Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Proceedings of the

International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO)

Unit 6.06.00 April 1821, 2007 Arlington, Virginia

Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Proceedings of the

International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO)

Unit 6.06.00 April 1821, 2007 Arlington, Virginia

1 Introductory Message Don K. Lee 3 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization Konstantin von Teuffel, Ann Bartuska, and Peter Mayer 5 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization Frances Seymour 9 Forest Research Institutes in the World: Results of a IUFRO Survey Konstantin von Teuffel 13 Setting the Agenda Marc Hanewinkel (moderator); Diana Jerkins and Randy Tanner (rapporteurs) 15 Funding and Finance Synthesis Michael Goergen Jr. (moderator); Dana Roth and Shawn Yeh (rapporteurs) 17 Stakeholder Convergence Modality: The Rallying Point for Multi-Sectorial R&D Florence Z. Tarun-Acay 21 Developing Strategies for an International Research Organization Risto Pivinen 25 Forest Research in the United Kingdom: A View from the University Sector Jeffrey Burley 31 Efficiency of Managing Forest Research: Contribution from Italy Giuseppe Scarascia-Mugnozza 39 Financing Forestry Research in an Era of Decreased Public Funding: Experience from the Association of Forestry Research Institutions in Eastern Africa (AFREA) Ben Chikamai and Paul Konuche 43 Forest Research in Development Contexts: The Concept of the Accountable Researcher Benno Pokorny and James Johnson 55 Knowledge Management as Means to Ensure Quality, Efficiency, and Relevance Malin von Essen and Jan Fry k

Published by the Society of American Foresters, with support fro m the International Union of Forest Reseach Organizations (IUFRO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the US Forest Service. The opinions expressed and arguments employed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the OECD or of the governments of its Member countries. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

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57 Enterprise Concept and Performance Measurement as Tools for Reorganization, Management, and Strategic Controlling of a Forest Research Institution Harald Mauser 63 Developing Forest Research Responsive to Political and Stakeholder Demands in Bolivia Bonifacio Mostacedo and Ana C. Betancurt 69 Emerging Forest Research NeedsThe Poland Case Study Piotr Paschalis-Jakubowicz 73 Efficiency of Managing Forest Research Jan Fry k 75 Improving the Impact of Research on Forest Policy and Development Jan Heino 79 Redefining the Future of Forest Research, the NAUFRP Perspective Perry J. Brown, Donald H. DeHayes, Margaret R. Gale, and J. Michael Kelly 83 Strategies for Funding Forest Research in a Norwegian Perspective Arne Bardalen 87 Setting the Agenda in Nordic Forest Research in an Era of Globalization Niels Elers Koch 91 Balanced Success Strategy in the Management and Leadership of Metla Hannu Raitio 97 Forestry Research Within a Changing Environment: The Case of CATIE, Central America Bastiaan Louman, Glenn Galloway, Rger Villalobos, Jos Joaquin Campos Arce, and Fransisco Jimnez 105 Global Change and Forests: The Science/Policy Interface James M. Lynch, Peter H. Freer-Smith, and Mark S.J. Broadmeadow 109 The Social and Environmental Importance of Forest Plantations J.L. Whitmore

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Introductory Message
Don K. Lee
President, IUFRO

Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Don K. Lee, Seoul National University, San 56-1 Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-921, Korea. E-mail: leedk@snu.ac.kr. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

oday is the second convening of the IUFRO Directors Forum. The first was the meeting of the directors for the IUFRO World Congress 2005 in Brisbane, Australia. This forum provides usbeing the decisionmakers for managing forest researchwith an opportunity to exchange views, share experiences, and contribute to the further improvement of forest research management on a global level. I am very pleased that so many of you have turned out to attend this conference and to participate in discussions on key issues that face forest research management today. I will certainly refrain from going into great detail on the three main issues that you have been asked to discuss over the next 2 days, namely setting the agenda, funding and financing, and ensuring quality and efficiency. However, please allow me to make a few observations with regard to the general topic of the Directors Forum: the era of globalization. Globalization nowadays is used in many contexts and refers to the increasing global connectivity, integration, and interdependence in the economic, social, technological, cultural, political, and ecological spheres. Striking a balance among all these aspects is complex, but foresters and forestry as a sector have long-standing experience in balancing these various demands. As you are all well aware, there are many global challenges that deal in one way or another with forests. This should be taken as the general context for the discussions over the next 2 days. The continuous decline of forest area worldwide is a major concern and a political driving force behind the global forest policy debate. In this context, illegal logging activities and land conversion are developments which have a significant impact on global forest cover. Moreover, the conservation of biological diversity and the establishment and expansion of protected forest areas remains a global challenge. Additionally, the increasing scientific evidence of global warming and climate change challenges the role of forest and forestry in many ways. In connection with this topic I would also like to mention desertificationas highlighted through last years international year of deserts and desertificationas one of the worlds most alarming aspects of environmental degradation. Devastating forest fires have recently occurred in various parts of the world and have also raised public awareness and prompted national and international initiatives on policies for fire prevention and control. The continuous trend of urbanization and the increase in population have implications on forests worldwide as well. Last but not least, the fight against poverty and the need for education to encompass global perspectives are issues that I personally attach great importance to. I would like to make reference to the Millennium Development Goals. Forestry, in particular, can contribute to the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger (Goal 1) and to ensuring environmental sustainability (Goal 7). This list of environmental and social issues is by no means complete, and we must remember that the context surrounding forest research and its management is constantly evolving and changing.
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IUFRO as the global network for forest science cooperation has therefore developed a strategy which aims to address these challenges. As the President of IUFRO I am proud to say that with the unprecedented involvement of scientists and stakeholders, IUFRO developed and adopted its 20062010 Strategy last year. This strategy is built upon three main goals: To strengthen research for the benefit of forests and people, To expand strategic partnership and cooperation, and To strengthen communication and links within the scientific community and with students as well as with policy makers and society at large. These three goalswhich are complemented by sub-goals and implemented by a series of actionsprovide IUFRO and all those involved in IUFRO with a concise framework to meet the challenges of today. I personally see the IUFRO Directors Forum as a flagship for the implementation of IUFROs goals. We, as decision-makers in forest research management, not only decide about the future of our respec-

tive institutes and universities but also influence the future direction of global forest research as a whole. In an era of globalization, this is the time to have a global open mind in dealing with forest research management. As I am always emphasizing, there is a need for international cooperation and partnership to bridge gaps, particularly between the South and the North, between the East and the West, between the developing and the developed countries, and between the young and the old generations. I therefore sincerely hope that these discussions will yield significant output for the strategic research on forest management. My deepest appreciation to the USDA Forest Service for hosting this conference and my thanks to the IUFRO Research Group 6.06. Management of Forest Research for initiating and preparing the contents of the forum. The conference was sponsored by the OECD Co-operative Research Programme on Biological Resource Management for Sustainable Agricultural Systems, whose financial support made it possible for many of the invited speakers to participate in the conference.

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Konstantin von Teuffel
IUFRO

Ann Bartuska
IUFRO

Peter Mayer
IUFRO

he ultimate goal of research is to improve the well-being of society. However, globalization has changed the framework conditions and nature of forest research. Societal questions around forests and forestry are increasingly complex at the same time as declining budgets. This condition is requiring research organizations to use their financial and human capital resources more efficiently. Consequently, the role of managers in forest research has become even more important as they will have to make sound policy choices for the future of forest research. Against this background, the IUFRO Directors Forum (IUFRO Research Group 6.06.00Management of Forest Research) convened for the second time. The forum serves as a global platform for directors of forest research institutes and deans of forest faculties of universities to exchange views, share experiences, and discuss strategies for the future. The results of the IUFRO Directors Forum will contribute significantly to the further development of forest research management globally.

Setting the Forest Research Agenda Identifying Science Priorities

Globalization has brought about major changes in the process of setting the forest research agenda. One major observation is that agenda development becomes an increasingly strategic process for forest research institutions. Among the most important examples for research topics are the increasing demand for stakeholder involvement and opportunities for input, the introduction of agendas of scale such as agendas set on the basis of global demands and national needs as well as the growing emphasis placed on long-term planning, and the consideration of temporal research scales. All these factors inevitably make research both more timely and relevant. An increasing number of research organizations are already taking these factors into account and use clearly structured processes in order to develop research strategies for their respective institutions. In this respect, criteria such as relevance, feasibility, timelessness, scope of benefits, innovative potential, credibility, and legitimacy are helpful when selecting items to be included on the research agenda.

Quality Research and Efficiency Are Crucial

Knowledge management is becoming a more and more important element for the improvement of efficiency of forest research institutions. However, traditional research frameworks often separate researchers from the practitioners and decision makers. A professional communication of results to beneficiaries and guidelines for researchers who work at the science/policy interface are valuable mechanisms for making research more efficient and meaningful, especially for decision makers. Moreover, performance indicators help to determine the efficiency of research. Such indicators are highly desirable, adequate methodologies are curIUFRO 6.06.00

Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Peter Mayer, IUFRO, Hauptstrasse 7, Vienna 1140, Austria. E-mail: mayer@iufro.org. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

rently developing. In general, indicators have to take into account One major challenge is the increasing need to compete for budgets both the task to be evaluated and the institution concerned in terms with other institutions and sectors while core budgets in general are of size and type of tasks assigned to an institution. diminishing. Nevertheless, innovative approaches, including new partnerships, could help to overcome some of these constraints and Where Does the Money for Research Come From? play an integral role in ensuring sustainable funding. The financial situation of forest-related research organizations Finally, in order to stay in touch with reality, the business model of throughout the world varies significantly. As a general trend it can be forestry needs to be updated. Forest research has to focus more stated that forest research institutions in Europe and North America strongly on consumer and stakeholder demands and needs. In this have had to face declining budgets over the past few years. At the same context, it is highly relevant to develop a coherent strategic plan and time, especially Asian countries have experienced rising research budgets. prioritize expenditures according to that plan.

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Frances Seymour
Director General, Center for International Forestry Research, Bogor, Indonesia

have had the honor of leading the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) for just over 6 months now. So this conference is a wonderful opportunity for me to renew acquaintances and meet for the first time some of the big names in the world of forestry research such as Professor Don Lee. Its especially an honor to share the podium with Chief Kimbell and Ann Bartuska. I cant help but appreciate the symbolism of this line-up for the changing role of women in forestry! For those of you unfamiliar with CIFOR, let me give you a quick snapshot. CIFOR was established in 1993 as an international research organization under the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research, or the so-called CG system. Our headquarters are in Indonesia, but many of our staff work from regional or project offices elsewhere in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. We have a staff of about 175, and an annual budget of about $17 million. We do research on environment and ecosystem services, on poverty and livelihoods, and on governance issues related to forests. We have a guesthouse on our lovely wooded campus in Bogor, so please come visit when youre in the neighborhood.

The Three Challenges

Let me commend the organizers for framing the conference around three key challenges facing managers of forestry research: how to set priorities among competing research topics; how to secure adequate and appropriate sources of funding for our work; and how to assure quality and efficiency in our research. These are certainly the challenges Im grappling with as a newly-appointed leader of an international forestry research organization. And I look forward to the insights that will be generated in presentations and discussions of these questions over the next 2 days. I know that each of the research organizations represented here faces these questions from a unique perspective, and that there is a lot of relevant experience in the room. My contribution will be to offer some reflections on the tensions that we at CIFOR have to manage as we address each of these challenges, with an emphasis on those that are important in an international context.

Setting the Agenda

Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Frances Seymour, Jalan CIFOR, Situ Gede, Sindangbarang, Bogor Barat 16115, Indonesia. E-mail: f. seymour@cgiar.org. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

Professor von Teuffel has posed the question in the conference program as follows: How do stakeholders, governing institutions, other interest groups, and of course researchers themselves set the agenda for relevant research topics and projects to be selected? This challenge is of particular relevance to CIFOR this year, as we are in the midst of a strategy development process. Our last Board-approved strategy was finalized in 1996, so we are long overdue for a fresh look at our research priorities. But how to do that is not obvious. We are currently having an internal discussion about how to compare among alternative research domains according to
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their relative potential to advance our mission, which relates to both poverty reduction and environmental protection. Other agricultural research centers in the CG system have employed highly quantitative methods to calculate the prospective impacts of alternative crop improvements: how many adopting farmers, how many hectares, how much of an income increment, and so on. If the assumptions are robust and the data is available, then by all means those calculations are useful. But most of the research that CIFOR doesand, I would argue, most of the important research to be done in international forestry does not lend itself to such simple calculations of impact. Much of our work is policy research, intended to inform decision-makers about the implications of various policy options, and the pathways through which such research has impact on individual beneficiaries and particular patches of forest are rather circuitous and indirect. For example, last year we published a study on forest law enforcement. The results suggested that illegal logging crackdowns tend to be focused on the little guy with the chainsaw rather than the big guy with the bank account. I would hope that such research results would lead governments and NGOs calling for increased law enforcement to rethink their strategies. They might give more emphasis to the use of tools for fighting forest crime that are automatically targeted to the big guys, such as anti-money laundering legislation. And if they did, that shift in law enforcement effort might reasonably be expected to have a number of effects on forests, corruption, and local livelihoods. But Im afraid Im not smart enough to imagine how you might quantify that result in a way that would enable us to make a meaningful comparison to the potential impacts of research in another area. One reason quantitative comparisons are difficult is that many of the impacts of good policy research go beyond increasing economic efficiency. They include progress toward objectives such as increasing the transparency of forest sector decision-making, conserving unique biological and cultural diversity, and empowering women as forest managers. These kinds of impacts dont easily lend themselves to quantification for ex ante priority-setting exercises. As a result, we need to develop new methods for rigorously testing our assumptions, and for assembling the best possible data to project the prospective impacts of our research. But at the end of the day, Im afraid that we will need to make some subjective judgment calls about the relative importance of alternative options. A second issue related to setting the agenda is who gets to participate. Especially if we accept the inevitability of making subjective judgments about priorities, who is at the table will have a big impact on what gets decided. I recall a few years ago compiling various statistics that illustrate the overwhelming dominance of scientists and institutions based in industrialized countries compared to those in developing countries. Whether you measure by numbers of scientists, research budgets, publications, or participation in international processes, its clear that the global North is setting the agenda on natural resources and environment issues. In an era of globalization, we need to make special efforts to consult those who may be most affected, but whose voices may be underrepresented at the tables where decisions are made. We need to actively seek out those who will challenge our views. But doing so takes time and money, and we are all chronically short of both. So to follow through will require a significant commitment. A third issue related to setting the agenda is one that is particularly relevant to forestry research because of its inherently long-term nature. As research managers, we cant just compose research portfo6
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lios to respond to the questions policy-makers are asking today. If we did, policy-makers wouldnt remember having asked the question by the time we came up with the answer, or a new administration would be in place asking a new set of questions. Instead, as research managers, our responsibility is to anticipate the questions policy-makers will be askingor should be asking5 years from now. Now of course thats more easily said than done, especially given the rapid pace of change in a globalized environment. How many of us anticipated the rapid rise of China in global wood products markets? How many of us anticipated the sudden explosion of interest in biofuels development? Fortunately, sometimes we get lucky. In the mid-1990s, CIFOR conducted a significant body of research on the underlying causes of deforestation. The research was in response to international interest in conserving tropical forests for their unique biological and cultural diversity. That interest has since waned. But just in the last 6 months since the release of the Stern Reviewsuddenly the world is interested in avoiding deforestation again, but this time as a strategy to mitigate climate change. So we are in the fortunate position of having relevant research results to offer, even though I cant say we anticipated this new demand. We need to do a better job of looking over the horizon, or at least develop research agendas likely to provide robust answers to a changing context for asking questions about forests.

Funding and Financing

Let me turn now to the questions about funding and financing, which are never far from the attention of any research manager. Were probably all struggling with the decline of interest in funding for work on forestry as such, and perhaps also the declining commitment to public sector investment in research more generally. We certainly feel it at the international level, although there are of course some important exceptions among our more enlightened donors! We would probably all agree that in order to maintain our independence, research organizations need to maintain a de minimus level of unrestricted fundingthat is, funding not tied to a particular topic or outputso that we are indeed free to set our own agendas, as discussed previously. However, the temptation to fill gaps with funds restricted to specific projects and outputs is almost irresistible. And in fact to resist would be inappropriate in many circumstances. If the project is one that we would have done anyway, or is fully aligned with our research strategy, then by all means, we should take the money! But at least at CIFOR, we have found that restricted money has a number of downside risks that we need to manage carefully. The first risk is that we often end up subsidizing restricted projects with our precious unrestricted funds, because donors are not willing to pay our real overhead costs. So unless the project really is something that we would choose to invest in ourselves, we should probably just say no if it doesnt pay its own way. The second risk is that restricted project funding overall skews our research portfolio in ways that subtly undermine the quality of our work or its consistency with our mission. For example, funding for restricted projects tends to focus more on short-term results. I was over meeting with the World Bank forestry team last week. As is my custom when interviewing colleagues for input to CIFORs strategy process, I asked how CIFOR had disappointed them in the past, as a way of getting at their expectations of us for the future. One staff member expressed disappointment that CIFOR research associated with a World Bank loan had failed to produce results in time to be incorporated into project implementation over a 2-year period. Two years doesnt sound like a very long time for most of the important

questions in need of research, but thats what our clients want. Another challenge, particularly in the international arena is that in recent years donor funding for international forestry has been increasingly tied to a narrowly defined poverty reduction agenda (which is perfectly legitimate). But the shift in resource allocation away from more conservation-oriented programming has tempted organizations like ours to reframe everything we do as if it were all part of a poverty alleviation program. But the truth is, forestry is seldom the most expeditious pathway out of poverty, and in many cases conversion of forests to other uses can be such a pathway. So we need to police the integrity of our work and how we talk about it when funding tempts us to compromise. In general, restricted funding also tends to pull us further into project implementation than we would like to go, and is often focused on a particular set of local problems. Weve found that in some cases, applied research has been too heavy on the applied and too light on the research. As an international research organization, we need to keep our focus on doing research that generates so-called international public goods. A recurring theme in our internal strategy discussions is how to link research activities to meet the needs of specific locations to global or universal research needs. One way that CIFOR tries to balance these potentially conflicting objectives is to invest in international comparative research in such areas as plantation management, decentralization, community forestry, and the relationship between poverty and the environment. Such projects can both bring international experience to particular places, and bring the experience of particular places to the international community. Another approach is to focus our research on developing assessment tools to help others find the right answers to common problems in particular places. So the research produces a tool that can be used anywhere, but does not assume that there is a one size fits all answer everywhere. Whats clear is that we need to maintain a balance between restricted and unrestricted funds to maintain our independence. And we understand that doing so may require our forgoing opportunities for growthor even shrinkingto maintain that balance.

forests and climate change in advance of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties to be held in Bali in December. Id be interested in hearing any tips you have about managing the Dilemma of Two Cringes in similar circumstances. Before closing, Id like to offer a few words about partnerships, because I think they are critical to both quality and efficiency. CIFOR was founded as a centre without walls, and has taken pride over the years in working with partners in almost everything we do. Our partners are national research organizations, such as the research branches of the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry and the US Forest Service, NGOs, universities, other international organizations, and sometimes private companies. Well-managed partnerships enable an organization such as CIFOR to leverage the expertise and legitimacy of other organizations, and to avoid unnecessary duplication and unhealthy competition. So its easy to be in favor of partnershipsthey are kind of like motherhood and apple piebut it turns out to be pretty hard to make them work effectively. At the international level, partnerships require special investment. They have to bridge both literal and figurative distances across geography and culture, and have to overcome the structural imbalances in power, capacity, and funding between different partner organizations. Even in the age of Skype, misunderstandings and miscommunications are common. Since its founding, one of CIFORs objectives has been building the capacity of partner organizations in developing countries. And our strategy to do so has been through the involvement of partner organizations in our research in a learning by doing approach, rather than through free-standing training programs. As a result, we sometimes face a trade-off between being true to our capacity-building objective and maintaining the quality and efficiency of our research. Mentoring junior scientists takes time; collaborating with weak organizations is less efficient in producing high-quality results than working with those that are already strong. Im not saying that these trade-offs shouldnt be made, but we need to be clear about our objectives and relative priorities when we make them. And that may require redefining the quality of a research product so as to include the capacity-building that it embodies.

Ensuring Quality and Efficiency

Let me now turn to the questions about ensuring quality and efficiency. Ive already mentioned the challenges of anticipating what policy makers will need, and responding to the short-term interests of some sources of funding. I think theres an additional point to be made about the potential trade-offs between quality and timeliness, especially when were in the business of doing research to inform policy. As you all know, timing can be everything, and we do our best to have research results published to a high quality standard in time to influence the deliberations of relevant policy arenas. But sometimes the best laid plans are delayed, and we face what Ill call the Dilemma of Two Cringes: Do we rush out results that are not quite ready (but good enough), and cringe at the compromise of our quality standards and procedures? Or, Do we insist on maintaining those standards and procedures, and cringe at having missed an opportunity to influence policy? This dilemma is going to be especially difficult for us this year, as everyone is asking CIFOR to produce various pieces of research on

Summary
So, what are my key messages? On setting the agenda, ex ante quantification of prospective impacts is not possible or appropriate for much of the international forestry research agenda, so we need to find other methods for setting priorities. And to the extent that we are forced to make subjective judgments, we should pay attention to the composition of the stakeholders who are informing those judgments. On funding, we need to protect our unrestricted funding in order to protect our independence, as well as the integrity of our work and its consistency with the missions of our organizations. On quality and efficiency, we have to manage the trade-offs inherent in producing timely results to influence policy, and in working with partners in capacity-building efforts. I thank you for your kind attention, and look forward to hearing your reflections on these challenges. And if you have any tips on how CIFOR should manage them, or see any opportunities for collaboration with your organization, please see me at the coffee break! Thank you.

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Forest Research Institutes in the World: Results of a IUFRO Survey

Konstantin von Teuffel
Forest Research Institute of Baden-Wrttemberg, Freiburg, Germany In the year 2004, the European Forest Institute (EFI) carried out a survey (Houllier et al. 2005) concerning the resource basis of forest research-related institutions in Europe. It showed for the first time ever that the financial base of forest research in Europe is to be seen somewhere around 600 million Euros () a year and an input in manpower of 3,000 person years. The survey showed the potential of forest research in Europe and it was very useful to utilize these numbers in various discussions with public authorities, funding agencies, etc. Keywords: forest research, funding, resources, staff, questionnaire.

Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Konstantin von Teuffel, Forest Researc h Institute of Baden-Wrttemberg, Wonnhaldestrasse 4, 79100 Freiburg, Germany. E-mail: konstantin.teuffel@forst.bwl.de. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

he IUFRO unit 6.06 Managing Forest Research decided to organize a conference dealing with questions around the title Management of Forest Research in an Era of Globalization. In this context it deemed necessary to undertake an attempt to assess the order of magnitude in which forest research is carried out worldwide. To this end, IUFRO unit 6.06 with the assistance of IUFRO headquarters and EFI developed a questionnaire which was sent out in January 2007 to more than 400 IUFRO member institutions. The first consolidated results were discussed at the IUFRO 6.06 conference Management of Forest Research in an Era of Globalization taking place in Washington DC 1821 April 2007. After the conference some additional forest research institutions gave input. Finally 70 questionnaires were available to the evaluation team. We owe special thanks to Professor Dr. Marc Hanewinkel and his colleague Norbert Br from the Forest Research Institute of BadenWrttemberg, Germany, who have taken the duty to analyse the available data. Explicitly there were four main objectives for the survey: To assess the capacity of Forest Research Institutions (FRIs) on a worldwide scale; To analyze the funding structure of FRIs; To obtain information on the fields of research of FRIs; and To assess the role of EU funding for FRIs in Europe. The last bullet point refers to the fact that it deemed sensible to assess the group of the European research institutions separately with respect to the 2004 survey and the possibility to compare results. It has to be stated clearly that the results of this survey are based on a rather small sample and unfortunately that there were some incomplete or invalid entries. Thus interpretation for sensitive data (e.g., financial) is limited. Due to the fact that the questionnaire was to be filled in on an online basis, we have to state that the results are most probably not representative and statistically not sound. Also there is no information on a country level available. On the other hand, presently there are no better datasets around to give a more generalized picture of the situation of forest research in the world. Having said this the geographical distribution is shown in Figure 1.
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Figure 1. Geographical distribution.

Figure 2. Working and research profile.

With 47% of all answers it is clear that there is a strong dominance of European research institutions. It is interesting that 6% of the participating institutions have an international status. Exactly two-thirds of the institutions are research institutes, 24% universities, and 10% are private companies involved in forest-related research. Also here it is quite obvious that there is a below average participation of universities worldwide. Due to this fact it is logical that the working profile of the answering institutions is emphasising applied research as a main characteristic (Figure 2). Forest research clearly to a vast degree is a public matter. Eightyseven percent of the participating institutions are public institutions, only 10% private, and 3% NGOs. The topics covered by the institutions are ranging widely (Figure 3). Among the most important ones are forest management and forest ecology. The lesser important ones seem to be forest technologies, forest policy, and wood science. This finding may well contrast with the need to bring forest research needs more to the attention of politicians. We also asked the participants in the survey about quality control and efficiency measurement. About half of the institutions report that they have frequent quality and efficiency follow ups, some 40% do this occasionally, whereas only 10% approximately say there is no quality control system at all. When it comes to the quality indicators used by the institutions, the most important is assessed impact of research followed by peer review and satisfaction of clients. Due to the nature of the survey it remains open how exactly the impact of research and satisfaction of clients are measured. The most important efficiency indicator used in the various institutions is research publications before popular scientific articles and competitive funding (Figure 4). Sixty-five institutions answered the question related to stakeholder involvement. Figure 5 shows that stakeholder involvement takes place mostly at the institute level based on the input of a board or steering committee or at project level case by case. Sixty-two percent of the institutions report that projects are initiated within the organisation, whereas 38% of the answering institutions receive their project initiation from outside. With 46% the majority of the participants expect major organisational changes in the future, 31% expect moderate changes, whereas only 23% see minor organisational changes coming up. This shows the dynamic organisational setting in which forest-related research presently is. Sixty-two organisations answered the question for staff, adding up to a total of 13,236 person-years (Figure 6). With 25 institutions the majority of organisations has a total staff of up to 50, 19 employ staff from 51 to 200, and 15 organisations have staff exceeding the number of 200 employees.
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Figure 3. Topics covered in forest research.

Figure 4. Efficiency indicators. Going into more detail we can see that with 82% of the total staff a rather high proportion of employees are permanently employed. Only 16% of the person-years involved have a degree in forestry, which leads to the conclusion that the vast majority of researchers have degrees in disciplines other than forestry. In the coming years up to 2010 the answering organisations envisage a reduction in total staff by almost 5% (down to 12,661) with a relative increase of researchers holding a degree in forestry. With respect to the funding structure we can say that the 69 answering institutions stand for a total of approximately $550 million (Figure 7). Unfortunately this figure does not give a realistic picture of the worldwide resources available in forest research as a whole due to the poor reply to the questionnaire. In Europe (institutions with a reply in figures), 28 organisations took part in the survey

Figure 5. Stakeholder involvement.

Figure 7. Funding structure of $- and -calculating institutions.

Figure 6. Number of staff in 2005. with an average of some $8 million (6 million) budget per institution, whereas the dollar-world (31 institutions calculating their figures in $) shows an average of more than $10 million budget per organisation. The share of the budget acquired from international sources for Europeans with 4% is double the one in the dollar-calculating group. National public funding with 68% is significantly higher in Europe than in the dollar group with only 59%. It is very interesting to see that within the coming years (Figure 8) the organisations in Europe expect significantly decreasing budgets whereas the dollar group counts on even higher rising budgets by the year 2010. As a conclusion of the survey as a whole it can be stated that unfortunately there was only a limited participation. This shows a limited awareness in forest research institutions for the added value to provide for a set of reliable figures depicting the organisational and financial structure available in forest research. Approximately 50% of the participating organisations are from Europe ( figures), 50% from other parts of the world. The majority of the research institutions (40%) includes staff of less than 50 persons, 30% employ between 50 Figure 8. Diverging expectations in budget of $- and -calculating and 200 persons, and another 30% more than 200. Considering all institutions. the shortcomings of this survey, nevertheless it appears to make sense to periodically repeat such an exercise simply for the fact to have some (limited) information about the structure, which is better than Literature Cited having none at all. Finally it is remarkable that in Europe the forest HOULLIER, F., J. NOVOTNY, R. PIVINEN, K. ROSN, G. SCARASCIAMUGNOZZA, AND K. VON TEUFFEL. 2005. Future Forest Research research institutions expect decreasing resources whereas they seem to Strategy for a Knowledge-Based Forest Cluster: An Asset for a Sustainincrease in other parts of the world. It can be assumed that this is due able Europe. European Forest Institute Discussion Paper 11, 50 p. to the rapid development of countries in transition.
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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Setting the Agenda

MODERATOR

Marc Hanewinkel
Forest Research Institute of Baden Wrttemberg
RAPPORTEURS

Diana Jerkins
US Department of Agriculture, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, Competitive Programs Unit

articipants from eight countries offered their insight into a most challenging question posed by IUFRO members and conference organizers How do stakeholders, governing institutions, other interest groups, and of course researchers themselves set the agenda for relevant research topics and projects to be selected? Despite the substantive differences in forest research across these eight countries, a number of common themes emerged from the presentations and discussions.

Setting a New Agenda

The nature of forest research has changed dramatically as a result of sociopolitical and economic changes resulting from globalization. Research needs have become more complex and research priorities have shifted. Whereas in the past national research priorities may have been driven by production for the national economy, global demands are increasingly calling greater attention to the demands of global markets. Beyond the substantive changes to the forest research agenda, the complexity induced by globalization has engendered a need to cross disciplinary boundaries and integrate social, political, economic, and biological dimensions of forest research. One contributing factor to this realization is that biological research may have little clout in the absence of an accommodating socio-political and economic climate. While the current socio-political and economic climate does not rank forest research high on the agenda (perhaps due to a lack of practical utility), there as a growing recognition that forestry research will only become increasingly important as research in areas such as nanotechnology, biofuels, and climate change continue to develop, Unfortunately, a limiting constraint to the development of forest research programs is waning budgets. Limited research budgets force a prioritization of research, and in many cases, a re-prioritization. The reality of declining budgets requires research organizations to use their financial resources more efficiently and pool larger resources by building research teams or alliances among organizations.

Randy Tanner
The University of Montana

The Changing Nature of How the Agenda Is Set

Globalization has resulted in at least three important changes in the process of setting the forest research agenda. First, whether a cause or effect, democratization has accompanied globalization, and with that are increasing demands for stakeholder engagement and opportunities for input. As a result, agenda priorities are either being directly influenced by stakeholders, or decision-makers are recognizing the need to make research as relevant as possible to stakeholders and are basing their research priorities on that realization. The process of setting the agenda is becoming more user-driven than in the past and valuable opportunities exist for gleaning insights from a wide variety of stakeholders as research organizations are confronted with increasingly complex research needs. Second, globalization has introduced agendas of scale. As an illustration,
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Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Marc Hanewinkel, Forest Researc h Institute of Baden-Wrttemberg, Wonnhaldestrasse 4, 79100 Freiburg, Germany. E-mail: marc.hanewinkel@forst.bwl.de. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

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forest research organizations that may be heavily funded by international donor agencies are setting their research agendas on the bases of global demands or demands of the donor institution (e.g., poverty alleviation). These demands may be much different than what may be seen as national priorities (e.g., production tailored to the national economy). A similar trend can be identified with local versus national and global priorites. Third, because of the problems associated with change outpacing research (whether market-driven, legal, or regulatory), there is an increasing need to be attentive to long-term visions, scenario planning, and the consideration of temporal research scales. Attentiveness to these factors will inevitably make research both more timely and relevant.

research? For example, providing users credibility. CredibilityWill the research produce results that can be confidently trusted? LegitimacyCan the research be produced in a way that is legitimate? How, for instance, will the considerations of stakeholders be legitimately incorporated?

Challenges and Opportunities

Globalization introduces a number of challenges and opportunities for setting the forest research agenda. For instance, national research organizations may operate more efficiently by identifying particular niches that they can fill, which may give rise to increased opportunities for partnerships. In terms of challenges, forest research organizations are not currently communicating the relevancy and value of forCriterion for Setting the Agenda est research. Better communication will be necessary in order to Bearing in mind the ways in which the agenda has changedboth establish partnerships among organizations and between stakeholdsubstantively and procedurallya number of criterion for selecting ers. Finally, in an era of globalization, research organizations must items to be included on the research agenda were offered: necessarily reconcile the competitive and cooperative dimensions of Salience/relevanceGiven the limited resources with which research. Often, it may be the case that the incentives for cooperation institutions must conduct research and, in some cases, declinare greater than competition. ing support for forest research, a dominant theme throughout many presentations was that research must be responsive to Some Emergent Themes for the Agenda the demands of users and decision-makers. Nevertheless, this Sustainability of forests and management criterion was by no intended to imply that there was no longer Biodiversity a need for basic or pure research, which often provides the Climate change foundational frameworks for applied research. In fact, basic Forest products needs change and applied research must be blended or risk a loss of funda Genetics and breeding mental knowledge. Land-use change FeasibilityAgain, recognizing that forest research operates Support of policy decisions within constraints, there must be an ex ante assessment of Agroforestry whether or not it will be possible to accomplish research goals Poverty alleviation in the face of such constraints Conservation and restoration Timelessness/urgencyRecalling the futures approach to New science of integration agenda setting, institutions must not only consider the most Forest ecosystem services important issues of today, but what will manifest tomorrow, as Human attitudes and behaviors well. Conflict Scope of benefitsWill the research will serve a broad sector Uncertainty and decision-making of the public? Technology advancement and applications Will the research product be innovative?Does the research New applications for forest and products in question meet current needs and not duplicate existing Urban ecosystems

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Funding and Finance Synthesis

MODERATOR

Michael Goergen Jr.

Society of American Foresters
RAPPORTEURS

Dana Roth
USDA Forest Service

Shawn Yeh
Duke University

Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Michael Goergen Jr., Society of American Foresters, 5400 Grosvenor Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814. E-mail: goergenm@safnet.org. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

ine speakers from Europe, Latin America, Asia, and Africa shared experiences on innovative ways to mobilize resources to meet forest research organization needs, drawing on experiences and case studies from their respective countries. The major challenge they outlined is that funding in the forest research sector has significantly diminished from all donor sources. While core operating funds are low, project-based, restricted funding sources are representing a larger percentage of operating budgets. In light of harder financial times, participants articulated several additional challenges. First, forestry as a sector per se is declining in national and international priority. Other natural resource and environmental interests are sometimes in direct competition for funds that could sponsor forest research. Second, the business model in forestry is outdated; a change in customer demands and needs are emerging. Real commodity prices are in steady decline within the forestry sector. Lastly, research entities are experiencing decreasing viability on their own. As a response to the general decline in funding, improving efficiency with limited financial resources becomes increasingly important. Speakers discussed targeting spending toward research priorities that are determined by multiple stakeholders, and increased dialogue and collaboration among research organizations, the public, and private sectors will help ensure that forest research remains relevant to the needs of interested parties. Secondly, speakers emphasized the need to update business models, focus on consumer demand and needs, and incorporate wood in new platforms using a value chain approach. The importance of developing a coherent strategic plan, and prioritizing spending according to that plan, was emphasized. In the spirit of globalization, partnerships, and networking are also becoming an integral method of garnering financial and programmatic support. Regional networks can leverage financial support for groups with common research interests. Networks can also prevent duplication of research efforts if information is shared, or interdisciplinary teams are assigned to investigate specific issues. Expanding partnerships can also improve technology transfer, and in turn create new funding and cost-sharing opportunities. Academic partnerships have been particularly successful among the case studies presented. Increased cooperation among local, regional, national, and global priorities and across sectors, i.e., interdisciplinary efforts, can play an integral role in ensuring sustainable funding while meeting research objectives. Organizations can also be proactive by building on successes to leverage additional income and diversifying funding sources. While speakers voiced concern over the current funding challenges, in general they believed that innovative approaches, including new partnerships, could help overcome some of these constraints.

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Stakeholder Convergence Modality: The Rallying Point for Multi-Sectoral R&D Partnership in Upland Resource and Development Center
Florence Z. Tarun-Acay
Upland Resource and Development Center, College of Forestry and Environmental Management, Isabela State University The Upland Resource and Development Center (URDC) is a 3-year-old R&D arm under the Office of the President of the Isabela State University at Cabagan, Isabela, Region 2, Philippines. It has the intention to provide a decision support system for program planners and policy makers as well as to demonstrate the economic viability and ecological soundness of certain upland technology mix that can address both concerns for increased food production and biodiversity conservation. The center envisions to become a resource and learning institution on upland development in Cagayan Valley Region, Northeastern Philippines with special focus on sustainable land-use technology transfer, buffer zone management, and landscape ecology. Thus, through the stakeholder convergence modality under the scheme of integration, counterpart funding/resource sharing, collaboration, networking, etc., the URDC, in its first year of operation, was able to form and organize a Local Agroforestry IEC Team, in partnership with the Philippine Agroforestry Education and Research Network (PAFERN) for financial assistance, the Local Government Unit of San Pablo, Isabela (LGU-SPI) for financial and technical assistance, and the local upland farmers of Limbauan, San Pablo, Isabela. In its second year of operation, the URDC together with its newly organized Local Agroforestry IEC Team, came into further partnership with the Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) for financial assistance in the implementation of its banner project Integrated and Sustainable Upland On-Farm R&D Project using the Community Participatory Action-Research (CPAR) approach. It is expected to arrive at the best combination of upland technologies that can give the highest economic returns with the least pressure on the natural resources. In its third year of operation, multiplier effect of the aforementioned project is discerned through the establishment of replications in two other towns of Isabela. Nevertheless, one of these is not given much supervision due to distance, inaccessibility, and lack of fund. There are more other local government units or towns interested with the project but the university cannot at the moment go into partnership as it is wanting for its counterpart fund. Keywords: sustainability, economic viability, technology mix.

Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Florence Z. Tarun-Acay, Upland Resource and Development Center, College of Forestry and Environmental Management, Isabela State University, Cabagan, Isabela, Philippines. E-mail: acay_leztarun@yahoo.com. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

he increasing demographic pressure on our remaining natural resources threatens to impair the continuous ecological functioning of many of our support systems, such as the forest. Heavy influx of people to the uplands, alongside with wanton resource extraction, have resulted to rapid marginalization of the natural resource base. In an effort to save the remaining forests, many governments in Southeast Asia (SEA) began to place their entire primary forest or other fragile but unique ecosystems under the Integrated Protect Area System. Inside the protected area, different management zones are identified and delineated specific function. One of these management zones is the buffer zone.
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The buffer zones, which delineate the peripheral boundaries of protected areas, function in two ways: protection and production. Having them as mere physical barrier without developing their productive capacity to support rural household economy may not serve as efficient deterrence against continuous human encroachment into the protected areas. In the Philippines, most buffer zones are the bastion of grasslands or patches of savannah forest. Oftentimes, these vast areas if not nonarable are totally degraded. Considering that the buffer zones are the last line of defense for protected areas against physical encroachment, urgent care and attention must be given in the way they should be managed. The Cagayan Valley Region where the Northern Sierra Madre Biogeographic Zone lies is at the crossroad of development. It has been envisaged to be the corridor for trade and commerce that will link the northern part of the country to Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Japan in the near future. Likewise, it houses one of the remaining few biodiversity reserves in the country, which has been under global watch because of the potential threats to its high endemism. Although the region has the biggest watershed area in the country, it does not translate, however, into big agricultural gains for the comprising provinces because its topography is generally rugged and sloping. Its lowlands, with slope from 0 to 8 percent, cover only 8,293 square kilometers or 31 percent of the total land area. About 7,751 square kilometers or 29 percent have undulating to hilly terrain, with slopes greater than 8 to 30 percent. The largest portion consists of mountainous areas with slopes greater than 30 percent. Almost half of the total land-use area of 2,683,800 hectares are the bastion of grasslands. With the passing of Republic Act 8435, known as the Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) of 1997 in the Philippines, the agricultural sector has been targeted as the main springboard for the countrys industrial take-off in the near future. Being the banner program of the government, the Department of Agriculture (DA) as implementing agency is faced with the task of putting the countrys land resources under optimum productive efficiency and sustainable management. Under AFMA, Region 02 has been primed up to be the food basket of the country in the north. Undoubtedly, the pressure in the uplands would increase, as the search for more arable lands continues over time. Likewise, problems associated with inorganic fertilizers, pesticides, and other agrochemical products application will consequently add health nuisance to the already polluted environment. In the uplands, where the vast open public areas lie, many landless and poor peasants rush in and strive to make a living from the already degraded resources. Generally, people living in these areas live below subsistence level and are locked in the vicious cycle of poverty and environmental degradation. Under such continuously worsening condition, the balance between burgeoning population and food supply threatens to collapse as the natural resource base is shrinking and degraded evermore. Securing the food basket of a typical upland household amidst the fast changing state of the natural landscape poses a big challenge to agricultural modernization in tandem with the countrys pursuit of sustainable development. Considering the unique natural endowment of Cagayan Valley as having a rich biodiversity reserve, the issue on hand is how to strike a balance between addressing the concern for increased food production and the need to preserve the remaining natural resources for biodiversity conservation.
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Figure 1. Diagram showing the tripartite agreement scheme/framework among the LGU, academe, and PAFERN and LGU, academe, and farmer group/community.

