The New Forester

Traditionally, subsistence economies in developing countries are biomass economies. Housing itself, energy, furniture and utensils are still biomass products. The yield of trees and shrubs provides thatch, fodder and a host of other products which serve each family household. Deforestation is an erosion of local entitlement to subsistence resources as well as being an environmental problem that destroys local, national and global common property resources. The challenge for foresters, and other rural development professionals, is to build new landscapes which provide a range of biomass products to local users. This book will contribute to that task by helping professionals to see new opportunities by working through, not against, the local people. This book is aimed at foresters, but its practical approach is worth the attention of all rural development practitioners, as well as individuals within a range of professional backgrounds from engineering to sociology.

The challenge for foresters, and other rural development professionals, is to build new landscapes which provide a range of biomass products to local users. This book will contribute to that task by helping professionals to see new opportunities by working through, not against, the local people.