries flowing into the Pacific and Atlantic basins isbeing increasingly altered, which jeopardizes the existenceof the great Amazon valleys and endangers all the life forms
found in this area.

Against this background, the aim of the study fundedthrough an ITTO fellowship was to analyze the problem ofillegal forest utilization in the area through the exchange of
information and opinions in “multi-participatory
workshops” that would help provide a real picture of thedifferent implications of proposed management changes on

Climate change, El Niño and other phenomena can lead tomajor natural disasters that represent a large economic loss
for families and governments. Only through extensive
reforestation programs, preferably with native species, andenvironmental education campaigns will it be possible toprevent and mitigate these problems and stop them fromincreasingly affecting our daily lives. Afforestation andreforestation activities can greatly contribute to generateresources for local communities, who will benefit from theimplementation of strategies to alleviate poverty, an everpresent problem in these areas.

1

Forest conservation and rehabilitation through theimplementation of conservation strategies with local

Study objective

8

stakeholders. These multi-participatory workshops
represent a tool that can not only provide the quantitativevalues required to implement the necessary measures, but
can also provide access to the communities and provide
them with the technical information required to gainawareness and work jointly in the efforts to avoid thedeforestation of the area and its consequences. This tool canalso provide information on the needs and expectations ofthese communities.

www.congreso.gob.pe/museo/mensajes/Mensaje-1968-1.pdf

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

Sliding away: In the Amazon and Upper Andean regions, landslides and flash floods are now more frequent because the naturalvegetation cover has been severely disturbed by human interventions. Photos: C. Aucca

community involvement is the key to finding a strategic
partner to ensure the future protection of the environment
based on the benefits derived from these actions by the local
population.
The general objective of the study was to facilitate a change
in attitude with a view to decreasing the indiscriminate
logging of forest resources through the implementation ofsound and sustainable practices by the local communities.

Study area
The study area was located in the districts of: Florida
Pomacochas, Yambrasbamba, Shipasbamba, Jazan, San
Carlos and Chisquilla, in the Province of Bongará, Amazon
Region. According to the 2008 NatureServe classification,
the study sites are part of the Andean Moist Forests and,more specifically, belong to the following ecological systems:

CES409.050 Montane rainforest of the Yungas region and
CES409-110 Montane rainforest of the Northern Andesregion.

Methodology
The proposed approach was based on participatory
methodologies, so it was decided to implement workshops
where the participants actively contributed to the process ofdeveloping a diagnosis and description of existing problems
through a questionnaire approach. The questionnaire on
preferred forest management objective(s) was distributed tonine communities (adults and primary/secondary school
students) in the study area. A manual for community forest
management and reforestation was developed anddistributed at the workshops to help in analyzing/refining
questionnaire responses. In some cases, in order tocomplement this process, experience-sharing field trips

Integrated management preferredFigure 1

Community responses to questionnaire on preferred forest management objective(s).

30

25

20

15

10

5

0

San Lorenzo

Agua Dulce

Pomacochas

Nuevo Gualulo

La Union

Oso Perdido

Carrera

DoradoEl Chido

Pastureland management and agroforestry program, soil conservation, cattle-raising, fruit and forest tree nurseries, shade-grown coffee, wind barriers
Forest management and protection, reforestation and its benefits
Conservation of endemic species, flora and fauna, environment
Spatuletail hummingbird, birds, migratory birds
ECOAN activities, dissemination and interest
Overall /no detailed breakdown

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

9

Planting out: Community reforestation programs in the Pomacochas area, Amazonas. Photo: W. Palomino

were organized for both community leaders and students,
which resulted in a motivational experience for survey
participants. These different processes were based on similar
experiences such as those implemented in Maule, Chile(2008). The results of the questionnaire on preferredmanagement objective are shown in Figure 1 on the previous
page.

Conclusions
Based on the large number of manuals that were handed
out, the total number of participants at the workshops (morethan 2000) was higher than the number of survey responses
that were received for analysis (1208). This could be due tothe fact that there is still a certain level of mistrust among
adults and a greater level of information and cooperation
among children (who were more likely to attend theworkshops).
Adults showed a great interest in the rehabilitation of
habitats through the implementation of agro-sylvo-pastoralor agroforestry programs, as these will directly benefit thecommunities, together with the technological upgrading ofagricultural activities and reforestation programs. Clearly,
the adult population is more concerned with solving theireconomic problems than environmental problems. There isa general awareness about the negative processes affecting
forests and the environment and the need to curb those
processes, but more information is required throughongoing multi-participatory workshops and watershedmanagement and conservation campaigns, as soil and water
resources are vital elements for these communities.

10

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

Forest and biodiversity management and conservation areissues of great importance and impact and should becomplemented with actions such as the establishment ofcommunity forest and fruit tree nurseries. It is necessary toprovide information to the communities so as to make themaware of the need to care for their forests, which should be
supported through long-term programs to help strengthen
their weak economies.
Primary school children are more motivated byemblematic topics and beautiful sights; for example, thespatuletail hummingbird tends to attract a great deal ofinterest since it is emblematic of this region, while moregeneral deforestation and reforestation issues usually draw
a lower level of attention. It is clear that socioeconomic
issues are not a priority for children, although cultural
aspects attract a great deal of interest. Thus, it was concluded
that environmental education should be more extensive at
the primary school level. The conservation issue can beaddressed by avoiding slash-and-burn practices in mountainand forest areas and preventing their pollution based on theslogan: “Let’s keep our forests clean”, and all of this should becomplemented with reforestation activities. In this respect,
there is great optimism among children of their ability tosafeguard the environment implementing solutions whererequired.
Secondary school students are more interested in a higher
level of training and motivation. The spatuletailhummingbird is also their emblematic bird and needs to beprotected through reforestation programs to safeguard its

habitat and avoid practices that can cause damage to theenvironment and forests. Their slogan is “Let´s stop slashingand burning our forests” to promote the protection of forest
areas and prevent their pollution, and this process should behelped through the implementation of reforestation
programs.

INRENA. 2008. Plan Maestro del Bosque de Protección Alto Mayo 2008
– 2013. Lima. 272 pp.
INRENA (National Institute for Natural Resources). 2000. Guía
explicativa del mapa forestal. Lima, Peru.
INRENA (National Institute for Natural Resources). 1995. Guía
explicativa del mapa forestal. Lima, Peru.

Recommendations

Informe Talleres Comunales. Proceso de Actualización ERD Maule2008 – 2020. Así quiero al Maule, puro ñeque, puro corazón. 41 pp.

Regular workshops should be implemented in the future tobreach the information gap and at the same time continue
the analysis and training of these communities. The realityof the students and their responses indicate that they arevery receptive to new information and cultural awareness.

Josse, C., G. Navarro, P. Comer, R. Evans, D. Faber-Langendoen, M.
Fellows, G. Kittel, S. Menard, M. Pyne, M. Reid, K. Schulz, K. Snow, and
J. Teague. 2003. Ecological Systems of Latin America and the Caribbean:
A Working Classification of Terrestrial Systems. NatureServe, Arlington,
VA. Available on line in: http://www.natureserve.org/getData/
LACecologyData.jsp.

The three groups surveyed have shown great motivation in
the area of reforestation, particularly among the heads ofcommunity families (“Comuneros”). The implementation ofthese strategies is of utmost urgency. This is why the issue of
habitat rehabilitation has been met with great acceptanceand hope and should be incorporated into the different
conservation projects implemented in the Peruvian cloudforests.

Josse,C., G. Navarro, F. Encarnación, A. Tovar, P. Comer, W. Ferreira, F.
Rodríguez, J. Saito, J. Sanjurjo, J. Dyson, E. Rubin de Celis, R. Zarate, J.
Chang, M. Ahuite, C. Vargas, F. Paredes, W. Castro, J. Maco and F.
Arreátegui. 2007. Mapa de Sistemas Ecológicos de la Cuenca Amazónica
del Perú y Bolivia. Memoria Técnica. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia,
USA.