Convergence Modality for the Start-Up Project: The Soft Technology Phase
The creation of URDC was timely with the Philippine Agroforestry Education and Research Network (PAFERN), which has been assisting member institutions develop their agroforestry research and extension capabilities, as its Swedish International Development Aid (SIDA) funding came to an end in December 2004. URDC was then one of those qualified member institutions awarded by the Network seed money to implement a research and extension project that operates under partnership arrangement starting September 2003. Thus, the URDC came into partnership with PAFERN under this scheme for a start-up project. The local government unit (LGU) of San Pablo is known as among the first towns in Isabela, Northeastern Philippines that developed a municipal forestland use plan in the province. Being under the leadership of progressive-minded local executives, it seeks to fully implement the said plan consistent with the principles of sustainable development. Its low technical capability, however, makes it difficult to mainstream the practice of sustainable land use among its constituents, especially in the uplands. On the other hand, the Isabela State University (ISU), College of Forestry and Environmental Management is one among the four Centers for Excellence in Forestry Education in the country. Having a pool of experts in agroforestry and sustainable agriculture, it endeavors (in collaboration with other colleges and departments of the university) to become an effective channel of upland technologies in Cagayan Valley Region. Thus, through the research fund of PhP 50,000.00 granted by PAFERN to ISU, Cabagan, Isabela in September 2003, a double tripartite agreement among LGU, academe, and PAFERN and LGU, academe, and farmer group/community for the implementation of the agroforestry extension project was forged (Figures 1 and 2). The vice-mayor, in her power as the chair of the Sanguniang Bayan (SB), i.e., the legislative body of the LGU, open-heartedly endorsed and approved their PhP 50,000.00 counterpart. Thus, the end in view to create an Agroforestry Extension Team from among the locals that comprise the first practitioners and extension agents of sustainable upland farming technology in the municipality has materialized through a series of project briefings, Lakbay Aral (Guided Study Tour), consultative meetings and other forms of social negotiations. This event coincided with the URDC teams effort to fine tune the joint ISU-Department of Agriculture-Bureau of Agricultural Research (DA-BAR) Integrated and Sustainable OnFarm Upland R&D Project. It was then later agreed by the URDC team that both PAFERN and DA-BAR projects would have the same study site and farmer participants.

Figure 2. A photo showing the signing of MOA among the LGU vice-mayor, URDC director, and the farmers group. (Photo by CDCAS faculty-partner.) Figure 3. The LGU-SMI mayors wife during an IEC with the farmers.

Convergence Modality for the Banner Project: The Hard Technology Phase
The Integrated and Sustainable Upland On-Farm R&D (ISU R&D) Project, the flagship of URDC, commenced on August 24, 2004 upon the release of the PhP 1,000,000,000.00 grant from DABAR. It is a 3-year project with the overall aim to demonstrate the economic viability and ecological soundness of certain upland technologies that can address rural farm households concerns both for food and cash on a sustainable basis. It is at this juncture that the LGU San Pablo mayor (the same person of LGU San Pablo vice-mayor under the PAFERN project) was all the more delighted for further partnership with URDC with much hope that she might be able to cause poverty alleviation and enhance food security for the future generation among her farmer constituents. Thus another tripartite agreement was forged among the LGU, Academe, and DA-BAR. The mayor approved their PhP 500,000 worth of material and technical assistance as counterpart for the project. It was just unfortunate that she was no longer the mayor during the period of the project implementation. Nevertheless, she left a legacy to her constituents as the new mayor embraced the project by releasing the previously approved fund by the prior mayor. Being development-oriented people, the LGU officials embraced the second offer of partnership by URDC due to the fact that they were delighted with the promise that the future of their generations generation is ensured through the adoption of the following distinctive of the project: conducts downstream research; engages in improving and fine tuning already tested technologies; packages, disseminates technologies and process documents, mode of transfer; and concerns more on finding the best combination of technologies, incentives, appropriate institutions, and partnership arrangements for an effective delivery system. All the above-mentioned premise of the project delighted the officials of two other LGUs of San Mariano (LGU-SMI) and Palanan (LGU-PI), Isabelaeach with an approved counterpart fund of PhP 500,000. In April 2005, the mayor of LGU-SMI also embraced the project (Figure 3). In February 2005, the mayor of LGU-PI embraced the project. In her power as the local community executive, she immediately appropriated from her discretionary fund the PhP 500,000.00 counterpart fund for the improvement of a project previously planted and abandoned on a LGU-DA farm (Figure 4).

Figure 4. The LGU-PI mayor together with her husband ex-mayor in the LGU-DA-established model farm.

Lessons Learned
Building partnership through technology transfer among LGU, academe, and farmers requires organizational, coordinative, and facilitative skills. The LGU as a supra-local actor is a strategic conduit of technology transfer because of its socio-political influence on its constituents. There is much to explore in terms of expanding the LGU institutional capacity for partnership, given the new role of LGU as the local manager of the natural resources as embodied in the local government code. The LGU is much more motivated to enter into collaborative undertakings with the academe if it perceives its role as co-implementer rather than just a project support. Breaking farmers dole-out mentality requires strict rules, transparency, consistency in project implementation, and extra understanding of their socioeconomic realities. Recognizing farmers initial good performance results in improved
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confidence and level of participation. Farmers do respond more to on-the-job training and on-farm Farmers benefited more in the educational trips and on the job visitation under farmer-to-farmer interactive teaching approach training than classroom-type lectures or visits to simulated technolthan classroom monologue learning situations or through simulatogy demonstration sites. ed demonstration set-ups. Training activities should do away with The farmer-to-farmer interactive extension approach is much more the classical classroom-type learning. Rather, more interactive and effective than scientist-to-farmer technology transfer mode. experiential adult education and gender-sensitive methods should Resource counterparting develops a greater sense of collective be employed. responsibility and draws mutual respect among partners. Formation of a local agroforestry extension team through a gender The experiential learning process takes time but it is effective in sensitive, transparent, process-oriented, demand-driven, experiential, changing rural farmers attitude toward technology adoption. and interactive on-farm learning approach can be easily achieved by partnership arrangement under a development-oriented LGU, socially equipped academe, and exploratory-nature farmers. There Conclusion and Recommendations should be more projects to be funded and tested of this kind. Dynamic partnership in technology transfer among LGU, academe, and farmers is viable under a progressive thinker local executive, participatory development-oriented university faculty staff, Literature Cited and highly motivated organized farmer participants. This kind of CINCOTTA, R.P., AND R. ENGELMAN. 2000. Natures Place: Human Population and the Future of Biological Diversity. Population Action partnership should be upscaled countrywide. International. The LGU is a potential organizational conduit for technology transfer, being the intermediary link between the community and CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL-PHILIPPINES (CI-P)/DENR/BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION PROGRAM-UPLB. 2006. Philippine the central government agencies for rural development. It has the Biodiversity Conservation Priorities: A Second Iteration of the political influence and the required resources to make things hapNational Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan. pen at the local level. However, we need to create more spaces for it to continue to come to the fore through provisions of enabling CI-P/DENR. 2004. Sierra Madre Biodiversity Corridor Design and Implementation Framework. policies, institutional incentives, and capacity building, especially CONSERVATION INTERNATIONAL-WASHINGTON DC (CI-W). 2004. increasing their involvement and tapping their leadership; Conserving Earths Living Heritage: A Proposed Framework for The academe best functions as training organizer and facilitator. It Designing Biodiversity Conservation Strategies. should refrain from being always the information source but rather CI-W. A Future for Life: Vision, Action, Results: CIs Strategy for 2005function as network of new ideas and support systems. 2010. Breaking farmers dole-out mentality requires strict policy, incentive, and sanction measures to bring forth the desired resulting REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL 02. 2005. Cagayan Valley Regional Physical Framework Plan (2001-2030). NEDA, behavior. Local counterparting and value transformation have to Tuguegarao City. be constantly introduced,

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Developing Strategies for an International Research Organization

Risto Pivinen
European Forest Institute The European Forest Institute (EFI) was established in 1993 as a Finnish Association. Today, the Institute is an international organization with 17 member countries and more than 130 member organizations, and it has growing regional activities throughout Europe. This article describes the process of developing strategies for the Institute, starting from the mapping of the changing business environment to formulation of vision, key functions, long- and short-term goals, and finally the methods for measuring performance of the organization towards its goals. It is concluded that both the results of the strategy development and the working process itself have value for the organization. Keywords: research strategies, networking.

Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Risto Pivinen, European Forest Institute, Torikatu 34, Joensuu 80100, Finland. E-mail: risto.paivinen@efi.int. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

he idea behind establishing the European Forest Institute (EFI) in 1993 was the need for a new organisation that would focus on pan-European research issues and concerns, and serve as an information centre in specific topic areas. EFI was founded as an association based on Finnish law in October 1993. From a modest base of 12 members, the Institute had extended its membership base in 2005 to 135 member organisations in 34 European countries and in five countries outside Europe. This positive development confirmed both the relevance and the role of the Institute in Europe. Based on an extensive consultation of EFI member organisations and the European States, a convention on EFI was agreed on and signed by 20 countries in August 2003. As the ratification process in the first eight countries was completed, EFI became an international organisation in 2005, and the Finnish Association was abolished. The ratifying countries became thus called the Members of EFI, and the organisational members became Associate and Affiliate Members. At this stage, the re-established Institute started to revise its vision and strategies to achieve the long-term goals. The EFI strategy development is divided in the following phases: 1. Development of the overall vision 2. Defining the key functions of the Institute 3. Formulating strategic long-term goals for key functions 4. Deriving short-term goals corresponding to the strategic goals 5. Identifying critical elements in order to achieve the goals 6. Developing methods to assess the performance towards the goals Today, EFI is a forest research network consisting of the following core units: Headquarters (HQ) and network elements outside HQ, namely Regional Offices (ROs), Project Centres (PCs) addressing special issues on a fixed term basis, and Associate and Affiliate Members, thus comprising a broad institutional and expert network. EFI has 40 employees in the headquarters in Joensuu, Finland, an annual budget of 3 million Euros, Project Centres in seven countries, and a Regional Office in Barcelona, Spain covered by voluntary contributions.
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Vision
When looking outside of the Institute, there are visible signs that the forest research business environment is changing. There are some trends having impact on forest research, its funding and organising which can be identified as the following: Climate change is advancing, affecting ecosystems functioning and causing abrupt changes through natural disasters. Urban values are becoming more popular, creating new kind of pressure towards forests and forestry. European energy policies are changing the structure of wood and fibre consumption, and consequently also that of the wood markets. Forestry and forests are often seen as a part of a larger entity fading away as a separate concept in research, education, and administration. All the facts above call for pan-European research with efficient organising and networking with other research fields and other professions. The concept of EFI has proved to be suitable for these tasks and has therefore benefited from these developments. The total forest research capacity in the National Forest Research Institutes (NFRIs) in Europe is approximately 3,000 researcher-years annually (Figure 1). Universities and other forest-related institutes in Europe account close to the same amount as the NFRIs. In other words, EFI represents only less than 1% of the European forest research capacity. In this context the strengths of EFI are: a growing membership base and its broad geographic scope; the potential to represent the Institutes network in the European scale issues; the establishment of regional activities concerning the European dimension; the potential to become the main interface between forest policy-makers, and to analyse such policies on the European scale; and the Institutes track record as an information provider and disseminator. In order to enforce the Institutes existing potentials described above, the following vision statement was formulated: EFI is the leading institution conducting and advocating forest research and facilitating forest research networking at the panEuropean level. It is a provider of, and major contact point for unbiased, policy-relevant information on European forests and forestry. As there are many competent research centres in various European countries, it is emphasised that the weight in the vision statement is in the expression networking at the pan-European level. In this respect, EFI is the sole actor.

Figure 1. Forest research years in the National Forest Research Institutes (NFRIs) in Europe.

structure, and networking services to Associate and Affiliate Members and the forest and research community as a whole to allow efficient mobilisation of research capacities, to respond to emerging needs, and to facilitate cooperation with other relevant fields of research. The research issues of pan-European interest are best addressed by an international research organisation with a network of leading experts. Conducting quality research of its own supports the integration of EFI into the scientific community and increases credibility in performing its other core activities. To satisfy the various needs for value-added, science-based information, EFI compiles and disseminates information on European forests and forestry for a broad base of target groups which will be able to benefit from having easy access to information and expertise at their disposal. On one hand, the forest research community in Europe needs to address the role of science-based information in decision- and policymaking, and on the other hand it needs to maintain and upgrade its research capacity in order to fulfil the information needs. The added value of EFIs advocacy role for the research community is in the improved access of forest research institutions to political and industrial decision-makers on the EC and Member State level thus enhancing support for the funding of scientific projects and programmes.

Strategic Long-Term Goals for the Next 15 Years

The tentative goals for networking until 2022 are the provision for Associate and Affiliate Members with increased efficiency in their Key Functions tasks through better cooperation, mobilisation of research capacities, In order to carry out the EFI vision, the following have been iden- and pooling of available resources. This includes a three-level infratified as the key functions of EFI: structure (Figure 2) in which each interested party may choose the to facilitate and stimulate forest research networking at the appropriate level of participation: pan-European level; integrated research network of Headquarters and Regional to conduct research and provide expertise at the pan-European Offices, level; thematic Project Centres with limited duration, or to promote the supply of unbiased and policy-relevant infor support services for connecting forest researchers both within mation on European forests and forestry; and the forest sector, with other relevant fields of research, and to advocate for forest research and for scientifically sound with relevant stakeholders. information as a basis for policy-making on forests in Europe. The ultimate research goal is policy relevant and high quality work. As for the networking, EFI will provide a platform, an effective infra- Research includes functions of capacity building based on research22
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Figure 2. Networking levels of EFI. Figure 3. Organogramme of EFI. based expertise. Tentatively, the goals of the EFI research and expertise are as follows: EFI research provides target groups with results useful for their needs. EFI continuously identifies policy relevant research issues and builds know-how in the state-of-the-art of forest science in Europe, and defines strategic directions for its research. EFI utilises the best expertise, methodology, and data available by relying on highly qualified staff and a European network of highly competent research scientists, extending its research capacities through PCs, and through networking and cooperation with Associate and Affiliate Members and other relevant research bodies. EFI provides research-based expert services to target groups in issues of pan-European relevance. In order to efficiently serve policy-making and provide valueadded information, the EFI research strategy needs to point out clear preferences in the research issues. The following research directions are potentially included in the EFI research activities and provision of expert services: Foresight studies on future conditions of forest-based well-being, state-of-the-art of forest research, forests as renewable resources for wood, energy, water, and other goods and services, effects of forest on economic, environmental, social, and cultural sustainability, impacts of climate change, supply, demand, trade, and value chains of timber and other forest products, competitiveness of forestry, and the best practices of governance in the forest sector. As long-term goals of information provision strategy are: EFI is established as a major contact point for researchers and decision-makers seeking unbiased and policy-relevant information on European forests and forestry. Besides disseminating its own research results, EFI provides links to other existing forest-related information, provides value-added syntheses, foresight, conclusions, and options for decision-making. New and innovative ways of compiling and presenting information are continuously explored and developed. The long-term goals of the advocacy function include: The forest research community in Europe is seen as a wellorganised group, able to react on policy needs by carrying out relevant research, and willing to bring important scientific findings to be discussed in the political arena. In this way, the forest research community contributes to the development of the science-policy interface. At a global level, EFI represents Europe in various occasions for advocating forest science, respectfully.

Possible Critical Success Factors and Indicators

At institute level, there are a number of potential factors which create the basis for successful implementation of strategies. First of all, clear and communicated goals will make it possible to concretise the links between strategy and actions helping staff members in various tasks to place themselves in the strategy. Secondly, without capable and motivated staff no organisation can survive. Special attention should be paid for in recruiting and keeping good staff members. Also a good working environment and the reputation of the institute as an attractive employer are essential. Reliable service image among research community and among the clients will contribute to the research networking and success in fund-raising. To keep the key processes running smoothly, those have to be identified and prioritised with the aim of being effective and transparent. Critical success factors have a certain sequence, some of those being prerequisites to the others. To start with, funding should be available before recruiting staff members who will be able to create the good reputation. The factors also have a feedback mechanism: more funding needs capable staff and good reputation. In case of an existing organisation, such as EFI, all critical factors are there, some better developed than others. The strategy work and its implementation aim at identifying the critical success factors, and managing these factors to support the carrying out of the strategic goals.

Developing Methods to Assess Performance Towards Strategic Goals

In order to systematise the planning and monitoring processes, the steps towards the goals have to be measurable. Introduction of clearly defined success indicators increases transparency of the management and provide criteria for motivation and rewarding the staff. The success indicators should cover various dimensions, such as impact, quality, and effectiveness. The activities should have an impact to clients, policy-making, science, or other relevant sectors of the Institute. The impact assessment reflects the possibilities in forest policies, forestry practices of public attitude towards forest sector due to the research findings. The quality of the activities does not only include the quality of research, but also the supportive functions, such as administration and internal communication. A standard way of measuring research quality is the number of peer reviewed articles in scientific journals. With this success indicator it is possible to measure the effectiveness
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of the activity by input/output ratio, such as workload/achievements. The approach is to select a set of success indicators for key processes and/or key management units of the organisation. The indicators are used in communicating the strategic goals at all levels of the organisation. The challenge is to select a limited amount of indicators and to address the organisational units responsible for performance measured by indicators.

Organisation
The EFI organisation first developed its time as an association, which was then amended through the establishing of the international organisation. The Convention on EFI defines the organs of the Institute with the following division: a Council, a Conference, a Board, and a Secretariat headed by a Director. EFI has also established other operative organs for implementing its purpose and functions (Figure 3). EFI structure at the Headquarters in Joensuu, Finland, is based on four Research Programmes and a Research Support group which is divided into two teams, administration and communication. The Project Centres in seven countries and the to-be-established Regional Office in Barcelona, Spain, complement the activities to have a truly European coverage. The Research Programmes, RO, and PCs implement EFI strategies as defined by the EFI Board and approved annually in the EFI Conference by the Associate Members. Member countries set the higher level of EFI policy framework in the Council meetings every third year. In addition, EFIs Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) advises the

Board and Director, and various administrative meetings at the HQ assist the Director in the running of management issues. The financial and substantial reporting takes place at the EFI Annual Conference and it is prepared by the Secretariat and the Board. In the organisational development, the operative organs and their tasks will be under discussion: Headquarters, Regional Offices and Project Centres, the Scientific Advisory Board, Research Programmes, and various teams of the Secretariat. The aim is to define the bodies and their tasks to maximise the cost-efficiency in achieving the strategic goals. Over the recent years it has been noted that the development of the HQ has been stabilised whereas the PC and RO sector is growing faster. For organisational and managerial structures this means that the distance-management is increasing. EFI needs to consider its organisational structure, of having more systematic management tools applicable everywhere, in the HQ, ROs, and PCs, and clearer communication on how all staff members could work effectively towards the strategic goals selected.

Conclusions
The strategy is of uttermost importance in communicating the intentions of the organisation internally to its members, member organisations, and staff members, and externally to the clients of research and to a broader general public. But it is not only the result that makes a difference. The process itself, the discussions among the staff, member countries, member organisations, Board, and SAB members, has already in this stage helped to identify the potentials and challenges of a network organisation, such as EFI, to utilise the possibilities and find its niche and clientele in the changing business environment.

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Forest Research in the United Kingdom: A View from the University Sector
Jeffery Burley
Director-emeritus, Oxford Forestry Institute; Past-President, IUFRO; Chairman, C-Questor plc The total area of woodland in Great Britain at March 2006 was 2.74m hectares of which one-third was state-owned and two-thirds private; total annual wood production in 200711 is predicted to approximate 12m cubic meters, rising to 14m by 2020, while total imports of forest products were 52m cubic meters in 2005. Public and government interest in forests and woodlands is significant and growing. However, support for four long-established forestry educational institutions is diminishing accompanied by a decline in the number of applicants for university and college places in forestry courses. At the same time, there is an increase in the number of institutions (50 in 2006) offering forestryrelated subjects at postgraduate, undergraduate, and technical levels, although many of these are minor components within wider courses of anthropology, biology, conservation, development studies, environmental studies, geography, and zoology. In the United Kingdom, at least 20 governmental and non-governmental organizations financed 490 forestry-related research projects in the financial year ended March 2005. The research is conducted by a large number of government institutions, conservation bodies, and universities. The total financial support in that year was 27.7m, but the low priority given to forestry in Framework Programme 6 of the European Union has led to a decline in funding. Recent changes in priorities have resulted in more research on biodiversity, socio-economics, marketing, and climate change together with dissemination of research results. Keywords: forest research, United Kingdom, forest resources, research institutions, research expenditure.

Political Structure, Demography, and Land Area

The political situation of the British Isles is somewhat complex (Figure 1). Great Britain (GB) is composed of England (E), Scotland (S), and Wales (W); the United Kingdom (UK) comprises these three countries together with Northern Ireland (NI). The British Isles is a geographic term to include all four of these countries plus the Republic of Ireland (RoI) and other small islands including the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands. Their human population numbers are rounded as follows: England 49m, Scotland 5m, Wales 3m, Northern Ireland 1.7m, and Republic of Ireland 3.5m (Table 1). Their land areas in thousands of square kilometres approximate 243 (E), 79 (S), 8 (W), 14 (NI), and 70 (RoI) (Table 1).
Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Jeffery Burley, C-Questor plc, 52 Berkeley Square, Mayfair, London W1J 5BT, United Kingdom. Email: jeff.burley@green.ox.ac.uk. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

Woodland Areas and Types in Great Britain

The total woodland area in Great Britain in 2006 was 2,743m hectares (approximately 13% of land area) partitioned almost equally between Scotland and England plus Wales (Table 2). There is a slight preponderance of conifers over broadleaved species, largely due to the large areas of plantations after two World Wars, with the great majority of these in Scotland (Table 2). Approximately one-third of the woodland area is managed by the state-owned
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Table 1. Population and land area of the British Isles. Country England Wales Scotland Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Population 49,138,831 2,903,085 5,064,200 1,685,267 3,458,479 Total land area (km2) 243,000 20,761 78,772 14,160 70,280

Sources: UK Census 2001 and Central Statistics Office, Republic of Ireland 2002.

Table 2. Woodland (thousand hectares) in Great Britain in 2006. Conifers Forestry Commission England Wales Scotland Great Britain Other Owners England Wales Scotland Great Britain All Woodland England Wales Scotland Great Britain 151 95 433 679 217 64 615 897 368 160 1,049 1,576 Broadleaves 53 12 27 92 701 113 261 1,075 754 126 288 1,167 Total woodland 204 108 460 772 918 178 876 1,972 1,121 285 1,337 2,743

Figure 1. The British Isles.

Source: Forestry Commission (2006).

Forest Enterprise of the Forestry Commission, while three-quarters are managed by a range of non-government owners (Table 2). The area of planted forest approximates to 1.9m hectares and semi-natural forests about 0.8m hectares. In the financial year 200506, approximately 8,000 ha of new forest were established and 13,000 ha restocked. In the Republic of Ireland the Government Forest Service is the forest authority responsible for overall forest policy, legislation, administering grant aid, forest research, and production of forest statistics. The Republic of Ireland has 9% forest cover (84% exotic plantation conifers and 16% broadleaved species). The percentage of semi-natural forest is low. The most valuable portion of the latter has legal protection as Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) among other conservation categories.

Changing Nature of Forestry

In common with forest policy and management in many parts of the world, the structure and objectives of forestry in the UK in the last half century have changed significantly. In very broad terms, the decade of the 1950s concentrated on the restoration of the capacity for industrial wood production, the 1960s began to examine the potential for improving wood quality, and the 1970s considered the quality of pulp and paper globally. Non-wood products were not as important in the UK as in many other countries, particularly developing countries during the period from the 1950s to 1990s but there is now an increasing demand for a range of such products including potential fuel biomass. Rather later than in developing countries, forestry in the UK also began to focus in the 1990s on the roles of forests in supporting agriculture, generating environmental benefits including water, soil, climate, and local micro-environmental health, and social aesthetic and recreational services. Late in the 20th century serious programmes were initiated to involve civil society in the management of woodlands and the planning and creation of new forests. Devolution of the control of forests in GB also began in the 1990s. The statutory government agencies for forestry, agriculture, and conservation were split into separate country units with separate, though often complementary, policies. Commercial forestry increasingly moved from government to industry and private owners while conservation remained with government though it was often re-allocated to civil society organizations. Great attention was paid to the global

Forest Products
Despite the extent of the forest cover in the United Kingdom, forest products are major imports (over 5 bn, US $10bn in 2006). In 2005, the actual production within the UK included 0.66m cubic meters of hardwood timber and 10.75m cubic meters of softwood. The total imports were 52.5m cubic meters in 2005, mainly for sawn lumber and pulpwood or paper products. A total of 8.1m cubic meters underbark of British roundwood timber was delivered to primary wood processors and others in 2005, an increase of 3% from the previous year. The Forestry Commission predicts annual production between 2017 and 2021 will peak at 1m cubic meters of hardwood and 15.5m cubic meters of softwood.
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impacts of national and local decisions on forests and to the role that Table 3. Membership of Forestry Research Coordination Committee. UK forestry and foresters can play in international development. Natural Environment Research Council Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council Forest Education Formal forestry education in the UK began in 1885 at the Royal Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Engineering College in Coopers Hill (near Windsor) when a special Energy Technology Support Unit course was initiated by William Schlich, a German professor of silvi- Department for International Development culture who had been employed by the British to help other German Forestry Commission professors establish what became the Indian Forest Service (IFS); this Scottish Executive Environment & Rural Affairs Department became the model for forestry organization throughout the British Department of the Environment, Transport & the Regions Commonwealth. The Coopers Hill graduates were intended for the Department of Agriculture for Northern Ireland IFS, and in 1905 the School of Forestry was transferred to Oxford University of Aberdeen (representing the universities) University to educate foresters for the Empire; Professor Sir William Environment Agency (representing the environment agencies) English Nature (representing conservation agencies) Schlich became the first Professor of Forestry at Oxford. At about the same time, courses or departments of forestry were The Scottish Forestry Trust (representing forestry charities) being established at the Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Source: FRCC (2006). Wales (at Bangor). These were the four forestry schools in the UK for much of the 20th century and they taught traditional forest management, silviculture, products, ecology, and related biophysical and Table 4. Total expenditure on forestry research by FRCC organizasocio-economic sciences, particularly at bachelors degree level. In tions over the last 10 years. Annual costs are shown as actual expen1992, major reforms in the higher education sector ended the distinc- diture in the year and also adjusted to s 2004/05 (1 = c. US $1.8). tion between universities and polytechnics. Many existing universi- The numbers of organizations who submitted data in each year are ties and some newly created universities and colleges began to teach also shown. either whole forestry degree courses or forestry modules within other No. of Total expenditure subjects; these included agriculture, anthropology, arboriculture, Year ending contributors (thousand s) development studies, environmental science and management, horti- March to database Current year 2004/05 culture, and geography. 15 19,980 25,228 Also, new qualifications were introduced; the older universities 1996 1997 18 19,548 23,911 added taught MSc courses that proved valuable in providing some 1998 21 21,050 24,995 level of professional skills to graduates from non-traditional subjects. 1999 24 21,864 25,250 Others added non-degree programmes including the Higher 19 22,234 25,070 National Diploma, and a greater degree of overlap between profes- 2000 21 27,097 29,877 sional and technical training emerged. Many of these institutions fol- 2001 22 28,484 30,666 lowed the lead of the Oxford Forestry Institute from the 1960s in 2002 22 26,525 27,872 offering short professional courses, and now several provide distance 2003 23 27,791 28,492 learning and part-time courses or help with on-the-job training. The 2004 20 27,670 27,670 Institute of Chartered Foresters is the standard-setter and arbiter of 2005 the quality and relevance of many of these qualifications for the pro- Source: FRCC (2006). fession; graduates of several of the institutions are exempted from all or some of the Institutes entry qualification examinations. There are currently nearly 50 forestry courses over all further edu- of the British Governments quinquennial Research Assessment cation levels; this figure may be compared with 330 courses based on Exercise (RAE) in which peer-reviewed papers in high quality jourenvironmental subjects. Modules that provide aspects of forestry are nals carry great weight. Forestry departments have been swallowed by offered within the wide range of conservation and environmental larger departments with strong molecular biology or environmental degrees. Twelve universities offer forestry degrees including eight science programmes that attract government, industrial, and charitaHND/Foundation degrees, ten BSc courses, and one MSc course ble support for research. This decreases the ability of such departAlthough several of these universities undertake some research relat- ments to teach and research applied subjects and diminishes the reped to forests (e.g., biodiversity, ecology, entomology, sociology), few utation of traditional forestry institutions. At the graduate professional level, different employers require clasof them now conduct research on forest management, silviculture, or sical forestry sciences and skills, modern business management abiliproducts. Within the UK there is declining interest among school-leavers in ties, and social communication skills. This becomes particularly pursuing careers in science generally and the vocational applied sub- important as foresters recognize the economic, environmental, and ject specifically. In contrast to the decline in school-leavers entering social objectives of forestry, manage forests as multiple-use enterprises, undergraduate forestry courses, there has been an increase in numbers and interact in interdisciplinary teams, but interdisciplinary research of mature students and those following part-time courses. The num- reports are less attractive to assessments based on pure science. In the UK, forestry policy is devolved to the country administraber of women graduates is also increasing, although there is still a public perception that forestry is a stereotypically male, physical job. tions. England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland each have difA common trend within universities themselves in the last decade ferent priorities for their forests which are reflected in different weights has been the desire to increase cutting-edge, pure science rather than being given to forestry for economic, environmental, and social reaapplied problem-solving use of science. In part this reflects the nature sons. This affects the nature of forest management in public forests
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Table 5. Research expenditures by main keywords (thousand s in 2002/03, 2003/04 and 2004/05). Note: Most projects have several keywords so that project costs may be shown more than once. Keyword 2002/03 Biodiversity Conservation Timber properties and pulping Sustainability Soils Selection Entomology Short rotation coppice Pathology Climate change
Source: FRCC (2006).

Keyword 2003/04 1,753 1,785 1,721 1,421 1,320 1,151 1,015 970 920 869 Habitats Socio-economics Biodiversity Landscape ecology Water Agroforestry Soils Dissemination Climate Timber/Pulp 3,310 2,863 2.306 2,243 1,508 1,472 1,351 1,397 1,262 1,189

Keyword 2004/05 Dissemination Socio-economics Biodiversity Marketing Economics Climate Tree breeding Agroforestry Forest planning Habitats 3,466 3,438 2,132 1,830 1,531 1,516 1,469 1,382 1,315 1,296

Table 6. Forest research publications in CABI Abstracts. Period 197079 198089 109136 4868 4.5 1989 40.9 107 104 60 199099 157844 7613 4.8 3772 49.6 405 276 593 200007 130832 5466 4.2 2936 53.7 228 147 620 Total 91951 UK documents 2932 UK % of total 3.2 UK universities 1010 Univ % of UK 34.5 Forestry Depts. 30 Agric. Depts. 63 Environ./Ecology Depts. 19

and, together with the differences inherent in the types of forest, the regulation of private forestry. The balance of specialities and skills required is therefore different in each part of the UK as are the opportunities for employment. While a well-rounded forestry education is required by forestry professionals, this does have implications both for training at skills level and research funding at publicly funded research institutions such as the universities and regional centres of excellence.

Forest Research
Total expenditure on forestry and tree-related research in the UK is collated annually by the Forestry Research Coordination Committee (FRCC); see Table 3. The total annual expenditures between 1996 and 2005 are given in Table 4 adjusted to 2004/05 pounds sterling (). The annual spend was 27.7m in the year ending March 2005. This represents only a minor decrease from expenditures in the two preceding years. All data include expenditure on knowledge transfer, which is considered to be an important and integral part of most research programmes. The number of organizations (government departments, research councils, etc.) that commission forestry research in the UK has decreased slightly, as has the total number of projects financed (523 in 2002/03; 490 in 2004/05). EU funding, which had been steady over several years, dropped from 2.3m in 2002/03 to 1m in 2004/05 due to the low priority given to forestry in Framework Programme 6. Yearly variations in research expenditure occur for a number of reasons including differences in the annual budgets of funding organizations (reflecting changes in research priorities) and a trend in recent years for greater integration of forestry with rural affairs and social and environmental issues. This trend has resulted in a broader range
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of projects and a similar total expenditure each year, although research on forestry as traditionally defined (silviculture, yield prediction, etc.) has declined. In 2001, the wider definition of forestry research led to a change in the subject areas into which FRCC projects have been traditionally classified; however, changes in the priorities of forestry research are better reflected in the keyword analysis of the database (Table 5), although some double funding may occur in this table as a given project may be described by more than one keyword. Over recent years, more research has been done on biodiversity and conservation, marketing and economics, and climate change. In all topics, the expenditure on dissemination of research results has increased significantly. The UK has always been a major contributor of published research results. An analysis of the entire CABI database of abstracts over four decades (Table 6) shows that the total number of publications abstracted by CABI, particularly for Forestry Abstracts and Forest Products Abstracts, has been increasing by approximately 20% per decade. Of the 131,000 articles in slightly more than half of the present decade, 5,500 (4.2%) originated in the UK. Of these, 2,936 (54%) reported work carried out in universities. Some 8% of these were in forestry departments, 5% in agricultural departments, and 21% in departments concerned with ecological or environmental science; the remainder originated in a wide range of sociology, policy, chemistry, and biological departments.

Conclusion
Following the conclusions of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in 1992, and supporting the work of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, the UK Government embarked on a strenuous programme of scientific, managerial, and public consultation about the values of forests and appropriate methods of forest management. Public and government interest in forests and woodlands has developed significantly and continues to grow; civil society has had major impacts on the development of a national agreement and standard for forest management. However, support for long-established forestry educational institutions has diminished. There has been a major decline in the number of applicants for university and college places in traditional forestry courses. At the same time, there has been an increase in the number of institutions offering forestry-related subjects at postgraduate, undergraduate, and technical levels, although many of these are modules within wider courses of anthropology, biology, conservation, development studies, environmental studies, geography, and zoology. While these will contribute to a broader understanding of some objectives of forestry, there is concern within the forestry profession

at the potential decline in education for integrated resource management; there is a danger that some standard components of forestry education will disappear, possibly including silviculture, inventory, forest management, and planning for all forest benefits. This decline in integrated forestry education is paralleled to some extent by a decline in research relevant to traditional forest management and forest products. National forest research is coordinated, though not controlled, by the Forest Research Coordinating Committee; this maintains data on the sponsors of research and the institutions conducting the research. In the UK both government and non-government organizations finance research projects. The research is conducted by a large number of government institutions,

conservation bodies, and universities. The annual total financial support over the last 5 years has ranged from 27m to 31m. Recent changes in priorities have resulted in more research on biodiversity and conservation, marketing and economics, and climate change, together with the dissemination of research results.

Literature Cited
FORESTRY COMMISSION. 2006. Forestry Facts and Figures 2006. Forestry Commission, Edinburgh, UK. Available online at www.forestry.gov.uk. FORESTRY RESEARCH COORDINATION COMMITTEE. 2006. Information Note 64. Available online at www.frcc.forestry.gov.uk.

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Efficiency of Managing Forest Research: Contribution from Italy

Giuseppe Scarascia-Mugnozza
Institute of Environmental & Forest Biology, National Research Council, Porano, Italy The picture that emerges from the analysis of the forest research system in Italy is a chiaroscuro, a system with some lights and many shadows. The richness (or fragmentation!) of organizations, approaches and solutions to forestry problems, and research is in part related and somehow explained, if not justified, by the large variety of environmental conditions and forest ecosystem types that can be found in the Italian peninsula. Present day challenges for research, particularly in the field of the forest-wood-environment chain, include, from one side, the reduction of direct financial contribution from governmental funding agencies but increasing possibilities of raising funds in the broader market of public and private investments in research. The second crucial challenge is to cooperate and coordinate with similar institutions at the European scale to build a veritable European Research Area in the field of forest ecosystems, their products and services. To accomplish these fundamental tasks, few but clear points should be considered: (1) an increased interdisciplinarity by attracting into forestry good scientists from more fundamental disciplines; (2) a shift from sectorial research, more focused on traditional forestry approach to more integrated and long-term ecosystem research; (3) a large flexibility of institutions, scientific approaches, and funding schemes, giving first priority to scientific credit and excellence; (4) fostering horizontal integration at the EU level. Keywords: forest research in Italy, fragmentation of research institutes, flexibility and interdisciplinarity, European Research Area.

I
Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Giuseppe Scarascia-Mugnozza, IBAFCNR, Villa Paolina, Porano (TR) 05010, Italy. E-mail: giuseppe.scarascia@ibaf.cnr.it. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

talian forest landscapes have been managed and transformed by human populations for thousands of years: in fact, virtually all of the Italian forests are subject to silvicultural management while almost 50% of the Italian forest surface is coverd by coppice forests; moreover, animal grazing was so diffuse that co-evolution with forest trees is considered a characteristics of Mediterranean forests (di Castri 1981), and some tree species, such as Pinus pinea, Cupressus sempervirens, and Castanea sativa, planted since the GrecoRoman age, have become so wide-spread that they are even considered as characteristic elements of the Italian landscape. And yet, the natural history of the Mediterranean region combined with the large, environmental heterogeneity of the Italian peninsula have produced an extremely rich biological diversity of our forest ecosystems so that their ecological value is still exceptionally high.

The Forest Environment

Italy, thanks to its geographical position and configuration, is characterised by a large variation of geo-morphological and climatic conditions, ranging from Alpine to temperate and typical Mediterranean ecosystems. If, on the one hand, some of those environmental conditions may limit forest growth and slow down ecological succession, particularly because of summer drought, other conditions
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may also give rise to lush forest ecosystems, similar to those of central Europe. The rich biological diversity, the attractiveness of the environment, and the production potential in some pedo-climatic conditions are therefore strengths that should be valued and protected. A few data suffice to exemplify the richness of plant and animal species accommodated by this large diversity of ecological conditions of the Italian peninsula and, more in general, of the Mediterranean region. This area harbours about 25,000 plant species, whereas in central and northern Europe, a region four times greater, only 6,000 flowering plants and ferns can be found. Fifty percent of the Mediterranean flora are endemic to the region and evolved over a long time interval, under highly variable and diverse climatic conditions. In fact, it is possible to differentiate a Paleo-Mediterranean contingent, evolved in the pre-Pliocene period under tropical climatic conditions, from a Neo-Mediterranean group, originated from immigration and speciation after the establishment in the region of what we know today as a Mediterranean-type climate. Forest trees represent an important component of the Italian, and Mediterranean, flora; again, the number of tree species is quite large compared to the trees living in central Europe (100 vs. 30, respectively), with the genus Quercus alone presenting more than 20 species in the region: among these, up to 15 oak species can be found in Italy! Beside the Mediterranean and the Illyric (i.e., originated from the Balkans) forest species contingents, the Italian slopes of the Alpine region are covered by forest trees as Picea abies, Pinus sylvestris, Larix decidua, and Pinus cembra that in Italy reach some of the southernmost limits of their natural geographic ranges. Moreover, many of the Holarctic and Eurasian tree species survived during the glacial ages in Mediterranean refugia, particularly in the Italian peninsula, from where they re-colonized the continent when temperatures rose again at the end of glaciations, about 15,000 to 10,000 years ago (Huntley and Birkes 1989). In fact, intra-specific genetic variation in such species as Fagus sylvatica and Abies alba, in Mediterranean forests, is larger than in other European forests (Konnert and Bergmann 1995, Leonardi and Menozzi 1995). These large reservoirs of genetic variation deserve much more scientific consideration, also in view of the need of better adaptation of European forests to changing environmental conditions. The natural vegetation of the Mediterranean region is closely related to the typical features of the Mediterranean climate but depends also on the altitudinal factor, a very decisive one in this area of the world given the steep gradients that can be experienced from the sea shores up to the high mountains of the region. The truly Mediterranean vegetation zone is represented by the plains and the low-elevation valleys all along the sea coasts. It can be subdivided in the Thermo-Mediterranean and Meso-Mediterranean belts (Quzel 1985) and corresponds approximately to the area where olive trees are cultivated. As the elevation increases along the low and high hills and then the mountains, we pass from the Supra-Mediterranean to the Montane-Mediterranean and Oro-Mediterranean vegetation zones with completely different forest types. Latitude and topographic exposure also affect this vegetational succession, raising the boundaries of the various belts as we move from north to south in latitude and from north- to south-facing slopes. The Mediterranean vegetation is well adapted to difficult ecological conditions being characterized by mechanisms which counteract the deleterious effects of the environment (summer drought and wildfires) and to increase the ability of survivors to grow and reproduce. Mechanisms of response to environmental stresses include morphological, phenological, and physiological adaptations. Relevant
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morphological characteristics are small leaf size, especially in evergreen sclerophyllous species, deep root system, thick bark, and high sprouting ability. Phenological adaptations include an early and quick development of leaf area. Physiological adaptations include tolerance to tissue dehydration, early spring development of photosynthesis, plasticity of photosynthesis depending upon particular environmental conditions (winter photosynthesis in evergreen species), and ability for a complete recovery after a long summer stress period. Mechanisms of resistance to fire include high sprouting ability and thick bark in broadleaf species while conifers have early and large seed production, serotinous cones, and high ecological plasticity.

The Silviculture of Italian Forests

The Mediterranean area, being a transition zone between arid and humid regions of the world, can be especially sensitive to climate change and, in this respect, can be utilised as an interesting model system to study effects of global change on terrestrial ecosystems. Forest stand conditions in Italy span from late successional, highly diverse forest ecosystems to stands with reduced biodiversity, either made of planted pioneer species or natural but overexploited coppice stands. On the average, stand age is relatively young and the mean growing stock is modest with average values of about 200 m3 ha1 for high forest stands (range 115380 m3 ha1) and 112 m3 ha1 for coppices (range 85150 m3 ha1) (Italian National Forest Inventory 1985); sparse canopies are also frequently present. Hence, the issues related to sustainable forest management are potentially very relevant. The Italian forest surface is not static but is changing as in the overall Europe and in the Mediterranean basin; it has increased in the last 50 years at an annual rate of 0.51.0%, producing more than 2 Mha of new, natural forests all over Italy; obviously, their quality, growing stock, and species composition vary according to the different Italian regions and climatic conditions. Another index of sustainability of forest resources management is the average growing stock. In Italy it has increased steadily in the last 50 years, by approximately 50%, thanks to: (1) the conservative management of Italian forests that has reduced the rate of utilization of the annual forest increment to about 25% of the MAI (mean annual increment) for the whole national forest surface; (2) the silvicultural policy that has steadily increased the rotation lengths and transformed a significant portion of our coppice forests into high stands, particularly beech and oaks forests; (3) the possible effects of climate change with the increase of atmospheric CO2 concentration and nitrogen depositions. During the last century, an extensive reforestation activity has also been conducted by the national (Corpo Forestale dello Stato) and regional forest services all over Italy; recently planted forests amount to approximately 500,000 ha and were realized mainly from the 1950s through the 1970s. While largely successful, reforestation has produced simplified, pioneer forest ecosystems which need to evolve to more sustainable and diverse forests in order to increase their ecological stability and to reduce the risk of catastrophic events such as fires and pests outbreaks. The primary objective of reforestation in the region is soil protection and runoff control; however, in Italy as in the other northern Mediterranean countries, the resulting forests are expected to provide also significant wood production. In contrast to reforestation for land reclamation, a new role is foreseen for specialized tree plantations of fast-growing species, mostly poplars and eucalypts but also native and exotic conifers, with high production rates. These tree crops, cultivated as intensive plantations, agro-forestry systems, or line plantations and windbreaks, are beginning to meet a significant portion of the needs of various Mediterranean countries, as in Italy,

where they now supply about 50% of the national timber production. Also short rotation forest plantations are increasingly being planted in Italy, producing biomass for energy and industry. Total volume of wood and timber logged each year in Italy amounts at about 10 Mm3, with fuelwood still representing more than 50%, while the national requirements of the industrial and energy sector is much greater than the domestic supply. The Italian paradox is explained by the economical strength of its wood and paper industry, which is able to produce an overall revenue of about 30,000 M and a positive balance of trade of the entire wood sector of about 5,000 M. This positive balance, however, rests on a very fragile base since wood and timber production covers only about 20% of the national need while the remaining portion has to be satisfied by importing round-wood and semi-finished products. In Italy, large areas of broadleaf forests continue to be managed as coppices in order to fulfil the local fuel-wood needs. Fuel-wood requirement has even increased recently, partly because of developing social needs such as fuel-wood for domestic fireplaces, restaurants, and charcoal production; in mountainous regions, the communal ownership of many forests still affords the local residents the right to a quota of the wood production for their energy requirements. In the end, statistical data usually underestimate the real consumption levels since they ignore the amount of wood taken from the forests illegally. Ultimately, the value of our forests, as in the whole southern Europe, is largely related to their environmental and social functions. The risk of erosion, landslides, and floods being so high in the region, forests play a major role in protecting soil, stabilizing slopes, and reducing water runoff in the mountainous and hilly watersheds. This role is likely to become even more significant in the near future with the expected increasing occurrence of extreme climate events caused by global environmental change. In some Mediterranean countries, like Italy, most forests are under legal constraints for hydro-geological protection so that any conversion to another type of land-use is strictly forbidden. Nor can silvicultural operations be undertaken without permission of the forest authority. Also, major programs have been initiated in the afforestation of large areas for conservation purposes, the establishment of protected areas, and the conservation of existing forests, greenbelts and recreation forests, windbreaks, and plantations for the stabilization of sand dunes. C-sequestration is another environmental service provided by forest ecosystems that is increasingly becoming important worldwide, particularly in view of the well anticipated, and feared, climatic change. The net ecosystem productivity (NEP) is the net result, over a given time interval, of the carbon absorbed by foliage and the carbon respired by the green biomass and by the decomposing organism community in the soil. Carbon is therefore accumulated in the ecosystem mainly as woody biomass and as organic matter incorporated into the mineral soil, more or less recalcitrant to further decomposition. An interesting and unexpected result derived from forest ecology studies conducted along a latitudinal gradient, from boreal to Mediterranean ecosystems, within the CARBOEUROPE research network, is the observation of relatively high values of yearly Cabsorption measured in Mediterranean dense forests compared to the boreal and temperate forests. Mediterranean forests, from low elevations (dominated by Quercus ilex) to high elevations (Fagus sylvatica forests), under not severe water stress conditions, may reach NEP values of 4 to 6 tC ha1 yr1, almost double the NEP figures measured in the boreal ecosystems and also greater than some of the results obtained in the temperate forest ecosystems. One possible explanation that has been proposed (Valentini et al. 2000), beside the obvi-

ously longer vegetative season experienced by ecosystems at lower latitudes, is that soil respiration, one of the negative components of the ecosystem C-budget, could make a difference in forest ecosystems of Mediterranean Europe compared to Nordic ecosystems. Landscape conservation is another crucial ecosystem service supported by forests. The role of forests in improving and maintaining the beauty and functions of the landscape has long been recognized and is nowadays even more emphasized in the forest laws of many countries. Landscape and microclimate amelioration by forests is especially important in the densely populated urban and suburban areas of the Mediterranean basin (Corona and Mariano 1992), as well as in the many important historic sites. Proper planning, establishment, and management of natural and planted forests for the recreation, amenity, and relaxation of local populations and tourists are some of the important challenges of the coming years, which require institutional strengthening supported by regional cooperation and exchange of experiences. This is closely connected with the growing attention to eco-tourism as an economic perspective in many countries (Boydak and Dogru 1997). Presently, forestry problems in Italy as in other Mediterranean countries are intimately related to the most recent socio-economic and land-use trends of the region which, at their turn, are increasingly influenced by the recent occurrence of climate change. In southern Europe, while urbanization continues, abandoned agricultural lands become progressively covered by a woody vegetation of shrubs and young trees that eventually will give rise to natural reforestation as a result of secondary succession. This process, which proceeds at different rates according to local climate and soil fertility, is also favoured by the reduction of animal grazing in the forest, which previously inhibited the growth of the understorey. Management of production forests, in turn, is lacking both manpower and profitability, whereas some of the non-woody products, such as forage, fruit, cork, gum, and turpentine, have lost some of their importance and marketability. By contrast, the ecological, recreational, and landscape functions of the forest have increased their relevance as never before. But, it is difficult to give monetary values to these functions, and they provide no revenues to their private or communal owners. As a negative feedback loop, this results in an even diminished interest of the forest owners in cultivating and maintaining their forests and increases the risk for natural disasters such as soil erosion, land slides, and forest fires. There is a urgent need for devising silvicultural treatments that can assure stability and, particularly, natural regeneration to many forests of the region which currently are experiencing changes in species composition and stand structure because of shifting objectives in forest management. A major problem for Italian forestry are forest fires. The accumulation of fuel creates serious hazards, especially during the dry summer months, when combined with the negligence of tourists coming from the cities or with vandalistic acts. Despite better fire-fighting tools such as airplanes, helicopters, and forest roads, the large deployment of human forces, and the exponential growth of costs of the wildfire battle, forest fires are far from being effectively controlled and remain a very serious menace in the northern Mediterranean subregion (Lanly 1997). From 1985 to 1995, an average of about 1% (0.5 Mha) of the forest area was destroyed annually by fire in this sub-region, but the percentage was more than 3% in southern Italy as well as in Portugal and Spain. Even if wildfire prevention is a difficult goal to achieve, fire extension can be limited through effective measures. Therefore, much emphasis has been put, during the last two decades, on new methods for risk assessment, fire danger rating,
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and the development of physical fire behaviour models as well as specific silvicultural treatments (regulation of stand density, spatial distribution, fire breaks, etc.). Recently, prescribed burning has been legalised in some Mediterranean countries, but not in Italy; it may constitute a cost-efficient silvicultural tool not only for fuel control but also for wildlife management and other silvicultural purposes (Delabraze et al. 1991); but it is doubtful whether this system can be applied throughout the whole region. Finally, a better understanding of the socio-economic causes underlying these recurrent natural disasters and the implementation of effective prevention initiatives are urgently needed. Whereas forest and shrub vegetation is expanding in the northern Mediterranean countries in marginal and remote areas, natural forest vegetation in coastal zones, riparian belts, and suburban spaces is increasingly jeopardized by land development for tourism or industry, by transportation infrastructures, and by extensive degradation. The devastation and anarchic transformation of a complex mosaic of naturally vegetated and cultivated land patches, forming a system in quasi-equilibrium, is a major problem for the region and with it the loss of biological diversity and erosion of genetic variability of forest tree species (Scarascia-Mugnozza et al. 2000). Restoration of fragmented landscapes should be based on the recognition that the different segments and land uses in a landscape are closely interlinked ecologically and that the management needs to be integrated across the whole landscape rather than related to isolated landscape segments (Hobbs and Saunders 1993). This need is particularly evident in the Mediterranean basin where certain regions are almost completely devoid of forest vegetation or with completely isolated forest patches where their conservation, the management of wildlife and of biodiversity, and the adaptation of plants and animals to environmental changes are impaired.

Forest Research and Its Management in Italy

Historically, forest research in Italy has been devoted to long-term growth and yield observations and to studies of the effects of different management practices of natural forests, high stands and coppices, and forest plantations; management-oriented research on reforestation plots of native and exotic species has started in the 1960s because a large reforestation activity was just started at that time. Also, other themes of forestry research have been also multi-functionality, sustainable management, and specific aspects of Mediterranean forestry, with links to the landscape dimension, particularly for its ecosystem and cultural values. Among some specific research activities in forestry in Italy, it is possible to mention: (1) problems derived from overexploitation of forest stands and their degradation caused by fire and overgrazing; (2) natural forest expansion determined by re-colonisation of abandoned agricultural areas in the mountain and hill sites of the Italian Alps and of central-southern Italy; and (3) coppice management and conversion of former coppice stands to high forest (research and landscape issues). The following subjects should be considered as the main drivers of present-day forestry policy and forest research in Italy: Impacts of climate change on Mediterranean and mountain forests and their diversity, as well as the role of forest management for improving mitigation and adaptation potentials of forest ecosystems; Forest fires prevention, fighting, and post-fire ecosystem restoration; Land-use changes, farmland abandonment, and forest expansion;
34
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Integration of forest management and urban forestry in the land-use planning at landscape and regional levels; The economics of timber vs. non-wood forest products; Compensation for the private and public forest owners for the ecosystem services provided to society by forests; Ligno-cellulosic crops for industry, energy, and for remediation of contaminated water and soil; Foresight scenarios of the forest-based products and services chain. Long-term ecosystem monitoring is the base of the research on impacts of and adaptation to climate change. Long-term forest plots, particularly related to growth and yield, date back to the 1950s and some International Biosphere Programme sites were installed and studied already in the mid 1970s. In the country, there are also six sites of the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere (MAB) programme, five of which have a relevant forest component. Italy has also a long tradition in dendro-ecological studies while studies on the effect of air pollution started in the 1970s in Tuscany; continuous monitoring of forest ecosystems in the frame of the ICP-Forests/EU initiative started in 199596. The network of ICP-Forest level II sites (CONECOFOR project) currently encompasses 32 sites from Aosta Valley to Sicily and Sardinia, carefully monitoring tree growth and their physiological conditions, the soil component, the diversity of the plant component, and the climatic and atmospheric characteristics of quite diverse forest ecosystems, including Norway spruce (Picea abies, six sites), larch (Larix decidua, one site), evergreen (Quercus ilex, four sites), deciduous oaks (Q. cerris, Q. robur, eight sites), and beech (Fagus sylvatica, 10 sites). Some of these sites will also make up the core of the Italian LTER network (Long-Term Ecological Research). The first National Forest Inventory was completed quite recently, in 1985, while some regions and autonomous provinces have implemented their own forest inventories between 1990 and 2002. The second Italian Forest Inventory, including also the assessment of the forest carbon sinks, is presently being completed by the National Forest Service in collaboration with the regional services. Institutions conducting forest research in Italy are relatively numerous, belonging to three main organizations: the university system, the National Research Council-CNR (controlled by the Ministry of University and Research), and the Council for Agricultural ResearchCRA (controlled by the Ministry of Agricultural and Forest Policy). Among the academic institutions, 10 Italian universities offer forest science-related curricula, which are generally organized and awarded by agricultural science faculties. In such faculties, several departments are carrying out forest-related research, with different focuses. Among these ten universities the larger forest departments can be found mainly in northern and central Italy, within the universities of Florence, Padua, Viterbo, and Turin. The CNR institutes cover mainly fundamental and technological fields of research, oriented towards environmental and sustainability issues; within the National Research Council forest research activity concentrates mainly in four Institutes, Environmental and Forest Biology, Wood Technology, Forest Genetics and Forest Hydrology. More applied forest research is mainly conducted in the three Centres of the Council of Agricultural Research, the Centres for Silviculture, Forest Management, and Poplar Cultivation. Other research institutes operating in the forestbased sector include also the Pulp and Paper Institute of the Ministry of Industry, based in Milan, and some other CNR and CRA institutes only partially involved in forest research because dealing with such horizontal issues as plant pathology, biometeorology, and agricultural engineering as well as some regional institutes and centers.

As for the coordination and information sharing at scientific level, it is worth mentioning the Italian Academy of Forest Science, which is the historically recognised reference for forestry-related research in Italy being active since the 1940s. The role of the Academy is to promote forest science and its applications to forest management and environmental protection. In 1997, the scientific Society of Silviculture and Forest Ecology (SISEF) was funded. The Society is holding biannual Congresses (the sixth one will take place in 2007) with focus on forest-related research in Italy and links also to relevant end-users (a Working Group on Extension is present). The topics of interests for forest research are wide, ranging from silviculture and management to forest ecology and ecosystem functioning, from global change impacts on forests to carbon sequestration, from dendroecology to forest ecosystem protection. Most institutions and departments involved in forest research in Italy are generally managing experimental sites, both on specific projects and with long-term perspectives. Being so spread along the country, these experimental sites cover sufficiently the geographical, climatic, and forest features of the country. Sites at ecosystem to landscape scale are spread from the Alps to the Southern Apennine mountains and cover a wide range of forest types (from conifers to deciduous and to evergreen forest vegetation and plantations). There are also series of sites which have in common the research objective and then form informal networks. Two of the networks, respectively coppice forests and coniferous plantations, deal with two of the most relevant aspects of forest dynamics and management in Italy; these networks include also a relevant number of germplasm collections consisting of provenance and progeny test sites spread all over Italy and coordinated with similar experimental plantations within the Mediterranean region whose value is being internationally recognised in relation to global change adaptation. Another network (protected areas) concentrates on studying and monitoring the long-term dynamics (growth, evolution, etc.) of forest stands located in protected areas, where forest management is absent or reduced to minimal activity for decades. Research focusing on forest functional ecology started relatively recently in Italy, between 1970 and 1980, together with the development of environmental instruments and technology. In this respect, the special research projects funded by the National Research Council (CNR) and from the Ministry of Agricultural and Forest Policies in the 1980s and 1990s have played a very important role. Thanks to some university departments and CNR institutes, Italian research is currently playing a distinct role internationally for the measurements of carbon fluxes from forest ecosystems (13 stands currently equipped), but also from other land-uses (three grasslands and a couple of agricultural stands); this activity started in 1992 by measuring fluxes in a beech forest located in the Apennines mountains within the National Park of Abruzzo. Experimental studies on the impacts of climate change on forest ecosystems have also been a research topic in Italy, starting in the late 1980s with growth chamber experiments. Studies in the open field started in 1992, with the establishment of manipulation experiments on planted seedlings and on natural vegetation while studying the influences of elevated CO2 concentrations and atmospheric pollution. From 1999 to 2007, in central Italy has been active the first European Free-Ambient Carbon Dioxide (FACE) infrastructure on a forest system, installed on a multi-species short rotation poplar plantation, with the financial support of the EU Environment research program. A closer look to the numbers of forest research in Italy allows a better understanding of its role and dimension at the international scale. Nationwide, within the universities a total of 100 full-time,

Table 1. Annual budget (in M) of forest research in Italy divided by research institutions and by financing organizations. Salaries Competitive grants and National & functioning regional EU 15 10 5.5 30.5 1.5 1 1.5 4 1.8 1.2 3

Organisation Universities CNR Institutes CRA Institutes Total

Total 18.3 12.2 7 37.5

Figure 1. Partitioning of the number of research projects among various fields of forest based sector research for national/regional (A) and European (B) funding schemes.

permanent positions (full, associate, and research professors) are devoted to forest research and teaching; about half of these scholars are involved in forest ecology, silviculture, and forest management research while the remaining part being spread over all the other subjects, as wood technology, watershed management, plant protection, forest zoology, and forest economics. A large number of graduate students should also be included and considered in this inventory of forest research as they play a prominent and active role for the advancement of scientific knowledge in forestry. Within the other organizations it can be estimated that a total of 90 permanent and non-permanent scientists are involved in forest research within the CNR institutes while about 100 people are working in the centres of the agricultural experimental organization, the CRA. Overall, it can be considered that more than 300 scientists (permanent and non-permanent staff ) are involved in the various fields of research of the forest
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based sector in Italy, while approximately the same number refers to the technical and administrative staff. Total forest research funding and its partitioning among the various funding agencies are reported in Table 1; even though it is somehow difficult to exactly quantify and trace all the costs and financial supports to forest research activities, being so diversified its sources and actors, from environmental and biological research to more technologically and industrially oriented, it is estimated that they amounts at about 40 M annually with a slightly decreasing trend in the last 5 years. Competitive grants funding represent about 20% of the overall budget while almost half of them derives from European research programs. The partitioning of active research projects among the various fields of forest sciences is presented in Figure 1, A and B, respectively for the national/regional and for the European funding schemes.

Improving the Efficiency of Forest Research

The picture that is emerging from the present analysis of the forest research system in Italy is a chiaroscuro, a system with some lights and many shadows. Among its main traits, the following should be included: (1) a large fragmentation of organizations and laboratories conducting research activities in the various fields of forest sciences; (2) the low critical mass reached by most of its forest research institutes; (3) a rich diversity of themes and experimental approaches; (4) an intermediate ranking of Italy among the various European countries as for the total number of scientists involved in and overall budget dedicated to forest research; (5) the significant amount of research projects and funds granted by the EU Framework Programs; (6) the divergence of research themes funded through national vs. EU schemes, the former being oriented towards more traditional forest research fields whereas the latter paying more attention to more topical subjects as environmental changes, tree genomics, and forest biodiversity; (7) the relatively elevated mean age of permanent scientists involved in forest research and the very low rate of young scientists entering the research system. Given this situation the question can be raised on how would it be possible to improve quality and efficiency of forestry research in Italy. There has been already a reform of the two main scientific organizations, the CNR and CRA, with an aggregation of several laboratories into fewer institutes with a reduction of the scientific structures to about one-third of the original numbers, but fragmentation has not been solved. Also, a better coordination of the forestry institutes has been initiated through the introduction of so-called divisions that regroup the various institutes, one in the CRA mainly dedicated to forestry themes and the other in the CNR, mainly dedicated to environmental issues. This reform, however, still needs to be fully implemented. This richness of organizations, approaches, and solutions to forestry problems and research is in part related and somehow explained, if not justified, by the large variety of environmental conditions and forest ecosystem types that can be found in the Italian peninsula. Moreover, it has determined a large flexibility of the forest research system, its ability to rapidly shift to new, emerging scientific fields while often implementing a multi-disciplinary approach. In few words it can be summed up by stressing the point that surely fragmentation is a problem to be overcome but sometimes uniformity could be worse! In any case two main drivers will force and necessarily guide the reorganizations of forestry research in this country, one negative but the second largely positive: the reduction of research funding, main36
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ly at the national scale, and the rapidly emerging need to put in place a European Research Area also in the field of forestry, its products, and services (Houllier et al. 2005). This necessity of improving the quality and the outcomes of the research system in Italy is not only an important issue of the forestry sector but is a general necessity felt by the Italian society for the whole academic and research apparatus. A national agency for the evaluation of the research has been set up and has already conducted a first, nationwide survey of all the universities and the research organizations controlled by the Ministry of University and Research (but strangely enough not of the CRA agriculture and forestry research institutes controlled by the Ministry of Agricultural and Forest Policies!). The first exercise of the evaluation procedure, conducted in the year 2005, has ranked the universities, the research organizations, and their institutes according to a large set of criteria; the result has important bearing on the research budget: the closer to the excellence of the final evaluation of a given organization and institute, the greater the financial contribution from the governmental funds. The combined criteria for the scientific evaluation conducted at the national scale and within the various organizations, as the CNR, are as follows: Number and quality of publications; Critical mass of institutes and laboratories; Number of patents issued; Attractiveness of external funding with a ranking based on quality (international/EU funds, national, regional, private companies); Co-financing between external and internal funds; Attractiveness of foreign researchers; Ability to develop consortia or other types of formal links and relationships with private companies or public institutions; being able to demonstrate to play a significant role in orienting decision-making levels in forest and environmental issues; Participation to European initiatives (i.e., ESF, Technology Platforms). In conclusion, all over Europe and, even more so, in Italy we are facing a crucial time for research, particularly in the field of the forest-wood-environment chain. Present day challenges include, from one side, the reduction of direct financial contribution from governmental funding agencies but increasing possibilities of raising funds in the broader market of public and private investments in research. The second crucial challenge is to cooperate and coordinate with similar institutions at the European scale to build a veritable European Research Area in the field of forest ecosystems, their products, and services. To accomplish these fundamental tasks, few but clear points should guide our journey: (1) an increased interdisciplinarity that is to attract into forestry good scientists from more fundamental disciplines (i.e., from atmospheric sciences and physics, to biochemistry, genetics, and computer science), while increasing the collaboration between research institutes and university departments; (2) a shift from sectorial research, more focused on traditional forestry approach (production, management systems, etc.) to more integrated and longterm research approaches, including functionality, biogeochemical cycles, carbon sequestration, interactions with other ecosystem components (wildlife, etc.); (3) a large flexibility of institutions, scientific approaches, and funding schemes, giving first priority to scientific credit and excellence; (4) fostering horizontal integration at the EU level (i.e., by establishing common infrastructures and close coordination between forest research institutions and centers from different areas) rather than vertically merging organizations at national level.

Literature Cited
BOYDAK, M., AND M. DOGRU. 1997. The exchange of experience and state of the art in sustainable forest management (SFM) by ecoregion: Mediterranean forests. Ecoregional review. P. 179204 in Proceedings of the XI World Forestry Congress, 1322 October 1997, Antalya, Vol. 6. CORONA, P., AND A. MARIANO. 1992. Naturalistic afforestation for the improvement of a peri urban area under Mediterranean conditions. P. 981982 in Responses of Forest Ecosystems to Environmental Changes, Teller, A. (ed.). Elsevier Applied Science, Barking. DELABRAZE, P., B. HUBERT, H. OSWALD, AND J.C. VALETTE. 1991. L'Amnagement de la fort pour une meilleure prvention. La Recherche, 234 (Juillet/Aot supplment): 902907. DI CASTRI, F. 1981. Mediterranean-type shrublands of the world. P. 152 in Mediterranean-Type Shrublands; Ecosystems of the World, Vol. 11, di Castri, F., D.W. Goodall, and R.C. Specht (eds.). Elsevier, Amsterdam. HOBBS, R.C., AND D.A. SAUNDERS (eds.). 1993. Reintegrating Fragmented Landscapes. Springer Verlag, New York, p. 332. HOULLIER F., J. NOVOTNY, R. PAIVINEN, K. ROSEN, G. SCARASCIAMUGNOZZA, AND K. VON TEUFFEL. 2005. Future Forest Research Strategy for a Knowledge-Based Forest Cluster: An Asset for a Sustainable Europe. European Forest Research Institute, Joensuu, p. 50. HUNTLEY, B., AND H.J.B. BIRKES. 1989. An Atlas of Past and Present Pollen Maps for Europe, 013000 Years Ago. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 150. KONNERT, M., AND F. BERGMANN. 1995. The geographical distribution of genetic variation of silver fir (Abies alba, Pinaceae) in rela-

tion to its migration history. Plant Systematics and Evolution 195: 1930. LANLY, J.P. 1997. Foresterie circummditerranenne et coopration internationale. Comptes Rendus de lAcadmie dAgriculture de France 83(3): 5564. LEONARDI, S., AND P. MENOZZI. 1995. Genetic variability of Fagus sylvatica L. in Italy: The role of post-glacial recolonization. Heredity 75: 3544. QUZEL, P. 1985. Definition of the Mediterranean region and origin of its flora. P. 924 in Plant Conservation in the Mediterranean Area, Gomez Campo, C. (ed.). W. Junk, Dordrecht. RIGOLOT, E. 1993. Le brlage dirig en rgion mditerranenne franaise. P. 223250 in Actes du colloque "Rencontres ForestiersChercheurs en Fort Mditerranenne", 0607 Oct. 1992, La Grande Motte (34), France, Oswald, H. (ed.). INRA Editions, Paris, "Les Colloques" no. 63. SCARASCIA-MUGNOZZA, G., H. OSWALD, P. PIUSSI, K. RADOGLOU. 2000. Forests of the Mediterranean region: Gaps in knowledge and research needs. Forest Ecology and Management 132: 97109. VALENTINI R., G. MATTEUCCI, A.J. DOLMAN, E.-D. SCHULZE, C. REBMANN, E.J. MOORS, A. GRANIER, P. GROSS, N.O. JENSEN, K. PILEGAARD, A. LINDROTH, A. GRELLE, C. BERNHOFER, T. GRANWALD, M. AUBINET, R. CEULEMANS, A.S. KOWALSKI, T. VESALA, . RANNIK, P. BERBIGIER, D. LOUSTAU, J. GUAMUNDSSON, H. THORGEIRSSON, A. IBROM, K. MORGENSTERN, R. CLEMENT, J. MONCRIEFF, L. MONTAGNANI, S. MINERBI, AND P.G. JARVIS. 2000. Respiration as the main determinant of carbon balance in European forests. Nature 404: 861865

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Financing Forestry Research in an Era of Decreased Public Funding: Experience from the Association of Forestry Research Institutions in Eastern Africa (AFREA)
Ben Chikamai
Coordinator, Association of Forestry Researc h Institutions in Eastern Africa Funding for research and especially forestry research in developing countries has declined considerably over the last one and half decades. National research institutions (NARS) are the most affected, with government investment in research in Africa having fallen as low as 0.29% of the gross national product or even less. Compounded with other constraints, forestry research for development is suffering greatly in the region. Recognizing the decline in funding forestry research from governments, some of the NARS have come up with various initiatives of mobilizing financial resources in support of research. These include: Putting in place measures that improve efficient use of funds received from governments, Diversifying income sources including various innovative financing mechanisms, and Increased participation in collaborative research through networking. This article briefly reviews findings of a recent study on forest-related research capacity in Eastern Africa and examines how some of the NARS are implementing the above approaches at country level as well as participating in regional collaboration in the framework of the Association of Forestry Research Institutions in Eastern Africa (AFREA). Keywords: financing, forestry research, Eastern Africa.

Paul Konuche
Director, KEFRI; and Chairman, Association of Forestry Research Institutions in Eastern Africa

Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Ben Chikamai, Kenya Forestry Research Institute, P.O. Box 20412, Nairobi-Kenya. E-mail: benchikamai@ngara.org. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

nvestment in research is undergoing rapid changes. Globally, rates of investment in publicly funded research, particularly in the agricultural sector (including forestry and allied natural resources) have drastically reduced. The situation is even worse in Africa, which invests a mere 0.29% of her gross natural product in research (Ng 1996). The capacity to undertake forestry research in Africa is thus heavily constrained by inadequate resources resulting in weak national institutions. At regional level, there is weak cooperation mechanism, which often results in undesirable duplication while the capacity to participate meaningfully in international research efforts is more limited. A study carried out in Eastern Africa in 2001/2002 provides an overview of the challenges forestry research faces. The study analyzed the performance of forestry research capacity and identified the following as common issues and challenges (Spilsbury et al. 2003): Communication (especially internet-based) and access to electronic information resources is generally inadequate in most of the national research institutions (NARS). Potential for research efficiency gains from information sharing and improved coordination through this technology is thus largely unrealized. Financial resources available for research are extremely inadequate. Local funds are largely from the governments and are at most sufficient only to cover staff salaries and running costs. Salary levels are unattractive compared to other employment opportunities.
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 Bilateral donors provide funds mostly for operating costs. Most funding is ad hoc and driven by donor preferences. Multilateral donors provide capital expenditure but are few and far apart. Public/private enterprises are demand-driven but minimal. Income generating activities are rare. Human resources for research are quite variablelow to moderate. Staff retrenchment, loss of professional staff to higher paid employment and attrition related to aids pandemic contribute to erosion of human resource capacity. Research (physical) facilitiesvariable but for most part are poor and underdeveloped relative to international standards. As a result of the above, forestry research for development in Africa continues to suffer. However, faced with these challenges some of the NARS have come up with various initiatives of mobilizing financial resources in support of research. These include: Putting in place measures that improve efficient use of funds received from governments, Diversifying income sources including various innovative financing mechanisms, and Increased participation in collaborative research through networking.

Table 1. Income generating activities in KEFRI. Item Sale of forestry produce Training and/or hire of training facilities Rent (houses, electricity, water) Investment income from reserve funds (interest in treasury bill savings account, trading in stocks) Others (contract research, lab. services) Total Amount Ksh. 9 million Ksh. 12 million Ksh. 6.5 million Ksh. 7.5 million Percentage (%) 26 34 19 21

Ksh. 35 million

100

but now stands at 900 staff strength with 85 scientists (1:10). Target is 700 staff strength with 90 scientists (1:8).

Diversification of Income Sources

Funding from internal income generating activities at KEFRI is becoming an increasingly important source of revenue. In the financial year 2005/06 the Institute raised Ksh. 35 million (US$ 0.5 million) or 6.4% of the Institutes expenditure. This has steadily increased from Ksh. 3 million (US$ 0.04 million) in 1998. The main sources of revenue are given in Table 1. The institute is focusing on increasing its revenue base from the sale of forestry produce and offering contract research by engaging more with the private sector.

Measures to Improve Efficient Use of Funds: The Case of Kenya Forestry Research Institute
The government of Kenya is the main sponsor of research and development in the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI). In 2004/2005 government grants were Ksh. 458 million (US$ 6.5 million) and represented 83% of the Institutes total expenditure. In 2006/2007 financial year, the grants were Ksh. 574 million (US$ 8.5 million) representing about 84% of the Institutes expenditure. To ensure that the funds are efficiently utilized, the institute has put in place a wide range of measures: (i) Strictly implementing the current strategic plan (2005 2010) and adopted performance contracting for all senior scientific and administrative staff since 2005/2006 financial year. The strategic plan sets out objectives and activities from which the annual contract targets are derived. Within the plan: It has continued to implement a flexible research structure based on research programmes (initiated in 1998) that encourages teamwork and multidisciplinary approach in the preparation of proposals for funding and implementation of projects. Research stations have been restructured into six regional centers (from the original 14 stations). Adopted cost center management approach based on prioritized activities and approved budgets. Budgets must be compliant to set budgetary levels and have cost reduction measures, among others (e.g., pooling transport and efficient use of stationery). Implementing the Board of Management policy of spending about 40% of recurrent budget on operational activities by allocating more funds to research and development, which is the core mandate of the institute. Currently it is around 30% but increases to about 40% when development and donor funds fare considered. This is a significant improvement from 15% in 1998. (ii) Implementing staff reduction programme by targeting support staff not critical for research. Those who retire, resign, or leave for various reasons are not replaced. For example, in 1998 staff strength was 1,700 including 90 scientists (ratio of 1:18)
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Increased Participation in Collaborative Research

Collaborative research through networking is currently a common means of pooling limited resources (human, physical, and financial) together in addressing common research concerns and issues in this era of globalization and liberalization. Recognizing the need to strengthen national institutions (including research systems) and promote networking among them, a number of regional networks have been established. Those relevant to forestry and in particular forestry research include: the Forestry Research Network for Sub-Saharan Africa (FORNESSA), African Forestry Research Network (AFORNET), the Network for Natural Gums and Resins in Africa (NGARA), International Bamboo and Rattan Network (INBAR), and Sub-Saharan Africa Forest Genetic Resources programme (SAFORGEN). FORNESSA is currently closely affiliated to IUFRO and FAO. It has three nodes; AFREA, CORAD Foret, and SADC. AFORNET is currently hosted by the African Academy of Sciences while Bioversity International hosts SAFORGEN. NGARA is still affiliated to FAO and hosted by KEFRI and is in the process of being registered as an international NGO. Since 2000, AFREA has collaborated with FAO, IUFRO, CIFOR, and Bioversity International (former IPGRI) in implementing a total of nine projects as follows: FAO/AFREA 2 - Synthesis of past research and evaluation of research impact on plantation development in East Africa. Countries involved: Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. - Review and synthesis on the state of knowledge of Boswellia species and commercialization of frankincense in the dry lands of Eastern Africa. Countries: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, and Uganda.

 FAO/CIFOR 1 - Forest-related research capacity in Eastern Africa. Countries: Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. IUFRO SPDC 1 - Global forest information service. Countries: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Other service centers: Senegal (West African Sahel), Ghana (Humid tropics Anglophone), Gabon (Humid tropics Francophone), and Zimbabwe (Southern Africa). Bioversity International 1 - Review and appraisal on the status of indigenous fruits in Eastern Africa. Countries: Burundi, Eritrea Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. AFORNET/Bioversity 1 - Use and conservation of indigenous fruit tree diversity for

improved livelihood in eastern Africa. Countries in Phase 1: Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. AFORNET 1 - The improved management of Boswellia species and commercialization of frankincense in Eastern Africa. Countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, and Tanzania. Through bilateral support and networking, KEFRI was able to mobilize Ksh. 59 Million in 2005/2006 financial year, which represented 10.6% of total expenditure.

Literature Cited
NG, F.S. 1996. FAOs support for a forestry research network. P. 1314 in Supporting Capacity Building in Forestry Research. IFS and AAS. SPILSBURY, M.J., G.S. KOWERO, M.O. MUKOLWE, A. NETZEHTI, W.W. LEGESSE, O. NSENGIYUMVA, P. KIWUSO, AND E. SABAS. 2003. Forest Related Research Capacity in Eastern Africa. FAO, Rome.

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Forest Research in Development Contexts: The Concept of the Accountable Researcher

Benno Pokorny
Institute of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Albert-Ludwigs University Normally, research agendas are defined by the researchers themselves, oriented to comply with their demands, interests, and strategic approaches for subsequent use of the results generated. As a consequence, research projects often have been of limited direct relevance or may even have had a negative impact in relation to poverty reduction and rates of deforestation. With the limited degree to which research has responded to these wider development objectives, donors have increasingly required research to have demonstrable impact pathways. In the attempt to make research more responsive, forestry research has become more interdisciplinary involving social and human scientists, and new methodological approaches have evolved such as more integrated, collaborative, and participatory research approaches. The application of these new approaches, however, has not been without difficulties, especially within the often rigid frameworks of many research institutions. Perverse incentives prevail that favor the persistence of research oriented to the preparation of scientific publications and career structures based on scientific output. As a result, while in theory much has changed; little real progress has been made. In the face of these challenges, the EU-funded research project Forest Management by Small Farmers in the AmazonAn Opportunity to Enhance Forest Ecosystem Stability and Rural Livelihood (acronym: ForLive) has attempted to develop an operational framework for more accountable research with communities in the Amazon region by combining academic requirements with locally defined agenda and interests. The essential elements to the approach are the development of shared agenda, reversing of researcher roles, communication, and the creation of mechanisms for collective reflection and learning. Initial findings have encountered barriers and challenges with regards to all actors involved: academics are reluctant to invest time in local research agenda as they do not feel responsible for the outcomes, technicians from local NGOs are more accustomed to receiving clearly defined technical directives, and communities are confused by the reversal of roles when they are given the opportunity to assume responsibilities for defining their own research agenda. Nevertheless, positive results have been achieved in the establishment of local research groups working on research agendas developed by a wide range of actors. This has contributed to the commitment and motivation of researchers, technicians, and local communities involved in the process, and has also generated new insights on all sides. Beyond enhancing quality and relevance of their academic research this has already stimulated researchers involved to be more concerned about ensuring that mechanisms exist that enable research findings to attain appropriate targets and thereby generate benefits to society. Keywords: research and development, project design, diffusion of innovation, community forestry, Amazon region.

James Johnson
Institute of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Albert-Ludwigs University

Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Benno Pokorn y, Institute of Silviculture, Faculty of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, Albert-Ludwigs University, Tennenbacherstrasse 4, 79106 Freiburg, Germany. E-mail: benno.pokorny@waldbau.uni-freiburg.de. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

he ultimate goal of research is to contribute to wider development objectives. While in the context of industry-related research, the altruistic character of this goal might be marginalized by the search for competitive advantages of a specific private or public client in a global system, in the conIUFRO 6.06.00

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text of rural development, at least since the world summits of Rio and Johannesburg as well as the Millennium declaration, there is now an unambiguous focus on poverty alleviation. Also increasingly the challenges to solve global problems such as violent conflicts, hunger, and climate change are now priorities on the research agenda. As a huge proportion of worlds poor are still living in rural areas, often dependent on natural resource, in particular forests (WRI 2005, UN 2007), forestry research has been increasingly focused on the development of mechanisms that enable forestry to contribute to poverty reduction. Thus forestry research intends to generate tangible economic, livelihood, and/or environmental benefits on the ground (Spilsbury and Nasi 2006). To generate the desired effects and impacts, forestry research therefore needs to ensure that findings will be implemented by the managers and users of the forests. Consequently, forestry research, in the context of rural development, seeks to influence forest managers and thus is concerned with change in society and the way in which human beings behave and relate to each other. Against this background, this article deals with the question about how forestry research should organize the uptake of results. We will argue that the still prevailing top-down dissemination approach and the current framework for academic research hinder forest research from contributing more effectively to the global challenges. We will suggest that researchers, due to their qualification, status, and relative security should take a leading role in doing research where people really matter, by accepting that dissemination is a social process and that researchers are part of the social system to be improved. Against this background, the following section describes the characteristics of the current top-down model for disseminating findings of research as well as the emanating effects and problems. The third section then presents the concept of the accountable researcher as a possible alternative to achieve better results. The fourth section describes how this approach has been put into practice in the international EU-funded research project ForLive (www.waldbau.unifreiburg.de/forlive/) analyzing the viability of smallholder-based options of forest use in the Amazon. The fifth section then analyses the first experiences with this approach in the project, and finally the sixth section critically assesses the opportunity for doing accountable research.

Figure 1. Functional separation of actors involved in the top-down approach for the dissemination of research findings. strong focus of research, while the social dimension in forestry research has only recently gained weight. In the context of tropical and subtropical countries, forestry research is absorbed to a high degree by studying the complex ecology of the forests, and the question of how to technically use tropical forests to ensure maintenance of their environmental and economic functions. Independently of the focus, forestry research generally concentrates on issues concerned with what strategies, techniques, and tools should be applied to increase the efficiency with regards to the underlying financial, environmental, or social goal. Top-Down Model for Dissemination of Research Findings In contrast to social sciences often satisfied with explaining social reality, forestry research has traditionally had a strong interest in the direct application of research findings by the forest managers. To translate research findings into practice, like many other research disciplines, forestry research applies the so-called top-down dissemination model (see Figure 1). The top-down approach sees researchers as the innovators and masterminds of development. Due to their qualifications and capacities, researchers are required to develop insights and innovations to increase the efficiency of resource management or to improve benefits to society at large. To achieve this, researchers articulate and discuss their results through a variety of communication channels such as conferences, scientific publications, and more recently the Internet. In some cases, the outcomes are delivered directly to the principal addressees of research. In the context of development, these are mainly policy makers and organizations responsible for the implementation and up-take of the findings by the forest managers. Following the idea that research should act as a guide to policy formulation upstream decision makers, who may have commissioned the research in the first place, transform research findings into policies aimed at creating incentives or disincentives to induce certain patterns of behavior. Development organizations and extension services may then establish direct contact with the natural resource managers to convince them to implement technologies and practices that research has shown to be superior to normal practices in an effort to promote changes in behavior and to start changing the way of managing their resources. Obviously, for the dissemination of research findings this strategy is characterized by a functional separation between the different actors involved and the predomination of a unidirectional flow of information and effects.