References

Mittermeier, R.A., N. Myers and C. G. Mittermeier. 2000. Hotspots:
Earth`s Biologically Richest and most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions.
Conservation International, Washington, DC, USA.
ONERN. 1976. Mapa Ecológico del Perú. Oficina Nacional de Evaluaciónde Recursos Naturales (ONERN), Lima, Peru.

Beck, S. G., P. A. Hernandez, P. M. Jørgensen, L. Paniagua, M. E. Timana
and B. E. Young. 2007. Plantas Vasculares. pp. 18-34. In: B. E. Young(editor), Distribución de las especies endémicas en la vertiente oriental
de los Andes en Perú y Bolivia. NatureServe. Arlington, Virginia, USA.
INEI. 2005. Resultados del censo de población y vivienda 2005.

Fellowships awarded
Twenty fellowships were awarded in Autumn 2010. Awardees were:Ms. Bernal Toro, Francia Helena (Colombia); Mr. Borokini, Temitope Israel (Nigeria); Ms. Espiritu Tellow, Estela Marjorie (Peru); Ms.
Forbu, Ntogang Innocentia (Cameroon); Mr. George, Ratu Vuki (Fiji); Mr. Jiofack Tafokou, René Bernadin (Cameroon); Ms. Lamichhane,
Sabina (Nepal); Ms. Low, Shook Ling (Malaysia); Mr. Martana, Kadim (Indonesia); Mr. Migolet, Pierre (Gabon); Dr. Mounguengui,
Wenceslas Steeve (Gabon); Ms. Nyarko-Duah, Nana Yaa (Ghana); Ms. Padakale, Essotebemime (Togo); Dr. Quattara, Adama (Côted’Ivoire); Mr. Roopsind , Anand Ramotar (Guyana); Ms. Ruiz Osorio, Eugenia Catalina (Colombia); Mr. Shrestha, Pratap Sundar (Nepal);Dr. Singh, Sanjay (India); Mr. Tekpetey, Stephen Lartey (Ghana); Mr. Vargas Oro, Carlos Juan (Panama);
Twenty-five fellowships were awarded in Spring 2011. Awardees were:
Mr. Adefolu, Solomon Olatunji Adefolu (Nigeria); Mr. Ali, Salissou (Togo); Ms. Andeme Ondo, Hortense (Gabon); Ms. Barbosa Herrera,
Adriana Paola (Colombia); Mr. Bhatt, Bharat Prashad (Nepal); Mr. Chaudhary, Dinesh Prasad (Nepal); Mr. Chhem, Leang Song (Cambodia);Ms. Ferreira, Mônica Sousa (Brazil); Ms. Gyabaah, Grace (Ghana); Dr. Kouadio, Kouassi (Côte d’Ivoire); Ms. Loayza Cabezas, Sophia
Cristina (Ecuador); Dr. López Castañeda, Arelia Jacive (Mexico); Mr. Mavah, Germain Aimé (Congo, Rep.); Ms. Mbosso Mafomekiet
Fouedjo, Philomène Charlie (Cameroon); Dr. Mohamed, Azmy (Malaysia); Ms. Mokake, Seraphine Ebenye (Cameroon); Mr. Nalvarte
Armas, Jaime Guillermo (Peru); Mr. Paul, Geo Basil (India); Mr. Pereki, Hodabalo (Togo); Mr. Piñon, Albert Arvisu (Philippines); Mr.
Rivera Martin, Luis Eduardo (Colombia); Ms. Sari, Ritta Kartika (Indonesia); Ms. Thwe, Thwe Win (Myanmar); Mr. Tupac Espiritu, Henry
Aldo (Peru); Mr. Wallace, Robert Flomo (Liberia)

Fellowship applications
The next deadline for applications: 9 March 2012. Proposed activities should begin no sooner than 15 July 2012.
Further details and application forms (in English, French or Spanish) are available at www.itto.int or from Dr. Chisato Aoki, Fellowship Program, ITTO;
Fax 81 45 223 1111; fellowship@itto.int (see page 2 for ITTO’s postal address).

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

11

Cambodia’s cut
An ITTO fellowship
helped estimate asustainable yieldfrom logged-overforests in Cambodia
By Dana Kao1,
Nobuya Mizoue2 andShigejiro Yoshida2
Dr Dana Kao (Cambodia) received
an ITTO fellowship in 2008 toundertake a Doctoral Program in
Forest Management at the
Department of Forest and Forest
Products Sciences, Faculty ofAgriculture, Graduate School of
Bioresource and Bioenvironmental
Sciences, Kyushu University,
Japan. This article is based on his
doctoral research.

Stand of foresters: One of the inventory teams. Photo: D. KaoTropical forests host a large majority of the earth’s
biodiversity, representing an invaluable asset bothglobally and for local communities (see Top et al.
2009). Forests are also important for their role in the carbon
and water cycles (Clark et al. 2001), and well-managed
forests can be an ecotourism attraction.
One of the tasks of foresters is to ensure that the extractionof forest products such as timber does not exceed thesustainable capacity of the forest ecosystem, thus ensuringthat forests are able to perform their many functions. To
assess the sustainability of commercial timber harvesting,estimates are needed of forest increment—that is, the rate at
which the forest grows. However, reliable data on commercial
tree growth are very limited in the natural tropical forests ofSoutheast Asia.

1

Forest Management Office,Department of Forest andForestry Community
Management, Forestry
Administration of Cambodia
kaodana@gmail.com

2

Department of Forest and Forest
Products Sciences, Faculty ofAgriculture, Kyushu University,
Japan

In 1998 over 7 million hectares of Cambodia’s forests wereavailable for harvesting in forest concessions. In 2001 thegovernment suspended all logging activities in concessions
and this ban remains mostly in place, although illegal
logging is thought to be widespread (ITTO 2011). Should
legal logging resume it is important to know growth andyield characteristics so that a sustainable harvest can becalculated and imposed. Little is known, however, about thegrowth dynamics of Cambodian forests. Therefore, we
carried out a study to estimate forest increment of logged
and unlogged tropical evergreen forests in northern
Cambodia.

Study site and method
The study area is located at longitude 104º58’E to 105º82’E
and latitude 13º48’N to 14º89’N within a forest concession in

12

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

Preah Vihear province (Figure 1), with various (logged andunlogged) forest formations covering a total area of 103 058
hectares. In 20 sample plots in logged (1998) and unlogged
forests, the diameter at 1.3 m (dbh) and height of each live
tree (commercial, non-commercial and non-timber forest
product—NTFP) were measured, first in March 2001 andthen in October 2008. Immature trees and NTFPs with dbh
10–29 cm were measured in subplots (20×20 m), whilemature trees with dbh greater than 30 cm were measured in
the main plots (40×60 m).
All measured trees were classified by diameter and tree
density, volume and basal area were estimated. The averagetree volumes of dipterocarps and non-dipterocarps were
estimated based on equations reported in Forest Authority(2004). The periodic annual increment (PAI) was estimatedby comparing the densities, volumes and basal areas oflogged and unlogged sites in 2001 and 2008.
The structural change in the first three years after logging
was estimated by comparing analogous unlogged evergreen
forest (UNFE) with the 2001 measurement of evergreen
forest that was logged in 1998 (LGFE). The change over ten
years was estimated by comparing the 2008 measurementsof the UNFE and the LGFE. The annual change in structure
was estimated by comparing measurements in 2001 and
2008.
The PAI was assumed to constitute net growth because theremaining live trees and newly recruited trees wereconsidered as live trees in the second measurement. Vanclay(1994) defined yield as Vn = V2 – V1 + Vc, where V2 and V1
are the live stand volume at measurements 2 and 1,
respectively, and Vc is the cut volume. Vanclay (1994) definedLogged and unlogged
Figure 1

Plot locations

Note: UNFE = unlogged evergreen forest and LGFE = logged evergreen forest.

the net growth of initial volume as Vni = Vn – Vi, where Vi
is the ingrowth volume. This study considers only V2 – V1 ofeach forest type.

Results
In 2008 the density, volume and basal area (for trees withdbh ≥ 10 cm) of the LGFE were 431.7 trees/ha, 202.6 m3/haand 26.0 m2/ha, respectively; those of the UNFE were 483.3
trees/ha, 199.7 m3/ha and 22.2 m2/ha (Table 1). The averageannual recruitment of trees with dbh ≥ 10 cm in the LGFE
(5.7%) was higher than that in the UNFE (3.3%), due to theopen canopy created by harvesting (Table 2).
For trees with dbh ≥ 50 cm the PAI of commercial tree
volume was 1.1 m3/ha in the LGFE and 0.2 m3/ha in theUNFE, while the PAI of basal area was 0.6 m2/ha and 0.2 m2/
ha, respectively (Table 2). About 2.4% of trees with dbh ≥ 10
cm were assessed as dead in the LGFE in 2008, comparedwith 5.5% in the UNFE (Table 1). The annual growth rate oftree density (all stems with dbh ≥ 10cm) was higher in the
LGFE (5.7%) than in the UNFE (3.3%), as was the annual
volume increment (3.5% compared with 1.6%) (Table 2).

Conclusion
In 1998, the harvest of the LGFE site involved the removal of
3.0 trees/ha (dbh ≥ 50 cm), which resulted in a yield of 22.2
m3/ha by volume and 1.6 m2/ha by basal area (Kao and Iida
2006). The volume and basal area increments for trees withdbh ≥ 50 cm can be used to set the sustainable yield(although logging damage, planned silvicultural treatments
and the forest’s capacity to provide ecosystem services suchas those related to biodiversity, carbon, water and aesthetic
values should also be taken into account).
The ITTO criteria and indicators for the sustainable
management of natural tropical forests (ITTO 2005) statethat forest resource assessments carried out periodically arevital for ensuring the sustainable production of forest goods
and services for society; this includes determining thesustainable yield. In the study area, the total volume
increment of trees with dbh ≥ 50 cm 25 years after logging
is estimated at about 27 m3/ha (i.e. 1.1 m3/ha x 25), which isgreater than the previously harvested volume. Therefore,
harvesting on a 25-year cutting cycle should be possible in
the LGFE. Since the initial logging was in 1998, the next
harvest could take place in 2023. However, we recommend

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

13

Showing their classes
Table 1

Forest parameters, 2001 and 2008, by dbh class and logged and unlogged

dbh class
(cm)

2008

2001

LGFE

UNFE

LGFE

UNFE

De

Vol

BA

De

Vol

BA

De

Vol

BA

[dbh < 0.5 cm;
height >1 m]

9440

NA

NA

7960

NA

NA

5100

NA

0.5–9

810

115.8

3.3

900.0

146.1

3.5

691.7

NA

NA

De

Vol

BA

3900

NA

NA

NA

712.5

NA

NA

10–19

230

47.6

3.6

327.5

77.0

4.8

143.8

35.6

2.1

250.0

62.7

4.2

20–29

120

50.2

5.4

87.5

28.4

3.3

62.5

29.3

2.8

62.5

23.9

2.8

30–39

37.1

18.8

2.6

25.4

13.7

2.0

22.9

18.2

2.0

17.2

11.3

1.5

40–49

12.9

12.8

2.0

13.3

13.1

1.9

2.8

3.5

0.4

10.9

11.7

1.7

>50

31.7

73.1

12.4

29.6

67.4

10.1

16.7

64.7

7.7

22.9

65.9

8.8

Total (dbh≥10
cm)

431.7

202.6

26.0

483.3

199.7

22.2

248.6

151.4

15.1

363.5

175.6

18.9

Grand total

10682

318.4

29.2

9343.3

345.8

25.7

6040.3

151.4

15.1

4976.0

175.6

18.9

[Total dead]

40.4

54.6

[Total deaddbh≥10 cm]

10.4

24.6

Note: LGFE = logged evergreen forest, UNFE = unlogged evergreen forest, dbh = diameter at breast height (1.3 m); De = density (trees/ha); Vol = tree volume (m3/ha); BA = basal area (m2/ha); NA = data not available; TD ≥ 10 cm = total number of trees with dbh > 10 cm.

Growing back
Table 2

Periodic annual increment, by diameter class, logged and unlogged
Annual growth

Annual growth (% of dbh≥10 cm)

LGFE

UNFE

LGFE

dbh class (cm)

De

Vol

BA

De

Vol

BA

[dbh < 0.5 cm;
height >1 m]

578.7

NA

NA

541.3

NA

NA

0.5–9

15.8

NA

NA

25.0

NA

NA

10–19

11.5

1.6

0.2

10.3

1.9

20–29

7.7

2.8

0.3

3.3

30–39

1.9

0.1

0.1

40–49

1.3

1.2

>50

2.0

Total (dbh≥10 cm)

24.4

UNFE

De

Vol

BA

De

Vol

BA

0.1

2.7

0.8

0.8

2.1

1.0

0.4

0.6

0.1

1.8

1.4

1.3

0.7

0.3

0.3

1.1

0.3

0.1

0.4

0.0

0.3

0.2

0.2

0.3

0.2

0.3

0.2

0.0

0.3

0.6

0.8

0.1

0.1

0.1

1.1

0.6

0.9

0.2

0.2

0.5

0.6

2.4

0.2

0.1

0.8

6.8

1.5

16.0

3.2

0.4

5.7

3.4

5.6

3.3

1.6

2.0

See Table 1 for abbreviations.

that damage caused by logging should be studied in detail
before putting this conclusion into effect, as should theeffects of logging at this intensity on other forest values.
Long-term monitoring of yield, growth and regeneration isespecially important to ensure that harvest levels and themix of forest products are sustainable.

Acknowledgements
The authors thank H.E. Sokhun Ty, former Director Generalof the Cambodian Forestry Administration, for his approvalto enter the forests for setting up and measuring thepermanent sample plots; local authorities and indigenous
people who willingly contributed to the project through a
consultation process and gave the authors their trust;
reviewers, who gave valuable comments and suggestions on
the draft manuscript; and ITTO, which provided crucial
support through the ITTO Fellowship Program.

14

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

References
Clark, D., Brown, S., Kicklighter, D., Chamber, J.,Thomlinson, J. and Ni, J.
2001. Measuring net primary production in forest: concepts and field
method. Ecological Applications 11: 356–370.
Forestry Administration 2004. Development of growth and yieldstudies and establishment of permanent sample plots. Project credit No.
3365-KH. Forestry Administration, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
ITTO 2005. Revised ITTO criteria and indicators for the sustainable
management of tropical forests including reporting format. ITTO
Policy Development Series No 15. ITTO, Yokohama, Japan.
ITTO 2011. Status of tropical forest management 2011. ITTO Technical
Series 38. ITTO, Yokohama, Japan.
Top, N., Mizoue, N., Ito, S., Kai, S., Nakao, T. and Ty, S. 2009. Effects of
population density on forest structure and species richness anddiversity of trees in Kampong Thom Province, Cambodia. Biodiversity
Conservation 18: 717–738.

Mucking in
Community
participation inmangrove ecosystem
restoration can be
improved in
Cameroon’s DoualaEdea Wildlife
Reserve
By Jean Hude
Moudingo Ekindi
Department of Plant Biology/
Forestry Sciences, University of
Yaoundé, Cameroon
ejeanh21@yahoo.com
Mr. Moudingo Ekindi ( Cameroon)
received his fellowship in 2008 tocarry out DESS research titled
Assessment of community
participation in mangrove forest
restoration in four selectedvillages of the Douala–Edea
Wildlife Reserve: a contribution to
improved social resilience ofcoastal communities to climatechange at the University of
Yaoundé in Mouanko, Cameroon.