The Classic Approach

Research and development initiatives in rural areas of tropical and subtropical countries are dealing principally with natural resources, in particular forests. Consequently, forestry research is an inherent, although not always explicit, part of most of these initiatives. A vast number of private and public, national and international organizations are involved in these initiatives. Consequently, there are a wide variety of approaches, strategies, and methods applied to ensure the success of these initiatives. Nevertheless, with regards to forestryrelated research and development activities, it is possible to identify two dominating features: a focus on increased economic efficiency (Bauhus 1999 cit. by Spilsbury and Nasi 2006) and the dissemination of research findings by competent extension agencies through top-down approaches. In accordance to the principle of economic efficiency, which highlights the importance of optimizing the output/input ratio of a certain activity, forestry research has invested strongly in searching for opportunities to maximize the benefits of forests while reducing the costs. At an early stage, forestry research started to examine how to increase the production of forests, in particular timber production, Search for Improvements but soon also financial aspects became important. Later, the mainteAs a result of better assessment and communication technologies, nance and optimization of environmental services became another there is now an increased visibility and hence public concern regard44
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ing global problems; however, due to rationalization processes resulting in more centralized resource management and because of greater competition for ever shrinking resources for research, donors are increasingly required to demonstrate impact of research to justify funding. As a result, forestry research organizations have started to become increasingly concerned about how to achieve, measure, and document research impacts. This has induced a process of review of traditional strategies or possibilities to enhance effectiveness and visibility of research. Simplifying, this process has resulted, on the one hand, in significant investments to increase the academic excellence in specific areas of research such as genetics, biotechnology, informatics, communication, energy, etc., and, on the other hand, in the attempt to effectively consider impact pathways in the research design. While the classic dissemination approach described above considered research exclusively as a generator of new knowledge and technologies and that the extent of the responsibility of the researcher was to publish research findings, it is now considered that the design of impact pathways has to be integral part of research initiatives. The inclusion of the analysis of how research can achieve greater impact has become known as impact orientation (Springer-Heinze et al. 2003). Impact orientation of research seeks, where possible, to internalize into a research project those critical aspects that may affect potential impacts of the research. The basis for the analysis of impact pathways describes a set of causal relationships that link research to the eventual impact (Spilsbury 2001), assessing the relationship between research inputs and outputs (the research process), between outputs and effects (the application of research results), and between effects and impacts (the contribution to the achievement of development objectives) (Spilsbury and Nasi 2006). Research innovations may progress down multiple pathways simultaneously. Within any given impact pathway, a multitude of factors determines whether or not the changes in behavior, represented as a series of causal links, will occur. To identify these critical factors it is necessary to incorporate the views of a wide range of stakeholders and especially those of the intended end users of the knowledge or technology to be developed (Springer-Heinze et al. 2003). In the context of rural development, this includes mainly three stakeholder groups: (1) policy makers, (2) the private sector, and (3) the rural poor. Most research organizations have identified the influencing of policy makers to be the most effective strategy to generate the desired impact and, also not to be forgotten, to ensure a continuation of funding. The overwhelming importance of policy makers in a researchers impact pathway analysis is reflected by a vast amount of literature on this topic as well as the fact that implementation of research is strongly focused on the analysis of the effects of research on policies (see for example Hill and Hupe 2003, Guldin et al. 2004, Spilsbury and Nasi 2006). The general expectation is that research will provoke a policy change, which will then, through implementation of various policy instruments or regulatory processes, have causal links to changes in economic performance, social behavior, local livelihoods, or environmental values of society and rural poor. As a result of implementation analysis, a number of recommendations have evolved about how to successfully approach policy makers. This includes aspects such as ensuring understanding about how policy functions and what the specific demands are, use of adequate means of communication (e.g. policy briefs), and taking care of being credible. Also, the private sector is traditionally an important partner of forestry research organizations. This is mainly due to the fact that forest enterprises are often seen as the natural applicants of knowledge and technologies generated by forestry research. The private sector is

Figure 2. Changing levels of stakeholder involvement during successful innovation and uptake processes (modified from Douthwaite 2002). responsible for the management of most of the large-scale tree plantations as well as huge areas of the remaining primary forests. In addition, enterprises have qualified staff able to understand and translate academic knowledge into practice, which is a crucial factor for successful dissemination. In recent years, the private sector has become even more important as a donor for research organizations, because available funds from public sources are decreasing, and acquisition of external funding for many research organizations has become crucial for their survival. Also, many donors themselves, such as the European Union (EU), are promoting partnerships between research organizations and so-called small and medium enterprises (SME) to ensure that research is contributing to an increased competitiveness of the commercial (in this case European) sector. Some researchers, mainly from the social sciences, acknowledge that research has to collaborate more intensively with the disadvantaged rural poor as the target group of most research and development initiatives in tropical and subtropical countries. Only this would ensure the relevance of research and the design of feasible impact pathways. As a result of experiences by different disciplines such as applied anthropology, farming system research, and agroecosystem analysis, the approach of participation evolved (Chambers 1997). In general terms, participatory approaches seek direct engagement with the users with the initial aim of reducing or eliminating the gap between innovation suppliers and innovation users by involving them as actors in the research process and allowing two-way communication in the development of research-based solutions to their own specific problems. Technology transfer is understood in this context as a process by which research solutions and innovations can be modified and adapted to better meet the needs of the intended users (Figure 2). For the success of this strategy, a change in attitude and institutional culture is required. Researchers have to become more participatory and consultative, reflecting on the role of research in the development process. In this way, from the outset of a research project, a wider stakeholder network has a vested interest in ensuring that the research achieves the intended impact and are involved in the accompaniment of the research project. Beyond the design of strategies to collaborate with different stakeholder groups, there have been also significant efforts to develop proper feedback mechanisms to monitor and evaluate the effects of research. Although more and more research organizations are getting involved in this issue, the assessment of research impacts remains as an unsolved methodological challenge. Often due to the indirect
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impact pathways of research as well as the temporary character of the research projects and programs, research has especially significant difficulties in defining adequate indicators of impact (Hartwich and Springer-Heinze 2004). Finally, the promotion of interdisciplinary research has to be stated as an important attempt to make research more integrative and thus ensure relevance and quality of findings. Effects and Impacts There are only very few synthetic studies about the impact of forestry research. Probably, one of the most serious attempts for systematic assessment has been implemented by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR; www.cifor.cgiar.org) resulting in a series of publications. One of these studies (Spilsbury and Kaimowitz 2002) revealed that the largest impacts of forestry research have taken place in countries with a mature and stable forest sector in particular with regards to the following issues: matching species to sites outside their natural range, silviculture and management to reduce costs and increased productivity, tree breeding and plantation genetics, wood conservation and processing technologies, control of pests and diseases, harvesting technology, pulp and paper technology, and wood treatment technologies. Also, Thirtle et al. (2002) found out that investments in agrarian research have been positively correlated with the overall productivity of agrarian sectors, especially in countries with low GNP and rural character. Also a vast number of gray literature, especially project and annual reports of research organizations and donors, pointed out the positive effect and significant impact of (their own) activities. In spite of this evidence, the analysis of impacts also reveals some extremely critical aspects, in particular experiences that indicate negative effects of agrarian research and very low levels of influence with regards to the worlds priority challenges, the alleviation of poverty and the maintenance of natural resources. With regards to the first issue, it is useful to bring to mind as an example the findings of many scientific studies made with regards to the effects of the Green Revolution (e.g., Shiva 1991, Conaway 1997). They showed that the enforced dissemination of research outcomes such as high yielding seeds and corresponding technologies (fertilization, application of pesticides, irrigation, etc.) throughout Asia and Africa had contributed to destruct sound traditional natural resource management systems adapted to local conditions, causing immense environmental damage and social inequality. With regards to the forestry sector, there are similar observations made for fast-growing plantations, a sector strongly supported by forestry research (e.g., Carrere 1998, WRM 1999, Cossalter and Pye-Smith 2003). To comprehend the criticism that forestry research has had unsatisfactory impacts, it is helpful to critically assess the progress made towards the principle goals of most forestry research organization working in developing countries, the alleviation of poverty and the conservation of forests. Unfortunately, a view of the results of some of the global assessment processes (e.g., Watkins 2006, FAO 2006, UN 2007) indicates that the state of the world is deteriorating. Absolute poverty is increasing as well as relative poverty with a widening gap between rich and poor, forest destruction is advancing unabated, and the effects of climate change are already perceptible. Although, it is naturally inadmissible to attribute these tendencies to lack of relevance and inappropriate strategies for implementing findings of forest research, they do however indicate that the target has been missed. The problem faced by forestry research to generate and successfully transfer research findings to the forest managers has been confirmed by several studies. Spilsbury and Nasi (2006), for example, concluded
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that in tropical countries, research on forest management has generally had limited levels of uptakeand a low overall impact despite the many attempts to capture efficiency gains and also Dawkins and Philip (1998) admitted that sound research-based knowledge has largely failed to generate the widespread gains promised. In view of this, it is necessary to distinguish carefully between the intended users of research results, i.e., policy makers, commercial scale farm enterprises, development organizations, and rural poor. With regards to policy makers, for example, dissemination of research findings has significantly improved as a consequence of systematic exploration of communication channels and opportunities for collaboration (Spilsbury and Nasi 2006). But to simply assume that conducting research on policies relating to forests and disseminating the findings will automatically lead to changes in the policies themselves is unrealistically naive and grossly overestimates the role of knowledge acquisition in policy change processes (Spilsbury and Nasi 2006). Even worse, this impact pathway is working in both directions, and policy makers use their power and control over resources to influence the research agenda. As shown above, forestry research has been relatively successful in generating and disseminating forest management technologies to well-prepared and highly qualified forest enterprises and forest owners with sufficient capital to afford and implement innovations (Spilsbury and Kaimowitz 2002). Doubtlessly, commercial forest enterprises have then benefited considerably from research. In contrast, there is considerable evidence that research outcomes directed to benefit the rural poor are not achieving the intended impact. Obviously, there is a problem in bringing research findings to small forest managers, which, in itself, is one of the reasons for forestry research organizations focusing on policy makers and the private sector. In the attempt to support the dissemination of forest management technology and know-how, some research organizations are collaborating with development organizations and governmental extension services. But many development practitioners perceive research as too theoretical and slow or even not relevant at all to respond adequately to the challenges of the rural poor. As a consequence and under the pressure of day-to-day challenges, they tend to make decisions based on their own experiences and views. Although development organizations continually emphasize the need for closer collaboration with research organizations, examples of a constructive dialogue are rare. Sometimes, research and development organizations even appear as competitors for funding. Reasons for Unsatisfactory Effect of Forestry Research The reasons for the unsatisfactory effect of forestry research to address the major global challenges and development objectives are manifold. Although there have been attempts to adapt more effective dissemination, to guarantee uptake of research findings, and to ensure that rural poor really benefit from research, the general framework for doing research remains largely unchanged and firmly established within rigid institutional structures. This has had the effect that research has in some cases become even further removed from the target group of rural poor. Even more critical is the fact that researchers, although now concerned with the adequate design of impact pathways, remain immune of the responsibility for the uptake of their research results. In general terms, this problem can be separated into four aspects: (1) the institutional (academic) rules, (2) the current procedure of acquiring and doing projects, (3) the lack of linkage to local realities and, as a direct consequence of the former issues, (4) the ignorance of existing knowledge about diffusion processes.

their research results. The contact is generally limited to the research phase and serves mainly for gathering data required for analysis in accordance with researchers expectations. The categorical evaluation (feedback) events that take place at the end of research projects are often restricted, if they take place at all, to short presentations of research results and seldom is there any follow up. As a consequence of this limited involvement in the assessment and evaluation of experiences gained by forest managers, researchers remain disconnected from the possibility of reflection and suffer from a limited potential for learning from the wider implications of the research process. Furthermore, researchers usually have to manage complex project logistics including the administration of financial and human resources as well as the coordination of activities of project partners. In addition, they are responsible to the donors concerned for the preparation of contractual outputs and measurable indicators of success. Finally, they want to gain academic merits required for the successful continuation of academic work. The time constraints imposed by fulfilling these multiple tasks cause researchers not only to neglect dissemination issues but also creates the risk of having insufficient time to become familiar with local realities, requirements, and capacMarginalization of Target Groups in Research Projects Due to the increased importance of external funding to finance ities. As a result, research organizations, instead of investing in direct research in developing countries, much research is carried out within communication with their target groups, continue to limit commuthe framework of temporary projects. This implies a number of fea- nication to their classic clients and immediate academic circle. tures, which are counterproductive to the achievement of desired impact. Research programs offering funding are often designed Passing the Buck In the past, researchers have had limited responsibility for the disthrough the communication within research cliques characterized by limited contact with target groups. Also, the process of research propos- semination of their findings and only recently have research projects al preparation is dominated by researchers, who also constitute the pro- begun to incorporate communication and dissemination aspects. posal evaluation committees, which reject or approve these proposals. Instead, in accordance with the top-down model presented above, Finally, the research projects, supposed to contribute to development they pass the responsibility for implementing research findings to agenda, are executed by researchers, who often have little direct knowl- intermediates such as policy makers, development organizations, and edge or understanding of the wider development issues. Rarely do extension agencies or concentrate on receptive clients such as timber other actors have the chance to actively participate in this crucial companies. This mainstream strategy of research organizations has process of defining research objectives and definition of methods. As a two principal shortcomings. First, these intermediates have similar result, the participation of local partners, in particular of poor power- problems in reaching out to the rural poor, as the success of impleless communities, if contemplated, is conditioned by accepting the pre- mentation depends on the compatibility and coordinated action of determined objectives and methodological strategies and approved several agencies involved in an implementation chain (Hill and Hupe research proposals. Also, after project implementation, there is no real 2003), and second, like research organizations, policy makers and possibility for locals to influence research projects, as the control over development organizations concentrate their efforts on receptive resources remains with researchers. As a result, research projects tend to clients who have the potential capacity and interest to take up techremain within the academic research domain without really enabling nologies and knowledge, instead of dealing with socially and locally the involvement and active participation of local actors, and in partic- remote rural poor with unclear chances of achieving demonstrable impact. This traditional focus has been further strengthened by the ular by improving the conditions for uptake and implementation. Furthermore, the projects themselves, through their rigid opera- fact that donors increasingly request research organizations to tional structures, do not promote the planning and implementation demonstrate the impacts. Thus, public funded research may in fact of activities in consultation and or with the agreement of local contribute to widening social inequalities by not ensuring equal resource managers. This is mainly because of the increasing tendency opportunity of access to information, as these actors tend to use of projects to have limited timeframes in which to invest considerable research results for their own purposes and are able to adopt capital levels of financial resources. The resulting need to spend lots of intensive technologies resulting from modern research. The same consequences are favored by the claim for independency money in relatively little time has two drastic consequences: first, that the so-called local partners are selected due to their capacity to and neutrality as fundamental prerequisites for effectively spanning the administer and invest; and second, the need for immense efforts to boundaries between science and policy (Guldin et al. 2005). As coordinate and administer the project. Both aspects are directly explained by Bn (2005), the power of expertise in focusing on technical issues is depoliticizing the debate, favoring the more powerful segincompatible with the capacities of rural poor. ments of society in using scientific knowledge in accordance with their interests, and preventing groups concerned with more intractable social Disconnection from Rural Poor as Key Target Group Critically, the involvement of researchers in the learning cycle is and political issues from engaging in the policy process. Foucault limited to certain aspects of the planning and the implementation (1990) has gone so far as to accuse science to be an immense apparabut rarely involves evaluation and reflection on the implementation tus for producing truth, which is involuntary nave in the best of cases, phases. Researchers are seldom directly involved in the application of but more often intentionally supporting the powerful and rich. Academic Rules and Duties The predominating rules of the academic community contribute to difficulties of doing research relevant to the needs of and accessible to the rural poor. This is because the academic evaluation system considers scientific production measured in number of publications and weight of financial resources managed to assess scientific excellence and not the relevance to and impact on rural poor. Naturally, this promotes that researchers tend to dedicate their scarce time to the generation of scientific products and not to the dissemination of their research results. In addition, especially scientists working at public universities have often teaching commitments, which limits the time available to attend to anything beyond routine tasks. In many countries, in particular in developing countries, there is also strong pressure on researchers to take over institutional administrative responsibilities. This is especially the case for scientists who have been able to achieve a high level scientific status in a certain area. This then means that frequently the best researchers are further absorbed in administrative issues.
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To summarize so far, it can be stated that the reality of forestry research, due to the reasons described above, simply ignore significant parts of existing knowledge about dissemination and impacts. Research does not follow most of the guiding principles of participatory approaches (Chambers 1997) and diffusion theory (Rogers 2003). Often, the agenda are carefully camouflaged to meet donor requirements, continuing the application of the top-down model for disseminating findings of forestry research, in spite of the abundant evidence of the failure of research to meet the broader development objectives of poverty reduction and reduced environmental degradation. Most critical is that forestry research continues to ignore the fact that the diffusion of innovation is a social process (Rogers 2003). Against this background, the challenging question is then how, under the existing unfavorable conditions, to translate the concepts of participation and process orientation into an operational research design.

Figure 3. The three dimensions of the accountable researcher. As mentioned above, the need for personal interaction with the rural poor as the target group of development research has been strongly advocated by many social scientists. In practice, however, participatory approaches have not really been applied by academic researchers. The gap between innovation suppliers and innovation users still exists and typical expert attitudes prevail. Direct interaction with smallholders and the active collaboration in locally defined processes and activities will provide researchers with the opportunity to understand the effects and impacts of innovations, fundamental to enhance the quality and relevance of research. As it is naturally not possible to stay permanently with the target groups, the establishment of effective and continuous communication mechanisms is fundamental to guarantee an adequate exchange of ideas and comprehension of ongoing activities, results, and plans. Most important is that personal contact with their target groups will help researchers to gain the respect and trust of local people to identify their capacities and understand local requirements. This, in turn, will positively influence change of attitudes described by Chambers (1997) and his colleagues as fundamental pre-condition for partnership and sustainable development within the concept of the new professionalism. Researchers have to acknowledge the capacity of local people to develop their own solutions to their own problems. This includes the enormous challenge of not acting as the expert who comes to find solutions for local people but instead by contributing to locally driven processes with their own defined agenda (Pokorny et al. 2005a). Humility to be able to act in this way and to respect local agendas is therefore another critical characteristic of the accountable researcher. Finally, it is of crucial importance to establish a relationship of confidence, which implies being transparent and honest with regards to the researchers own agendas and objectives. To achieve this, researchers should take care of their own understanding while articulating their own positions, attitudes, expectations, and objectives through systematic processes of selfreflection (Pokorny et al. 2005b). The accountable researcher approach also requires the abandonment of the concept of scientific neutrality to avoid the paradox of not influencing policy makers in order not to lose access to power and resources. In contrast, researchers should explicitly support pro-poor agendas in the political arena, even if this diminishes credibility in the eyes of policy makers and potential donors. Thus, researchers should get actively involved in relevant political processes as advocates of their target groups fundamental to the achievement of wider developmental objectives.

The Accountable Researcher

In the view of the challenge to find a feasible way to put into practice the guiding principles for participation, integration, and local relevance under the existing unfavorable conditions for doing academic research in development contexts, this section presents the concept of the accountable researcher. This concept is based on two key operational features: the acceptance that research is part of a social process, and a focus on individual responsibility and commitment. As explained above, forestry research is concerned with change in society and the way in which human beings behave and relate to each other. Consequently, also researchers are social subjects participating in a social system interacting with other individuals. In accordance with this, researchers are part of the problems that society has, as well as potential contributors to all possible solutions. Consequently, the social behavior of researchers as expressed in their interaction with and the underlying attitudes toward the other segments of society is fundamental in successfully generating the desired impacts. Institutional economists point out the influence of institutions on individual behavior (Hodgson 1998). A phenomenon described above with regards to the influence of the academic institutional framework on the way in which research is currently carried out. They also acknowledged, however, that within this institutional framework individuals have the opportunity to decide due to their personal preferences (Toboso 2001). In this sense, institutions, such as research organizations, reflect the cumulative sum of the partaking individuals. Most important for the implementation of the accountable researcher approach is the respect for the principal rules of social systems and requirements of social change as expressed by the society itself. This implies abolition of the functional separation inherent to the currently dominating approach for disseminating research findings, as this separation hinders researchers from exploring their full social competence and responsibility, in a way that abstracts the researcher and his research from a given social context. Thus, researchers should consciously use all dimensions of their social being and act as the integral social subject they are (Figure 3). In accordance with this integration, it is essential that researchers should abandon the pure academic arena and should explore the possibilities of how to support development goals as citizens and private persons. In other words, researchers should become personally involved in processes relevant for the target groups, mainly by systematically exploring possibilities for direct interaction with the smallholders, by developing attitudes of mutual respect and trust, and active involvement in those social and political processes relevant to the rural poor.
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The ForLive Project

Since 2005, the Institute of Silviculture of the University of Freiburg in collaboration with two other European universities, five Latin-American institutions, and the Center for International Forestry Research, have been implementing the EU-financed research project, ForLive, to appraise the viability of options for smallholders from the Ecuadorian, Bolivian, Peruvian, and Brazilian Amazon

Figure 4. The area of research of the project ForLive.

Figure 5. The methodological approach of the ForLive project. region to effectively use their forest resources for sustainable development. In the first phase of the project, Latin-American project partners in the region identified and selected case studies of successful experiences of smallholder forest use. The second phase of research to assess the viability of the promising experiences and surrounding local networks started at the end of 2005. Based on the information gathered, the project intended to draw conclusions on the key factors that enable smallholders to effectively use forests and what are the necessary conditions for such practices to be successfully promoted. The project attempted to follow the approach of the accountable researcher by designing an operational framework and establishing mechanisms and tools for the implementation of this approach. Figure 5 presents the general working approach of the project. The project recognized three actor groups strongly relevant for the studied topic: the researchers, as inherent part of the project, development organizations such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or competent governmental agencies, as important intermediates between researchers and policy makers, and smallholder forest managers as the primary stakeholders. Naturally, each actor group has specific information demands and research interests and is actively involved in reflection and research processes about these issues; however, to different degrees and intensities. Nevertheless, the project assumed that these actor groups also have common research interests presenting an operational basis for communication and collaboration. As a conse-

quence, the project distinguished two general situations: first, the existence of particular non-shared interests of the different actor groups resulting in individually driven reflection and research processes; and second, shared research interests resulting in common research efforts. The latter category, depending on the underlying roles of smallholders on the one hand and researchers on the other, has been translated into different forms of participatory research. On the one hand, researcher guided participatory assessment with active involvement of locals, and, on the other hand, action research approaches, where the research agenda is defined by locals, and researchers are contributing as participants or facilitators. The participation of development organizations in both participatory approaches has been limited to a more passive role. As both participatory research processes supposedly generate information and results of mutual interest to all actor groups involved, the establishment of effective communication mechanisms has been identified to be crucial to ensure the flow of information. Both processes, the direct collaboration in research, as well as the communication mechanisms, challenged researchers and smallholders to explain and justify their activities and thereby opened up the space for mutual discussion of views, experiences, and knowledge. This was expected to ensure the local relevance of ongoing research as well as to provide the smallholders with the chance to become more familiar with some scientific methodologies and gain access to and understanding of scientific information. The active and continuous involvement of the primary stakeholders, the smallholders, was also intended to establish a basis for effective dissemination of the results, as the participating families form part of local communication and diffusion networks. This is also true with regard to the involvement of the development organizations, which are inserted within their own institutional networks. In addition, the project intended to use the described operational framework to stimulate reflection and support the generation of lessons about the respective institutions own working strategies as a basis for more effective working with local communities. In the long run, the facilitation of communication between the smallholders and development organizations in local learning networks was thought to provide a stable basis for continuous collaboration between the local actors beyond the end of the project. To establish this operational framework in the initial stages of the project intensive training was provided to project staff. Beyond a general workshop to explain the guiding principles and underlying concepts of this approach, in each of the four project areas, specific training workshops were held to provide orientation on the project approach and guidelines for the use of participatory research methodologies, including their application in the field. These local workshops and seminars were also open for interested participants from local development organizations and students, and thus strengthened the local learning networks. For the project assistants and researchers, the project also provided regular opportunities for reflecting about individual experiences. This included mainly, a sequence of local and regional project workshops, as well as individual communication with a so-called project integrator. As the project advanced, PhD students and local specialists also became more actively involved in facilitating these reflection processes. Several thematic workshops have been organized in each project area to extend the local networks to include relevant organizations and smallholders not directly participating directly in the project. These workshops were used to inform about the project and to discuss on-going activities of ForLive researchers as well as topics identified as highly relevant by the smallholders in the case study.
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Experiences from Practice

This section reports the experiences with the above described approach gained in the ForLive project over the past two and a half years. There have been 9 institutional partners and more than 50 researchers and technicians directly employed in the project. The project also involved numerous local families, experts, and organizations taking part in the projects local, regional, and international networks in the four countries and thus covered a representative range of typical stakeholders relevant to community forestry in the region, including universities, NGOs, governmental agencies, social movements, traditional and indigenous communities and farmers. The information presented here has not been generated from systematically gathered data within a clearly defined analytical framework, but rather has been mainly derived from personal observations by the authors during the implementation of the project, as well as a sequence of personal interviews and communications in the field and during project workshops with the people directly or indirectly involved in the project. The following paragraphs aim to share the experience of developing and putting into practice the above mentioned approach. They intend to use the analysis of both the positive lessons learnt and of the challenges and their respective underlying causes and effects as a basis for learning and improvement, and to demonstrate the justification for further pursuing this accountable researcher approach. La Resistance The observations of people and processes confirmed that research is a social process. It is then not unexpected that it is the human factor, which has provoked the most significant challenges in the attempt to implement the accountable researcher approach. For all project participants there have been strong formative impressions from education and professional experiences related to the more conventional research and development approaches, which tend to govern personal and professional behavior. As a consequence, virtually all involved in the project, coordinators, researchers, representatives from NGOs and governmental agencies, project assistants, PhD, MSc, and BSc students, have experienced challenges in assimilating the guiding principles and incentives of accountable research and its application in practice. But also, the smallholders from the selected case studies have experienced difficulties in accepting the approach, as most of them were accustomed to more paternalistic relationships that have developed with public bodies and NGOs. Although the observations presented here are highly subjective, they might, however, give a coherent impression about the person-related challenges for working with the accountable researcher approach. Due to their prominent role in complex research projects such as ForLive, experienced academic researchers naturally have an extremely important role to play in guiding the project staff. The project, however, showed that in particular these senior researchers themselves have encountered important challenges in dealing with this alternative approach. In reality, the seniors showed a very limited degree of engagement, collaboration, and communication with representatives of the projects target group. One of the main reasons for this has been the serious time restrictions imposed on senior researchers, and also limitations in foreign languages were part of the problem. In practice, for many of the senior researchers travel to the study regions, if it has taken place at all, was entirely limited to the participation in project workshops, and communication was strongly focused on people who are able to engage in academic discussions. But, beyond the above-mentioned difficulties, it became obvious that some of the sen50
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ior staff simply did not share the idea of collaboration promoted by the project. Some researchers avoided to involve and guide the project assistants from the Latin-American project partners in collaborating on the scientific working agenda. Instead, they tended to perceive the role of non-academic staff as being responsible for supporting academics in doing their scientific research by providing the required logistics. Consequently, the senior staff involved in the project barely contributed to training of local field staff in research methodologies and practices and had difficulties to break with traditional academic routines of doing research with their own agendas. For some, the possibility of generating scientific publications was important, while others emphasized and limit their contribution on the fulfillment of EU obligations, in particular the deliverables and milestones. The challenge of working toward the implementation of the complex operational framework requiring changes in attitude and behavior was then largely ignored. It was obvious that the relevance of research for local managers and the implementation of eventual findings were understood to be beyond the realms of academic responsibility. The NGOs participating in the project as partners and implementing agencies of the different case studies and as part of the diverse local learning networks are traditionally considered as intermediates responsible for the transfer of academic findings or policies to the forest managers (Figure 1). Consequently, they were strongly tied to their traditional roles as part of a wider diffusion strategy, acting as operators, which implement projects for international organizations. Although at the beginning of the project they enthusiastically welcomed the possibility to systematize, articulate, and disseminate their considerable experiences to share with other NGOs and policy makers, the project revealed significant difficulties in breaking the mould with the existence of mental and intellectual barriers, which effectively limit the translation of the approach into reality. Project funding has been parallel to that of their other funding sources generating a kind of institutional schizophrenia requiring changes in behavior according to the source of finance. From the beginning, the local operators encountered difficulties in making use of the opportunity provided to develop their own research initiatives in accordance to their interests. Instead, they waited for clearly defined working plans from the project coordination and searched to evade the problem by doing NGO duties within their organizations. Many of them were strongly fixed to the work of their own organizations, as demonstrated by the fact that mostly their own project experiences were selected as the cases to be studied by the project. There was only a limited interest in learning about the work of and collaborating with other development organizations in the region, often perceived as competitors. Thus, the building and strengthening of learning networks with local partners has been limited. With regards to their projects and working approaches, critical analysis from externals partly provoked conflicts indicating a certain restriction for critically reflecting about the own institution. Also, in the attempt to establish working partnerships with the families in the case studies, many of the project assistants had significant difficulties. Accustomed to conventional development projects, they suffered from being unable to provide concrete financial or material benefits to the communities. As the negotiation processes with the locals were slow and run the risk of not generating presentable results, they often went back to the standard procedures of their organizations, including the provision of related material benefits for mobilizing locals interests. Also the communities had serious difficulties in accepting the idea of defining their own local research and working agenda. From their

point of view, asking for local interests and working in local rhythm was not compatible with their understanding of an effective development initiative. Their view and expectation were strongly based on their previous experiences with conventional development organizations. Consequently, some of the communities resisted in establishing locally driven researcher groups (Ashby et al. 2000), while others hesitated to invest a lot of effort in these processes. This was, however, partly a result of the fact that some of the families in the selected cases had been subjected to intensive external accompaniment over years, and thus had no more capacity for additional communication and collaboration with their expectations geared to what the external organization might be able to provide. In such cases, the communities had problems in both, responding to external researcher, and to invest in the development of locally driven processes. They expressed little interest in assuming a more protagonist role in designing and implementing their own development agenda and often preferred to look for opportunities that might bring short term benefits. For this reason, sometimes they accepted to collaborate with the project mainly for strategic reasons, taking into account the possibility that a future project would provide real benefits. The junior scientists, mainly PhD students, as in other research projects had an important role to play, as they were paid to dedicate 100% of their time to project activities and received sufficient additional funding to pay extensive field travel. Consequently, they had the opportunity to establish close relationships with all involved actors, the academics, the technicians, and the local people, and, according to this, act as connective links between the different segments of the project. Generally, this group, because of their youth, was less conditioned by former institutional experience. Most of the junior scientists, especially the European researchers, had a relatively low level of knowledge about local communities and nearly no experience of working with communities and particularly of acting as a local facilitator. Generally, they can be structured into two groups. The first group showed an extremely positive and optimistic attitude towards the project. Especially the European PhD students and even more so the MSc students expected short-term, demonstrable effects and solution of problems but had to learn first from the other partners about the complexity of these processes and from the local people to respect and follow local working rhythm. The second group of Latin-American project assistants showed a strong social competence, but suffered from a tendency for activism. Thus, they often catalyzed interesting discussions within the local networks, but then had serious difficulties to bring their observations and reflections to the ground and convert these into operational plans. Finally, in this group there were also a number of people strongly engaged in their own agenda, generally working for their own personal benefits. Other Challenges As shown above, the project approach provoked significant challenges for the various people involved. This paragraph intends to describe the resulting personal challenges, which in addition to the institutional and individual history of the project participants were responsible for difficulties in the implementation of the approach: As explained above, most of the project researchers had considerable experience in traditional top-down approaches and thus were often highly qualified in a certain sector or area of interest. The project, however, obliged them to take over tasks outside their own area of particular expertise. A related feature was the requirement for multitasking and the management of complex parallel agendas, which is in sharp

contrast to the specific clearly defined expert niches applied in conventional research approaches. The project also expected the partners to take an interest in and become involved in intensive communication with frequent field visits. Consequently, these requirements resulted not only in a significantly higher engagement and intellectual challenge for the project staff, but also implied for all seriously participating project partners, to have less time and more work and a personal sacrifice of spending more time out in the field away from home. Our analysis revealed that the key principle of getting actively and consciously involved in the social system attended by the project, although simple for nearly all project partners, represented a novel approach. Education and professional training obviously provided only few possibilities to get in contact with rural poor. Courses joint at Universities or schools have been more on a theoretical level and often highly technical. Practical training and presentation of social sciences for technicians and academics working with forests has been practically inexistent. Simplifying, it was observed that in the case of Latin-American partners, staff tended to experience difficulties in writing but have a natural capacity to act within social networks, while the European partners were more distant from local realities but better equipped for writing. Only a few members of the project staff managed to respond adequately to both challenges, social communication and networking, and scientific skills. Some people even havent been willing to attempt this. As a consequence, many people from the project tried to ensure a personal space, which allowed them to stay within their own technical area of excellence. Others opened up to many new topics, but were unable to do this pragmatically. As a result they were overwhelmed by the ensuing workload. What Does Work Although there were significant difficulties in putting the projects working approach into practice, most of the project partners, even the most skeptical, have been in some way positively influenced by the project. In fact, everybody was affected, however to different degrees, and sometimes very slowly and only gradually. Most importantly, it was possible to observe a change of attitudes for most people involved in the project. The active involvement of technicians in scientific production and the long-term relationship between the academic project staff and smallholders contributed to a better understanding of the others challenges and capacities and resulted in mutual respect between the different actor groups. More importantly, for many people a process of self-reflection was initiated, implying that they started to question their own positions, preconceptions, and roles. This, however, was mainly visible with the younger members of project staff. The changing attitudes and the mechanisms for intense communication also promoted individual learning processes. Thus, researchers obtained insights about local reality, demands, and capacities of local people, which provided an excellent basis to evaluate the feasibility of their own recommendations and models. As a result, suggestions of researchers from the beginning were challenged in discussions within the ForLive group and with the locals, and thus contributed to outcomes corresponding to problems perceived by local people as relevant. The researchers, in particular through a sequence of thematic events in the different project regions, also learnt to discuss profoundly academic issues with different stakeholders while being able to explicitly incorporate the local views, and so articulating clear political
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positions. In some cases, they became advocates of locals, however highly challenged not to appear as representatives of the locals. Project assistants and technicians from the development organizations benefited in two ways. First, they managed to find innovative forms of interacting with local people, in particular through their involvement in the action research component. Here, they experienced how gradually to replace the role of external experts and implementers toward observers and facilitators. Often, they helped the families of the case studies and representatives of social movements to establish contacts with local authorities and other NGOs and accompanied the researcher groups constituted by local people to some appointments and meetings. Second, they accepted the challenge of scientific writing, and thereby reflecting about their own roles and positions, while enhancing their self-confidence. Many of the project assistants decided, as a direct effect of the project, to start looking for BSc, MSc, or even PhD courses, favoring topics of high relevance for rural poor and participatory methodological frameworks. It was also positive that through the project activities some of the families of the case studies obtained better access to and understanding of scientific knowledge. As a result of the direct and continuous contact with researchers, it was often possible to establish a relationship of trust in which local people were able to feel at ease to ask their own questions. In observing the attempts of the researchers to communicate and explain their activities, they acknowledged their interest in exchange and discussion. Motivated by this, locals started to ask questions and to express requirements for information and gaps in knowledge in a wide range of issues. The local families became more aware of what realistically to expect from outsiders. They perceived that the involvement of outsiders, beyond providing benefits, also complicates life for the communities, and that acting on their own might be sometimes more successful and pragmatic as more appropriated to local capacities and needs. The stimulation provoked by the project for profound and continuous discussion process about how to promote rural poor in their initiatives for development and what role forests play in the development agenda, although characterized by conflicting views, was highly encouraging. Extremely important was that the people involved in the field activities generated a better understanding of impact pathways, and thereby about the problems of the conventional dissemination approach, in particular the enormous gap between the generation of research outcomes and the adoption of the findings by rural poor. Those involved also became more aware of the technical and intellectual distance that exists between them and the potential users of their findings. One project participant in an interview stated that if what we think is simple it must be even simpler, and what we think to be effective, should be assessed in practice from the local point of view. Finally, the project, through various reasons, managed to establish a basis for positive long-term effects. First, all involved partners, researchers, development organizations, and smallholders already started, whenever gradually, the uptake of research findings through their direct involvement in the project activities. Second, as described above, the research results were relevant for rural poor and thus helped to design tools and actions, which contribute more effectively to the livelihoods of the rural poor. Third, the establishment of local networks catalyzed information exchange and learning processes within relevant organizations acting in a specific region. This is expected to create synergies and support reflection processes beyond the immediate institutional reach of the project. In some few cases, the smallholders were directly involved in these networks and there52
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by found ways to more actively participate in public policy debate. Researchers as well as the representatives of development organizations have been sensitized to the importance of real participation of rural poor. Finally, all project participants learnt intensively to articulate and discuss relevant issues in a broader context. This is especially important as it forms the operational basis for dialogue by bringing locals, NGOs, researchers, and politicians together.

Final Considerations and Outlook

Current forestry research is still suffering from a lack of desired impacts. As a consequence of current frame-conditions for doing research and the dissemination of academic findings, researchers working in development contexts are often separated from their target groups, the rural poor. This functional separation hinders effective communication as a basis for relevant and effective pro-poor research and diffusion of innovation. New approaches are necessary, to contribute more effectively to the needs of target groups. Many scholars have argued that more participatory approaches would help, but these noble statements have difficulty in being put into practice, due to persisting linkages of research organizations to conventional research approaches. This is further hampered by researchers focus on the development of technologies rather than on an appropriate skill mix, which would enable professionals to facilitate collective reflection and learning processes to promote self managed local development. Against this background, the approach of the accountable researcher presents a promising alternative, because depending mainly on individual commitment and not on huge institutional changes. Each researcher should individually assess how far it is possible to adapt to the principles of the approach, including operational features such as leaving the office and the conferences to guarantee (a minimum) time with the rural poor in the field. The experiences from the EU-research project ForLive, however, have demonstrated that such individual changes are not too easy and need time, individual openness, and intensive reflection processes. Researchers, like other relevant actors, are conditioned to traditional top-down approaches, and most of them are naturally comfortable with the status quo, as individually they have established themselves with the system and there are no incentives to change. In addition, the institutional framework remains unfavorable and may even worsen, as donors are searching for more complex academic-oriented programs and projects, which would make active and real participation of rural poor even more difficult. There is the danger that research is becoming even more academic and distant from poor people and that science will support commercial interests even more directly. Nevertheless, researchers should and can take leadership to change this unfavorable situation for rural poor. This makes it necessary, in the first instance, to recognize that researchers are part of the problem. Their difficulties to take over responsibility and to effectively collaborate with rural poor reflect the general difficulties of the social system as a whole. But researchers, in contrast to the many other actors, have the qualification and often the institutional and financial security required for defining individual priorities for acting. Therefore, although running the risk of loosing empathy with policy makers and donors, they, in consideration of their privileged position in society, should feel responsible to become accountable to their research. In this attempt, the current possibility provided by complex research programs should be carefully used to bring researchers together following the same intentions and motivations. Thus, in addition to academic excellence, social competence and empathy should become an important selection criteria for establishing effectively working researcher groups.

Literature Cited
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229241 in The Equitable Forest: Diversity, Community and Resource Management, Colfer, C. (ed.). Resources for the Future (RFF): Washington DC. ROGERS, E.M. 2003. Diffusion of Innovations, 5th Ed. The Free Press, New York. SHIVA, V. 1991. The Green Revolution in the Punjab. The Ecologist 21(2). SPILSBURY, M.J. 2001. CIFORUsing a systems approach to research evaluation. P. 1117 in The Future of Impact Assessment in the CGIAR: Needs, Constraints and Options, Proceedings of a workshop organized by the Standing Panel on Impact Assessment of the Technical Advisory Committee 3-5 May. FAO, Rome. SPILSBURY, M.J., AND D. KAIMOWITZ. 2002. Forestry research, innovation and impact in developing countriesfrom economic efficiency to the broader public good. Forestry Chronicle 78(1), 103107. SPILSBURY, M.J., AND R. NASI. 2006. The interface of policy research and the policy development process: Challenges posed to the forestry community. Forest Policy and Economics 8, 193205. SPRINGER-HEINZE, A., F. HARTWICH, J.S. HENDERSON, D. HORTON, AND I. MINDE. 2003. Impact pathway analysis: An approach to strengthening the impact orientation of agricultural research. Agricultural Systems 78, 267285. THIRTLE ,C., L. LIN, AND J. PIESSE. 2002. The impact of research led agricultural productivity growth on poverty reduction in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The Management Centre Research Paper 16. Kings College, London. TOBOSO, F. 2001. Institutional individualism and institutional change: The search for a middle way mode of explanation. Cambridge Journal of Economics 25(6), 765784. UN (UNITED NATIONS). 2007. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2007. UN, New York. WATKINS, K., ET AL. 2006. Human Development Report 2006. Beyond Scarcity: Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), New York. WRM (WORLD RAINFOREST MOVEMENT). 1999. Pulpwood Plantations: A Growing Problem. Montevideo, World Rainforest Movement. WRI (WORLD RESOURCE INSTITUTE) IN COLLABORATION WITH UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME, UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENT PROGRAMME, AND WORLD BANK. 2005. The Wealth of the PoorManaging Ecosystems to Fight Poverty. WRI, Washington DC.

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Knowledge Management as Means to Ensure Quality, Efficiency, and Relevance

Malin von Essen
Skogforsk, Uppsala, Sweden

Jan Fryk
Skogforsk, Uppsala, Sweden

Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Malin von Essen, Skogforsk, Uppsala Science Park, Uppsala SE-751 83, Sweden. E-mail: malin. vonessen@skogforsk.se. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

ltimately, forestry research in general and applied such in particular aims at generating knowledge for improvement of forest management and utilization. However, if changes are to be made out there, those people who can influence, make decisions, and/or implement changes must not only be made aware of new research findings but also be made to understand and accept them. The likelihood that research financiers get a good return on their investments increases with increased focus on visions, goals, and strategies for communication and implementation of research. A research task is not really completed before its useful new knowledge has reached relevant receivers and resulted in appropriate action. The more efficient extension, the greater return on money invested in research. Consequently, communicating research findings is a managerial matter of strategic importance and therefore a key process equal to, and integrated with, the research work. As means of establishing knowledge transfer as a natural, integrated part of research, it helps to form a vision, to have a clearly defined strategy, and to set concrete operational objectives for the organizations extension activities. Here, of course, the objectives may differ significantly whether we are talking about a university acting in an academic environment or a research institute conducting customer-driven, applied research. But basically, the reasoning from a managerial perspective could be quite similar. In the following I frequently refer to Skogforsk, when giving examples from the latter type of R&D. In our case, the vision is to give each unique customer precisely what he/she is asking and paying for, exactly at the time he/she needs it. We work within the time frame that important research results reach the interested parties within 6 months and are implemented within a year. One important part of our information strategy is to make the researchers/ scientists responsible for communicating their findings. After all, they are the ones most knowledgeable in the matter at hand. Accordingly, information ability and pedagogic skills ought to be considered when research staff is recruited. Continuous competence development in this area has to be encouraged, and good performance should also render merits. Many researchers have the experience that in the process of presenting their results they get immediate feedback and evaluation of their achievements from relevant target groups. Policies and reward systems that recognize researchers information efforts will, over time, lead to an increased prioritization for transfer of knowledge activities. Given the proper conditions, the researchers themselves will spontaneously contribute to the development of the communications process. In this context it could be discussed whether universities and the academic world would gain from changing its one-sided meriting system, focusing on pure academic parameters such as peer-reviewed articles and citation indexes.

Integrated Planning
The way I see it from a management perspective, integrating knowledge transfer with research requires that information issues are addressed in the operIUFRO 6.06.00

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ational research plans from the very beginning. Here, parameters such as desired and/or expected effects of the research task in question, which clients to reach with what knowledge, as well as how to pass on this knowledge, can be crucial for how to structure and conduct the research part of a project. However, even if the research staff carries a responsibility to communicate their findings, it must be up to the management to safeguard external information functions according to policy and goals, and likewise to ensure that quality standards, production plans, etc. are being met. Information departments with their professional science communicators have the directive to plan, initiate, conduct, and evaluate research-information activities. A work that has to be conducted in close cooperation with researchers. And such interactions between communicators and researchers often occur in a highly creative spirit. In our planning process, concrete operational objectives for extension activities form a production plan which is based on the research plans and integrated with the budget. It contains a palette of products adapted to and covering the most important expected results as identified by the research programs. The production plan is updated quarterly, through a close dialogue between research managers and the information department. In other words, the plan is a dynamic instrument, where the process may be more important than the actual plan itself, or to quote Dwight D Eisenhower: Plans are useless planning is essential.

that are custom fitted to the client. It is simply easier if you can envisage your client when trying to understand his/her capacity to accept a specific product or service. The profiles can also be used for marketing toward different client categories or as a basis for discussion when it is time to implement new techniques or methods in practise. Inputs from such undertakings, and allowing clients to influence the extension output, are crucial aspects for an efficient dissemination of research results. The importance of customizing information becomes quite obvious when the ambition is to convey new knowledge to disparate groups like scientists, foresters, forest farmers, contractors, politicians, or journalists. A rather natural element in the other end of a market analysis is to follow up on customer satisfaction, which of course can be conducted in several ways, depending on the level of ambition. Regular follow-ups give early signals if something is not panning out as intended, and also serve as a way of safeguarding the quality, efficiency, and relevance of R&D and knowledge transfer. So, in applied R&D, placing the customers in focus and establishing sustainable relations with them may be a management strategy as important as in the world of business.

Make the Customer Pay

Communicating research findings is costly. The scope of which and how to fund this key process must be sanctioned by management and clearly expressed in the information strategy mentioned previously. The higher ambitions, the higher the costs. Meeting the level of standards outlined above may require, say, 15% of the total budget. A part of the strategy can be to set a target level for self-financing of extension, and thus charge customers for services and products. By doing so less money is derived from research funds, and the customers can demand quality, good accessibility, and proper deliverables. Market forces will also be an indicator for determining a suitable mix and configuration of information output. The more market-oriented an organization becomes, the higher expectations from the clients. At the end of the day, knowledge management and extension of research findings are a matter of attitude. If the mission really is to reach out, then the transfer of knowledge has to be recognized and accepted as an integrated part of the research process. It has to be encouraged and ample recourses must be allocated for the purpose. A research result is of little or no value until it is known and applied.

Customized Information
If the objective is to reach a wide spectrum of clients, then it is important to identify and carefully analyze the various categories of clients/customers. The task is to listen to their interests and needs and to define their different requirements and specific conditions. This can for instance be done by mapping the profiles of the most important client categories by conducting surveys, on-site visits, in-depth interviews, as well as by evaluations of publications by readers. Each professional category is portrayed in terms of work description, educational background, need for continuing education, level of computer skills and internet usage, reading habits, etc. Profiles can be presented in terms of user types, a common method among information technologys interface developers, where the profile of a specific user type supports development of systems

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Enterprise Concept and Performance Measurement as Tools for Reorganization, Management, and Strategic Controlling of a Forest Research Institution
Harald Mauser
Austrian Federal Research and Training Centre for Forests, Natural Hazards, and Landscape Forest research institutions (FRIs) face new challenges at the institutional level that have to be managed by intensified strategic planning and performance monitoring. The elaboration of an enterprise concept facilitates the setting of strategic goals and the formulation of a strategy to reach them. It is also an important opportunity to establish a common understanding on the future development of and strong identification with the institution. A successful implementation of such a concept needs performance measurement to monitor the real development of the institute and to assess the progress towards achieving the intended goals. A commonly used concept of performance measurement and harmonised definitions of indicators would facilitate the comparability between FRIs and a better analysis of the whole forest research sector. Based on experiences with the reorganisation of the Austrian Federal Forest Research Institute, general aspects of strategic planning are discussed. Following the discussion among the European heads of National Forest Research Institutions, an approach for performance measurement is presented, which should be further elaborated within IUFRO. The assessment of the impact of forest research on the society is presented as a challenge for forest research. Keywords: Forest research institute, strategic planning, performance measurement, enterprise concept.

T
Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Harald Mauser, Austrian Federal Research and Training Centre for Forests, Natural Hazards, and Landscape, Seckendorff-Gudent Weg 8, Vienna A-1131, Austria. E-mail: harald.mauser@bfw.gv.at. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

he terms quality and efficiency can be related to scientific work itself. We use traditions and criteria to assess the quality of a research project or the quality of a scientist. But these terms can also be related to the performance of a forest research institution (FRI) as a whole, characterised by questions such as: How well does a FRI manage strategic challenges? In which quality does it adapt to changing internal and external requirements? How well does it take opportunities for developing competence and achieving a better position within its relevant markets? In Figure 1, the red arrow illustrates the performance of a FRI that is changing its profile and market position due to internal and external driving factors. This article is dealing with the quality of this kind of performance, with the quality at the institutional level. In the third section, it shortly describes the changing environment for FRIs and some of todays challenges to be met by FRIs. In the fourth and fifth sections, the article presents and discusses the enterprise concept and performance measurement as tools that can help to ensure quality and efficiency of performance at the institutional level. Both tools are widely used in the business world. Experiences gained with the reorganisation of the Austrian federal forest research institute demonstrate the usefulness of these tools also for FRIs.
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purposes. There is a growing need to demonstrate more clearly the benefits of research activities, scientific discoveries, and new technologies to the society. All European FRIs depend on public funding. The share of this money differs, but it is a necessary part of the financial viability of most, may be of all of these institutions. Human and financial public resources get increasingly limited or are more and more available via competitive approaches. Reshaping of the Public Sector The relation between the public and the private sector is changing. There is a general trend of reshaping the organisational framework within the public system. Many tasks traditionally conducted by the public sector within ministerial organisations are more and more sourced out to new types of institutions that are based on public law or even privatised. Also universities and other research institutions have been affected by this trend, changing from being part of a ministry or being regulated by public administration rules to a more selfgoverned legal status similar to a private enterprise and using more enterprise-oriented management approaches. Reorganisation of Forest Administration Systems In recent times the organisational framework of forest administrations in general and also of forest research institutions in many European countries are under discussion or have been changed already. This is partly due to the changing political and social system in eastern Europe after the fall of the Iron Curtain, partly it is a consequence of the above-mentioned general trend of reorganisation within the public system. In some cases the legal status of FRIs has already changed and there will be more changes in the years coming. A new legal framework normally leads to a more enterprise-oriented management system including new approaches for strategic management, cost accounting, and controlling. Competitive Public Agendas Societies and governments are regularly confronted with new and emerging topics and tasks. These new challenges modify the relevance of topics that have been of high importance. Forests and forest research topics have to compete with a growing number of other issues for attendance at the policy level and for publicly funded resources. FRIs are forced to strengthen their science-policy interfaces to improve the ability to deal with emerging topics and to influence the political agenda related to research and forests.

Figure 1. Performance at the institutional level.

The Austrian Case Study

This article is mainly based on experiences gained in Austria with the reorganisation of the National Forest Research Institute (now referred to as BFW). Embedded in the structure of a ministry for more than 130 years, BFW was an institution subordinated to the ministry for agriculture and forestry without a legal status of its own; had very limited decision-making competences; was strongly dependent on decisions within the ministerial administration, especially with regard to budget and staff planning, but also had to apply general rules of public administrations that were not adapted to the needs of a research institution; experienced a steady reduction of staff and a sharp reduction of budgets, but at the same time was charged with new and complex tasks (biodiversity, carbon sequestration, climate change, decreasing economic viability of forest enterprises, international reporting) without termination of hitherto conducted activities. To preserve its competences, to adapt to new conditions and to enable a successful performance in the future, a reorganisation of the institute was conducted that led to the change of the legal status of BFW with beginning of 2005. It is now an autonomous institution based on public law with the flexibility similar to a business enterprise. It applies the rules and liability of the business world, but is supervised by the minister. To ensure a good performance under these new conditions, an enterprise concept was elaborated and implemented, including performance indicators for strategic controlling. In some sections of this article, the experiences gained and lessons learned in this Austrian case study are presented in addition to the general aspects described in the text.

Modified Club of FRIs Scientific topics related to forest ecosystems and their management are increasingly addressed by institutions that do not belong to the traditional forest research sector. Aspects of forest sciences, in particular when being part of a comprehensive research topic, are more and more handled by other disciplines. Forest research institutions increasingly have to live with other disciplines and institutions as new Changing Environment and New Challenges for Forest competitors or as new partners in dealing with forest topics. For this, they have to strengthen their core competences, but at the same time Research Institutions The changes within the general environment for forest research they have to build new competences and capacities to be able to interalso present FRIs with new challenges at the institutional level. The act competently and effectively with other disciplines and to expand situation differs from country to country, but there are some general their scientific focus to include new topics. They have to adapt their recruiting, internal training, content of research proposals, and strattrends, at least in Europe. egy for acquisition of external funding. Increasing Need to Justify the Use of Public Budgets The difficult conditions of public budgets in Europe led to an Challenges to Manage To summarize, an increasing number of FRIs experiences a drastic increasing necessity to justify the use of public money for specific
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Figure 2. Management pyramid and enterprise concept. Figure 3. Feasible fields of activity of FRIs. change in their organisational and economic frameworks. There is an increasing need to: justify the use of public funds for forest research, in some cases FRIs even have to explain the need for their existence; adapt their portfolio of activities and their scientific profile to a changing environment; they have to sharpen their profile and to concentrate on a set of selected activities instead of covering a broad spectrum of disciplines; ensure efficient use of limited human and financial resources; for this they can establish management systems similar to enterprises and they can extend the amount of external funding; demonstrate more clearly the efficiency and effectiveness of their work and, in many cases, also demonstrate improvements in their performance.

vision. These tasks include activities that have to be conducted in addition to the day by day business. The enterprise concept deals with three of these four management levels (mission, vision, strategy). Fields of Activity A research concept or a research strategy is not sufficient to ensure high quality and efficiency at the institutional level. FRIs are not pure research conducting organisations, they are not restricted to research activities. In addition to research activities in several fields, they are usually also in charge of other tasks related to forest research, for example knowledge transfer, academic education, or forest monitoring (Figure 3). For these tasks, they also get money and external stakeholders expect good performance. Research is only one part of an internal competition with other activities for resources or attendance. To coordinate this competition and to maximise internal synergies between these activities, an overall view on the institution as a whole is needed, a comprehensive concept that has to include all relevant fields of activity. A research strategy has to be part of the enterprise concept, but cannot substitute such a comprehensive approach. Determination of Objectives An enterprise concept has to be derived from the mission of the institution. Mission statements are usually formulated in a very general wording that is not sufficient to really assess performance. Therefore, concrete objectives are needed that are realistic and facilitate a successful performance. To derive objectives from the mission, for each field of activity the following steps have to be conducted: 1. Analysis of the external environment: What are the relevant demands and requirements? What are the main trends (changing societal needs, new technologies)? Who are the main competitors or potential partners and what are their characteristics (actual competences, intended changes, capability, and reliability for cooperation)? For this step, BFW used a survey in the forest sector to get information on the stakerholder needs and on their satisfaction with the performance of the institute. Also an internal survey on the expectations of the research staff was conducted, to learn their assessment as scientists on future requirements and trends. Furthermore, the challenges ahead and the opportunities for cooperation were analysed with selected decision makers.
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Enterprise Concept
To meet successfully the challenges described above, a FRI needs to set clear objectives and to formulate a strategy to reach them. Defining these objectives and planning for their successful attainment, or in other words planning the way for success, are tasks that can be managed by means of an enterprise concept (enterprise strategy, development concept, master plan). Levels of Management An enterprise concept has to deal with several levels of management, comprising the management pyramid (see Figure 2): Most, maybe all institutions prepare annual operational plans which cover the expenditures and the income of the whole organisation and include planning of individual projects and tasks. Also, most institutions have some kind of mission statement defining the general mandate of the institution and the most relevant beneficiaries or customers. But in many cases, especially in public institutions, two elements are missing that connect the mission statement with the operational planning. One is an element called vision. The vision defines the intended status of the institution for a specific point of time in the future. It consists of concrete defined objectives that should be achieved in a fixed period of time. The vision defines what will be judged as a successful performace of this institution. The second missing element is made up of those strategic tasks necessary to ensure a successful achievement of the intended

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sion, and the vision are presented. In addition, an internal background paper has been prepared, in which all the deficits and weaknesses are described. This internal document is used by the management, the board, and the owner representative. A mid-term evaluation of the enterprise concept will be carried out after 3 years. Benefits of an Enterprise Concept Preparing an enterprise concept requires time, the full commitment of all participants, and comprehensive communication. Yet, these costs and efforts are an investment into the successful development of the institution. The written document itself is important, it is the guideline for the management, the board, and the staff for the next years; gives room for manoeuvre for the management (it can act with a high degree of freedom at the operational level to reach the strategic goals; without a strategic concept, every single decision of daily management needed approval by the superior authority); enables strategic controlling by all levels of management (future oriented, complementing financial controlling); supports marketing and PR (convincing stakeholders and funding institutions by means of a comprehensive and persuasive concept describing the intended development of the institution, and including clear objectives and measurable success by the use of performance indicators); strengthens corporate identity (supporting identification and commitment of staff, common understanding); is the agreed basis for assessment of performance. Of the same importance as the document is the process of elaboration, the internal discussions on the different elements of the enterprise concept. The discussion necessary has to be substantial and therefore sharpens the view on the own organisation; facilitates the establishment of a common understanding on the future development; encourages the identification with the institution; and supports the successful implementation of the concept. A commonly elaborated vision and an agreement on indicators support the common assessment of performance.

Figure. 4. Elements of the enterprise concept of BFW. 2. Analysis of internal strengths and weaknesses: An honest and frank analysis is needed to clarify the potential, the ability of the institution to act according to the mission within the environment scrutinized in Step 1. For this step, BFW used an internal analysis commonly conducted by the heads of all departments and discussions with selected stakeholders. 3. Definition of objectives (vision for the year 20xx): Combining the outcomes of the first two steps, the goals are defined that should be achieved in the next years. In this step, BFW elaborated a vision for the year 2010 through various rounds of frank internal discussions with the heads of departments, with the board and with the ministry as representative of the owner. 4. Definition of strategic tasks: Knowing the goals from Step 3 and the current status from Step 2, those tasks have to be identified that are necessary to enable the institution to achieve the vision. These tasks have to be conducted with a specific schedule in addition to the daily business. 5. Definition of performance indicators: To describe the vision in a concrete way and to enable an assessment of the extent to which the vision has been reached at the end of the selected time period, performance indicators and target values are needed. BFW selected one to four indicators for each field of activity to monitor the performance on the way to the vision 2010. 6. Resource planning: Clarification of the resources needed or available for implementation of the planned activities. In reality, aspects of resources are not discussed as the last step, but rather are an integrated part of the Steps 2 to 5. Enterprise Concept of BFW Based on the outcomes of the activities described in Determination of Objectives, the enterprise concept of BFW (Figure 4) was elaborated by the help of several 1- and 2-day workshops involving the heads of departments and the head of BFW. Some parts of the enterprise concept are relevant for the whole organisation, especially the mission statement and the vision for the year 2010. In addition there are separate parts for all fields of activity. For every field, there is an analysis of the external environment and an internal SWOT-analysis, a vision, strategic tasks, and performance indicators. For the field of activity Research, these parts were additionally specified for each research department. Regarding the field Knowledge transfer, a separate part has been developed for the two forest training centres operated by BFW. To inform its stakeholders, BFW published a simplified version of the enterprise concept in which the general environment, the mis60
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Performance Measurement
An enterprise concept with concrete objectives and strategic steps as waypoints are important prerequisites for the successful development of a FRI. But to really achieve the intended success, the implementation of the concept is crucial. Key elements of implementation are on the one hand the monitoring of the real development of the institute, to be able to assess if it is on the right track. On the other hand, an assessment needs to be carried out at the end of the planning period in order to measure progress towards achieving the intended goals. The analysis of the reasons for deviations is a helpful learning step for the strategic planning of the subsequent period, for which the enterprise concept has to be adapted. For theses tasks, in the business world performance measurement is widely used as an integrated part of the management system. Performance measurement is subject to a great number of literature, discussing the necessity and benefits and offering possible approaches for it. The huge amount of information on performance measurement can be summarized by several assumptions: You cannot manage what you cant measure. What gets measured gets done. Measurement influences behaviour (positively).

Also forest research institutions have implemented performance measurements. However, in Europe at the moment the approaches used for performance measurements are usually not comparable. Therefore the heads of European National Forest Research Institutions (NFRIs) started a discussion on this topic, and some interim results could be obtained already. The heads agreed on the fact, that FRIs need a comprehensive approach and appropriate indicators for performance measurement. Bibliographic indicators such as ISI citation indexes are not sufficient, because research and scientific impact is only one part, very often a small part of the mandate of a FRI, as already discussed in connection with the enterprise concept. Therefore, as one requirement for a performance measurement sys- Figure 5. General approach for performance measurement (interim tem for FRIs, all fields of activities have to be covered, not only result of the discussion of European heads of NFRIs). research. As a second requirement, performance measurement has to be linked to the objectives of the institution, to enable an assessment of the extent to which the real developments are likely to result in the set objectives. The system of performance measurement has to integrate the objectives set out in the enterprise concept, as defined in the vision indicators and their target values. Levels of Objectives There are different levels of objectives to be used in the establishment of a system of performance measurement: Outcome (impact) objectives: Which effects in the outside world (forests, forestry practice, forest policy) should be achieved by the activities of a FRI? Output objectives: What are the specific achievements (the products) of the FRI to effect the intended outcome/impact? Process objectives: How should the working processes within the FRI be designed in order to create the intended output? Input objectives: Which resources should be used to which maximum extent to create the intended output or to run the intended processes? All these levels can be used to define objectives for a FRI, to determine target values, and to define indicators. But the achievement of the last three categories is totally managed by the FRI itself, whereas the first level (outcome/impact) is influenced by external forces to a large extent. The effect of activities of a FRI on the achievement of this kind of objectives often is only small and in most cases difficult to assess. Therefore, the definition of outcome/impact objectives is a great challenge, but it is this level of objectives that is of most interest to stakeholders and in particular to politicians when making budget decisions. The approach discussed by the European heads is a matrix combining activities and objectives (Figure 5). To cover the broad spectrum of activities of FRIs in different countries, a hierarchical system seems to be useful. Each field of activity could be divided into commonly agreed subcategories as shown in Figure 6 for the field Reseach. For each combination of activities and objectives, performance indicators could be defined. It would be helpful if there were harmonised definitions of at least some of them to get a list of indicators that can be used by all interested FRIs (example see Figure 7). The discussion among the European heads resulted in a working paper on this topic (Performance Measurement of National Forest Research Institutes). It presents the approach introduced in this article and also describes the prerequisites which an institution should implement to enable successful performance measurement. It is proposed that within IUFRO a framework for performance measurement for FRIs should be elaborated that enables a higher degree of

Figure 6. Example of subcategories for the field of activity Research.

Figure 7. Example of indicators for the subcategories in Figure 6.

comparability than today. It would be helpful to clarify, if the general approach discussed in Europe (combination of field of activity and objectives) is promising or if there are better alternatives. There are open questions, like the distinction between outcome and impact objectives and appropriate indicators. The assessment of the impact of forest research on the society is a great challenge and could be an interesting topic for research itself.

Lessons Learned in the Austrian Case Study

The entire process of reorganisation and change of the legal status
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of BFW was primarily pursued and guided by the institute itself. External consultants were only partially involved under the supervision of the BFW management. Such a self-dependent approach proofed to be more successful than reorganisation processes that are initiated and guided by the superior level, conducted mainly by external experts with lacking involvement and commitment of the management or the staff of the afflicted institute. Continuous information and involvment of external stakeholders and the staff council proofed to be crucial for ensuring the necessary level of political support. For this, a comprehensive and convincing concept is indispensable which allows for a prospective development guided primarily by the vision of the institute itself, instead of mainly reacting to pressure from outside visions. The process of preparing the BFW enterprise concept in general was very successful. However, two weaknesses are now evident: One is the inhomogeneous involvement of staff. All the heads of departments were fully involved in the elaboration, but it was left to them to decide on the level of involvement of the heads of the subordinated units or the whole staff of their department. That led to lacking identification with and support for the concept in some units, partially weakening its implementation. To overcome this deficit, more information and explanations are given at any proper occasion to convince all people. For the future, a comprehensive involvement of all management levels and of the whole staff has to be ensured from the beginning. As a second lesson, it became evident that too many strategic goals had been defined. The capacities available are charged nearly to the limit with the everyday business at a time of prosperous development of BFW. It is rather difficult for the staff to carry out all the strategic tasks in addition to the regular tasks. The necessary input of persons and time was underestimated. Next time, the workload of strategic steps has to be scrutinized very carefully, and the extent of strategic tasks has to be reduced. Some performance indicators were selected to monitor the implementation of the BFW enterprise concept, to conduct some kind of strategic controlling. But it became clear that the elaboration and implementation of the whole system of performance measurement (comprising strategic and operational controlling aspects) should be

finalised first, instead of starting only with some indicators for strategic controlling. It is necessary to optimize the workflow of registration and reporting of actual indicator values. All working steps regarding performance indicators require a good and efficient integration into the general financial controlling and reporting system. At the beginning of such a discussion, there is a tendency to establish too many indicators. It is a challenge to select only those indicators that enable a reliable assessment of relevant performance aspects, but at the same time fit to the internal reporting system and can be handled with limited time and effort for registration and reporting.

Summary and Conclusions

Forest research institutions face new challenges at the institutional level that have to be managed by intensified strategic planning and performance monitoring. The setting of strategic goals and the formulation of a strategy to reach them can be effectively handled by the implementation of an enterprise concept (enterprise strategy, development concept, master plan). The elaboration of such a concept itself is an important opportunity to establish a common understanding on the future development of and a high level of identification with the institution for all people involved (staff, management, board). A successful implementation of such a concept needs performance measurement to monitor the real development of the institute and to assess the progress towards achieving the intended goals. Following the discussion among the European heads of National Forest Research Institutions an approach for performance measurement is presented that combines fields of activity and different levels of objectives. A commonly used concept of performance measurement and harmonised definitions of indicators would facilitate the comparability between FRIs and a better analysis of the whole forest research sector. It is proposed that within IUFRO such a framework for performance measurement for FRIs should be elaborated. The assessment of the impact of forest research on the society is presented as a challenge for forest research.

Acknowledgement
The author appreciates very much the helpful lectoral advice of Alexander Buck (IUFRO-Headquaters).

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Developing Forest Research Responsive to Political and Stakeholder Demands in Bolivia

Bonifacio Mostacedo
Instituto Boliviano de Investigacin Forestal (IBIF), Santa Cruz, Bolivia Passage of the new forestry law was passed in 1996, established Bolivia as being one of the leading countries in sustainable tropical forest management. Due to the efforts of forestry stakeholders, the managed forest area in Bolivia is around 9 million ha, and FSC-certified area is around 2 million ha, the greatest area of certified tropical forest worldwide within a single country. Bolivian forests are managed by timber companies, indigenous communities, social groups, farmers, and private owners. In the last 5 years, the number of timber and non-timber forest product (NTFP) species marketed from these forests has increased from 35 to more than 120 species. The Instituto Boliviano de Investigacin Forestal (IBIF, the Bolivian Forestry Research Institute), founded in 2002, is a unique local organization, recognized by ministerial resolution of the Bolivian government. The mission of IBIF is to conduct and promote forestry research in Bolivian working forests and to use research results to support the sustainable management of forest resources through extension. IBIF is the CITES Scientific Authority in Bolivia and is charged with monitoring forest dynamics in relation to forestry activities of varying intensities in more than 800 ha of permanent plots. IBIF has a wealth of data, field stations, and experiments, which have accumulated since its creation and which facilitate basic and applied forestry research. Based on research opportunities in Bolivia, IBIF has developed a 5-year forestry research strategy for the next 5 years, with the goal of supporting the reformulation of forestry policy and making new information available to forestry stakeholders. The strategy was shared with other local forestry organizations in November, 2006. The strategy of IBIF include five focal aspects: (1) basic and applied research, (2) training and dissemination of results, (3) scientific and academic relationships, (4) building relationships with national and local governments, and (5) institutional development. IBIF believes research should be closely associated with the processes of forest production as a means to define best management practices. The information generated by research should be extended to all productive or academic levels and disseminated in the form of scientific publications, manuals, and practical guides. IBIF as generator of scientific research works closely with national and international universities supporting their role in the formation of experts. In addition, IBIF intends to strengthen its relationships with the Superintendencia Forestal (SF), the forestry governmental organization that controls forest management in Bolivia, to enable it to influence national forestry policy. Finally, because IBIF is a young, continuously growing organization, its strategy also considers the long-term financial sustainability of the organization, with the goal of becoming the primary resource for forestryrelated information in Bolivia. Keywords: Bolivia, institutional development, forestry research, forest policy, sustainable development, sustainable forest management
IUFRO 6.06.00

Ana C. Betancurt
Instituto Boliviano de Investigacin Forestal (IBIF), Santa Cruz, Bolivia

Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Bonifacio Mostacedo, Instituto Boliviano de Investigacin Forestal (IBIF), P.O. Box 6204, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. E-mail: bmostacedo@ibifbolivia.org.bo. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

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olivia is a country with more than 1 million km2 that is located in the center of South America. Half of the country is covered by tropical forests and half of this area is managed forest. Because of the high climatic and altitudinal variation, Bolivia has high biodiversity. Navarro and Ferreira (2007) identified more than 150 vegetation types in the country, from which 40% are situated in managed forests. Under the current system of forest management in Bolivia, there is a diversity of forest users and harvest products. A few years ago, only forest companies had access to legal and productive wood harvesting. Now, forest companies, indigenous communities, campesinos, social groups, and private landowners have access to forest to harvest timber and non-timber forest products (NTFP). Traditionally, extraction of forest products in Bolivia consisted almost exclusively of mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), Spanish cedar (Cedrela spp.), morado (Machaerium scleroxylon), and few NTFP species such Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa) and rubber (Hevea brasiliensis). Now, there are more than 120 timber species that have national and international markets. There are also several NTFPs that are developing their market. Brazil nut is still one NTFP species that generates high economic income and sustains a variety of stakeholders with different social levels. On the other hand, Bolivia is leading forest management and volunteer forest certification in natural tropical forests with more than 2 million ha certified. In addition, there are initiatives to implement integrated forest management combining timber and non-timber forest products. Forestry development in Bolivia has advanced since the passage of new legislation that was supported since beginning by BOLFOR Project in 1994. Ten years have now passed since the new forestry law and technical norms were drafted into law (1997). Currently, many forestry stakeholders deemed it necessary to make adjustments to the technical norms using scientific information based in research. The BOLFOR Project, sponsored by the Bolivian government and the United States Agency for International Development, conducted research in forest ecology, management, and policy for 10 years and, at the end of it first phase in 2003, created a new organization that could continue leading forest research in Bolivia. In this way, the Instituto Boliviano de Investigacin (IBIF) was created as a non-government organization. In Bolivia, IBIF is one of the few organizations that develop forestry research. Nonetheless, IBIF is still in a financial consolidation process with access to substantially less funding than was availably under BOLFOR I. As a part of this process, IBIF developed a strategic plan in 2006 for the next 5 years (200711). This strategic plan is the result of analysis, reflection, and a collective building process that was developed from within the organization with the active participation of the Advisory Board and executive and administrative personnel. The development of the strategic plan was largely based in analysis of the current situation of forestry in Bolivia to identify areas in which research could contribute to forestry management.

(Ibisch and Mrida 2003, Navarro and Ferreira 2007). This climatic diversity together with great variation in soils (and land-use history) have resulted in diversity of forest types. Several authors have reported general classifications of vegetation types (Beck et al. 1993, Ibisch and Mrida 2003), while others present more detailed classifications (Navarro and Maldonado 2002, Navarro and Ferreira 2007). Forests in Bolivia, which cover more than 53% of the entire country, are experiencing the pressure from human activity. Forests near cities and towns have disappeared due to agriculture and cattle ranching activities. The deforestation rate is continuously increasing. Ten years ago, the deforestation rate was 150,000 to 200,000 ha/year (Pacheco 2006), but it is now 300,000 ha/year (Superintendencia Forestal, personal communication). Additionally, deforestation is producing more frequent uncontrolled wildfire. Due to its forestry potential, Bolivia has decided to promote the forest conservation through sustainable forest management. In 1996, the forestry law was thus modified accordingly with the purpose to promote the forest conservation. Technical norms for timber harvesting (MDSP 1998), Brazil nut extraction (MDS 2005), and NTFP extraction (MDS 2006) were generated. The current government is also promoting an integral forest use plan, to use several forest products from the same place, to generate income for a diversity of stakeholders, especially those that live in or close to forests, such as indigenous communities. The best management practices for timber harvesting were implemented in 1997 by the technical norms, but they have received much criticism due to several assumptions in the norms not supported by research data. For example, the minimum cutting cycle for wood harvesting was set at 20 years, but many studies have shown that this cycle is not long enough for recovery of floristic composition and volume of harvested trees (BOLFOR/FMT 2003a, Blate 2005). The norms also do not consider that different forest types may require different cutting cycles. In addition, the technical norms require that 20% of harvestable trees should be left as seed trees and tree species must be harvested above minimum diameter cutting limits. In a preliminary analysis made by BOLFOR (BOLFOR/FMT 2003b, c), recommendations were made for revision of the norms. At the same time, timber species that are currently listed in the CITES Appendices are managed the same as are common species and the hunting of wildlife is not well enforced. In order to justify changes in the technical norms, there is a need to gather supporting scientific information. In addition, the Superintendencia Forestal and the Vice-ministry of Natural Resource and Environment require input of scientific information to reformulate current forestry policy. From a forest management point of view, if natural forest management is to be used as a tool to conserve forests, best management practices need to be applied. The few studies on the impact of timber harvesting show that there are many ways to harvest forest products and provide for their conservation through forest management and silviculture. More research is needed to evaluate current forest management strategies and silvicultural systems.

Motivation and Opportunities of Forestry Research in Bolivia

Forestry research in Bolivia has been expanding continuously in the past 10 years. Before then, research projects were limited and not well integrated. Forestry research in Bolivia is complex due to its high biological (Ibisch 1998) and socio-cultural diversity. Precipitation varies from 50 to 6,000 mm/year. This rainfall variation changes from south to north and from east to west. Climatic variations are determined by altitude and latitudinal differences in this country
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Strengths and Weaknesses of IBIF

Five years following its creation, IBIF has grown rapidly in its reputation, personnel, and internal organization. Nonetheless there are weaknesses that need to be addressed. In this section, we describe the main strengths and weaknesses that were identified in two workshops under in the process of developing our strategic plan. One of the most important strengths of IBIF is the national and international recognition received as a reference organization doing

forestry research. First, IBIF has been recognized by the national government in ministerial resolutions 138/2005 and 167/2005 as the authorized organization to monitor working forests through a network of permanent plots and as the CITES scientific authority for plants in Bolivia. That recognition creates a unique opportunity to develop a close relationship with the national government. Another IBIF strength is the legacy of information and staff of qualified personnel. IBIF has the largest database on forest dynamics in relation to timber harvesting in the world. In addition, it has longterm research silvicultural plots (LTRSP) that are unique in the world with respect to replicated experimental design and operational scale plot sizes. The LTRSPs are used to monitor the impact of different intensities of timber harvesting on biodiversity and post-logging forest recovery. IBIF is monitoring more than 560 ha 2027-ha plots and 200 1-ha permanent plots across the country. The database from permanent plots is considered the most valuable information that IBIF has, which is used to generate information on forest dynamics in response to forestry activities. The staff of IBIF is a small group of highly qualified professionals from a range of different disciplines. Personnel are young, motivated, and enthusiastic about conducting scientific research that is relevant to Bolivia. Despite these strengths, IBIF has some weaknesses common for an organization in growing process. The most important weakness is the lack of guaranteed long-term financial support. Because IBIF is an NGO, it does not have financial support from the Bolivian government or other state-sponsored donors. IBIF has to develop and implement a strategic financial plan in which fundraising and writing proposals to get funding are going to be priorities. Another weakness includes relationships with the government. Although IBIF has recognition from the government, communication strategies need to be developed with the Superintendencia Forestal, the Direccin General Forestal, and the Direccin General de Biodiversidad to permit more direct flux of information. Government instability has also resulted in frequent staff changes in these entities, which challenge the continuity of relationships and information exchange.

Figure 1. Diagram of the strategic plan for IBIF.

Policies to Develop in Each Strategic Area

Basic and Applied Research In the understanding that forest management includes all resources in the forest, including timber, NTFP, flora, and wildlife, IBIF established research programs in the following areas: (1) ecology and forest dynamics; (2) forest management and silviculture; (3) impact of human intervention on forest biodiversity; (4) social and economic costs and benefits of management practices; (5) fire ecology; and (6) plantations. Research will be conducted mostly within a network of permanent plots. Currently, IBIF is monitoring 840 ha of permanent plots. There are two types of permanent plots: experimental and conventional. Experimental permanent plots are part of LTRSP with a size of 2027 ha per plot and conventional growth and yield plots 1 ha in size. Experimental and growth and yield plots are located in all the main ecoregions of Bolivia including dry forests, sub-humid forests, and Amazonian forests. Both types of permanent plots are used to monitor forest dynamics dynamic of forests, which include regeneration, growth, mortality, and recruitment. Biodiversity impacts under different harvesting intensities and silvicultural treatments are being monitored in experimental plots. Research in plantations is not yet fully developed. This is one area in which IBIF has to work, considering the rapid growth and demand of information from plantation users. For this expansion in research to occur IBIF will need to establish alliances with other organizations to develop this area. Training and Dissemination of Results To strengthen IBIF capacity for training and dissemination of results there are two central lines that require development. The first line deals with developing training strategies for different stakeholders related to forest use. Hands-on training is one way that IBIF has implemented and will continue to facilitate transfer of information generated by research to improve the application of best forest management practices in Bolivia. However, one remaining challenge is to develop the capability to convert scientific results to a form useful for the general public or communities, which in most of case have low levels of education. The challenge is to transfer information to all groups that need information to improve forest management. Training has to be supported by the ongoing publication of information using different media. The dissemination of knowledge acquired through research should be oriented to the national and international scientific world through publication in specialized journals and by attending meetings. IBIF will also share research results through publication of books, guides, pamphlets, and handbooks.
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Vision, Mission, and Strategic Intervention Areas

The strategic framework of IBIF established a desirable future vision and a vision of the institutional consolidation process, which include this strategic plan but also a financial strategic plan and a communication strategy plan. The future vision is that forestry sector will assumes that forest research is an integral part of the productive process to assure forest conservation. In addition, the institutional vision is that IBIF will be the acknowledged organization in the country to generate, analyze, and disseminate forestry scientific knowledge to national and international audiences related to forest conservation and management. The mission of IBIF is to conduct and promote forestry research in Bolivian tropical forests and disseminate results that are useful for the sustainable management of resources. In order to achieve the institutional vision, areas were identified for strategic intervention; these fall into two groups. The first group contains three areas: (1) basic and applied research; (2) training and dissemination of results; and (3) scientific and academic relationships (Figure 1). The second group is composed of strategic areas oriented to make it possible for IBIF to fulfill its mission and vision via execution of the first group. These are: (1) position in relation to the government; and (2) institutional development (Figure 1). Communication is a linkage instrument in the strategy of the IBIF allowing for dissemination of research results and collaboration with institutional partners.

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Scientific and Academic Relationship The participation of IBIF in the scientific and academic world is fundamental to obtain recognition as a scientific authority and to raise the professional quality of Bolivian researchers. IBIF is one of the few national organizations in Bolivia that contribute to science with welltrained personnel. Recently, several researchers related to IBIF have authored studies published in international peer-reviewed journals (Poorter et al. 2006, Rozendaal et al. 2006, van Gelder et al. 2006). IBIF desires to establish strategic alliances with national and international universities and research organizations. For example, IBIF currently has an agreement with two universities from The Netherlands and one from United States. IBIF works actively with four of five national forestry and biological universities. The agreement with national universities is to promote and support graduate courses and provide opportunities to students to develop their undergraduate and graduate theses. Working together with universities and research organizations will allow better interaction and feedback in the research process. The participation by IBIF researchers in national and international meetings will help provide them with more interaction with other scientists in their fields. Position in Relation to the Government One important role of IBIF is to contribute generating technical information to reformulate or adjust timber or non-timber technical norms. In this way, IBIF information can be directly applied toward informing governmental entities and thereby influence forest policy. Obviously a better relationship between IBIF and the government is fundamental to establishing continuity between IBIF research and its application to forest policy. IBIF will strive to strengthen its image and position with governmental entities at municipal, state, and national levels. Currently, municipal and state governments are rising in importance in Bolivia. At the national level, IBIF will need to work closely with the Superintendencia Forestal, the Direccin General Forestal, and the Direccin General de Biodiversidad. The visibility and capacity of incidence should be oriented to insert IBIF in the National Program of Forestry Research that the government is creating, as well as other initiatives that are related to forestry research. To influence government policies in constructive ways, IBIF should participate and create policies involving scientific research. IBIF should be the primary source of forestry technical information for governmental entities. Institutional Development Financial sustainability of the organization staffed with high quality personnel will be critical issues to the effectiveness of IBIF in the near- and long-term future. IBIF is a new NGO that must attract financial donors who wish to invest in research, education, and dissemination of information related to forest ecology and management. Thus, IBIF will need to be competitive either by soliciting funds from donors and/or by generating income through marketing services and products. Currently, IBIF is developing a guide for services and products that it can offer. There are also plans to organize several courses on issues related to research, conservation, and forest management. Finally, IBIF plans to publish several books for sale in order to generate income.

The only way to conduct research under this scenario is through external cooperation, but these opportunities are often limited. Every day raising fund is more competitive, not only in Bolivia, but throughout the world. Nonetheless, IBIF an NGO with only 5 years of existence will continue with the challenge to generate forest information through scientific research. Despite the financial obstacles, IBIF as an NGO in an economically poor but natural resource and biodiversity rich-country has the opportunity to research a wide range of subjects including basic research. Given the political and economic realities facing IBIF and Bolivia the goal of most research should be directly applied toward the conservation and management of tropical forests.

Acknowledgements
This article and the process of strategic plan presented here were supported by the BOLFOR Project funded by USAID and executed by The Nature Conservancy. We thank Todd S. Fredericksen and Joseph E. Veldman for their valuable comments and correction of the English language to this manuscript.

Literature Cited
BECK, S.G., T.J. KILLEEN, AND E.E. GARCA. 1993. Vegetacin de Bolivia. P. 623 in Gua de rboles de Bolivia, Killeen, T.J., E.E. Garca, and S.G. Beck (eds.). Herbario Nacional de Bolivia y Missouri Botanical Garden, La Paz, Bolivia. BLATE, G.M. 2005. Assessing Trade-offs in Multiple-objective Tropical Forest Management. Ph.D. thesis, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA. BOLFOR/FMT. 2003a. Ciclos de Corta en Bosques Tropicales de Bolivia. Proyecto BOLFOR, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. BOLFOR/FMT. 2003b. Consideraciones para Arboles Semilleros en Bosques Tropicales bajo Manejo en Bolivia. BOLFOR y Forest Management Trust, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. BOLFOR/FMT. 2003c. Dimetros Mnimos de Corta en Bosques Tropicales de Bolivia: Recomendaciones Basadas en la Investigacin Forestal. Proyecto BOLFOR y Forest Management Trust, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. IBISCH, P. L. 1998. Bolivia is a megadiversity country and a developing country. P. 213241 in Biodiversity: A Challenge for Development Research and Policy, Barthlott, W., and M. Winiger (eds.). Springer-Verlag, Berlin. IBISCH, P.L., AND G. MRIDA (eds.). 2003. Biodiversidad: La riqueza de Bolivia. Editorial FAN, Santa Cruz, Bolivia. MDS. 2005. Norma tcnica para la elaboracin de planes de manejo de Castaa (Bertholletia excelsa Humb & Bonpl.). Resolucin Ministerial No. 77/2005. Ministerio de Desarrollo Sostenible, La Paz, Bolivia. MDS. 2006. Norma tcnica para aprovechamiento comercial sostenible de recursos forestales no maderables en bosques y tierras forestales naturales. Resolucion Ministerial 22/2006. Ministerio de Desarrollo Sostenible, La Paz, Bolivia. MDSP. 1998. Normas tcnicas para la elaboracin de instrumentos de manejo forestal (inventarios, planes de manejo, planes operativos, mapas) en propiedades privadas o concesiones con superficies mayores a 200 hectreas. Resolucin Ministerial No 248/98, Ministerio de Desarrollo Sostenible y Planificacin, La Paz, Bolivia. NAVARRO, G., AND W. FERREIRA. 2007. Mapa de vegetacin de Bolivia: CD-ROM interactivo. The Nature Conservancy/Rumbol, Cochabamba, Bolivia.

Final Considerations
In difficult political and economic situations as those in currently encountered in Bolivia, research is often considered a luxury. The government has other glaring priorities, such as poverty alleviation.
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NAVARRO, G., AND M. MALDONADO. 2002. Geografa ecolgica de groups. Ecology 87: 12891301. Bolivia: Vegetacin y ambientes acuticos. Fundacin Simn I. ROZENDAAL, D.M.A., V.H. HURTADO, AND L. POORTER. 2006. Patio, Cochabamba, Bolivia. Plasticity in leaf traits of 38 tropical tree species in response to PACHECO, P. 2006. Agricultural expansion and deforestation in lowlight; relationships with light demand and adult stature. Functional land Bolivia: the import substitution versus the structural adjustEcology 20: 207216. ment model. Land Use Policy 23: 205225. VAN GELDER, H.A., L. POORTER, AND F.J. STERCK. 2006. Wood POORTER, L., L. BONGERS, AND F. BONGERS. 2006. Architecture of mechanics, allometry, and life-history variation in a tropical rain 54 moist-forest tree species: Traits, trade-offs, and functional forest tree community. New Phytologist 171: 367378.