Senses working overtime: Villagers gather at a sensitization meeting. Photo: J.H. Moudingo EkindiCameroon has about 196 000 hectares of mangrove
forest, which is rich in vertebrate fauna (Spalding etal. 2010). The 160 000-hectare, IUCN category IV
Douala–Edea Wildlife Reserve (DEWR) was created in 1932and selected as a category 1 operational technical unit (agovernment land-use classification) in 1994. The reserve
covers part of the Cameroonian inshore plain (Ajonina andUsongo 2001), and about 10% of it is occupied by mangroves.
There are six villages in the vicinity, in which foreign
nationals, including from Benin, Ghana and Nigeria,
comprise 80% of the population. Fishing, fish-smoking andmangrove fuelwood harvesting are their main livelihood
activities; fishing is conducted mainly by men and fishsmoking mainly by women.
Very few fish-smokers have adopted the improved ovens
introduced in 2003 by the Cameroon Wildlife Conservation
Society (CWCS), a national NGO, to minimize fuelwood
usage. This is shown by the sharp increase in the number of
traditional ovens in the area, from 340 in 1997 to over 850 in
2008. There is increasing demand for mangrove wood
(Rhizophora racemosa) due to population growth on one
hand and the demand for smoked fish and fuelwood byvillages on the other. These set the grounds for unremitting
encroachment and the overexploitation of mangrove wood.
A traditional oven can use over 5 m3 of mangrove wood perday (Ajonina 2008). More than 84% of mangrove
deforestation and degradation in the DEWR is caused byfish smoking (Ajonina et al. 2005).
In order to find a win–win solution to the over-use ofmangrove resources, the CWCS used a participatory wetland
appraisal to involve poor coastal communities in mangrove

restoration activities. This approach was taken because it
gives local people the opportunity to learn by doing. The key
was to change attitudes to mangrove deforestation anddegradation because mere protective measures have beenineffective.
Little or no study has been done in the DEWR to characterize
community participation in mangrove restoration efforts.
My study was conducted as part of an effort to do so. I set
out to answer the following question: “Does the involvementof local people in mangrove nursery establishment andsubsequent out-planting phases have a significant impact on
the restoration of mangrove forests in the DEWR?”

Methods
The study was conducted in four villages—Mbiako, Yoyo 1,
Yoyo 2 and Youme 2. All are located in the mangrovedominated part of the reserve, where the CWCS has beenworking for over ten years. Community participation was
examined through three stages: sensitization, community
organization and nursery out-planting.
Both primary and secondary data were used in the analyses.
The primary data were derived over a period of 14 months
through two approaches, namely observational studies(phase 1; Moudingo 2007) and a questionnaire survey(phase 2). Phase 1 consisted of taking stock of the number ofindividuals involved in each stage, while phase 2 used a
semi-structured questionnaire to interview 400 individuals
to gauge recent community perceptions. The interviewees
were selected using a stratified random sampling approach.
The linear settlement pattern in the selected villages
facilitated this sampling design. Secondary data came from

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

15

The importance of rewards

Figure 1	Community responses on willingness to participate in mangrove
restoration vs the provision of incentives, DEWR
No response
Total
Youme 2
Yoyo 2
Yoyo 1
MbiakoOther
Protective materials
Work-sharing & capacity Building
Food
SalaryEncouragement (in-kind/cash)
0

10

20

30

% of total respondents

origin within and across villages but gave no clear typology of community
participation.
Participatory research: The author plants a mangrove seedlingin the Douala–Edea Reserve. Photo: J.H. Moudingo Ekindi

various sources, such as articles in scientific journals, books,
newsletters, and reports on community participation and on
mangrove work.
User-friendly statistic software (Microsoft Excel and theStatistics Package for Social Sciences) was used to encodeand analyse raw data and to process the participatory data
matrices from phases 1 and 2 respectively. To support andcorroborate these results, descriptive statistics as well as
inferential statistics, namely Pearson’s χ2 test and Spearman’s
correlation, were used.

Findings
The degree of community participation in mangrove
restoration activities was highly variable and there was amarked disparity between the four villages. Fish-smokers
and woodcutters were the most represented at thesensitization stage and led to the formation of village
steering committees. Overall, eight committees were formed.
Each village had two committees, one on mangrove
restoration (known as village mangrove restoration steeringcommittees) and the other on improved smoke ovens(known as common initiative committees). Overall, women
were the majority on these committees. The efforts of andsynergies between participants of these two types ofcommittee, coupled with the efforts of some other villagers,
yielded close to four hectares of R. racemosa plantation.
During the nursery and out-planting stage, most of those
who participated in the in situ production of seedlings weremen. For all stages community participation analysis
revealed discrepancies in age, nationality, gender, marital
status, educational level, occupation, longevity at site and

16

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

Communities differed significantly in their responses to reforestation
proposals. In the phase 2 questionnaire, many people responded that the
mangroves were degraded, while others replied ‘not at all degraded’. Thus,
there were differing views on whether replanting was necessary. Many
people were unaware of the stages involved in a successful reforestation
operation. Community participation in nurseries and out-planting activities
was variable: some people were eager initially to participate in the program
but eventually abandoned or resisted it, while others refused outright. Most
people were willing to participate in activities, but conditioned suchparticipation on factors such as more training and especially the provisionof incentives (Figure 1).
Owing to the importance of mangroves to human wellbeing, the restorationof these ecosystems and their ecological functions cannot be overemphasized.
Community involvement in such efforts is essential: not only is it a low-cost
approach, it also helps to educate communities on the benefits of reversing
degradation and deforestation and promotes the sustainable use of resources
and the protection of coastal areas. This study sets the ground for adaptive
measures (anticipatory, short-term and reactive options) to broaden
community participation and awareness in biological management andmitigation strategies. Although in many cases community participation inmangrove restoration in the DEWR was incidental, it was an ‘eye-opener’ forthe communities as they organized in an attempt to secure tenurial rights.
This collaboration will increase their scope to participate in the wise use ofresources in the proposed Douala-Edea National Park and Wetlands ofInternational Importance, which is about 296 000 hectares in size.

Recommendations
Based on the results of this study, the following recommendations can bemade to strengthen community participation in future resource management
initiatives.

Sensitization
More long-term sensitization efforts should be made to enhance the visibilityof project objective(s), benefits, communication and environmental
awareness. These could involve:Mud larks: Putting mud into bags for the seedling nursery, Douala–Edea Reserve.
Photo: J.H. Moudingo Ekindi•

The organization and introduction of environmental mangrove
education in schools.

•

The enactment of ‘community days’ for mangrove restoration.

•

The use of community opinion leaders to pass the message of mangrove
restoration to other members of the community.

Community organization
There is a need to establish more community groups and bring adjacentvillages together, regardless of whether mangroves are important for thosevillages. Whatever the organizational structure chosen by collaborators, theroles and responsibilities of participants must be clearly delineated.
Leadership and organizational structures should have legal ramification andshould be provided with sufficient technical information and support.

Nursery and out-planting initiatives
Youth should be targeted in mangrove restoration activities because of theirtremendous energy. Facilitators and villagers should monitor the success ofrestoration because feedback will help to inspire and empower others.
Credits should be provided for the provision of assistance materials in theform of grants rather than loans. Equally, graduated sanctions should be
imposed for the violation or disturbance of restored sites.

GeneralOverall there is a need for:•long-term planning•

the integration of other conservation initiatives into restoration works•

increased incentives and motivation•

prudent diplomatic approaches•

further research.

Swamped: Village men plant-out Rhizophora racemosaseedlings. Photo: J.H. Moudingo Ekindi

conservator and his team of eco-guards for theircollaboration; and, the chiefs and inhabitants of the selectedvillages for their contribution to the success of this work.

References
Ajonina, G. 2008. Inventory and modelling mangrove forest stands
dynamics following different levels of wood exploitation pressure in the
Douala-Edea Atlantic Coast of Cameroon. Ph.D. Thesis, Faculty ofForestry and Environmental Sciences, University of Freiburg, Freiburg,
Germany.
Ajonina, G. and Usongo, L. 2001. Preliminary quantitative impact
assessment of wood extraction on the mangroves of the Douala-Edea
Reserve, Cameroon. Tropical Biodiversity 7(2): 137–149.
Ajonina, P., Ajonina, G., Jin, E., Mekongo, F., Ayissi, I. and Usongo, L.
2005. Gender roles and econmics of exploitation, processing andmarketing of bivalves and impacts of forest resources in the DoualaEdea Wildlife Reserve, Cameroon. International Journal of
Sustainable Development and World Ecology 12 (5): 161–172.
Moudingo, E., 2007. Preliminary report: assessment of community
participation in mangrove forest restoration in three selected villages inthe Douala-Edea Wildlife Reserve, Cameroon. Cameroon Wildlife
Conservation Society, Mouanko, Cameroon.
Spalding, M., Kainuma, M. and Collins, L. 2010. World atlas ofmangroves. Earthscan, London, UK.