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Emerging Forests Research NeedsThe Poland Case Study

Piotr Paschalis-Jakubowicz
Warsaw University of Life Sciences We face the necessity to break certain barriers in the curent scientific disciplines and research directions. To the always open list of research directions others should be added, such as: consequence analysis in the evolution of forest legislation, methods of analysing international conventions on environment protections related to the evaluation of trends in induced changes, evolution directions in pursing forestry at local, regional, and global levels, intersectoral connections, e.g., forestry-agriculture, forestry-water resource management, regional development, nature education, and the position of forestry in nature education, etc. Whole areas of forestry with traditional research and observation methods must be subject to new verification systems of the accumulated data. The search should embrace areas of state-ofthe-art knowledge related to forest and other fields of science, including traditional knowledge. Keywords: research in forestry, scientific inventory.

Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Piotr Paschalis-Jakubowicz, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Faculty of Forestry, Nowoursynowska 159, Warsaw 02-787, Poland. E-mail: PiotrPaschalis@wl.sggw.pl. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

ince the second half of the 20th century, the world has been concerned with the following four main challenges: how to ensure peace, freedom, development, and environment protection? What are the limits of approval by society of this hierarchy of needs in the social and economic dimensions? The answer, which was to bridge the conflicts of interest of different social groups from both the rich North and the poor South, was expressed in the sustainable development concept. The most acceptable definition of sustainable development was the expression that mankind is able to develop in a sustainable way ensuring that meeting the current needs does not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Still unsolved in defining sustainable development remains the way it should be measured. It is relatively easy to indicate the foundations of sustainable development, as stated in the Millennium Declaration (2002) describing over 60 targets to be reached. Much more difficult is to introduce measures determining the ability of natural environment to perform the functions which we assign or would like to assign to it. The current research results on concerning merging of forest management communities are promising and have a chance to be successful but there are still emerging forests research needs in Poland. The necessity of developing longterm research projects focusing first on the studies of mechanisms of functioning of forest ecosystems and on the effects of civilisation conditions on changes undergoing in ecosystems. A distinctive increase in ecological awareness of those taking administration decisions should be accompanied with the in-depth ecological education of societies. The willingness to express opinions and active participation in implementing ecological undertakingssustainable forest management is undoubtedly one of themshould be properly utilised.
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Materials and Methods

The variation in cultural, economic, political, and social conditions of Europe is sufficiently high to see real threats to sustainable forest management in conditions of the changing climate, environment, and forests. At the high level of forestry management, laws, and the regulations, we have to do with the problems of the changing structure of forest property, disordered cadastres, fragmentation of forest tracts, weak wood processing industry, lack of linkages in the wood chain market, necessity of increasing the forest area with simultaneous consideration of regional rural development. At the same time it is believed that combinations of global, national, regional, and local initiatives in defining sustainable development indicators lead to inconsistencies and sometimes make it impossible to meet the expectations of their authors. It consists in combining three spheres (economic, environmental, and social) in a concise process of planning sustainable development, which is extremely difficult. Forestry experiences this, particularly in its practical implementation dimension. If we make a basic assumption that all functions performed by forest are of equal value, then we should also take into consideration the interactive processes between them. Analysing more deeply the resulting consequences, we should admit that we should always have to do with conflicts related to forest multifunctionality. In the discussions concerning these issues, more attention is being paid to the understanding of the reasons for which economic growth is not most essential for the development of a state and its citizens. This is a direct reason behind the softened term of sustainable development work towards sustainability. We can also put forward a thesis that there has been a marked shift from forest multifunctionality to the social function performed by forest. How then are we to fulfil only the selected functions in a strictly prescribed time at the same time maintaining all the forest functions in the long run? We face the necessity to break certain barriers in the current scientific disciplines and research directions. To the always open list of research directions (Paschalis 2002), others should be added, such as: consequence analysis in the evolution of forest legislation, methods of analysing international conventions on environment protection related to the evaluation of trends in induced changes, evolution directions in pursuing forestry at local, regional ,and global levels, intersectoral connections, e.g., forestry-agriculture, forestry-water resource management, regional development, nature education, and the position of forestry in nature education, etc. Whole areas of forestry with traditional research and observation methods must be subject to new verification systems of the accumulated data. It seems necessary to emphasize the essentiality of further development of integrated research in forestry which will explain, among other things, the causes of the progressing damage to forests, as well as the launched ideas of the necessity to totally halt forest cutting and division of forestry into monofunctional (e.g., plantations) and multifunctional (based natural and semi-natural silviculture). A sad conclusion deriving from the above is that the current state of knowledge in respect of natural sciences, including forestry, has been insufficient to give an answer to the questions posed for and by forestry meeting the challenges of the second and third millennium. It as at the same time one of the main reasons of the crisis in forestry not only on a state or continent scale. Promoted are also ideas that the future of forestry depends on the possibilities of industrial development capable of meeting global challenges and changes (Baines 2004). Also questions are asked whether the world will gain benefits or will be destroyed by globalisation processes (Knudsen 2004).
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This is accompanies by another question: should forest become an elitist or egalitarian good? (Paschalis 2003). The theoretical bases of forest use, after the publication of the theses below, have caused an extraordinary growth of interest in the humanistic dimension of forest functions. These theses state that forest utilization can also take place when there is no direct contact between man and forest, when man is not even aware that he has been utilizing certain forest functions in a continuous way, and that anticipation of social expectations towards forest, even in the perspective of several human generations, is possible. Seeking theoretical solutions in this respect is stimulated by the growing decline of confidence in those responsible for environment management and the communities frequently giving in to catastrophic, global visions. Opinions thereon, broadly disseminated, express concern with the condition of our forests, their future, lack of proper protection, mistakes in their management, distribution, age structure, etc. Leaving forests exclusively to natural laws, like some suggest, is currently impossible either on a global or local scale. We are forced to seek new forest paradigms which, taking into consideration the principles of eco-development, enable determination of, for example, the amount of cut and forms of its utilization in such a way as to avoid concurrent moral and economic dilemmas. Therefore, there is no other way but arriving at certain compromise solutions and the correctness of selection of such solutions lies in the area of forest multifunctionality which is embedded in a broader concept of sustainable global development.

Results
Todays world is a world in which relationships between the seemingly distant areas of our activity are ubiquitous. More and more often do we come to a conclusion, particularly in science, that external conditions have a greater impact on science than science has on the surrounding world. While science still uses the argument that its only purpose is to strive for truth, the impact of all these external interactions frequently determines the directions of scientific research. In a move to streamline these relationships in the area of forestry, we make attempts at scientific inventory of the needs, identified by different forestry branches, by applying a global approach to forest and environmental issues. We arrive here at a fundamental issue requiring first of all theoretical considerations: all the activities and their results concerning forest inventory and covering forest space should be used for the sake of sustainable forestry development; the difficulty in fulfilling this task rests in a still unsolved question: how to measure sustainable development in time and space. In this way, we look for a measure that would help get an answer to a fundamental question in pursuing forestry tasks: are we to strive for maintaining a balance of the functions performed by forest, or build a hierarchy, or make one function a priority; if we are to make a choice, on what bases should we do it? The three fundamental spheres of sustainable development still have no uniform interpretation, changing smoothly from one to another. Can we say that among all the functions performed by forest one pertaining to the social sphere seems to start to dominate? If so, the measurement methods should include the requirement of human self-restrain in forest use and definition of our scope of responsibility for the use of these goods. The obtained research results prove that the sustainable development concept in forestry is conflictuous, first of all at the interface of the applied forest management principles and its reception by society. It should be noted that promises, carried by the notions used in

sustainable forestry, of forestry multifunctionality cannot be kept concurrently and instantly. The unsolvable difficulty in anticipating future generations expectations as to the condition, appearance, and diversity of future forests is an additional concern in implementing the concept of sustainable use of forest. Also the methodological problems related to the fulfillment of these tasks concern assessment of the directions of rural development being a common challenge not only in respect of the land-use principles but also in respect of the concept of spatial development of rural area. For example, treating tourism and recreation (that is, different forms of land use) as one of the most important elements in the strategy of development of nonurbanized areas seems to deserve support. However, for European countries, with high forest cover and developed forest-timber complexes, such a solution is unsatisfactory. Therefore, it is necessary to review the currently applied data collection and processing methods, as well as to make a new list of measurements of dynamic natural phenomena and ecosystem elements for evaluation. A similar opinion was expressed by Coron (2005), Kohl (2005), and Holmgren (2005), who believe that the scope of measurements, in comparison with that used in Europe, should be extended to include biodiversity features, recreational use, landscape, spatial location, or atmospheric carbon cycle and retention. A large number of publications in this field pertains to the data collection method, proposing a different selection of sample plots, as well as their number and measurement accuracy (Goncalves 2005, De Natale et al. 2005, Tiburan Jr. et al. 2005). At the same time, there is growing demand for environmental data which can be used to determine feature parameter changes, so far needing no evaluation. This concerns, among other things, the necessity to report to the Climate Convention on the figures relating to the collection and processing of data on arable lands, meadows, and pastures, as well as wetlands turned into forestland, and any changes in carbon resources in soil and biomass (GPG LULUCEF 2003). For the needs of reporting by the statesParties to the Climate Conventionwe also find references closely related to the scope of monitoring of the forest condition for the forest use needs. This applies to: changes in the carbon content in aboveground biomass, underground biomass, forest litter, and deadwood, as well as in the rate of tree dieback; mass of burnt biomass and the burning method or burnt biomass fraction; annual change in the biomass of dead trees in areas afforested in a natural and artificial way; fraction of carbon in dry biomass and annual change of carbon content in dry biomass; ratio of annual increment of root mass to annual increment of mass. The remaining forest resources, with the exclusion of raw timber, are a very important section of forest utilization which has not yet been covered in Poland, or in other countries, in a cohesive inventory and monitoring program. The random observations and data collection do not allow sustainable use of these resources. Identification of raw materials bases, including their location, nature, and capacity, is the basis for pursuing sustainable use of forest floor vegetation resources. Particularly scarce information is of the raw materials base and the possibility to evaluate the rate of changes to the object of utilization, acreage, cover, and forms of occurrence of inventoried species, as well as the impact of utilization on natural environment,

and economic benefits. The following should be subject to inventory: herb layer resources and shrub layers, as well as plantations of farm plants; harvest of needle litter and needle drop of forest trees; charring of charcoal; harvest of fossils from forested areas; harvest of medicinal, industrial, decorative, and fruit-bearing forest plants; harvest of edible forest mushrooms.

Conclusions
1. Establishing a multidisciplinary platform involving scientists with different backgrounds will help to put scientific results, knowledge gained in a close collaboration between natural, social scientists, and economists, into a common framework. 2. To inform the public about likely changes in forest ecosystems as a consequence of climate change and their consequences in the socioeconomic context together with the life cycle of forest products. 3. To develop a commonly agreed carbon accounting strategy for the contribution of Polish forests to achieving the commitments taken in the Kyoto Protocol analyzing and implementing the Special Report on Land-Use, Land-Use Change, and Forestry (LULUCFSR) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). 4. To improve and harmonise the existing national forest resource inventories and use of scientifically sound and validated methods in forest inventory designs, data collection, and data analysis 5. The Promotional Forest Complexes in Poland may also be regarded as areas of particular scientific and research significance wherein the knowledge of forest environment encourage interdisciplinary studies are being carried out. The research results enable improvement of the forest management methods and setting of the admissible limits of economic interference in forest ecosystems. Both sustainable development and forest multifunctionality do not exist isolated from the human sphere of activity. The search should embrace areas of state-of-the art knowledge related to forest and other fields of science, including traditional knowledge. This would also mean that traditional knowledge, not always having scientific support, could be a basis for understanding forest multifunctionality in the context of sustainable development.

Literature Cited
BAINES, C. 2004. Forest research crossing bordersA foreword. Forest Research Crossing Borders. EFI Proceedings. No. 50. CONCALVES, A.C., A.C. OLIVEIRA, AND M. TOME. 2005. Which density measures to use stand classification? P. 195 in The International Forestry Review. Forests in Balance: Linking Tradition and Technology. XXII IUFRO World Congress, Brisbane, Australia. CORONA, P., M. KOHL, AND M. MARCHETTI. 2005. Emerging challenges for research supporting national forest inventories on a global scale. P. 194 in The International Forestry Review. Forests in Balance: Linking Tradition and Technology. XXII IUFRO World Congress, Brisbane, Australia. DE NATALE, F., A. FLORIS, P. GASPARINI, G. SCRINZI, G. TABACCHI, AND V. TOSI. 2005. The new Italian national forest inventory: A multi-source and multi-resource survey. P. 194195 in The International Forestry Review. Forests in Balance: Linking Tradition and Technology. XXII IUFRO World Congress, Brisbane, Australia. GOOD PRACTISE GUIDANCE FOR LAND USE CHANGE AND FORESTRY
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(GPG LULUCF). 2003. IPCC. UNDP. Problems, causes and concerns in changing societies of Europe. P. HOLMGREN, P., AND T. THURESSON. 2005. National forest assess115 in IUFRO European Regional Conference: Forestry Serving ment: Investing in policy guidance for sustainable forest manageUrbanized Societies. Plenary Session: Treats to forests and their sustainability in urban societies (abstract). P. 1718 in Urban Forestry ment. P. 195196 in The International Forestry Review. Forests in Balance: Linking Tradition and Technology. XXII IUFRO World and Urban Greening, Supplement 2002. Congress, Brisbane, Australia. PASCHALIS-JAKUBOWICZ, P. 2003. Sustainable forest management in KNUDSEN, O.K. 2004. Globalization and sustaining forests: Good, national forests programmesA European perspective. P. 212 in bad or indifferent? Forest Research Crossing Borders. EFI XII Word Congress. CPeople and Forests in Harmony. Quebec. Proceedings No. 50. Canada. PASCHALIS-JAKUBOWICZ, P. 2002. Sustainable forest management: UNITED NATIONS MILLENIUM SUMMIT DECLARATION. 2002.

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Efficiency of Managing Forest Research

Jan Fryk
Skogforsk

anaging a private research institute differs from heading up a staterun research organization. At least I assume so, since I have no direct personal experience from the latter. When talking about efficiency of forest research management, one has to bear in mind the different missions and roles that different institutions may have.

Mission and Objectives

Taking my own institute as an example, where the mission is to furnish the Swedish forestry sector with knowledge and products that will contribute to a profitable and ecologically sustainable multiple use forestry and to an internationally competitive forest products industry. Such a fairly straight statement in itself sets down some basics for what is expected from management. If instead a major objective is, say, to become one of the five highest ranking forestry faculties in the world, well that may tell management something else entirely. Then of course the funding structure is essential. The one who pays the fiddler calls the tune. When forest owners and industry pays 6070% of the turn over, as in our case, one has to listen closely to what R&D issues those customers want to have addressed for their money. Demand-driven research may, in other words, crave a somewhat different management attitude compared to, for instance, curiosity-driven science in an academic environment. Being a private applied research institute, funded by forest owners and industry, it is very important to formulate the institutes overall mission, overriding objectives, strategies, and long-term plans in a close dialogue with the owners. To find efficient ways for this communication is essential. An active and engaged board plays an important role in this context. We have also found it useful to work with a set-up of advisory committees, with the primary task to help us identify and prioritize R&D activities. Each committee consist of a number of representatives from member enterprises and important research partners. Input from these advisory groups have a very strong impact on the operational R&D plans.

Targets
Setting objectives and targets for processes, activities, and individuals are necessary means to steer the organization in the desired direction, as well as to stimulate peak performance. Such goals should not be too many, but realistic and measurable. To give some more examples from my own world: for our production of publications there are target lead times set for the process from first manuscript to printed edition, and similar targets for lead times from research result to implementation in practice; target production figures are also set for the number of publications to be issued, of referee articles to be submitted, of courses, seminars, conferences, etc. to be organized; and of course each and every R&D activity has a goal defining the
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Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Jan Fryk, Skogforsk, Uppsala Science Park, Uppsala S-75183, Sweden. E-mail: jan.fryk@skogforsk.se. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

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expected achievement, and also an assumption of impact when the outcome is applied in practice; the individual staff development plans include goals for each person to strive for, in a short and a longer time perspective.

in bucking computers. Not to mention the present and future economic gain from investments in genetic tree improvementto give an example from biological research as well.

Performance Indicators
A set of performance indicators may also serve as a useful management tool. Basically, I think that the indicators could be pretty similar, regardless of type of research organization. A few indicators addressing relevance, quality, and efficiency may be quite satisfactory. Although they should be defined differently depending on what kind of research they refer to. To my experience, though, one is easily too ambitious here, ending up with way too many performance parameters on the list. Such a great number of indicators, producing so much performance data that no one really manage to digest it all. The organizations and individuals performance should regularly be followed up and evaluated against targets and indicators. That way necessary adjustments could be done in proper time.

Safeguard Quality
In the world of science and research, quality is essential. But quality may be defined very differently depending on context. A Wikipedia search on quality gave me 680 million hits and several pages stuffed with definitions. Scientific quality is often safeguarded through peer reviewing of the conducted research, as published in scientific papers. To my mind though, quality in research should also consider parameters such as relevance of the work performed, ability to meet promised deliverables in time, and ability to communicate results. Poor quality input can not result in high quality output. But high quality input can definitely end up in poor quality output. One management task is to define and secure quality in the entire research chain from planning of research to implementation of results.

Value for Money

Forest owners and industry often compare investment in R&D with other investments, with expectations of some kind of return. Hence, value for money can be a rather important factor for management to observe. Conducting this kind of cost/benefit analysis in research may be easier said than done. But one approach that we have taken in our applied research is to try to evaluate the economic impact when results are applied in practice. For instance, it could be shown that implementation of our decision support system for optimized routing of timber transports created an annual benefit for the forestry sector far beyond the costs for the development work. Other recent examples are improvements of harvester productivity and introduction of improved bark functions

Staff Management
Encouraging and coaching staff is one of the more important management objectives. Besides from setting performance targets, it is essential to have a meriting system supporting these goals. For instance, if it is desired, as in our case, that the researchers should take a great responsibility not only for conducting research, but also for the knowledge transfer, then good information skills should be recognized in the individual wages. Then, of course, maintaining first-class competence is essential for a research organizations long-term survival. Competitive wages and other reasonable employment conditions is a good start. But management should also provide opportunities for, and encourage and reward individual competence, development. Because, as the old but still true saying goes, The staff is our most valuable resource.

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Improving the Impact of Research on Forest Policy and Development

Jan Heino
Assistant Director-General, Forestry Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) ccording to its Constitution, the main functions of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) are: (i) to serve as an international forum and secretariat for food and agricultural matters (including fisheries and forestry); (ii) to provide technical assistance in its field of competence; and (iii) to promote exchange of information and knowhow between nations. Dialogue at the international level is an essential complement to the efforts of individual countries to develop appropriate forest policies, institutions, and practices. To promote such dialogue, FAO supports a number of statutory bodies specifically designed to provide neutral fora for discussion in the field of forestry. The work of these statutory bodies is a combination of problem identification and policy and technical advice to FAO, its members, and others as appropriate. Foremost among these bodies is the Committee on Forestry (COFO), to which heads of forest services and other senior government officials of FAOs 190 members are invited. COFO sessions are held at FAO headquarters every two years to identify emerging policy and technical issues, to seek solutions, and to advise FAO and others on appropriate action. Subjects discussed during the eighteenth session of COFO, in March 2007, included inter alia progress towards sustainable forest management, forests and energy, reducing CO2 emissions from deforestation, and putting forestry to work at the local level. In addition, every two years, in the alternate years to COFO, the six Regional Forestry Commissions (RFCs) bring together the Heads of Forestry to address the most important forestry issues in their respective region. At these biennial sessions, the RFCs consider both policy and technical issues. However, they are also active in the intervening periods, with most having technical working groups or subregional chapters to implement projects that benefit from collaboration among countries in the region. Technical and policy information is an essential component of the mandate and programme of FAO. In forestry, information is provided through the publication and dissemination of: periodic global reports such as the State of the Worlds Forests, the Global Forest Resources Assessment (FRA), and the Yearbook of Forest Products; technical reports, guidelines, and field manuals to inform on and promote the implementation of sound approaches and techniques in different areas of sustainable forest management; newsletters to facilitate information sharing on issues and activities on different themes and subjects such as non-wood forest products; and last but not least, an international quarterly forestry review, Unasylva. In undertaking all its above functions, FAO has assigned great importance to research as a means of generating the knowledge needed for sustainable forest management. FAO assisted in establishing forest research institutions in numerous countries around the world. It hosted the IUFRO Secretariat from 1948 to 1958, and has been supporting and collaborating with the Union ever since.
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Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Jan Heino, Assistant Director-General, Forestry Department, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, Rome 00153, Italy. E-mail: jan.heino@fao.org. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

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This article briefly reviews recent trends, constraints, and issues in of restructuring, coordination of forest research at national and forest research and its interface with policy and development. Actions regional levels is not satisfactory. In extreme cases, forest research is to improve the relevance and impact of forest research are presented. being marginalized, even to the point of being negligible. Government and donor funding has been declining considerably over the past decades. Forest research has not generally been attractive Issues, Constraints, and Needs As in the case of other activities, forest research is affected by and to the private sector or to decision- and policy-makers, because of the must respond to changes within and outside the forest sector: changes lack of any socio-economic evaluation of the benefits accruing from in the objectives and conditions of forest management, globalization, forest research. The ongoing restructuring and economic liberalizadecentralization, the contribution of trees, forests and forestry to tion programmes being implemented by many countries is having a global cross-sectoral challenges such as poverty reduction and food negative impact on funding for forestry programmes and in particular forest research activities. security, etc. There is a need to improve the capacity and effectiveness of forest In many countries forestry institutions and programmes (including research) have failed to adapt to these changes. Furthermore, forest research, in particular in developing countries. research is often too isolated while forest researchers do not have sufficient contact with the main users and are often poorly aware of Improvement of the Interface between Science and global issues such as market demands and other trends. This situation Policy has a negative impact on the relevance of research priorities and proThe interface is often understood in terms of the flow of informagrammes, and on the effectiveness of the implementation of research tion from science to policy-making and implementation. However, the results. There is a continuing need to improve the interface between flow should go both ways. An effective flow of information from polresearch/science and policy-makers/development practitioners. icy to science is essential for the relevance of research and its results. There is insufficient communication/information among Scientists should effectively take into account the information needs of researchers, institutions, and countries leading to the inadequate policy-makers, focusing research on questions that are relevant to poldesign and implementation of research needs and programmes icy issues. A key aspect is how to translate policy issues and develop(duplication, repetition, dispersion of efforts). There is a need to ment problems into research questions. improve communication, information, and cooperation among sciThis two-way interaction requires improved communication entists and between scientists and users of research results. between scientists on the one hand and policy-makers and developTaken as a whole, the above factors result in ineffective, and thus ment practitioners on the other. The scientific community and polineglected, forest research, particularly in developing countries. cy-makers need to enhance mutual understanding and communicaForest research is requested to satisfy the needs of an increasing tion. This has proven to be difficult because of differences in array of users and in more diverse fields than ever before. To date, approaches, priorities, time frames, and presentation of information. areas such as non-wood forest products have been treated as a low pri- Scientists usually focus on specific issues analysing in depth all the ority despite their enormous contribution to the livelihoods of rural facts and facets of these aspects and emphasizing scientific rigour communities and their commercial potential. Similarly, forest rather than fast results. Policy-makers often need complex informaresearch has dedicated little attention to environmental issues. All rel- tion that requires an interdisciplinary approach; they deal with curevant stakeholders, particularly local communities, are currently not rent problems and cannot wait for research results that may take years fully involved in the identification of research priorities. to become available. Finally, as policy-makers have to deal with a At the same time, the staffing of national forest research in many large number of issues simultaneously, they need simple, straightfordeveloping countries is inadequate, both in quality and in quantity ward, and concise messages. for the following, often combined, reasons: The need to strengthen the interface between science and the a larger critical mass of scientists is necessary to adequately application of research and to improve communication and collaboaddress research and development problems in both tradiration between scientists and practitioners, bridging the difficulties tional and emerging areas; inherent in their different roles, has been widely recognized in recent forest scientists are not adequately motivated and compenyears. A number of initiatives are being taken to move forward, espesated to permanently remain and conduct research in their cially at the international level. institutions; forest scientists from universities and forest research institutes The Science-Policy Interface in the International Forest Policy are not adequately mobilized, integrated, or organized to carry Process out prioritized and coordinated research; Significant progress has been made at the international level to there is an insufficient number of well-trained researchers and improve the integration of science and policy: research managersconsequently, there is a lack of effective The Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) and the planning and of a multidisciplinary approach in addressing Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF) proposals for research problems. action include 24 recommendations referring specifically to Many countries are in the process of restructuring their national forest-related knowledge. The proposals concerning scientific agricultural research systems of which forest research is a component. research and its interactions with forest policy have been sumThe prevailing trend is a regionalization of agricultural research withmarized in four major areas of action: (1) strengthening the in countries, with regional programmes undertaken by multi-discipliinteractions between science and policy; (2) promoting the nary research teams. While in principle justified and positive in many sharing of information and strengthening networks; (3) setaspects, this restructuring may in fact weaken national capacity in ting research priorities and addressing knowledge gaps; and forest research by diluting expertise which in many developing coun(4) strengthening research capacity and mobilizing funding tries was already below the critical mass. In some countries, as a result for research. A fifth cross-cutting area refers to applying par76
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ticipatory mechanisms to better integrate research into planning processes. Following the recommendation of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC), the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF) was established in 2001. The CPF is an innovative partnership of 14 major forest-related international organizations, institutions, and convention secretariats, including international research institutions as well as organizations providing policy support. The CPF has recently launched a joint initiative on science and technology in support of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF). The aim of the initiative is to provide objective and independent scientific information to the UNFF and other intergovernmental processes in order to support more informed decisionmaking on forests at the global level. At its fourth session in 2004, the UNFF produced a resolution on forest-related scientific knowledge, highlighting the essential role of science and research in sustainable forest management and lessons learned on the science-policy interface through the exchange of country experience. The resolution encourages countries, inter alia, to incorporate research strategies into national forest programmes or equivalent programmes. It calls on the members of the CPF to facilitate joint action to improve communication and networking between scientific, forest policy, and civil society entities. On the research side, IUFRO has created a Task Force on the Forest Science-Policy Interface and has published a guidance document for scientists and research organizations entitled Working Effectively at the Interface of Forest Science and Forest Policy. In Europe, at the Fourth Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE), in 2003, the ministers responsible for forests in Europe expressed their commitment to make forest-related decisions based on science. Since then, the MCPFE has taken action to strengthen the sciencepolicy interface, including holding an international workshop in 2006 where the development of a more structured approach was recommended.

The Science-Policy Interface at National Level In many countries, progress made at the international level does not seem to have been replicated at the national level. The degree of interaction and the extent to which forest-related scientific knowledge is used for policy-making and responds to policy needs vary considerably among countries and tend to be low, particularly in developing countries. National forest programmes (NFPs) have become a commonly agreed framework for the planning and implementation of forestry activities in pursuit of sustainable forest management at the country level. NFPs are guided by a series of basic principles, including national sovereignty and country leadership, inter-sectoral collaboration, and participation and partnership. The principle of participation and partnership relates to the active involvement of all relevant forestry stakeholders, including those involved in forest research. NFPs could therefore be an ideal vehicle for strengthening the policyscience interface at the country level. Communication and collaboration between scientists and policymakers would be particularly important in the analysis and evaluation phases of NFPs. However, in many countries the interface is still very weak. The National Forest Programme Facility, a multi-donor

initiative in support of NFPs that is hosted by FAO, provides grants to non-state stakeholders to enhance stakeholder participation in NFPs based on requests by its partner countries. One-quarter of the grants given to non-state organizations between 2002 and 2006 went to universities and research organizations. Of this amount, only onefifth was directly or indirectly related to strengthening the policyscience interface, which means that there were few requests by countries for support in this area. While there seems to be a general awareness in the research community of the need to present information generated by research in a way that can be used by policy-makers, scientists seem to be more reluctant to accept such guidance on research priorities from policy-makers. Few mechanisms are in place that would allow for the two-way interaction to strengthen linkages. Traditional arrangements, such as the presence of policy-makers on the boards of research institutions, are very beneficial but are not sufficient and have too often had only limited effect. Scientists need to engage with policy-makers but maintain their independence in order to retain credibility. Policy-makers, on the other hand, need to actively engage in dialogue with scientists, communicate their information needs, and support the interaction between policy and research and among scientists of relevant disciplines that is necessary to define policy-relevant research programmes. NFPs offer the possibility to develop such mechanisms, for example through multi-stakeholder fora or similar arrangements that promote stakeholder participation. The multi-stakeholder steering committees established by the partner countries of the National Forest Programme Facility include at least one representative of academia, i.e., universities or research institutions. While this is a step in the right direction, the presence of researchers in these steering committees could be strengthened. A mechanism that has been successfully used is the Communities of Practice. These networks of experts from international organizations, research and academic institutions, international civil society organizations, and the private sector share views, experiences, lessons learned, and information on recent developments, build partnerships, harmonize relevant approaches, and make them available to NFP actors worldwide. With support from FAO, Communities of Practice on stakeholder participation in NFPs and on financial mechanisms for sustainable forest management have been established. Finally, at local rural development level, forest research institutions have frequently expressed frustration at the low impact of their research and called for improved technology transfer. Studies show that to deal with these challenges, scientists in forest-related fields need to strengthen their ability to address complex issues through an interdisciplinary approach and the integration of a broader array of stakeholders (including scientists, practitioners, users, and policymakers) throughout the research and development cycle. Such stakeholder interaction and social learning improve the relevanceand hence the efficiency and effectivenessof forest research. The change from a technology transfer to a multi-stakeholder innovation paradigm requires simultaneous capacity strengthening at the level of individuals, teams, organizations, and inter-institutional relationships. This new concept involves close communication and interaction among different forest stakeholders, including scientists, aiming at building and improving the capacities and knowledge for sustainable forest management. An essential element of this type of collaborative activity, also called mutual learning, is the joint recognition of and collective innovation in resolving complex issues that cut across sectors and levels. Multi-stakeholder groups are dynamic coalitions of different stakeholders concentrated around specific developIUFRO 6.06.00

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ment issues and which engage in a process of reciprocated exchange of experience and knowledge throughout the research development cycle. The integrated and targeted outputs from these collective innovation processes lead to more relevant and better informed policy decisions and more effective implementation, resulting in a more sustainable use of natural resources, improved livelihoods of rural people, and, ultimately, poverty alleviation.

organizations, but this progression needs to be consolidated in order to represent and promote forestry research in their respective regions. Improvement of National Research Capacities Recognition of the need to strengthen the global forestry research system has been validated in recent decades by the establishment of the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) as international research centres of the Consultative Group on Internationl Agricultural Research (CGIAR) system, and the broadening of the programme of Bioversity International (formerly known as IPGRI), another centre of the CGIAR, to cover forest species. By mandate, the centres of the CGIAR focus on strategic and applied research at global level. By undertaking applied and adaptive research and transferring results to local development, national research systems, including public- and private-sector institutions, have a pivotal role in the global research system. However, international research programmes will have limited impact without appropriate participation and complementary research by national institutions. The essential function of national research systems has been reinforced by a new trend of increased involvement of non-governmental actors in forestry and agroforestry development activities and the need to better serve a broader array of users. With few exceptions, developing countries do not have adequate capacity to participate in international research projects or to capitalize on results and adapt and transfer them to the local level. Strengthening national research systems in order to link them effectively to the international research community, national policies, and users is an issue of fundamental importance. Regional networks can contribute to these efforts, as shared and coordinated support at the regional level is an efficient means of strengthening national forest research systems while developing adequate cooperation among them.

Conclusions
Mechanisms to strengthen the science-policy interface have been established at the international level, but in many countries they have had little impact thus far. NFPs that are based on the principles of participation and partnership offer an opportunity to strengthen the linkages between research and policy, but their potential has not yet been fully realized. At the local rural development level, the impact of research can be significantly improved through the change from a technology transfer to a multi-stakeholder innovation paradigm. Improvement of Communication, Information, and Cooperation The main recent initiatives include the establishment of regional forest research networks supported by FAO and IUFROs Special Programme for Developing Countries (SPDC), in collaboration with other international partners. The Asia-Pacific Association of Forestry Research Institutions (APAFRI) was established in 1995 and currently has over 60 members. Most of the national forest research institutions and many of the forestry schools in Asia and the Pacific which are actively engaged in forestry and forest-related research are members of APAFRI. Its vision is to be recognized as a dynamic, strong, innovative, and self-reliant forestry research association in the Pacific. The Forestry Research Network for sub-Saharan Africa (FORNESSA) was established in 2000 as a federation of three subregional forestry research networks: AFREA (Association of Forestry Research Institutions in Eastern Africa), CORAF/WECARD (Forestry and Agro-forestry Research Network of the West and Central African Council for Agricultural Research and Development); and SADC/ FANR-Research and Training (Forestry Research and Training Unit of the Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Directorate within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Secretariat). It seeks to strengthen forestry research in sub-Saharan Africa in order to have greater impact on the management and conservation of forest and tree resources for sustainable development. APAFRI and FORNESSA have confirmed themselves as effective tools for articulating a regional research agenda and representing forestry research in Asia and the Pacific and Africa, enhancing regional cooperation and attracting support for forestry research. They are evolving as

Concluding Remarks
Progress towards sustainable forest management requires enhancing the impact of research on policy development and implementation, by strengthening the interface between science and practice, improving communication, information, and cooperation, and reinforcing research capacity. The actions required, at global and local levels, are the joint responsibility of the international community and national programmes. Efforts should continue to consolidate regional forest research networks, recently established with the support of IUFRO, FAO, and other partners, as tools to facilitate the process. NFPs are potentially an ideal tool for developing further the interface between science and practice at the national level but have yet to be effectively utilized.

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Redefining the Future of Forest Research: The NAUFRP Perspective

Perry J. Brown
Dean, College of Forestry and Conservation, The University of Montana Developing a national agenda for forest research in a large country such as the United States of America is always a challenge given the political and population diversity and the vast geography of the country. But there are times when a unified agenda is needed. The past 45 years has been one of those times in the USA. Sustaining the capacity for forest research has been a challenge and forest research has not been high on the political agenda. Forest research budgets have been fairly stagnant and yet the need has been growing considerably. To try and address these concerns, the National Association of University Forest Resources Programs (NAUFRP) developed a vision for the Nations forests, it led a national summit on forest research and graduate education, and it subsequently developed a strategic plan for the Federal McIntire-Stennis Cooperative Forestry Research Program. The USDA Forest Service initiated a parallel, but linked, Outlook Process focused on science responses to anticipate decision makers future needs (discussed in this conference by Chris Bernabo). One outcome of these efforts is a national agenda for forest research. That agenda is evolving, but the basic dimensions of it are fairly clear. In this article, we describe how it emerged from the summit held in January 2006. Keywords: forest research agenda, future forest research, forest research, forest research summit, research setting.

Donald H. DeHayes
Dean, Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, University of Vermont

Margaret R. Gale
Dean, School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Tech University

J. Michael Kelly
Dean, College of Natural Resources, Virginia Tech University

Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Perry J. Brown, College of Forestry and Conservation, The University of Montana, Missoula, MT. E-mail: perry.brown@umontana.edu. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

ver the past several years, the leadership of NAUFRP sensed several issues that needed to be addressed, both for the future of forestry education programs and for the future of our forests. It became clear that we needed to improve dialogue within the forestry community. We needed to clarify who we are, where we are going, and what we need to do to get there. We needed to expand our research horizons and place our work in a larger context. We could not ignore the question of why there is declining interest in our field and whether or not we were viewed as relevant. We needed to understand our place and role in a rapidly changing landscape. We needed greater investment in our field, but we needed to recast the importance of our work and rethink how we allocate and spend the funds that already exist. With these thoughts as background we decided to step forward and recognize that the status quo was not advancing our field, our programs, the nation, or the global condition of forests. We knew there needed to be a compelling new agenda for natural resources research that truly matters: a bold agenda built around new ideas, real societal needs, new approaches, and the potential for high impactan agenda built around new knowledge and science, not simply a rehash of the important issues of the day, that would advance the health and susIUFRO 6.06.00

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tainability of forests and engage and enrich humanity. The first of our initiatives was completed and released in 2006 Forests for a Richer Future (NAUFRP 2006). It was built upon a foundation of promoting shared values, applying the best science, and advancing a new stewardship ethic to create lasting forests. It paints a picture of Americas future forests. The second initiative came to fruition in January 2006 with the summit, Forest Research for the 21st Century: Defining Strategic Directions and Rebuilding Capacity (DeHayes et al. 2006). Results of this effort flowed into the USDA Forest Service Outlook Process and formed the basis for our third initiative, the McIntire-Stennis Program Strategic Plan that is currently in publication (NAUFRP 2007).

analysis, exploration across boundaries, ownerships, and jurisdictions, and the development of models, tools, and theories for the integration of ecological, socioeconomic, and cultural dimensions of natural resources management. This integrative science will deal with the complexities exacerbated by issues of global climate change, natural disturbances, human initiated disturbances such as the rapid spread of invasive species and urbanization, the interactions of communities and natural resource use, and many other broad and complex topics. Forest Ecosystem Services It was determined that we need a comprehensive understanding of Forest Ecosystem Services, including their value and retention, the viability of ecosystem service markets, and the full contributions of forests to the global economy and quality of life. With the many predictions about the effects of rapid and dramatic global warming, the life sustaining value of our forests is recognized as more important than ever before. In addition, these forests ensure a quality of life that is critical to social justice, welfare, and prosperity. Human Attitudes and Behaviors Being good at modern forestry involves increasing our understanding of human attitudes and behaviors with regard to management and stewardship of natural resources and the development of effective tools to engage a variety of perspectives in natural resource decision making. The support of people is critical in forest sustainability and it is necessary for us to understand the needs and desires of our populations and how they use natural resources. The sub-area of natural resource governance has become a critical issue affecting nearly every country in the world, and these institutional arrangements are an important part of this area of study. Conflict, Uncertainty, and Decision Making Decision making in natural resources has been undergoing considerable scrutiny in North America and thus this area of study focuses on the development of natural resource decision-making frameworks in the face of uncertainty with careful consideration and analysis of risk, roles of government structures, disturbance, and adaptive management. Given scarce financial resources and major natural resource effects from climate change involving wildland fire, insect and disease infestation, and extinction and migration of species, it is even more critical than ever before to assess risk and uncertainty and to develop adaptive strategies for the future of our forests and grasslands. In addition, the competition over resources for a wide variety of products and services means that we are plagued with conflict and the means to resolve conflicts need to be better understood and developed.

The Summit and Research Agenda Setting

To develop a bold new agenda we decided to hold a focused meeting among a set of key forestry and forest research leaders from the USA and Canada. We formulated it as a 3-day workshop and invited 100 participants from academia, industry, government agencies, and non-governmental organizations. We also staffed it with professional facilitators and doctoral student recorders. We held the summit at an isolated location, the National Conservation Training Center in West Virginia, to ensure that the participants would not be unduly distracted. We secured the services of creative thinkers to offer keynote talks on each of our objectivesa research agenda, graduate education, and research fundingbut spent most of our time in 10 diverse work teams fleshing out the issues and agenda for each topic. These sessions were followed by synthesis sessions of the team leaders and the recorders so that ideas were recorded and synthesized immediately. Immediately after the summit, the organizers outlined the reports that were needed and within 2 months of the close of the summit a draft document was produced to be used in other meetings and as a point of reference. The final report of the summit was published within 4 months and widely distributed. There were three goals for the summit, but the one that is most pertinent here is the following: Define new forest-based knowledge and science needed to advance the health of forests and the competitive position of the nation. In fulfillment of this goal three major parts for an agenda emerged: Emerging and Integrative Areas of Knowledge, Crosscutting Issues, and Foundational Areas of Knowledge. The exciting component of the agenda is the emerging and integrative areas of knowledge and through the summit process we were able to achieve consensus on five emerging topics and near consensus on two others. This was remarkable since the 10 groups worked independently with no interaction until after they completed their work.

Technology Advancements and Applications Advancements such as applications of remote sensing and nanoThe five items identified by all 10 work groups were the following: technology for monitoring and assessing impacts are included in this A New Science of Integration theme as are applications for sustainability of the earth, including Forest Ecosystem Services earth system analysis focused on the convergence of ecology and peo Human Attitudes and Behaviors ple on a global scale. Major strides are being made from nano to glob Conflict, Uncertainty, and Decision making al scales and these technological advancements need to be incorporat Technology Advancements and Applications In addition, there were two other areas of knowledge identified by ed into our forest resource management tool kits and into our development of management, preservation, and business applications. most (8/10) of the groups: New Applications of Forest Products New Applications for Forests Products Urban Ecosystems New Applications for Forest Products deals with development of sustainable forest industry practices and business models and with A New Science of Integration The focus of a New Science of Integration is on whole systems innovative forest products and applications such as bio-based poly-

Integrative and Emerging Areas of Knowledge

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mers, alternative wood fibers, renewable energy systems, and bio- Following are a few examples. remediation. The arena of sustainable forest management and the use Broad discussion among research administrators (universities, of wood and other forest-based products demands considerable attenfederal and state agencies, private sector, and non-governmention to ensure effective and efficient use of forests and to wisely use tal organizations) resources that are renewable and sustainable. Discussions with members of the US Congress and their staff Input to the USDA Forest Service Outlook Process Urban Ecosystems Foundation for the Research Agenda for the Federal McIntireUrban Ecosystems is about developing our understanding and Stennis Cooperative Forestry Research Program appreciation of urban centers as functioning ecosystems that include Input to discussions about graduate education reform substantial human elements and interacting natural-built environ Input to discussion of undergraduate education reform schedments and to enhance the livability of urban places through developuled for 2008 ing and sustaining urban forest resources. In particular, understanding the role of urban forest landscapes in quality of life, human health, Why Did This Work? mitigation of storm water pollution, and air and water quality are of Sometimes agenda setting activities such as this one work well and increasingly high priority as are issues of equitable distribution of for- sometimes they do not work at all. Why were we successful? There are est resource benefits across ethnic and socioeconomic communities. several reasons that came together to give us a really good chance for success. Crosscutting Issues The time was right We substantively engaged participants in the process In addition to these major themes, the participants in the summit We used a facilitative setting for our activities recognized many crosscutting issues that are examples of the need for We included targeted keynotes that set the stage for focused new comprehensive approaches to research. Some prominent envidiscussions, but keynotes were kept to a minimum so that ronmental issues recognized were global climate change, alternative engagement of participants was maximized energy sources, biodiversity, invasive species, and carbon fluxes. We engaged participants in small groups and gave them ample These are all issues that include biophysical and social dimensions time for discussion that need to be addressed through new comprehensive and integrat We held immediate synthesis sessions to capture the output ed approaches to research. Furthermore, issues related to climate, from the groups water, air, and nature-based recreation and leisure activities can be We promised real outputs and delivered on our promisesthe addressed in the context of the major emergent research themes. work of the summit was going to be used Finally, participants recognized the need for increased attention to the This last point was critical. Participants in the summit did not development of comprehensive approaches to natural resources and want to participate in a 3-day meeting to talk and then go home. ecological planning at varying scales. They wanted their ideas to be used. We were able to promise them that outputs from the summit were going to flow into the Forest Foundational Areas of Knowledge While emphasizing the emerging and integrative areas of knowl- Service Outlook process within 2 months. We were able to promise edge, summit participants recognized that there is a need for on- them that the outputs of the summit were going to flow into the going research in fundamental and foundational areas of knowledge McIntire-Stennis Program Strategic Plan. And, we were able to disfor success. Research must continue in a wide variety of foundation- cuss with them how the outputs would be used in considering cural areas and in the development of models to enable us to synthesize riculum reform. They left the summit with the knowledge that ours complex systems and make environmentally and socially sound man- was not just another discussion about a research agenda, but it was a discussion leading to action. agement decisions. Fundamental research on forest species, soils, hydrology, invasive species, pathogens, and wildfire are still critical to our understanding Conclusion of forests, watersheds, and global functions. Fundamental research in Over the years we have been engaged in many research agenda the social, physical, engineering, and material sciences also are instru- exercises. This time, we have made real strides in forging a framemental in our decision-making processes, the development of new work for forestry and natural resources research for the beginning of processes, and more effectively utilizing natural resources in environ- the 21st century. There will be localized ways that the agenda is carmentally and socially sound ways. Many resource management prob- ried out, but the framework and the research it suggests is finding lems are complex and large-scale, demanding a fundamental under- its way into many discussions about the future of forests and other standing of the integrative science of ecology, ecosystems, watersheds, natural resource environments. We are on the cusp of a new era of social processes, and the connectedness of global forests and water- forest-focused research, but it will take a lot of work to be successsheds. Yet, it also was recognized that all foundational research must ful. Those who allocate funds for forest research still need to be conexpand with technological advances in areas such as nanotechnology, vinced that such research is critical and they must be convinced that biotechnology, and remote sensing as we meld our current knowledge we are building capacity for sustained enhancements in research, with any of the topics noted above so that we can increase our abili- productivity, and competitiveness, while ensuring sustainability of ty to find the interconnectedness of plants and animals that reside in our life-giving forests. We also must ensure that we are building the capacity for quality research that will make a difference and we must our forests, watersheds, and global communities. ensure means of using limited financial resources in the very best Use of the Agenda ways possible. This takes cooperation among all of usacademics, An agenda for North American forest research has been unfolded industry, government agencies, and non-governmental organizafor the first decades of the 21st century, but how is it being used? tionsand this stakeholder-driven agenda that many of us now
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own is an important part of forming this needed cooperation and University Forest Resources Programs, Washington DC. collaboration. NAUFRP. 2007. Sustaining Healthy and Productive Forests: Investment in Americas Competitive Position in a Global Marketplace. NAUFRP, Washington DC. Literature Cited DEHAYES, D.H., P.J. BROWN, M.R. GALE, AND J.M. KELLY (compliers). NAUFRP. 2006. Forests for a Richer Future. NAUFRP, Washington DC. 2006. Redefining the Future of Forest Research. National Association of

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Strategies for Funding of Forest Research in a Norwegian Perspective

Arne Bardalen
The Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute Forest research institutions are facing new, strategic challenges. The need for basic and applied forest research is increasing due to the multiple functions of forests and forest-based resources. The funding schemes are changing, and the public part of the funding is under pressure. New strategies for funding of forest research should lead to long-term and stable public funding and effective mechanisms for increased funding from the private sector. In the Norwegian forest sector, which is characterised by small-scale structure, an increased financial contribution from the private sector should be based on cooperation between stakeholders and a combination of funding mechanisms. Keywords: forest research, forest resources, forest sector structure, funding mechanisms.

olicy makers, forest owners, industries, and civil society around the world rely on credible and current information to develop forest management plans, policies, and strategies that respond to emerging issues and trends. In such a context the need for robust, viable forest research institutions, based on high quality standards, increased efficiency, and a robust and stable longterm funding, is essential. Commonly recognized trends indicate that the forest research institutions are facing new and still more demanding challenges concerning funding and financing. Referring to the global trend of generally decreasing level of public financing of forest research, the strong need for a more robust and diversified financial basis should be underlined. These observations deserve the highest attention from all stakeholders; from the governmental level to the forest sector organisations and not at least the heads of forest research institutions. These global trends should urge all stakeholders to develop new, diversified, and offensive research and research funding strategies. The strategies should obviously be developed in a national context recognizing the importance of the forest sector, the current situation in forestry and the forest-based industries, but also taking into account the sectors marked, structural properties, and the available menu of mechanisms for funding of forest research. This article focus on the Norwegian forests and forestry and how the stakeholders are dealing with these problems.

Forests and Civil Society

Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Arne Bardalen, Director, The Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute, N-1431 Aas, Norway. E-mail: arne.bardalen@skogoglandskap.no. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

An approach to the funding problems should include an overview of the general public opinions, personal perception, and understanding of forest and forestry issues. Taking into consideration the high share of public financing, it is most relevant to investigate the public opinion and how that may influence on political priorities and the framework conditions of forest research. As a country in the boreal zone, a large part of the Norwegian land is in the Artic region or above the tree line. Thirty-nine percent of the land is forested areas, but only 24% is productive forests. Open ground and outfields, wetlands,
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Figure 2. National Forest Inventory: 80 years growing stock.

Figure 1. Land cover Norway, main categories.

and other forests cover nearly 55% of the total land area (Figure 1). Only 3% is agriculture and 1% is built-up land. It can truly be stated that forests are of special importance to all Norwegians. Norway is a very densely populated country with yearround access for the general public to non-cultivated land. Free access is an ancient public right, and has since 1957 been stated by law. It is therefore obvious that most people have strong feelings also for the biological, social, and cultural values of the forests. This can explain why forestry and also forest research has been relatively high on the political agenda despite the limited economic impacts of the sector on national level. A recent public opinion poll showed that eight Norwegians out of 10 (82 %) support the maintenance of forestry on at least the same level as today. This is the result of a poll made for the Norwegian Farmers Union and for the Federation of Norwegian Agricultural Cooperatives. This is an increase from 73 % indicated in the previous poll 5 years ago. Today only 4 % are against forestry on its present level. Twenty-four percent of Norwegians indicate that the reason for their positive attitude is that forestry secures living rural areas and that it maintains habitation. Twenty-two percent consider the importance of forests for preventing climate change to be the most important reason, and 21% indicate that forestry maintains biodiversity. Seventeen percent are of the opinion that it is important to secure the production of Norwegian timber and to limit imports. Seven Norwegians out of 10 (68%) are fully confident that Norwegian forestry is conducted in an acceptable manner. Only 11% are of the opinion that forest management methods are not acceptable. The public seems to not only accept an active forestry sector, but they also show a good understanding of the forests multiple functions and contributions to the modern society. If the forestry sector shall obtain this positive reputation, the acceptance and the confidence and trust in a forestry based on the principles of sustainability, it is important to make visible the essential significance of scientific progress and high competence in all parts of the sector. This is a key to ensure that the complexity of the forests and the forest-based ecosystems and the need for research as well to a large extent are understood by the public. This must be communicated in the context of the challenges concerning the forests future function in the society and the related demand for scientific progress.
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Figure 3. Increment and cutting over the last 80 years, accumulating volume.

The Norwegian Forest Sector, Scale, Resources, and Structure

Norway has long traditions in forestry and forest management, for using wood in constructions and houses and as a source for energy. International trade has been a major element in the Norwegian forest sector since the first sawmills where established more than 400 years ago. Due to a high demand for forest products, the annual removals exceeded the annual increment by the end of the 19th century. It was commonly believed that the Norwegian forests would soon no longer exist, and initiatives were implemented to counteract the deforestation. Once this situation was analysed, measures were introduced to restore the forest resources. The National Forest Inventory started in 1919 as a permanent program. At present, there is about twice as much standing volume in Norwegian forests as there were 80 years ago. The annual felling volume has been relatively stable for the last 80 years. The annual removal is now less than 40% of the total annual increment. Referring to the low harvest level, the Parliament 2 years ago asked for a strategy for increased activity in the forest sector. And a report from The Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute concluded that it would be possible to double the harvest without harming the environment or causing any other specific problems. Approximately 88% of the forest area in Norway is in private ownership, divided among about 120,000 properties. The majority of the forest holdings are farm and family forests. Due to the ownership structure and specific terrain conditions, Norwegian forestry is diversified and characterised by small-scale operations and activities. The average size of clear-cuttings is estimated to be 1.4 hectares. Approximately 90% of the harvesting is fully mechanised.

The Norwegian forest industry also used to be dominated by smallscale enterprises. This is still partly the situation within the sawmill industry, but pulp and paper production has been heavily centralised during the last 30 years. But still 390 out of 430 municipalities have some forest-based, mainly small-scale wood processing, industry. In 2005, the turnover in the forestry industry in Norway was EUR 5 billion. This corresponds to almost 7% of the total turnover in Norwegian land-based industry. But it is less than 1% of the GDP. This proves that the economic effects of the forest sector at national level are limited, but forestry and forest-based industries have significant impacts in some regions. In a global perspective, it can more than ever be observed a growing understanding of the worlds forests multiple functions. Strong driving forces like climate change, energy policy and high activity in the construction industries, accelerate these trends. Norway has very high political ambitions in the field of renewable energy. With limited potential for production of bioenergy and biofuel based on raw materials from the agricultural sector, the focus is primarily on the forestbased resources. The large gap between the actual harvest and the annual increment of forest resources is a strong argument for this priority. A wide range of enterprises are now investing in the bioenergy sector; from the big oil and hydroelectricity companies to small companies owned by local farmers and foresters. This underlines the growing importance of the forest sector as a source of both energy and raw material for both traditional forest-based products and new industrial processes and products. This trend has already had some implications on the timber markets and the private sectors demand for forest research and forest information is growing. The Minister of Agriculture and Food has recently announced political priorities that will lead to a higher budget for research in these fields. This indicates reasons to have an optimistic approach to the future needs for and willingness to secure a high level of public financing of research related to forestry and the forest-based value chains. The core problem in Norway is the low contribution to the financing from the private part of the sector. One reason why this is a problem is the structure and scale of forest ownership. The majority of the forest holdings are farm and family forests. The average forest holding are approximately 75 hectars. The forest-based income is of marginal importance for most forest owners. It is also a fact that the structure is changing very slowly due to the strong political regulations of the forest property market. Norwegian forestry is and will be to a high extent diversified and characterised by small-scale operations and activities. This brings special challenges when it comes to the understanding of and willingness (or capacity) to finance research and development. This explains why it is such a great challenge to get financing of forest research from the private foresters and other small forest-based enterprises. It is evident that in this context it is crucial to develop mechanisms that are designed to meet the special structural characteristics. An important prerequisite is also that the need for a high and stable, long-term public financing in the field of forest research is accepted on the political level.

cooperation between the public institute, the two private institutes, and the University of Life Sciences. During the last 10 years almost all institutions under the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food have been reorganised. The main trend has been changing the structure from small, fragmented, to some extent also overlapping institutions into bigger organisations based on new principles and technologies. The main objectives have been to develop a more effective and consistent public administration and to build more competitive research institutions in an international perspective. In 2004, the Minister of Agriculture and Food initiated a process to develop new strategies for the reorganisation of the forest-related scientific institutions. As a result of this work, the Parliament finally decided to merge two of the leading public scientific institutions. The new institute is organized as a public, autonomous institute under the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The institutes main mission is to take the position as a national centre of expertise on land-based resources and a leading Norwegian scientific institution regarding forest research in a broad perspective, including use of forest resources, forest ecology, and the environment. This institute is also responsible for a range of national mapping programmes and resource inventories related to land cover, forestry, agriculture, landscape, and the environmental monitoring, included forest health and biodiversity. The Institute is an advanced user of geographic information technology, and is one of the main actors and contributors to the Norwegian geospatial data infrastructure. This case illustrates how developing organisations with a broader scope represents an important step toward a more modern and robust institutional structure and as such contributing to more effective and competitive research.

Research Financing and Policy Objectives

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food provides most of the public funding for forest research, while university education is organised and financed under the responsibility of the Ministry of Education and Research. The Research Council of Norway plays a vital role in developing and implementing the countrys national research strategy. It acts as a governmental adviser, a funding agency, and a coordinator of research. In a report to the Parliament in 2005, the government proposed new goals for investments in research in Norway. These goals aim to within 2010 to reach the average OECD level for research as part of GDP, which is 3% of GDP. The public part of the research financing in Norway is already at the average OECD level. Then the great challenge is to increase the industries and businesses understanding of the importance of and willingness to invest in research. Compared to neighbouring countries, the private share of the financing of R&D in Norway is far too low. That is a main challenge at the moment. Therefore, the strategies on all levels, from the Parliament, the Government, the Research Council, and the research institutions, are through information, dialog, and not at least development of the public research funding mechanisms, to influence on the industries understanding of the importance of R&D. But, in addition to the financial problems, it can be seen other threats and challenges for the research institutions, especially concerning the competence needed to meet future demands. There are two main problems; on one side it should be recognized that a generation of scientists will retire during the next 510 years. But in forest-related disciplines, there are also problems concerning the recruitment of students and skilled young researchers. It might be considIUFRO 6.06.00

Forest Research Institutions

Forest research in Norway is conducted at different universities and institutions around the country. The two main actors are the University of Life Sciences and the Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute. There are also two privately owned research institutes. One of these is working mainly on wood technologies, the other one is a centre of expertise for fibre, pulp and paper, wood fibre composites, and forest-based biofuels. There is close and rather well organized

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ered as a paradox, referring to the optimistic signs, that the sector is tion in Norway are eligible for a tax deduction for R&D expenses in approved projects. Depending on the size of the enterprise, 1820% facing such problems. of the expenses related to an approved R&D project may be deducted in taxes owed. The deduction rate depends on the enterprises Research Funding Schemes number of employees and annual turnover. The main, general funding schemes can be divided in: In order to qualify under the scheme, a project must be limited and Research programs, user driven, mainly applied research; focused, and must be aimed at generating new knowledge, informa Independent projects, often researcher initiated and driven; tion, or experience which is presumed to be of use for the enterprise Infrastructural and institutional measures; and in developing new or improved products, services, or manufactur Networking measures. Activities under a research programme are based on concrete work ing/processing methods. It is also important to note that enterprises that are not currently programmes and action plans and are carried out as a set of approved projects, each of which in some way fulfils the established programme liable for taxation are also eligible under the scheme. These enterprisobjectives. Projects are ordinarily selected from among grant propos- es will be paid an amount corresponding to the tax deduction directals submitted in connection with a formal funding announcement. ly from the tax authorities. The SkatteFUNN scheme was launched in 2002. The Research Grants are awarded on the basis of careful assessment of a projects Council has reviewed the company reports submitted for nearly scientific merit and relevance. Among the key types of programmes are user-directed innovation 7,000 completed R&D projects that qualified for tax deductions programmes. These programs are designed specifically for companies under the SkatteFUNN scheme in 20022005. The conclusion is seeking further innovation of their activities or industries. These pro- that six of 10 SkatteFUNN projects generate new products or servgrammes comprise the Research Councils main instrument for ices. The survey shows that SkatteFUNN is an effective instrument for stimulating research activity. This is also at the political level conachieving its industry-oriented R&D objectives. Users are responsible for establishing the basis for research, while sidered to be a very positive effect, since research and development the Research Council helps to create an arena for cooperation are crucial if companies are to keep pace with future trends. The between the companies and the research community as regards the mechanisms create enhanced capacity for renewal. According to the reports, the SkatteFUNN scheme contributed initiation, planning, and implementation of research activities. Projects require at least 50% co-financing from private enterprise. to considerable economic gains in over one-third of the projects. User-directed research seeks to promote R&D initiatives in industrial While gains were reported by all branches of industry, the highest circles, and thus serves to enhance the focus on R&D within trade and proportion was found in the ICT and oil and gas sectors. On a industry as a whole. Allocations from the Research Council to inde- nationwide basis, 59% of the companies reported that the projects pendent, researcher-initiated basic research activity have doubled over had resulted in innovation. The reports indicate that support from the SkatteFUNN scheme a 5-year period (20012006). The proportion of the Research for R&D projects in trade and industry has encouraged companies to Councils total budget allocated to basic research has increased as well. In 2000, a new mechanism was introduced with the purpose to focus on development activity and has enhanced their capacity for increase the foresters contribution to a more robust financing of for- renewal. The conclusion is that this tax deduction scheme is an effecest research. This funding mechanism is financed by a tax on timber tive mechanism which is well suited for dynamic, growth-oriented trade amounting to ca 0.15 EUR per cubic meter. This joint finan- enterpriseswhether they are competing nationally or internationally. cial mechanism is working well in a sector dominated by small enterprises. The mechanism was evaluated in 2006, and the conclusion is Conclusion that this has been very successful. Through the mechanism the Strategies for long-term, stable financing of forest research should foresters and the foresters organisations have got an effective tool. recognize the importance of public and political acceptance and And the ownership to this has resulted in an enhanced activity and understanding of the forests multifunctionallity. The importance of engagement related to R&D in the forest sector. This fund is now scientific progress as a precondition for a sustainable and multifuncplaying a key role as a source for the private share of the funding of tional forestry must be stressed. The interaction between the two main groups of funding mechanisms, both public and private funduser-driven or user-led forest research projects. The Norwegian private sector has, due to a high tax level, great ing, must be strengthened. The development of mechanisms should focus on the taxation system. Tax-deducting mechanisms will there- recognize the special challenges characterising sectors dominated by fore be of significant interest for the enterprises. The objective of the small-scale and often family-owned enterprises. mechanism called SkatteFUNN, a tax deduction scheme, is to increase innovation and enhance value creation in trade and industry, Literature Cited as well as to boost R&D activity in Norwegian industry. This mech- All references are only published in Norwegian. The article is based on information from websites and national reports and papers. For anism is an industry-neutral instrument. Under the SkatteFUNN scheme, all enterprises subject to taxa- further information, please contact the author.

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Setting the Agenda in Nordic Forest Research in an Era of Globalization

Niels Elers Koch
Member of the executive committee of the Nordic Forest Research Cooperation Committee and IUFRO Vice-President, Director General, Professor, Danish Centre for Forest, Landscape, and Planning, University of Copenhagen, Denmark It is stated that in an era of globalization it is important that you on the national level try to combine or merge all your efforts in forest research and education in a country, and on that basis identify your global niche, i.e., in which areas your country wants to be among the leading in the world in forest research and education. Based on that we should on the regional level be able to make a division of work and a specialization where one country takes the lead in a specific research area and the other countries draw upon this expertise. In doing so it is possible to obtain synergies and avoid overlapping R&D work while keeping the extra administrative work at a minimum, i.e., to use the total R&D resources within a given subject area in the most efficient/optimal way, thus increasing the return on the R&D funds invested. These ways of adapting to globalization are exemplified on the regional level by the work done by the Nordic Forest Research Cooperation Committee adapting into the forest research agenda in the European Union, and by financing five so-called CARs (Centers of Advanced Forest Research), making a division of work. On the national level it is exemplified by the merger of all institutions dealing with forest research and forestry educations on all levels in Denmark, and on that basis identifying the global niche for forest research and education in Denmark. Keywords: division of work, global niche, forest science cooperation.

What Is Norden?
Norden is a geographic region consisting of five countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) and three autonomous territories (the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and land), cf. Figure 1. Norden covers eight time zones, has over 24 million citizens, and ca. 60 million ha forests. Forests, forestry, and forest industries are important for this region.

What Is the Nordic Council of Ministers?

The Nordic Council of Ministers (www.norden.org), founded in 1971, is the Nordic organization for inter-governmental cooperation. The tasks are to improve Nordic cooperation, promote Nordic identity, and work in favor of Nordic interests. The five Nordic countries take turns at chairing the Council for a year at a time. Like all other regions, we are aiming for Norden as a global winner region. In doing so we are realizing that: Global economy increases both competition and possibilities; The European Union (EU) gives us good possibilities for cooperation and also for competition.
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Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Niels Elers Koch, Danish Centre for Forest, Landscape, and Planning, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. E-mail: nek@life.ku.dk. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

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 Virtual Centers of Advanced Research (CAR); Research projects; Preparatory studies for larger projects (pilot projects); Networking activitiesca. 15 network groups; Preparation of applications to the EU framework program. The budget of SNS is ca. 1 million per year coming from The Nordic Council of Ministers. What Is Virtual Centers of Advanced Research (CAR)? Virtual Centers of Advanced Research (CAR) is: A network, approved by SNS, with a specified core in terms of scientific subject matter and leadership, in which research is carried out in a decentralized manner; As agreed on in regular planning processes by the CAR partners themselves; And as funded by the participants; Each CAR must address the question of integrating existing networks of SNS in the area; A CAR should be open to other Nordic research in the area; A CAR should be open to Baltic/Adjacent Area cooperation. A Virtual Centers of Advanced Research (CAR) has SNS support granted for 5 years and consists of a combination of networks and projects. SNS contributes about 50,000 to each CAR per year, which is about 5% of total costs, since a CAR is mainly funded by the partners. The CAR concept implies a division of work and a specialization where one Nordic country takes the lead in a specific research area and the other countries draw upon this expertise. The aim of a CAR is to obtain synergies and avoid overlapping R&D work while keeping the extra administrative work at a minimum, i.e., to use the total Nordic R&D resources within the subject area in the most efficient/optimal way thus increasing the return on the R&D funds invested.

Figure 1. The geographic region Norden.

What Is Nordic Forest Research Cooperation Committee (SNS)?

The overall purpose of the Nordic Forest Research Cooperation Committee (SNS) (www.nordicforestresearch.org) is to promote research into the diverse functions in sustainable forestry, as well as to advice the Nordic Council of Ministers on questions concerning forests and forestry research. SNS wishes to contribute to socially, economically, and ecologically responsible management and utilization of forests and timber resources in the Nordic region. The areas of responsibility of the SNS encompass forests and other Presently Approved CARs There is presently approved the following CARs: wooded areas. Nordic-Baltic Centre of Advanced Research on Forestry serving Urbanized Societies (CARe-FOR-US) (www.sl.kvl.dk/ Specific Goals for SNS care-for-us); To create Nordic synergy within forestry research by granting Centre of Advanced Research on Environmental Services support to networks, research meetings, projects, joint utiliza(CAR-ES) (www.nordicforestry-cares.org); tion of unique research facilities, etc.; Centre for Advanced Research in Forest Genetics and Tree To promote the development of new research areas through Breeding (GENE-CAR) (http://www.nordicgenecar.org); initiating networks and task forces; Operations SystemsCentre of Advanced Research (OS-CAR) To promote research cooperation with the adjacent areas (www.skogforsk.se/templates/sf_ProjectStartPage_17835.asp); (mainly the Baltic countries and Northwest Russia); Virtual Centre of Advanced Research in Forest Pathology (Pat To strengthen the role of Nordic forestry research in European CAR) (www.metla.fi/org/pathcar). collaboration and encourage Nordic forest researchers to take part in international projects; Target Areas in SNSs Strategy Plan 200709 To work to ensure that research results are communicated. The following target areas are defined by the executive committee of SNS in SNSs strategy plan 200709: Organization of SNS Sustainable utilization of wood resources for generating The executive committee of SNS has two members from each energy and as compensation to fossil fuels; Nordic country (and two deputies). Members represent research The impacts of climate change on the forests and institutes, research funding bodies, forest administration agencies, forest sector; forest owners, and industrial interests. Wood material science and increased utilization of The Secretariat of SNS rotates between the Nordic countries and is wood products; from January 1, 2006 based in Finland at The Finnish Forest The economic and social value of forests in the society Research Institute (METLA). of tomorrow; SNS gives financial support to the following types of research col Biodiversity and nature values of forests. laboration:
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Table 1. WoodWisdom: Expected funding available for some partners (in million Euros). Finland Tekes Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MMM) Academy of Finland Denmark Danish Forest and Nature Agency Research Council for Prod. & Technology Norway The Research Council of Norway Innovation Norway Sweden Formas VINNOVA Nordic Forest Research Coopperation Committee Austria Germany 7.5 0.3 1.0 2.0 1.0 1.2 0.4 1.5 0.45 Figure 2. The affiliation of the Danish Centre for Forest, Landscape, and Planning (in short and Danish: Skov & Landskab).

The Mission of Skov & Landskab The mission of Skov & Landskab is to work with: Research and development, 0.25 Education and training, 3.0 ? Monitoring, Advisory services and dissemination of knowledge, 2.25 Ministry services, and Development and environmental aid within the following areas: forest, landscape, and planning. The Vision of Skov & Landskab We want to create opportunities for development for People, Cities, Landscapes, and Forests in a creative interaction between the four elements and everybody in Skov & Landskab.

What Is WoodWisdom-Net?
The aim of the WoodWisdom-Net project (www.woodwisdom. net) is to develop collaboration between the European forestry sector and forest-based industry, the wood material research community, and funding organizations by integrating research resources in different countries. The WoodWisdom-Net project, Networking and integration of national programs in the area of wood material science and engineering (200407), is designed to prepare and launch a joint, European Research and Technical Development (RTD) program with common funding and administration in the year 2007. The Nordic countries (especially Finland and Sweden) and the Nordic Forest Research Cooperation Committee have been active in this project, as can be seen from Table 1. In this way the Nordic forest research has adapted into the forest research agenda in the European Union.

The Merger Skov & Landskab was created by a merger of all institutions dealing with forest research and forestry educations on all levels in Denmark because it will: Strengthen the professional environment and competitiveness; create a unit with national as well as international weight; secure good coherence between the different levels of forestry educations; What Is the Danish Centre for Forest, Landscape, and secure good coherence in the knowledge chain from basic research over applied research to extension. Planning? The total staff is ca. 300 of which approx. 150 are scientists, and The Danish Centre for Forest, Landscape, and Planning (in short and Danish: Skov & Landskab; Figure 2) was established on the 1st the total budget is approx. 20 million per year. of January 2004 as an independent centre under the Royal Veterinary The Global Niche of Skov & Landskab and Agricultural University (KVL) through a merger of: Skov & Landskab has through an intensive strategy process, and The Danish Forest and Landscape Research Institute, based on many years of specialization in the former institutions, Ministry of the Environment, which was established in 1991 decided that we want to be among the leading in the world in the folas a merger of six forest and forest-related research and devellowing areas: opment institutions; Urban forestry and greening, About two-thirds of the Department of Economics and Environmental services from forests, Natural Resources, KVL, Ministry of Science, Technology, Christmas trees and greenery, and Innovation; The use of forests and trees in development and environmental aid. The Danish Forestry College, Ministry of Education; The Danida Forest Seed Centre, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On the 1st of January 2007, the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural Conclusions In an era of globalization, it is in my opinion important that you University (KVL) was integrated in to University of Copenhagen on the national level try to combine or merge all your efforts in for(www.ku.dk).
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est research and education in a country, and on that basis identify your global niche, i.e., in which areas your country want to be among the leading in the world in forest research and education. Based on that we should on the regional level be able to make a division of work and a specialization where one country takes the lead in a specific research area and the other countries draw upon this expertise. In doing so, it is possible to obtain synergies and avoid

overlapping R&D work while keeping the extra administrative work at a minimum, i.e., to use the total R&D resources within a given subject area in the most efficient/ optimal way, thus increasing the return on the R&D funds invested. IUFRO, as the global network for forest science cooperation, is in my opinion the ideal network to help us all in adapting to an era of globalization on the global, regional, and national level.

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Balanced Success Strategy in the Management and Leadership of Metla

Hannu Raitio
Director General, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Metla Finland is Europes most heavily forested country and it relies more heavily on its forests than any other country in the world. Finland is also one of the most research-intensive countries in the world. The Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla) is the principal forest research organization in Finland and one of the biggest forest research organizations in Europe. Its functions are defined by legislation that requires it to enhance the economic, ecological, and societal sustainability of forestry. Metla adopted a new strategy in 2006. Its new organizational and operational structure has been designed to support the needs of its clients. The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) method has developed into a significant tool for strategic planning. The method enables the examination of strategy from a number of perspectives: (1) economic, (2) client-oriented, (3) the internal process, and (4) innovation and learning within the organization. BSC has been adapted for use in the Finnish public sector in order to ensure a Balanced Success Strategy (BSS). Finlands state administration has adopted a new tool for steering and reporting on the economy and activities known as the results prism. It is based on the perspectives of the BSS. The article examines in more detail how the BSS method and the results prism concept have been applied at the Finnish Forest Research Institute to create a new strategy, to measure performance and effectiveness, and to guide management. Keywords: balanced success strategy, performance indicator, impact pathway.

F
Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Hannu Raitio, Director General, Finnish Forest Research Institute, Metla, Unioninkatu 40A, Helsinki 00170, Finland. E-mail: hannu.raitio@metla.fi 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

inland is located in the boreal forest zone, which is characterised by a short growing season and a limited number of tree species. Finland is the most heavily forested country in Europe, with 76% of its area covered by forests. The forest area per inhabitant is 4.3 hectares, which is the highest figure in Europe (Parviainen 2006). There is a long history of forest utilisation in Finland and everyone has the right to move about freely in Finnish forests. Finnish forestry has always relied on the use of native tree species. The aim is to ensure production of a high-quality raw material, while at the same time retaining the biological diversity of forests and suitable conditions for different forest uses. The industrial use of forests began in Finland in the late 19th century. Today, forestry and the forest industry account for around 8% of Finlands gross domestic product and the forest industry generates one third of Finland's exports. By international comparison, Finland relies more heavily on its forests than any other country in the world. Finland is one of the most research-intensive countries in the world. In 2003, national spending on research and development totalled over EUR 5 billion, or 3.49% of GDP (Lehvo and Nuutinen 2006). The Finnish innovation system consists of 20 universities, 6 university consortiums, 20 polytechnics, 20 sectoral research institutes and enterprises, and private research institutes. Forest
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Figure 2. The results prisma model and basic performance criteria. Figure 1. Organisation and regional units of the Finnish Forest Research Institute. structures. These perspectives are based on the performance concepts used in public administration (results prism) (Figure 2) and on the research in Finland currently employs about 450 researchers with aca- perception of quality and the staff s capabilities as critical success demic qualifications, over 300 of whom work at the Finnish Forest factors in public administration. Research Institute (Metla) (Parviainen 2007). The Finnish Forest Research Institute, Metla, is a state research Metlas Strategy Process There were several reasons for revising Metlas strategy, one of them organization reporting to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Its duties are defined by law and statute to enhance economical, ecolog- being the changes that had taken place in the external and internal ical, and societal sustainability of forestry. The number of Metlas per- operating environment of forest research. The then-current strategy son-years in 2006 was 920 and the total expenses amounted to EUR had been designed for the years 200005; its foundations had crum52 million. These figures make Metla the main forest research organ- bled, and time had overtaken some of the policies. Metla also needed ization in Finland and one of the biggest forest research organizations to update its organisation and improve its management of interest in Europe. Metla adopted a new strategy in 2006. Its new organiza- groups. A good opportunity for drawing up a new strategy was also tional and operational structure is built to support the needs of its presented by a new Director General being appointed at the Institute clients. Metla is today a process-based matrix organization that con- in May 2004. The process for revising the strategy was started with an internal sists of core and support processes (Figure 1). The research is carried survey and interviews with interest groups. A group of research out in a nationwide network of regional Research Units (Figure 1). experts comprising Metla professors also updated the earlier SWOT analysis. A working group comprising representatives from interest Balanced Success Strategy The Balanced Scorecard (BSC), developed by David Norton and groups and financing sources that had been set up by the Ministry of Robert Kaplan in the early 1990s, has gradually become a significant Agriculture and Forestry to support the strategy defined the owner management tool for strategic planning (Kaplan and Norton 1996). perspective for the strategy process. The actual strategy preparation was started with an information sesThe Kaplan and Norton BSC model is based on the assumption that vision and strategy are created and given by the management; they sion by the Director General at each regional unit. The session went exist as the starting points. Communicating the vision and strategy through the results of the internal assessment and interviews with interconvincingly to the organization is the managements responsibility est groups, the theoretical background to the various components of and challenge. The BSC has a key role in the successful accomplish- the strategy work, and the practical implementation model (Figure 3). ment of this communication. In the BSC model the vision and strat- The implementation of the entire process was characterised by extenegy of an organization are transformed into measurable objectives sive cooperation between Metla personnel and the interest groups. The first stage of the process defined the mission, vision and valand actions. The BSC deals with vision and strategy from four perues, and the strategic goals, followed by the definition and prioritisaspectives: (1) finance, (2) customers, (3) internal processes, and (4) tion of the areas of emphasis in the research and the positioning of innovation and learning. In Finland, the BSC model has been developed into Balanced their operations vis--vis other actors. Indicators for monitoring the Success Strategy (BSS), an application for public administration implementation of the strategy were also drawn up. The renewing of the organisational structure and management sys(Mtt and Ojala 1999, Mtt 2000). The essential difference tem was put into affect alongside the revising of the strategy. Finally, between the frameworks of the BSC and the BSS is that in the BSS the organizations business idea, together with vision, is part of the a personnel plan was drawn up on the basis of the revised strategy in strategy, while in the BSC the starting points are the companys vision the form of the process shown in Figure 4. and strategy. In the BSS, strategy is not given from above, as it is in the BSC, but instead, it is created as a result of an interactive process. Metlas Strategy 200610 Metlas duty, as defined by law and statute, is to promote, through In other words, every member of the organization is a strategist. The BSS is also based on four strategic perspectives: effectiveness, research, the economic, ecological, and societally sustainable manageresources and economy, renewal and capabilities, and processes and ment and use of forests. In addition to basic research Metla carries
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Metlas strategic objectives are: Metla conducts policy-relevant research and development activities that have high scientific standards and positive societal impacts aimed at enhancing the sustainable use of forests as well as the economic competitiveness of the forest sector. The research priorities include: (1) forest-based enterprise and business activities, (2) the societal impact of forests, (3) the structure and functioning of forest ecosystems, and (4) an information data bank on forestry and the forest environment. Metlas organisational and operational structure is built to support the needs of its clients. Metla is a process-based matrix organisation; it consists of core and support processes and the regional Research Units. Resources are focused on core functions, with prompt responses to current policy issues and cost-effective operations (Figure 1). Metla's organisational culture supports competence building and continuous learning. In a working environment based on shared valFigure 3. Implementation and follow-up of the Metlas strategy ues the following features are particularly appreciated: unity, initiative, skills and competence, good administrative culture, and a cusprocess. tomer-based attitude.

Strategy of International Activities

Metlas international activities strengthen the scientific and societal impacts of its research and promote the building of the forest sector's future. Metlas overall strategy determines the goals for Metla as the conductor of research and development activities that have high scientific standards and positive societal impacts aimed at enhancing the sustainable use of forests as well as the economic competitiveness of the forest sector. Metlas international strategy brings these goals onto international scale. It aims at improving the international competitiveness of the Finnish forest sector and at strengthening the international impact of the research carried out by Metla. Metla participates in the national and international political processes and uses research to support the Finnish forest cluster in international forums. Metla conducts research on the international operational environment of the forest sector, and actively produces and transmits related information for its national interest groups Metla aims at maintaining its internationally leading position in the following fields of forest research: Forest inventory and monitoring of forest ecosystems, Production ecology and material flows in Northern boreal forests, Silviculture and harvesting chains in Northern boreal forests. Metla aims at achieving an internationally leading position in the following fields of forest research: Bioenergy from forests, Knowledge and use of wood-material properties. Metla aims at strengthening its international position in the following fields of forest research: Expertise in international forest-related processes including political processes, Societal acceptability of forestry and the environmental capacity of wood-based products. Metla will maintain and strengthen its international cooperation in the neighbouring countries (Nordic Countries, Baltic States, and Russia), in Central Europe (Germany, France, Great Britain, EUs new and candidate countries), as well as in North America (USA, Canada). In addition, Metla is aiming to improve its potentials and increase its activities in South America (Chile, Brazil) and Asia (China), especially through consulting tasks and researcher mobility.
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Figure 4. Integration between the Metlas strategy and the knowledge-based personnel development. out applied research and extension activities as well as official tasks directed by the ministries. The mission of Metla is to build the future of Finlands forest sector by pro-actively producing and disseminating information and know-how for the well-being of society. The vision of Metla is to position itself as the most influential and effective national and international institution with expertise in sustainable use of forests and one that anticipates the information needs of its clients. Metlas core values are: Reliability: We act responsibly by producing scientifically reliable, objective information, fulfilling the commitments made to our clients. Occupational skills, competence, and well-being: We motivate our personnel by developing their skills and competence to attain our shared goals and to become a world-class leader in the field of forestry. Interactivity: We act openly and interactively in the best interest of our clients. Proactivity and creativity: We anticipate future needs for knowledge and develop our working methods with an open mind.

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However, the decisive factor in directing Metlas international activities is the scientific interest, and consequently Metlas international activities can also be aimed at other countries if the cooperation is considered to be appropriate and support Metlas research strategy. Metla will increase its cooperation with international organizations (IUFRO, CIFOR, ICRAF...) as well as with international forest-related enterprises.

Performance Indicators and Impact Pathways

The key challenge for performance management in practice is the evaluation and measuring of the results as unambiguously and reliably as possible. In many administrative sectors development of metrics has turned out to be a delicate task. In particular, measuring specialists work performance involves several difficulties that are related to the information-intensive character of the work. The outcomes and impacts of specialist work are difficult to verify, and the results are visible with a delay. Similarly, the intangible inputs are difficult to define. In a good set of metrics, there is a balance between financial and non-financial metrics, short-term and long-term targets, external and internal efficiency metrics, as well as predictive and performance metrics. Successful metrics are motivating, emphasize the value of the item being measured, guide the staff to do the right things, make targets unambiguous, promotes competition within the organization to bring out the best performance, and create premises for performancerelated rewarding. On the other hand, unsuccessful metrics may emphasize the wrong things and lead operations in the wrong direction, irritating the persons being measured, creating negative competition, and rewarding the wrong things. Recently, it has often been suggested that organisational performance metrics should be viewed from several perspectives. The bestknown approach is the BSC model by Kaplan and Norton, in which performance is evaluated from the perspectives of economy, customer, internal processes, and learning and development. The economy perspective explains what kind of financial outcomes should be attained in order to make the owners happy. The customer perspective describes what has to be done to make the customer happy with the services and products provided by the company or organisation. The internal processes perspective reveals how internal processes should be handled in order to attain the objectives set for the customer and economy perspectives. The learning and development perspective shows how competence will have to be developed in order to improve internal processes and the outcomes of both customer and economic perspectives. The metrics for the economic perspective provide information about the past, those of customer and process perspectives depict the present situation, and the ones on learning and development predict the future. The BSC model and the basic performance criteria of the results prism described above have a number of similarities. Both models emphasize the need for total evaluation of performance, the balance of performance targets and different perceptions, as well as the use of indicators or evaluation criteria in monitoring and reporting the outcomes. It is not enough that the performance of an organisation to meet the targets set for a certain sub-section; the organisation must also be able to function so that the targets of all four perspectives are met. This will also form the basis for future competitiveness. An alternative approach to understanding research impacts is the pathway concept (Figure 5). The concept is based on various approaches to evaluation and impact assessment. An impact pathway describes the chain of events linking e.g., forest research and forestry development. It establishes a series of measurement points, e.g., input, output, outcome, and impact levels, and at least three processes may be distinguished: (1) a research process leading to the research outputs, (2) an innovation process leading to technical changes, and (3) a development process leading to economic and social changes. In Finland, new recommendations for forestry have recently been drawn up under the leadership of the Forest Development Centre

From Performance to Effectiveness

Performance management and budgeting form the basis for the business control system at the Finnish Forest Research Institute (Metla). Performance management is an agreement-based interactive control model. Metla is accountable for its operations to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and partly also to the Ministry of the Environment. The basic idea of performance management in operations is to obtain the best possible balance between resources and targets on the one hand and efficiency and quality on the other, and to ensure that the desired effects are achieved cost-efficiently. The objective of performance management is unambiguous and precise operations. The outcomes of public operationsthose of Metla, in this caseare weighed and evaluated both from the perspectives of the social benefits created and effective use of resources. Good results are not attained, even if the desired effects are produced, if resources are wasted or used ineffectively. Correspondingly, efficiency merely in production is not enough for a good result; the quality of the outputs and service capacity of the research institute must also be at the right level. The basic concepts of performance (results prisma) make a distinction between policy effectiveness, which is broader, and operational performance, which can be directly affected by the management of the research institute (Figure 2). Operational performance has been divided into three basic criteria: operational efficiency, outputs and quality management, and management of human resources. Hence, the following basic concepts of performance are used to evaluate and report on public operations in Finland: (1) policy effectiveness, (2) operational efficiency, (3) outputs and quality management, and (4) management of human resources (Salminen 2005). Each ministry is accountable for the performance of its operational branch. The performance targets set for the ministries emphasize the social impacts of the administrative sector and the corresponding targets for effectiveness. The term policy effectivenessalso referred to as societal impacts and social effectivenessrefers to impacts of a broader scale and longer term. Targets for policy effectiveness guide the setting of performance targets for research institutions. Policy effectiveness can also be evaluated and verified using various indicators and metrics. The performance targets of a research institute help the ministry to achieve its own targets for policy effectiveness. The main emphasis in the performance targets of a research institute is on operational performance targets, and the operations and management of the institute are decisive in terms of how well these targets are attained. Operational performance can be divided into three sub-areas: 1. Operational efficiency, which consists of economic efficiency, productivity, and profitability of chargeable services; 2. Outputs and quality management, which includes the quantity of outputs and public goods, as well as service capacity and quality in operations; 3. Management and development of human resources, which relates to such things as the number of employees and staff structure, staff costs, well-being at work, staff competence, and other intangible property and renewals of operations.
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Tapio. This work was based to a great extent on the research results produced by Metla. Figure 6 shows the effectiveness of the forestregeneration surveys applying the effectiveness path concept. The example displays very clearly how the conceptual path description promotes an understanding of the importance and effectiveness of forest research better than mere numerical indicators.