Acknowledgements
The author thanks ITTO for the timely granting of the fellowship andespecially Dr Chisato Aoki for her kind assistance; Professor Pelz Dieter andDr Ajonina Gordon for information on mangroves, data analyses andstatistical interpretations; Professor Amougou Akoa, Dr Mbarga Bindzi and
Dr Biye Elvire for their various contributions to my knowledge; the DEWR

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

17

Pushing the PCI
Action is needed to
speed up the
implementation of
SFM principles,
criteria andindicators in
Gabonese forests
By Philomène
Nkoulou
ITTO Regional Office for Africa
Philonkoulou@yahoo.fr
Ms Nkoulou received an ITTO
fellowship in 2007 to undertake amaster’s program in economics
and SFM at the Institut Nationaldes Sciences de Gestion in
Libreville, Gabon. This article isbased on her master’s thesis titled
The operationalization ofprinciples, criteria and indicatorsof sustainable management offorests in Gabon.

Outreach: The author in a biodiversity reserve near Libreville, Gabon. Photo: P. Nkoulou

Principles, criteria and indicators (PCI) for sustainable
forest management (SFM) are a planning framework
for the sustainable management of production
forests and a tool for operationalizing SFM. Gabon, which isa member of both ITTO and the African Timber
Organization (ATO), has developed a harmonized, national
set of PCI based on ATO/ITTO PCI (hereafter referred to as
the Gabon PCI) to conserve and sustainably manage its
forests. It is dismaying to note, however, that the Gabon PCI
have been largely unimplemented since they were validated
in 2004.
To determine the reasons why this tool is not being used byforest stakeholders and to propose solutions to optimize its
use, I conducted master’s research in Libreville andsurrounds. The study was supervised by Dr François Hiol
Hiol, coordinator of ITTO project PD 124/01 Rev.2 (M), andDr Rose Ondo Ntsame, chair of the Pan African Forest
Certification (PAFC) program in Gabon.
We conducted a survey of potential Gabon PCI users in theforest administration, the private sector and civil society, inorder to test the three (not mutually exclusive) hypotheses
shown in Figure 1.
Tables 1 shows that a majority of stakeholders are aware of
the Gabon PCI and Table 2 shows that only about 12% of
stakeholders are using them. Table 3 suggests the reasons
behind the lack of use.
The majority of stakeholders know of the Gabon PCI.
However, only a minority has a copy of the Gabon PCI
document that was validated during a national workshop
conducted in July 2004. More than half of respondents

18

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

Testing ideas

Figure 1: Hypotheses for the lack of implementation of
the Gabon PCI

Hypothesis 1
Lack of extension services

Hypothesis 2
Alternative tools available(operational equivalents)

Non-use of Gabon PCI

Hypothesis 3
Lack of validation ofGabon PCI by reputable
certification scheme

confessed that they were not aware of its contents or
relevance.
More than half of respondents indicated a lack of outreach,dissemination, training and extension work as a reason for
the non-use of the Gabon PCI. The lack of dissemination ispartly because the PCI are unofficial, despite their 2004
endorsement. Their non-binding nature is another reason
for their current low use in Gabon.

Solutions
To better promote the effective use of the Gabon PCI, thefollowing actions should be pursued:•

Conduct extension work on Gabon PCI among potential
users.

•

Make the use of the Gabon PCI binding by making forest
audits based on them mandatory in production forests.

Know about them ...

Table 1 Awareness of the Gabon PCI among stakeholders
Respondents
Response

Forest administration

Private sector

NGOs

14
11
25

10
2
12

Yes
14
No
5
Total
19
Source: Survey conducted in January–March 2009.

Total

%

38
18
56

68
32
100

... Don’t use them

Table 2 Use of Gabon PCI by Gabonese forest stakeholders
Respondents
Response

Forest Administration

Yes
5
No
14
Total
19
Source: Survey conducted in January–March 2009.

Private sector

NGOs

2
23
25

0
12
12

Total

%

7
49
56

12.5
87.5
100

The reasons why

Table 3 Reasons for the non-use of Gabon PCI
Reasons

Stakeholders
Forest Administration
15

Private sector
16

Total
NGOs
12

Lack of outreach, dissemination, training and extension
work
Unofficial status0130
Non-binding status1
80
Lack of linkage to certification0
6
0
No response
3
0
0
Total
19
43
12
* T he total number of responses exceeds the number of respondents because some respondents selected more than one reason.
Source: Survey conducted in January–March 2009.

•

Consider the regional-scale development of an audit manual adapted to
Gabonese forests by drawing on the audit manual produced by theregional ATO/ITTO project.

•

Facilitate the operationalization of the national PAFC system for Gabon.

•

Promote the use of the Gabon PCI through legal compliance initiatives,
such as the voluntary partnership agreement, the Forest Concession
Monitoring System in Central Africa and other schemes (e.g. the Forest
Stewardship Council).

•

Build the capacity of Gabonese forestry stakeholders throughappropriate training programs.

Prioritize the promotion of the Gabon PCI.

•

Ensure the consistency of various tools used in forest management in
Gabon with the Gabon PCI.

•In the development and implementation of its forest policy, impose,through its Ministry of Water and Forest Resources, the national PAFC
scheme for Gabon.

58

13
9
6
3
74*

18
12
8
4
100

•

Develop a joint action plan with the forestry
administration to build capacity in the use of the Gabon
PCI and a regulatory framework for internal audits offorest concessions based on the Gabon PCI.

•

Continue to provide all stakeholders with training on
the role, importance, benefits and use of the Gabon PCI.

To ATO:•

Raise awareness in Gabon of the importance of the
ATO/ITTO PCI and the Gabon PCI and the need to use
them.

•

Revive and support Gabon’s National Working Group,
which is a key actor in the SFM process at the national
level.

•

Encourage member countries, including Gabon, to
promote pan-African certification.

To the Government of Gabon:•

43

To the ATO/ITTO regional project:

Recommendations
A number of recommendations are directed at specific stakeholders.

%

To ITTO:•

Continue providing technical and financial support toGabon in its efforts to honour its policy commitments
to adapt the ATO/ITTO PCI to the local context and touse them effectively.

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

19

The limits to agriculture
A greater focus on
NTFPs could help
improve livelihoods
in Nepal’s upper
Humla
By Rabindra Roy
rsroy81@gmail.com
Dr Rabindra Roy (Nepal) received
his fellowship in 2005 to conduct
PhD research at the School ofEnvironment, Resources andDevelopment, Asian Institute ofTechnology, Thailand. This article
is based on his PhD dissertation
titled Contribution of NTFPs tolivelihood in upper Humla, Nepal.

Rooms with a view: Syaandaa village, Syaandaa VDC, Humla, Nepal. Photo: R. RoyS

ituated in the northwestern corner of Nepal bordering
the Tibet Autonomous Region of China, Humla is oneof the country’s poorest and least developed districts.
It possesses harsh climatic conditions—it is in a rain
shadow—and rugged mountainous terrain. The district
belongs geographically to the Karnaali region andadministratively to the Mid Western Development Region.
It spans an area of 5655 km2, with elevations ranging from1219 m to 7337 m above sea level. Subtropical and arid
vegetation are found on the valley floors and the Tibetan
plateau, respectively (DDC 2004).

Humla has a population of about 41 000 people distributed
in 7000 households. The average household size is 5.8
people, the population density is 7.21 persons per km2 andthe population growth rate is 1.99% (CBS 2003). The peopleof Humla (known as Humlis) live in compact settlementswith flat-roofed, two-and-half-storied houses built in the
Tibetan style.
The study was conducted in two village development
committee (VDC)1 areas in upper Humla—Khagaalgaun
and Syaandaa—with the aim of examining the contributionof non-timber forest products (NTFPs) to livelihoods in the
two VDCs. The Khagaalgaun VDC has a total of 195
households with a population of about 1300 and the
Syaandaa VDC has 302 households with a population of
1800. Family size per household was 6.8 people in
Khagaalgaun and 6.1 in Syaandaa (Roy 2010).

1

20

Nepal is divided administratively into five development regions, 14 zones and
75 districts. It is further divided into 3915 village development committees(VDCs), 58 municipalities and one city. Every VDC is composed of nine wards,
which is the smallest administrative unit in Nepal (CBS 2006).

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

Study area
The Khagaalgaun and Syaandaa VDCs have unique
attributes in terms of social groupings. All four villages in
the Khagaalgaun VDC are peopled by the Lama social group,
which belongs to the Tibeto-Burman language group. The
Chhetri-Thakuri and Dalit social groups dominate all four
villages of the Syaandaa VDC; they belong to the IndoAryan language group. The language spoken by the Lamasocial group is known as Lama. The language spoken by the
Chhetri-Thakuri and Dalit is generally called Humlis Khas,
which is similar to Nepalese (the national language of
Nepal), although the pronunciation differs. The Lama socialgroup is known locally as bhote and jadaan, and the ChhetriThakuri and Dalit social groups are called topitaale andkhasaan.
Bishop (1990) remarked that very few studies had been
carried out in the Karnaali region and that it was therefore
difficult to find reliable secondary data on the region. To
some extent this statement is still true, and Humla is stillneglected. Government officials posted in Humla tend to feelthat they are being punished (Adhikari 2008), and try to gettransferred to other districts as soon as possible. Thus,
development in Humla has lagged behind other parts of
Nepal. This neglect was part of the motivation to conduct
this research.

Methods
Quantitative and qualitative information was collected in
June–August 2007 and May–September 2008. Fifty-sevenpercent of all households in the two VDCs were surveyed.
Semi-structured questionnaires were administered at
randomly selected households without replacement.

Questionnaires were pre-tested (10% of the total sample size) and revised
accordingly. This primary data collection was supplemented by social andanthropological tools such as key informant interview, focus group
discussion, informal interaction and participant observation. A herbarium
was collected to identify the scientific names of NTFP species.

Findings
Livelihood activities in upper Humla
In Humla, agriculture combined with trading is the mainstay of livelihoods.
Most cultivated lands, however, are marginal in terms of soil fertility andsituated in difficult terrain (Fürer-Haimendorf 1975). As a result, agricultural
production alone cannot support households year-round. This study
revealed that the total average food-sufficient months in both Khagaalgaun
and Syaandaa VDCs was 7.83 months (235 days) per year. Food deficits are
generally experienced from mid February to mid June and from mid August
to mid October.
Trade is the other important pillar of livelihoods in upper Humla; it involves
NTFPs, timber, pack-animal transportation, furu 2 trading, and theoperation of small shops. However, the movement of traders has been
inhibited by internal changes in Nepal such as the establishment ofcommunity forestry, which is closing off areas to herders and obstructing thepassage of traders who use sheep and goat caravans (Roy et. al. 2009). Some
residents of Humla also find regular and seasonal employment ingovernmental and non-governmental organizations. Cash income fromthese activities is used to buy food, clothes, medicine and other household
requirements, and to meet expenses associated with children’s education.

NTFP species: a livelihood option
The author collected a wide range of NTFP specimens from settlements andfrom agricultural lands within one-and-a-half hour’s walk of the settlements.
The primary focus of the inventory was to document NTFP species that werebeing used directly in daily lives. Thus, most specimens were collected fromthe aoul3, although some were also collected from the lek4, where livestockis grazed during summer.
The study found that 47 species were used in households in the VDCs forfood, medicine and other purposes. Of these, 22 species were wild edible
plants, 15 species were used as medicine, and ten species were harvested forother uses. Wild edible plants were consumed with daily meals, while
medicinal plants were used in households as required for primary healthcare and were also traded for cash income.

Wild edible plants in daily meals
Humlis eat two meals a day. Lakkad, roti and chino bhaat are the major
foods consumed in regular meals in the study areas. Lakkad, the mostcommonly and regularly consumed food, is made from bitter buckwheat andprepared as a pancake. Roti (flatbread) is made from wheat flour or a
mixture of wheat and millet flour. Humlis eat chino bhaat prepared frompanicum millet (Panicum miliaceum) and cooked as rice bhaat.
The lakkad and roti are supplemented with wild edible plants such as thetender leaves of stinging nettle (Urtica dioca); these are available throughout
the year except between mid May and mid June when the plant is often
2
3
4

Furu is a wooden bowl used for drinking Tibetan tea and local liquor known as chhyaang.
Aoul is land at lower elevation than the settlement that can be used for agricultural production. Aoul
is warmer than lek.
Lek is land at higher elevation than the settlement that can be used for agricultural production andlivestock grazing.

Honoured: The author (left) receives a ‘Nepal Bidhyabhushan-Ka’
award for his research from Nepal’s president, Dr Ram Baran
Yadav. Photo: R. Roy

infested with insects, and between mid December and mid
January, when the plants are dry. The period of peakconsumption is between mid March and mid May, whenfood grain supplies are diminished and the household fooddeficit peaks. Humlis mix stinging nettle with bitter
buckwheat flour and cook it in water and prepare soup theycall faando.
Humlis actually prefer stinging nettle to vegetables such as
cauliflower, cabbage, pumpkin and brinjal: they say thatvegetables grown from the hybrid seeds supplied by theDistrict Agricultural Office and some NGOs working in the
sector do not taste as good as wild edible plants and theyneed chemical fertilizers and pesticides, while the stinging
nettle is found in the natural environment and is organic.
Additionally, stinging nettle is readily available in nearby
settlements, farmlands and pasturelands.
Dry leaves of baanko (Arisaema flavum) and bhaande
paaltaa (uncultivated bitter buck wheat—Fagopyrum
tataricum) are used as curry in winter, when stinging nettle
is less available due to snowfall. Tender leaves of baanko arecollected between mid May and mid July, sun-dried andstored for winter.
Tubers of baanko are used as the main course in meals
between mid August and mid September, when there is lessfood grain in store (the food grain harvested from jethaansi
baali—summer crops—has been consumed by this time
and the winter harvest—kaartike baali—is yet to takeplace). When baanko tubers are consumed in regular meals
the Humlis call it chhaaka taarne, meaning ‘saving foodgrain’.

Tradable NTFPs
The sale of NTFPs is a key livelihood strategy in both VDCs.
People in the study area collect NTFPs in nearby government
forests and pasturelands and sell them to local brokers.
About 72% of households are involved in this business as
primary collectors. The main tradable and economicallyvaluable NTFP species are atis (Delphinium himalayai),

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

21

jatamansi (Nardostachys jatamansi), kutki (Picrorhiza
scrophulariiflora) and guchchi chyaau (Morchella
conica).
A the time of the survey, primary collectors were selling atis
at the rate of NPR600–800 per kg at village markets.
Jatamansi was priced between NPR60 and NPR100 per kg,
while the price of kutki was fixed at around NPR180–230 invillage markets. Guchchi chyaau was sold at NPR10 per
piece (NPR10 000 per kg). The price was fixed according tomarket demand at Nepalgunj and the quantity available atthe household level. Thus, if a household collected more of
any NTFP it earned more and the household had morebargaining power with local traders. People from both
Khagaalgaun and Syaandaa used only their free time tocollect NTFPs—it was considered as a secondary source ofincome.
Economically valuable NTFPs were found to be depleted
due to over-collection and premature harvesting. Because of
the food deficit, people are under pressure to make moneyfrom NTFP collection. There is competition among primarycollectors to collect more NTFPs, sometimes encouraged by
local traders.

Conclusion
In the upper Humla, Humlis are engaged in agriculture,trade and employment in governmental and nongovernmental organizations to fulfill their basic household
needs. Agriculture alone is incapable of addressing the
problem of food insecurity. The cultivation and trade of
economically valuable NTFPs has considerable potential tomitigate the existing food deficit problem in the two VDCs.
Humlis invest most of their time and labour in agriculture,and government agencies and NGOs working in thedevelopment sector have also given priority to boosting
agricultural production, even though production will always
be limited by the harsh climate and rugged terrain. In thiscontext, this study concludes that the cultivation of
economically valuable NTFPs on otherwise unproductive
private agricultural land has greater potential to improve theprecarious livelihoods of people in Khagaalgaun and
Syaandaa, but this development pathway does not yet
receive due attention from development agencies.

Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges the generosity of the people in the
Khagaalgaun and Syaanda VDCs, upper Humla, for theirkind participation in the household survey as well as inindividual and group discussions. Financial assistance from
ITTO, Japan, and the Norway Development Fund is greatly
appreciated.

22

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

NTFP soup: A Lama woman prepares food using stinging nettle, Kermi village,
Khagaalgaun VDC. Photo: R. Roy

References
Adhikari J. 2008. Food crisis in Karnali: a historical and politico-economic
perspective. Martin Chautari, Kathmandu, Nepal.
Bishop B. 1990. Karnali under stress: livelihood strategies and seasonal rhythms in achanging Nepal Himalaya. University of Chicago, Chicago, USA.
CBS 2003. Statistical year book of Nepal 2003. Central Bureau of Statistics, His
Majesty’s Government of Nepal, Kathmandu, Nepal.
DDC 2004. District profile of Humla. District Development Committee, Simkot, Nepal.
Department of Survey 2001. Topographic map 1994–1998. Government of Nepal
Kathmandu, Nepal.
Fürer-Haimendorf, C. 1975. Himalayan traders: life in highland Nepal. John Murray, London,
UK.
Roy, R., Schmidt-Vogt, D. and Myrholt, O. 2009. “Humla development initiatives”
for better livelihoods in the face of isolation and conflict. Mountain Research andDevelopment. 29(3): 211–219.
Roy, R. 2010. Contribution of NTFPs [Non-Timber Forest Products] to livelihood inupper Humla, Nepal. PhD dissertation. Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand.

Dr. Roy’s work as summarized in this article has been published online; see
https://www.morebooks.de/store/de/book/mountain-livelihoods-in-upperhumla,-nepal/isbn/978-3-8433-6374-7.

Out on a limb
Continued from page 24

•

•

•

Award distribution. Since 2000, a majority of the
fellowship applications and 60% of the awards have
involved nationals of seven ITTO producer
countries: Ghana, Nepal, Cameroon, India,
Colombia, Indonesia, Peru and the Philippines.
This suggests there may be a need to raise awarenessof and promote the program in other countries,
with a view to generating fellowship applications
from a wider field of ITTO members.
Program support and Secretariat costs. About 25%of the US$400,000 available in the FFF each year isused to cover program support and Secretariat
costs related to processing the 300-400 applications
received, as well as managing more than 100
ongoing fellowships. In order to maximize thefunds available for fellowships from the FFF, it may
be worthwhile to consider other arrangements forcovering the operational and overhead costs of the
program.
Short-term versus long-term activities. Over theyears, there has been a steady increase inapplications (sometime half of all received)
requesting support for post-graduate studies, whichare “high price tag” awards compared with mostshort-term activity costs. In view of this trend, it
may be useful to review the relative benefits ofshort- versus long-term fellowship activities, with aview to determining to what extent and at whatlevel the ITTO program should continue to help
finance advanced studies.

Making the program evenbetterWith 10 years of experience to look back on and in
anticipation of entry into force of the ITTA 2006, now seems
a good time to take stock of the Fellowship Program’s
performance and accomplishments since the FFF wasestablished and consider whether and how to address theabove issues, as well as others that might emerge through astock-taking process. To this end, I suggest Council convene
a second expert panel as soon as feasible charged withreviewing the program and identifying ways to make it
more efficient and effective, taking into account the relevant
provisions of the ITTA 2006 and the results of the Fellowship
Impact Assessment Survey. Going “out on a limb”, I offer thefollowing ideas in this regard:•

portion of award financing, across all ITTO members
while maximizing the funds available for fellowships
from voluntary contributions to the FFF, which would
remain the main source of fellowship funds.
•

In developing Thematic Program Documents for the
new Thematic Programs provided for under the ITTA,
2006, include a small line item to support fellowship
activities integral to each Thematic Program.

•

Each year, award 1-2 fellowships for internships (perhapsof 6-12 months duration) with the ITTO Secretariat in
Yokohama to introduce aspiring professionals to the
ITTO and its work while enhancing the Secretariat’s
personnel capacity.

•

Develop a web-based fellowship “alumni” network or
association linked to the ITTO website to facilitate
professional contacts among alumni, foster information
sharing and the exchange of experiences and lessons
learned, and raise awareness of the program and its
benefits in member countries.

•

Request ITTO members to take steps to increase thevisibility of the program in their respective countries(e.g. through contacts in research institutions, secondary
programs, field forestry, etc.) and report to Council on
actions taken.

•

Make Fellowship Program outreach a formal element of
the responsibilities of ITTO regional officers.

•

Review the program’s current objective in light ofArticle 1 of ITTA 2006. Consider establishing a limited
number of “priority areas” based on ITTO’s operational
Thematic Programs and reviewing these priorities eachbiennium.

•

Consider the merits of continuing and perhaps
increasing the budget limit for fellowships for postgraduate study.

In my view, the ITTO Fellowship Program is a great
investment in young people and therefore in the future oftropical forests, including the sustainability of forest
management, forest-based livelihoods and the tropicaltimber trade. It’s also a great investment in the future of theOrganization which will likely see many delegates fromamong its former fellows. That said, I believe more can andshould be done to increase the value of the investment for
grantees and individual member countries, as well as
increase the return on the investment to ITTO.

In the new sub-account of the Administrative Accountthat covers “core operational costs” (ITTA 2006, para
17.2.b) include: (1) the full Secretariat costs to manage
the Fellowship Program and (2) an annual allocation(e.g. $100,000) for fellowship awards. This would spreadthe cost of program support, as well as a modest “core”

ITTO Tropical Forest Update 21/1

23

Out on a limb
ITTO’s Fellowship
Program – can we
make it even better?
By Stephanie J
Caswell (former
ITTC chair)caswellsj@aol.com

I

nvesting in sustainable forest management means
investing in people, as well as forests. The ITTO
Fellowship Program does that. Indeed it is the only
Fellowship Program focused on building human resources
virtually worldwide in disciplines related to tropical forests
and the tropical timber economy. Looking back, there’s nodoubt the program has come a long way since it was
launched in 1989 by the Committee on Forest Industry at theinitiative of its Chairman, Dr. Marku Simula, and its
Assistant Director, Dr. Manoel Sobral. But there may still beroom for improvement.

including, inter alia, revised objectives and priority areas(based on the ITTA 1994 and Libreville Action Plan),streamlined application and screening processes, and setting
an upper limit of US$10,000 per fellowship.
The decision also established the Freezailah Fellowship
Fund (in honor of ITTO’s first Executive Director) as a subaccount of the Special Account to receive voluntary
contributions earmarked for the Fellowship Program. The
Freezailah Fellowship Fund (FFF) put the program on a newand enhanced financial footing within the ITTO.

Trends since 2000

The early years

In the last 10 years, the ITTO Fellowship Program
has flourished under the able
management of the Secretariat,
providing a total of US$3.1 million
in fellowships to more than 500
recipients from 40 member
countries to support a wide
range of activities, some ofwhich are highlighted in this
TFU issue. As the Secretariat’s
Fellowship
ImpactAssessment Survey (page 3)
shows, the program has
been highly successful in helping
to build human resources in tropicalforestry and related fields, especially in
producer countries.

My experience with the Fellowship Program began in
1997 when I was Vice-Chair of the Council, whichmeant I also chaired the Fellowship Selection Panel.
At that time, the Council handled the program on alargely ad hoc basis. The selection panel (comprisedof busy Committee Chairs and Vice-Chairs) met
over lunch and after hours on the margins of (thethen) biannual Council and Committee sessions, witheach panel member responsible for reviewing andevaluating a tall stack of applications. Had it not been
for the excellent preparations and documentation by the
ITTO Secretariat we would have been hard pressed tocomplete our task.
Despite the panel’s informality, I was impressed by thebreadth and vigor of the program, which in 1997 supported
59 grants to nationals of 17 member countries for a varietyof activities in the field of tropical forestry. Most were shortterm proposals of less than US$5,000 to attend professional
conferences, publish and disseminate technical documents,
or participate in short-term training courses or internships.
I was struck by the fact that with so little financial
investment, ITTO could make a concrete contribution todeveloping the skills and expertise of aspiring and young
professionals in producer countries.
With my new appreciation of the Fellowship Program’s
reach and impact, the United States made its firstcontribution of US$25,000 in support of the program in
1997. Although a modest amount, it was to be the first of
regular annual contributions which in 2010 totaled morethan US$1 million.

Establishing the Freezailah
Fellowship Fund
In 1999, after completing my term as ITTC chair, I had theopportunity to chair the expert panel charged withreviewing the Fellowship Program and making
recommendations for improvement. The panel’s report led
to Decision 4(XXVII) by which Council adopted a numberof measures to enhance the functioning of the program,At the same time, a look at the following
trends over the last decade suggests there
may be scope to further improve theeffectiveness, efficiency and attractiveness of the program:•Funding base. Since 1999, the program has enjoyeda sustained voluntary funding base of about
US$400,000 per year from the FFF. However, 95%of the funds have been contributed by Japan (75%)
and the USA (20%). The remaining 5% has comefrom Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, theUnited Kingdom and Sub-account B of the Bali
Partnership Fund. Just as the Council has stressed
the need to broaden its funding base for project andpre-project activities, it may be useful to explore
ways to attract other donors to the Fellowship
Program, which is open to and benefits all ITTO
members.

Continued on page 23

Selected publications based on work carried out under ITTO Fellowships
Publication Cover

Author(s) *CountryYear
Acda, Mernandro N.
Philippines
2003

Publication
Philippine Termites: A Handbook for
Homeowners and Pest Control Operators

Publication Cover
1

THE ECONOMICS OF BABABASSU TREES PRODUCTS ANDDERIVATIVES IN THE AMAZON: TRADE AND FORESTCONSERVATION

Author(s) *CountryYear
Borges, Vag-Lan
Brazil
2008

Publication
The Economics of Babassu Tree Products
and Derivatives in the Amazon: Trade andForest Conservation

Vag-Lan Borges is master in economic development and consultant in forest economics and management,
technology innovation, and regional and rural development. Address: Forest Life – Av. Taubaté 878 – Jd.
Paulista – 77.600-000 – Paraíso do Tocantins – TO – Brazil. E-mail: borges@forestlife.com.br. URL:
http://www.forestlife.com.br

Tocantins, Brazil Nov 2008

Huang, Qinglin
China
2003

Key Techniques of Continuous CoverForestry and Their Possible Applicationsin Tropical Forest Management in China

Escobin, Ramiro P. and
Banaticla, Maria Celeste N.
Philippines
2005

Identification Handbook of Philippine
Commercial and Potentially Commercial
Woody Forest Vines

Dhakal, Arun
Nepal
2008

Silviculture and Productivity of Five
Economically Important Timber Speciesof Central Terai of Nepal

Aucca Chutus, Constantino
Peru
2008

Manual de Manejo de Bosques yAprendamos a Plantarlos (Manual ofForest Management and Tree Planting)

Key Techniques of Continuous Cover Forestry (CCF) and
Their Possible Applications in Tropical Forest Management in China1

Qinglin Huang2

12

Funded by ITTO Fellowship Programme: Ref. 041/02A, 2003
Box 33, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Wan Shou Shan, 100091 Beijing, P. R. China. E-mail: huangql@caf.ac.cn

Manual de Manejo de Bosques y Aprendamos a Plantarlos

Manual de Manejo de Bosques
Y Aprendamos a Plantarlos“Los bosques precedieron a la civilización, losdesiertos la siguieron”

Producido por: Asociación Ecosistemas Andinos - ECOAN
Financiado por: Internacional Tropical Timber Organization– ITTO www.itto.org.jp
CUSCO - PERÚ2008
1

Escobin, Ramiro P. ,Pitargue, Jr, Fernando C.,
Ramos, Mario, Maruzzo, MarioM., and America, Wilfredo M.
Philippines
2005

Identification Manual: Philippine
Climbing Bamboos

Bisht, Savita
India
2008

Non Timber Forest Products of Madhya
Pradesh and Chhattisgarh

Saavedra Ruiz, Eutimo
Colombia
2005

Manual Orientado a la Planificación yManejo de Parques Nacionales Aplicado
a Colombia (Manual for Planning andManagement of Colombian National
Parks)

Kywe, Thein
Myanmar2008

The Properties of Hardwoods,
Identification and its Utilization in
Myanmar: Fifty Tree Species

Akindele, Shadrach Olufemi
Nigeria
2005

Volume Functions for Common Timber
Species of Nigeria’s Tropical Rainforests

Win, San
Myanmar2009

Investigation on Shifting Cultivation
Practices Conducted by the Hill Tribes forthe Development of Suitable Agroforestry
Techniques in Myanmar

Untitled-1.pmd

VOLUME FUNCTIONS FOR COMMON
TIMBER SPECIES OF NIGERIA’S
TROPICAL RAIN FORESTS

A Technical Documentbywww.ecoanperu.org

1

10/20/2008, 2:21 PM

The Government of Myanmar
Ministry of Forestry
National Commission for Environmental Affairs

A Report on
Investigation on Shifting Cultivation Practices Conducted by the Hill
Tribes for the Development of Suitable Agroforestry Techniques in
Myanmar (ITTO Fellowship, Award Ref. 074/08A)

Shadrach Olufemi Akindele, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Forest Inventory & Biometrics
Department of Forestry & Wood Technology
Federal University of Technology
Akure, Nigeria.
Prepared by
Dr. San Win
Director
National Commission for Environmental Affairs

July 2005
The preparation of this document was funded through the Freezailah Fellowship Fund of theInternational Tropical Timber Organisation
with in-kind contributions from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada,
and the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria.

October, 2009
Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar

Final Report on the ITTO FELLOWSHIP
Ref-076/045 (Sep 2004 - Aug 2006)“A Digitized inventory of Tropical Timber
Resources of India”

Editors: Orozco, Lorena; Brumér,
Cecilia; and Quirós, David
Authors: Carrera, Fernando
and others
Peru
2006

Aprovechamiento de Impacto Reducido
en Bosques Latifoliados Húmedos
Tropicales (Reduced Impact Managementof Humid Broadleaved Tropical Forests)

Ella, A.B. , Menniado, J.M. ,Escobin, R.P., Maruzzo , M.M.
and America, W.M.
Philippines
2009

Anatomical Identification Handbook ofPhilippine Dipterocarps

Shanmughavel, P.
India
2007

A Digitized Inventory of Tropical Timber
Resources of India

Robiglio, Valentina
Italy
2009

The Invisible Forest: High-Value Trees
In Shifting Cultivation Farmland of
CameroonBaja-Lapis, Aida C.
Philippines
2010

A Field Guide to Philippine Rattans

Submitted toInternational tropical timber organization (ITTO)Japan

THE INVISIBLE FOREST:HIGH-VALUE TREES IN SHIFTING CULTIVATIONFARMLAND OF CAMEROON.

Dr.P.Shanmughavel
Coordinator
DBT-Bioinformatics Infrastructure Facility,
Biodiversity Informatics Laboratory
Department of Bioinformatics
Bharathiar University
Coimbatore- 641046.
INDIA

Valentina Robiglio
1Ella, Arsenio B. , Toñgacan,
Arsenio L. , Escobin, Ramiro P.
and Pitargue, Jr., Fernanco C.
Philippines
2008

Philippine Woods: Principal Uses,
Distribution and Equivalent Woods in the
Asia - Pacific* Bolded name is the Fellowship Awardee if there are multiple authors.

Readers interested in obtaining copies of any of these or other publications arising from
ITTO Fellowships should contact Dr. Chisato Aoki at ITTO Fellowship Program (aoki@itto.int);
original languages only.