Literature Cited
Figure 5. The impact pathway model. KAPLAN, R.S., AND D.P. NORTON. 1996. The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action. Harward Business School Press, Boston, Massachusettes. MTT, S., AND T. OJALA. 1999. Tasapainoisen onnistumisen haasteJohtaminen julkisella sektorilla. Hallinnon kehittmiskeskus, valtiovarainministeri. Helsinki. Edita. MTT. S. 2000. Tasapainoinen menestysstrategiaBalanced Scorecardin tuolla puolen. Helsinki. Infoviestint oy. PARVIAINEN, J. 2006. Forest and forestry in individual European Union countries: Finland. In Forest and Forestry in European Union Countries: The Guide to Forests and Forest Issues. Published by order of the General Directorate of the State Forestsy National Forest Holding, Warsaw. SALMINEN, M. 2005. Manual of Performance Guidange. Publications 2/2005. Ministry of Finance. Available online at www.vm.fi/julkaisut.

Figure 6. The impact pathway of the renewal of silvicultural guidlines.

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Forestry Research Within a Changing Environment: The Case of CATIE, Central America
Bastiaan Louman
Associate researcher, CATIE, Latin-American and Caribbean regional coordinator, IUFRO-SPDC, Turrialba, Costa Rica

Glenn Galloway
Dean of the Postgraduate School, CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica

Rger Villalobos
Researcher, CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica

Jos Joaqun Campos Arce

Director General, CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica

Fransisco Jimnez
Associate researcher, CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica

Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to Bastiaan Louman, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, CATIE 7170, 30501 Turrialba, Costa Rica. E-mail: blouman@catie.ac.cr. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

entral America, a region rich in natural forest, boasts some of the most biologically diverse areas of the world. Commercial use of its forests dates back to the 17th century when high value species were extracted from Belizean forests. Timber extraction did not cause mayor impacts on the forests until the 1960s, when harvesting in the Americas began to compensate for the reduced timber supplies from Asia. Forest research focused on botanical and ecological studies until the 1950s and 1960s, a period during which FAO-assisted large-scale inventories needed to provide information on the timber potential of the natural forests. Plantation research concentrated on species and provenance selection, genetic improvement of high-value species, and later on developing appropriate silvicultural practices. Over time, concerns increased over potential environmental impacts caused by forest management activities. In addition, a greater diversity of forest values began receiving attention, some of which have since generated income through semi-market mechanisms (Louman and Camino 2004, Galloway et al. 2005). The research program of the Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE in its Spanish acronyms) has responded to these evolving interests since its creation in 1943 (then Interamerican Institute for Agricultural Cooperation, IICA). Research into natural forest management in the region did not begin in earnest until the 1980s. Initially, it concentrated on the forest management unit, resulting in recommendations to improve tree harvesting and reduce impacts of logging. Gradually the technical vision of forest management broadened to embrace ecological, economic, and social concerns. New stakeholders were identified and their relations to the forests became a matter of great interest due to continued, and often accelerating, deforestation. The recognition of new stakeholders, and their crucial role in forest management and conservation, led to research into other uses of natural forests, including the management for non-timber forest products (NTFP), the management, production, and trading of environmental services, as well as research into the monitoring and evaluation of impacts of different forms of land and forest use. Following the guidelines of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), CATIE broadened its focus to management at the landscape scale, involving a multitude of stakeholders. At this juncture, funding for forest management research tended to become less available. Thus CATIE had to deal with a triple challenge: involve more people in setting its research agenda; become more creative and proactive in tapping different funding sources; and develop research methodologies that ensure quality, in spite of greater research complexity and pressure to deliver results in a short timeframe. This article describes how CATIE has dealt with these challenges by working with a multitude of partners, pursuing different strategies for generating funding, and utilizing external evaluations to ensure research quality.

CATIE
CATIE is a regional institution that serves as a platform for the generation of cutting-edge technology and knowledge with 13 member countries and an
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annual budget that oscillates between 16 and 20 million US$. It has over 450 staff members, of which about 150 are scientific staff. As an organization it seeks to contribute to rural poverty reduction by promoting competitive and sustainable agriculture and natural resources management, through higher education, research, and technical cooperation. According to an independent external evaluation team, CATIE is unique in the developing world in that it has successfully linked cutting-edge science to the evolving interests of farmers and decisionmakers (CATIE 2007b). This is made possible by its organizational structure in which 11 thematic groups constitute the core capabilities needed for higher education, research, and technical cooperation. Research topics, while maintained within the strategic plan, are project, client, and donor driven. As a consequence, research is integrated in an innovative way with development and educational activities: results often are directly applied in the field and/or channeled to policy-makers to provide them with scientific information to support their decisions. At the same time importand findings and experiences are incorporated into educational and training materials and postgraduate courses. To strengthen its regional character and to facilitate links between the science and practitioners in member countries, CATIE has established a network of national offices. The aforementioned research groups are distributed between two departments: the Department of Agriculture and Agroforestry and the Department of Natural Resources and Environment (DNRE). Although interdisciplinary research, often spanning both departments, is encouraged among research groups, most forestry research is carried out within the DNRE. Consequently, this article will concentrate on the research management challenges of the DNRE and the following five thematic groups and two endowed chairs which form part of this department: Forests, Protected Areas, and Biodiversity; Global Change; Center for Competitiveness of Eco-enterprises; Integrated Watershed Management; Socio-economics of Environmental Goods and Services; Latin American Chair for Ecology in Natural Forest Management; Latin American Chair for Diversified Tropical Forest Management. The endowed chairs fulfill a crucial role in providing financial stability and continuity to research development. Four of the five thematic groups are responsible for the coordination of CATIE masters programs, graduating between 35 and 40 students each year. Each thematic group has a reasonable to good publication record; the two endowed chairs have stood out in this regard.

Figure 1. The landscape approach involves different land uses and, for example, the contribution of their vegetative components to biodiversity conservation. Coffee plantation near Monteverde in Costa Rica. Photo: B. Louman 2007. ridors, and the restoration of degraded landscapes (Figure 1). These approaches are complemented by efforts to improve cooperation within production and value chains in which small and medium producers form a part, and to support the formulation, implementation, and monitoring of environmental policies. Two examples are used to illustrate how these approaches have been pursued in CATIEs research agenda: (1) research linked to the FOCUENCAS watershed management project, and (2) the development and validation of tools for the monitoring of progress of forest management and factors that affect such management.

Current Research Organization

Rather than describe CATIEs organizational structure, this section will focus on organizational function, following the main themes of the conference: selection of relevant research themes; sources of funding; and assuring research quality. Since active participation of different stakeholders and achievement of tangible results are of central importance to the approaches listed above, these attributes of the research process will also be described. Selection of Relevant Research Themes The DRNE of CATIE is closely involved with several important international and regional policy processes. Through its Climate Change group, it is directly involved in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the forestry group has representatives or participates as invited experts in regional Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) meetings, in the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), and contributes frequently to the Central American Commission for Development (CCAD) and the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (OTCA). In addition, CATIEs governing body, the Superior Council, consists of agricultural and/or environmental ministers of its member countries. Except for the structural relationship with its governing body, the other organizational ties referred to above depend more on personal relations and contacts among researchers with common interests. It could be

Evolution of CATIEs Forestry Research

The general direction of CATIEs research agenda is established in its strategic plan, which was developed with inputs from broad consultations with researchers, executive staff, decision-makers, and other outside stakeholders. The strategic plan may be adjusted every 45 years, following internal and external evaluations of research results and priorities. Over the past four decades CATIEs forestry research has evolved from a classical reductionist approach to research on forest management within a territorial context, involving multiple stakeholders, different scales, and diverse disciplines. Exemplary initiatives and approaches include the ecosystem approach, adaptive co-management, watershed management, model forest networks, biological cor98
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argued, however, that these less formal relations are often more effective (see for example Mayer and Bass 2004), since they build on constructive personal relationships, motivation, and opportunities. Considering the aforementioned policy processes as well as needs identified in their member countries through five-year assessments, the DRNE has made the decision to focus on the following research approaches and priorities (CATIE 2007a): Utilize an holistic and integrated approach to natural resource management (ecosystem approach); Pursue multifunctional management for the production of goods and services; Focus on production and value chains and rural eco-enterprise development (production, marketing, sales); Focus on livelihoods for sustainable rural development; Support environmental policy processes: local and national governments; Concentrate efforts in strategic, long-term model territories for innovation, learning, and communication; Establish synergy among thematic groups and departments within CATIE. The two research initiatives discussed below, watershed management and monitoring tools, stemmed from needs identified at the policy level. The study and development of mechanisms for the payment of environmental services evolved from close involvement of CATIE with the Costa Rican Ministry for the Environment and Energy (MINAE). In a similar fashion, research on the dynamics of forests subjected to diverse management approaches, was a response to national and regional requests for information to guide natural forest management. Each of these research initiatives fit within the previously mentioned research priorities, and therefore responded to specific policy and/or development needs. As indicated before, the two endowed research chairs have played an important role in establishing CATIE to sustain long-term research strategies and initiatives. Currently, the Latin American Chair for Ecology in Natural Forest Management concentrates on restoration of forests through natural succession; landscape management and conservation efforts in the San JuanLa Selva Biological Corridor; and sustainable natural forest management. The Latin American Chair for Ecology in Natural Forest Management provides support to processes to define criteria and indicators; makes contributions to sustainability of forest management in Costa Rica; and generates information for the implementation of the Ecosystem Approach. National and local processes have also played a role in the identification of research themes. CATIE has implemented and continues to carry out several development projects in its fields of expertise and often these projects bring to light research questions which require resolution through applied research. The TRANSFORMA project, oriented toward promoting sustainable forest management through cooperation among local actors in Honduras and Nicaragua, resulted in 14 masters research projects on social, economic, and ecological aspects of community forest management (e.g., Altamirano et al. 2004, Perdomo et al. 2002, Acosta et al. 2001, Ferrando et al. 2001, Prez Flores et al. 2001, Morales et al. 2000, Rivas et al. 2000). Clearly, CATIEs involvement in policy processes and implementation of development projects has been important in the selection of research themes. The selection of themes has also often been donor driven, resulting in shifts in CATIEs research programs to ensure they respond to evolving priorities of donor programs. The research programs of the endowed chairs enjoy a greater degree of autonomy since they are less dependent on research funding for survival. This

attribute has provided them with the continuity needed to develop their own long-term strategies and agenda. Researchers A major strength of CATIE corresponds to its considerable human resource, including researchers, MSc and PhD students, and a significant number of researchers from other research organizations and universities (in a two-year period, over 170 researchers and academics participated in MSc and PhD student committees). In addition, research is often performed in collaboration with a wide host of local stakeholders who contribute their invaluable knowledge and experience. Much research in CATIE is centered around thesis work of its graduate students. Each student has a committee made of three to five researchers. Together they cooperate with the student to ensurequality in all steps of the process; research design, data collection and analysis, and finally the interpretation and synthesis of the results. The strong link between development projects, CATIEs thematic groupswhich are the main source of researchersand the postgraduate school has often encouraged interdisciplinary approaches toward research, although the need for interdisciplinary approaches depends on the specific research question(s) to be addressed. As research within a landscape context gains in importance, a wider array of disciplines are required to address the interrelated topics of interest. Consequently, CATIE often seeks the cooperative involvement of outside researchers to fill knowledge gaps and provide disciplinary expertise not available within the institution. Funding Another article presented in this conference discusses in detail CATIEs strategies to obtain funding (Finegan). In that article the author indicates that CATIE taps many different sources of funding. In the years up to 2005, the overall annual budget oscillated between 15 and 20 million US$, 62% of which was project money, 34% was generated by a host of other activities and the membership fees paid by CATIEs member countries, and the remaining 4% came from scholarships. The high dependency on project funding provides a strong impetus to CATIE to orient its research to respond to widely recognized policy and development information needs. The failure to seek relevance would result in diminished levels of funding and corresponding reduction in its research program. Again, the two endowed chairs have played a crutial role in research in CATIE, due to their stable financial situations made possible by endowments contributed by the Swiss Corporation for International Cooperation (COSUDE), which have been complemented with core funds by CATIE. In addition to the aforementioned funds, many resources that enable CATIE to do its research are made available through in-kind contributions by CATIEs partner organizations. For example, most external researchers participating in student committees make their contributions without financial compensation from CATIE. A few examples of partner organizations that have contributed in this way include the Foundation for the Development of the Central Volcanic Range (FUNDECOR) in Costa Rica; Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA); the universities of Freiburg, Gttingen (Germany), Bangor (Wales), Wageningen (Netherlands), and Helsinki (Finland); the Agricultural University of Norway; the Universities of Idaho, Purdue, and Minnesota (USA); University of Costa Rica, National University, and the Technological Institute, all of Costa Rica; the Nature Conservance (TNC), CIFOR, and many other research organizations and entities from the private sector.
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Ensuring Research Quality As is the case for all research organizations, CATIEs research is subject to both internal and external peer review, according to the level of scientific rigor required for a specific initiative. For short-term research, such as MSc thesis, this type of review usually starts with a presentation of proposals for project design within academic committees and/or research groups, and later to a broader academic audience. A similar process is carried out to present research results and their interpretation. Finally, papers are developed which must pass through a rigorous process of peer reviews, including reviews by scientists external to the institution. CATIEs mandate demands that a considerable proportion of CATIEs research efforts must be clearly relevant to the region. Thus, the benchmark for research quality cannot be measured on the basis of technical and scientific content alone. Applicability of research results and methodologies is equally important. The balance sought between scientific quality and research applicability influences the appropriate selection of the research topics and makes necessary the implementation of collaborative and participatory research approaches (Guldin et al. 2005). CATIE researchers are continuously involved with actual and potential partners through advisory and/or project work, research committees, networks, etc. This cooperation results in the identification of relevant research topics and a continuous sharing of research methodologies and results. Researchers are encouraged to publish their work in both scientific and technical journals to ensure research quality on the one hand, and on the other, to make knowledge available to persons potentially interested in putting CATIEs scientific contributions to productive use. In practice, some researchers give considerable emphasis to basic research and the publication of results in peer-reviewed scientific journals (e.g., Biotrpica, Conservation Biology, Ecological Applications, Forest Ecology and Management; Restoration Ecology), while others tend to concentrate on knowledge application through applied research, training and education, and dissemination of results in technical journals (e.g., Revista Recursos Naturales y Ambiente, CATIEs own regional journal), manuals (e.g., Orozco et al. 2006, Orozco 2004, Louman et al. 2001), and other types of technical documents (e.g., CATIEs technical series Coleccin manejo diversificado de bosques naturales and Coleccin gestin integrada de recursos naturales a escala de pasaje). Main Products In addition to the publications mentioned above, research products include conference and workshop papers, as well as MSc and PhD theses. Furthermore, many research findings are incorporated into higher education (MSc courses) and CATIEs training program, resulting in dynamic and up-to-date education and training programs enriched with new information. Finally, CATIE seeks to pursue research that will provide inputs for decision-makers and persons involved in development initiatives. The two examples of research initiatives provided will demonstrate how CATIE does this successfully.

Figure 2. Relationships among the tour levels of influence in a research project on integrated watershed management in Central America (Campos 2005).

FOCUENCAS Watershed Management Project

In the aftermath of hurricane Mitch, during which thousands of people died as a consequence of the combination of torrential rains and inappropriate land-use planning, a regional dialogue on the prevention of disasters and more sustainable use of the natural resources identified the imperative need for improvements in the regulation of water quality and quantity, in local governance and in the use of natural resources. This dialogue led to the formulation of a research and
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development project, FOCUENCAS I (Strengthening of Local Capacity for Watershed Management and Natural Disaster Prevention), financed by the Swedish Agency for International Development (ASDI, 200003). FOCUENCAS I was conceptualized as a strategic watershed management program, and after considerable consultations with local and national stakeholders in Nicaragua and Honduras, ASDI and CATIE made the decision to implement a second phase of the program. The second phase has worked with the same stakeholders and thematic orientation, but has been refocused to emphasize learning and adaptive management: FOCUENCA II (Innovation, Learning, and Communication for Adaptive Co-Management of Watersheds) (CATIE 2004). The primary objective of FOCUENAS II is the design and implementation of adaptive and sustainable co-management models that are applicable in watersheds with biophysical, socio-economic, and institutional frameworks that are representative of Central America. The innovative design of the project utilizes an action-research cycle, in which objectives are defined; and potential actions are identified, undertaken, and re-assessed in order to make appropriate modifications over time, taking into account the degree to which planned activities are leading to the fulfillment of project objectives. Since the results of project actions often have implications at not only the local level, but at national and regional level as well, continuous interactions among diverse actors within and between levels are critically important. CATIEs role is to accompany the process, facilitate the interaction among diverse stakeholders, and ensure through research and reflection that all stakeholders learn from their experiences and as a consequence improve watershed management over time (Figure 2). Selection of Research Themes The general objective of the project was defined through a participatory negotiation among local, national, and regional stakeholders. Once project objectives were defined, specific research topics have been agreed upon to respond to information needs for project imple-

Main Products Until April 2007, the FOCUENCAS I and II projects generated 40 articles, 39 theses, 3 technical notes, 2 policy briefs, as well as important inputs into local and national decision-making processes. In addition, the projects have assisted the establishment of watershed management committees as an effective mechanism to strengthen the institutionality and governance of management of natural resources in the watersheds. Finally, information generated has been used to improve project performance and the local co-management models on which its success depends.

Tools for Progress Monitoring

Over the years, one of the main research lines in which nearly all researchers of the DNRE have participated has been in the development and validation of tools for monitoring of progress (standards). The earliest monitoring activities of the DRNE actually began before the departments creation, when at the end of the 1980s the first permanent sample plots (PSP) were established to monitor the effect of different management practices on the dynamics of natural forests (e.g., Finegan et al. 1999). This was rapidly followed by PSP in the Maya Biosphere in Guatemala (e.g., Pinelo Morales 1997). As was the case for most research carried out at that time, monitoring was primarily directed to technical concerns inside forest management units and essentially uni-disciplinary in nature (forest ecology). Responding to international trends, such as forest certification and the development of standards for sustainable forest management, and to enhance local understanding of forest management processes, monitoring tools first became more holistic in their approach (e.g., environmental impact monitoring, Gretzinger 1996) and then more interdisciplinary (e.g., Louman et al. 2005, Morn et al. 2007), Standards also became applicable to areas with multiple, interrelated uses (e.g., Padovan et al. 2002, Muslem et al. 2006), a development that resulted in the formulation of a generic proposal for the development and validation of standards for monitoring activities and results of natural resource management policies (Morn et al. 2006). This considerable experience has been invaluable for the development of additional standards, for example for the monitoring of progress in the management of model forests (Arboleda 2006) and in biological corridors (Canet 2007). Funding and Researchers Work on monitoring has been financed from a wide variety of sources, generally related to the implementation of specific projects (e.g., COSUDE, USAID, GTZ, CONAFOR, WWF, ASDI, IDRC through LAC-Net, CATIEs proper funds, the two endowed chairs, and student funding). As in the case of the FOCUENCAS project, in-kind support was received from many partner organizations. Ensuring Research Quality Besides the approaches described for the watershed management project, in this case research quality was enhanced by building on experiences of other well-known research organizations, in particular the work done by CIFOR (CIFOR 1999). Thus, an important component of this work has been the validation of standard proposals, research results, and their interpretation by groups of experts and stakeholders. Main Products In addition to the standards developed and a wide host of theses and articles that report the results of their validation and/or applicaIUFRO 6.06.00

Figure 3. Map of priority areas for the application of payment for environmental services schemes in the micro-watershed of Copanruins, Honduras (adapted from Retamal 2006).

mentation. Most research topics are relevant to all four watersheds and include such topics as the assessment of the effects of different land uses on water quality (e.g., Arcos et al. 2006); assessment of the costs of and the willingness to pay for water quality by downstream populations (e.g., Baltodano and Alpizar 2006); setting of priorities for incentive schemes (Figure 3) (Retamal 2006); development and validation of standards for monitoring progress in watershed management (e.g., Muslem et al. 2006a and b); as well as validation of institutional mechanisms for co-management (e.g., Prins, in preparation). Funding and Researchers ASDI has been the main source of funding for research within the project. Scholarships complement ASDI contributions, by financing a portion of student costs, while local, national, and regional partners make in-kind contributions. Finally, the participation of CATIE researchers is often financed by other sources of funding. Co-financing and co-execution of research have been successful strategies within the FOCUENAS initiative. Ensuring Research Quality CATIE has a group of researchers assigned to the project, active in supervising research work. Through thesis committees other researchersboth from CATIE and other institutionsparticipate in the research, above all providing feedback and suggestions on methodologies applied and on the analysis and interpretation of the results. The Postgraduate Schools Biostatistical Unit plays an important role in reviewing data quality, orienting analyses, and in the proper interpretation of results. In the case of publication in regional or other journals, the opinion of external peer reviewers is sought. Applicability and relevance of the results is best achieved by ensuring direct involvement of local farmers throughout the research process: early on in the identification of research needs through to the interpretation of results. Local workshops are carried out in which local stakeholders (farmers, authorities, and committees) as well as external experts participate to discuss implications of research results and the need for further work. Results of the workshops are documented and taken into account in the final version of research reports. Finally, additional feedback is sought from regional think tanks, municipalities, and national authorities.

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member countries beyond those described in this article. It is through these and other research and development activities that CATIE is achieving a relatively high level of impact on natural resource management policies and activities. Due to its increased complexity and transaction costs of research, CATIE needs leadership and commitment at all levels of the organization, not just at the top. The restructuring of CATIE into the existing thematic groups appears to have been an effective way to foster a decentralized leadership in the research arena, although further strengthening of the thematic groups may be required. One of the instruments that is being discussed to contribute to group consolidation and to improve research impact is a performance evaluation that gives greater consideration to group performance and research impacts, in addition to the traditional emphasis placed on publication records by individual researchers. Criteria Management unit Without PES nor FC PES FC PES and FC Ecological C 1.1 C 1.2 32.2 33.5 36.0 36.5 34.2 41.9 43.0 44.3 Economic C 2.1 C 2.2 33.6 25.3 30.5 30.2 26.5 26.3 27.1 29.8 Total 126.5 127.0 136.6 140.8

Literature Cited
ACOSTA, L., B. LOUMAN, AND G. GALLOWAY. 2001. Regeneracin de especies arbreas despus del huracn Mitch en bosques manejados de la costa Norte de Honduras. Revista Forestal Centroamericana 34: 6165. ALTAMIRANO, M., G. GALLOWAY, B. LOUMAN, K. PRINS, AND L. ORTEGA. 2004. Actitudes, conocimientos, manejo de finca y percepcin de los campesinos hacia el uso del recurso bosque en comunidades aledaas a la Reserva Biolgica IndioMaz, El Castillo, Ro San Juan, Nicaragua. Recursos Naturales y Ambiente 43: 4961 ARBOLEDA, M.O. 2006. Validacion de principios, criterios e indicadores para los bosques modelo en Amrica Latina y el Caribe. Anteproyecto de tesis para optar al Magster Scientiae, Turrialba, Costa Rica, CATIE. 52 p. ARCOS, I., F. JIMNEZ, C. HARVEY, J.J. CAMPOS, F. CASANOVES, AND J.A. LEN. 2006. Efecto del ancho del bosque ribereo en la calidad del agua en la microcuenca del ro Sesesmiles, Copn, Honduras. Uso de comunidades de macroinvertebrados bentnicos como organismos indicadores. Recursos Naturales y Ambiente 48: 2934. BALTODANO, M.E., AND F. APLIZAR. 2006. Valoracin econmica de la oferta del servicio ambiental hdrico en las subcuencas de los ros Calico y Jacuapa, Matagalpa, Nicaragua. Recursos Naturales y Ambiente 48: 5764. CAMPOS, J.J. 2005. Forest research issues in Latin America. Presentation prepared for the Presidents discussion during the XXII IUFRO world congress, 10th August 2005. Brisbane, Australia. CAMPOS, J.J., B. LOUMAN, B. LOCATELLI, M. GARAY, S. YALLE, R. VILLALOBOS, G. LPEZ, AND F. CARRERA. 2004. Retribuciones a la conservacin. Recursos, Ciencia y decisin 1. Policybrief CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica. CANET DESANTI, L. 2007. Herramientas para el diseo, gestin y monitoreo de corredores biolgicos en Costa Rica (borrador, 194 p.). CATIE 2004. Programa Focuencas II. Official web page of the Focuencas Project. Consulted online 17th July 2007: www.catie.ac.cr/bancoconocimiento/P/Programa_FOCUENCAS_II/Programa_FOCUENCAS_II.asp?Viene=1&CodIdioma= ESP&CodSeccion=667&CodMagazin=103. CATIE 2005. Nuestros logros/highlights 2005. Informe annual. CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica.79 p. CATIE 2007a. General presentation of CATIE. Powerpoint presentation for internal use. Available through CATIEs internal network. Consulted 4th July 2007.

Performance of the sites in terms of economic and ecological criteria. PES, payment for environmental services; FC, forest certification.

Figure 4. Evaluation of the effect of certification and the payment for environmental services scheme on the performance of forest management in 24 forest management units in Costa Rica. Better economic performance does not guarantee better ecological performance (after Campos et al. 2004).

tion, one of the main results has been the identification of strengths and weaknesses, as well as enabling conditions and threats that influence the viability of forest management in different socio-economic and political contexts (Figure 4).

Final Considerations
CATIE has proven to be a dynamic organization capable of maintaining and perhaps even strengthening itself in an environment where research has not been given the priority it deserves. A key issue has been to enhance institutional relevancy, an attribute that can only be maintained by being cognizant of and responsive to national and regional priorities. Furthermore, CATIE must continue to make use of tis comparative advantages (integration, networks, staff, and fundraising) to bring its research capability to bear on important problems in the region. The establishment of endowed chairs and other secure sources of funding have been and will continue to be crucial for CATIE in order to develop and sustain its niche in this increasingly competitive environment characterized by decreasing availability of resources. As has been seen, international, national, and local partnerships and close involvement in policy processes have also helped CATIE fulfill its institutional mission. Regional projects such as FOCUENCAS and cross-disciplinary topics such as tools for monitoring offer excellent opportunities to further strengthen the integration of CATIEs thematic groups. This approach has been utilized in a host of projects in
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CATIE 2007b. Report of an independent external evaluation of CATIE. Internal document, 100 p. CIFOR 1999. The Criteria and Indicators Toolbox Series, 9 volumes. Bogor, Indonesia. CISNEROS, J., F. ALPZAR, AND R. MADRIGAL. 2006. Valoracin econmica de los beneficios de la proteccin del recurso hdrico para el esquema de pago por servicios ambientales en Copn Ruinas, Honduras. CATIE/SEBSA, Turrialba, Costa Rica. 16 p. FERRANDO, J.J., B. LOUMAN, B. FINEGAN, AND M. GUARIGUATA. 2001. Pautas ecolgicas para el manejo de bosques naturales afectados por huracanes en la costa norte de Honduras. Revista Forestal Centroamericana 34: 2834. FINEGAN, B., M. CAMACHO, AND N. ZAMORA. 1999. Diameter increment among 106 tree species in a logged and silviculturally treated forest Costa Rican rain forest. Forest Ecology and Management 121: 150176. GALLOWAY, G., S. KENGEN, B. LOUMAN, D. STOIAN, F. CARRERA, L. GONZALEZ, AND J. TREVIN. 2005. Chapter 15: Changing paradigms in the Forestry Sector of Latin America. P. 243246 in Forests in the Global BalanceChanging Paradigms, IUFRO World Series Vol. 17, Mery, G., R. Alfaro, M. Kanninen, and M. Lobovikov (eds.). Helsinki. GRETZINGER, S.P. 1996. Evaluacin de impactos ambietales en concesiones forestales en la reserve de la Biosfera Maya, petn, Guatemala. Serie tcnica. informe tcnico no. 279. Collecin manejo forestal en la reserva de la Biosfera Maya no. 5. Turrialba, Costa Rica, CATIE/CONAP. 57 p GULDIN, R.W., J.A. PARROTTA, AND E. HELLSTRM. 2005. Working Effectively at the Interface of Forest Science and Forest Policy. Guidance for Scientists and Research Organizations. IUFRO Occasional Paper 17. Viena, Austria, IUFRO. 29 p. LOUMAN, B., D. QUIRS, AND M. NILSSON (eds.). 2001. Silvicultura de bosques latifoliados hmedos con nfasis en Amrica Central. Serie tcnica, manual tcnico no. 46. CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica. 265 p. LOUMAN, B., AND R. DE CAMINO. 2004. Chapter 1: Aspectos generales. P. 154 in Planificacin del manejo diversificado de bosques latifoliados hmedos tropicales (Planning of diversified management of tropical humid forests), L. Orozco Vlchez (ed.). Serie tcnica, manual tcnico no. 56. CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica. LOUMAN, B., M. GARAY, S. YALLE, J.J. CAMPOS, B. LOCATELLI, R. VILLALOBOS, G. LPEZ, AND F. CARRERA. 2005. Efectos del pago por servicios ambientales y la certificacin forestal en el desempeo ambiental y socioeconmico del manejo de bosques naturales en Costa Rica (Effects of payment for environmental services and forest certification on the environmental and soialeconomic performance of management of naturalk forests in Costa Rica). Coleccin Manejo Diversificado de Bosques Naturales. Publicacin no. 30. CATIE. Serie tcnica. informe tcnico no. 338. 31 p. MAYER, J., AND S. BASS. 2004. Policy that works for forests and people. Real prospects for governance and livelihoods. IIED/Earthscan, London, UK. 324 p. MORALES, M.E., G. GALLOWAY, K. PRINS, M. NILSSON, AND B. LOUMAN. 2000. Costa atlntica hondurea; manejo forestal en una comunidad campesina. Revista Forestal Centroamericana edicin especial abril-junio 2000: 1217.

MORN MONTAO, M., J.J. CAMPOS ARCE, AND B. LOUMAN (eds.). 2006. Uso de Principios, Criterios e Indicadores para monitorear y evaluar las acciones y efectos de polticas en el manejo de los recursos naturales (Use of PC&I to monitor and evaluate policy actions and their impacts on management of natural resources). Manejo Diversificado de Bosques Naturales. Publicacin no. 32. CATIE. Serie tcnica. informe tcnico no. 347. 70 p. MORN MONTAO, M., F. CARRERA GAMBETTA, J.J. CAMPOS ARCE, B. LOUMAN, D. DELGADO, AND G. GALLOWAY. 2007. Evaluacin de la sostenibilidad del manejo forestal comunitario para identificar prioridades de inversin en ejidos del estado de Guerrero, Mxico. Recursos Naturales y Ambiente 4950: 124130. MUSLEM, K., F. JIMNEZ, J. FAUSTINO, AND Y. ASTORGA. 2006a. Certificacin del manejo integrado de microcuencas hidrogrficas en Amrica Tropical. Parte 1. Estndar propuesto. Revista Recursos Naturales y Ambiente 48: 1021. MUSLEM, K., F. JIMNEZ, J. FAUSTINO, AND Y. ASTORGA. 2006b. Certificacin del manejo integrado de microcuencas hidrogrficas en Amrica Tropical. Parte 2. Estudio de caso en la microcuenca del ro Sesesmiles, Copn, Honduras. Revista Recursos Naturales y Ambiente 48: 2228. OROZCO VLCHEZ, L., C. BRUMR, AND D. QUIRS (eds.). 2006. Aprovechamiento de impacto reducido (Low impact logging). Serie tcnica, manual tcnico no. 63. CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica. 442 p. OROZCO VLCHEZ, L. (ed.). 2004. Planificacin del manejo diversificado de bosques latifoliados hmedos tropicales (Planning of diversified management of tropical humid forests). Serie tcnica, manual tcnico no. 56. CATIE, Turrialba, Costa Rica. 329 p. PADOVAN, M. DA P., M.C. ARIAS, J.J. CAMPOS, R. DE CAMINO, AND B. LOUMAN. 2002. Estndar y procedimiento para la certificacin del manejo de reas protegidas. Revista Forestal Centroamericana 38: 1420. PERDOMO, M., G. GALLOWAY, B. LOUMAN, B. FINEGAN, AND S. VELASQUEZ. 2002. Herramientas para la planificacin del manejo de bosques a escala de paisaje en el sudeste de Nicaragua. Revista Forestal Centroamericana 38: 5158. PREZ FLORES, M., B. FINEGAN, D. DELGADO, AND B. LOUMAN. 2001. Composicin y diversidad de los bosques de la Regin Autnoma del Atlntico Norte de Nicaragua: una base para el manejo sostenible. Revista Forestal Centroamericana 34: 6672. PINELO MORALES, G.I. 1997. Dinmica del bosque petenero: avances de investigacin en Petn, Guatemala. Serie tcnica. informe tcnico no .296. Collecin manejo forestal en la reserva de la Biosfera Maya no .7. Turrialba, Costa Rica, CATIE/CONAP. 46 p. PRINS, K. In preparation. Demarcacin participativa de la montaa Carrizaln, Copn, Honduras. Serie laboratorio de cuencas, estudio 2. Consulted online 17th July 2007: www.portalcuencas.net/ xpProceso/investigacion%20_accion_carrizalon.pdf. RETAMAL, M.R. 2006. Valoracin econmica de la oferta del servicio ambiental hdrico de consumo humano, Municipio Copn Ruinas, Honduras. Thesis Mag. Sc., turrialba, Costa Rica, CATIE. 181 p. RIVAS, H., M. KANNINEN, B. LOUMAN, B. FINEGAN, AND G. GALLOWAY. 2000. Zona norte de Honduras; daos causados por el huracn Mitch en rodales intervenidos y no intervenidos. Revista Forestal Centroamericana edicin especial abril-junio 2000: 5862.

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

Global Change and Forests: The Science/Policy Interface

James M. Lynch
Forest Research, Alice Holt Lodge, Farnham, Surre y GU10 4LH, Great Britain A recent OECD meeting on Forestry and Climate Change (Freer-Smith et al. 2007) has examined current information on the worlds forest resources, forest carbon budgets, how forest management can enhance mitigation of climate change, adaptation of forests, and climate change impacts. In this article we summarise the information which was presented and discuss the linkage between the evidence-base and the international policy framework. The scientific evidence provides unequivocal support to the need to reduce deforestation, increase afforestation and reforestation, to manage forests sustainably, for greater use of woodfuel, and for substitution of high carbon and energy cost products with wood in construction and other uses. It becomes clear that forestry has a major role to play in climate change mitigation and adaptation. Sustainable forest management is a key element for the delivery of the UN Forum on Forests global objectives on forestry, the new voluntary Agreement on Forestry, the Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Keywords: climate change, sustainable forest management, international policy and conventions.

Peter H. Freer-Smith
Forest Research, Alice Holt Lodge, Farnham, Surre y GU10 4LH, Great Britain

Mark S.J. Broadmeadow

Forestry Commission, Alice Holt Lodge, Farnham, Surrey GU10 4LH, Great Britain

Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to James Lynch, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, AZ Building, University of Surre y, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, Great Britain. E-mail: jim.lynch@forestry.gsi. g ov.uk. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

ecently an OECD meeting on Forestry: A sectoral response to climate change was held in the UK, with a particular focus on the science/policy interface (Freer-Smith et al. 2007). This article draws on material presented at that meeting and highlights the importance of directing research activity to provide a robust evidence-base for policy development. There are three routes to justify research activity: firstly, the curiosity driven of Blue Skies research (pursuit of knowledge for its own sake), which can generate new innovations and is frequently carried out in universities; secondly, research for economic gain, which can be funded by both commerce and the public sector; finally, research activity which is in support of government and international policy development. The climate change agenda fits very much into the last category, although it is clear that commercial opportunities are now also emerging, particularly in the areas of energy efficiency, alternative energy sources, and carbon management. One of the critical issues, therefore, becomes how enthusiastic researchers are to deliver on policy agendas and, by the same token, how policy-makers are to engage researchers in the provision of evidence-driven policy. At the Wilton Park workshop, the Chairman of the GB Forestry Commission, Lord Clark, pointed out the need for international collaboration at both the research and the policy level in meeting the challenge of climate change. The quotations from Sir David King Climate change is the most severe problem that we face todaymore serious even than the threat of terrorism (King 2004) and Sir Nicholas Stern given that climate change is happening, measures to help people adapt to it are essential; the less mitigation we do now, the greater
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Table 1. The 10 countries with greatest forest cover (FAO 2005). Country Russia Brazil Canada USA China Australia DR Congo Indonesia Peru India Total Global Total Forest area (kha) 808,790 477,698 310,134 303,089 197,290 163,678 133,610 88,495 68,742 67,701 2,619,227 3,952,025 bon in forest soils than in the standing crop (Figure 1; Reichstein 2007). There is therefore as great a scope for looking at the carbon cycle from the perspective of the tree root-soil system as for visible, above-ground biomass. These two compartments of the forest system are, in any event, complementary and dependent on one another. If sequestration in soils and forest biomass can make a significant contribution to the mitigation of climate change, as we believe it can, then it is of concern that the recent FAO assessment (FAO 2005) has shown that global forest area is declining, although the rate of loss has varied over the past 25 years: 19801990 9.9 M ha yr1 19902000 8.9 M ha yr1 20002005 7.3 M ha yr1 It is important to consider that the drivers of deforestation vary geographically and are closely linked to socio-economic factors. For example, in Africa small-scale subsistence agriculture is the principal driver, while land clearance for large beef and soya farming enterprises, driven by the export market, is the main factor in South America. In South East Asia, oil palm, coffee, and construction timber are additional pressures for forest clearance. A critical point in the research agenda is that most of the information is provided from forestry inventory analysis. This may not seem to be a highly exciting area for researchers and yet this is critical information at the policy level. We need both high quality data and also to be able to collect extensive datasets using innovative techniques such as remote sensing. Further development of satellite imagery and remote sensing techniques will enable an improved analysis of the secondary, but equally important, social, economic, and environmental impacts that arise from deforestation: Serious land and soil degradation; Carbon emissions (a ha of tropical forest contains c. 200300 tonnes of C in living material); Dramatic loss of biodiversity (c. half the worlds species live in tropical forests); Impact on regional climate (less rainfall); Long term loss of local livelihoods. Damage to the regional climate with less rainfall can also cause a loss in local livelihoods. In each of these areas there are serious opportunities for research, both into establishing the magnitude of the consequences and looking at routes to mitigation and adaptation. % forest cover 47.9 57.2 33.6 33.1 21.2 21.3 58.9 48.8 53.7 22.8

Figure 1. Global distribution of carbon within terrestrial ecosystems (Reichstein, 2007).

Table 2. Estimated total amounts of C in soil and vegetation in different terrestrial systems (Royal Society 2001). Non-forest land covers (GtC) Croplands Wetlands Tundra Deserts & semideserts Temperate grasslands Tropical savannas Total 131 240 127 199 304 330 1,331 Forest land covers (GtC) Boreal forests Temperate forests Tropical forests 559 159 428

1,146

the difficulty of continuing to adapt in future (Stern 2006) highlight the urgency with which the issue needs to be addressed. The challenge is two-fold: firstly, mitigation of the emission of greenhouse gasses; secondly, assessing the impact of climate change on woodlands, identifying their adaptive potential, and intervening to aid adaptation where necessary.

The Worlds Forests

It is useful to reflect on the international perspective that forests make-up one-third of the worlds land area, of which 95% are natural and 5% are plantations. Those forests are spread over all biomes and continents, but two-thirds of the worlds forests are located in only 10 countries (Table 1).

Mitigation

In the global context, terrestrial vegetation (including soils) accounts for more carbon than is present in the atmosphere (c. 2,000 GtC compared to c. 760 GtC). However, the sequestration associated with tree growth cannot be seen in isolation from the remainder of the global carbon cycle and a truly interdisciplinary approach is needed to tackle the issue of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. As an example, the timber industry also provides potential for woodfuel to contribute to GHG mitigation through direct fossil fuel substitution, which can, additionally, improve the economics of timber production. From Table 2, it is clear that the total amount of carbon in forests (standing crop and soils) is roughly equivalent to the amount of car- Management of Forests Can Contribute to Mitigation There are three principal mechanisms by which forests can conbon in all other vegetation. It can also be seen that, except for in tropical systems where soils are predominantly mineral, there is more car- tribute to the mitigation of climate change:
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- reduce deforestation - afforestation - reforestation - sustainable management Substitution - woodfuel replacing fossil fuel - wood products replacing concrete, steel, plastic products A major opportunity is the increased use of timber and secondary products, both as woodfuel and biomass energy derived from the fermentation or catalyst enhanced conversion of wood. The OECD debated this topic in Umea, Sweden in January. A field tour was included to important pilot plants that are being constructed in Northern Sweden to realise some of these potentials with the support of the Swedish Government, oil companies, and motor companies. The level of research activity being carried out in those pilot plants was impressive. Ultimately sustainable forest management has many benefits to offer the climate change agenda: it can reduce fossil fuel usage; it can reduce deforestation thereby reducing CO2 emissions; it can increase storage in the soil plant system; it can produce low carbon products. For all of these options, life-cycle analysis is crucial and a recent OECD workshop addressed this specific issue.

Conservation Sequestration

Figure 2. Free-air carbon dioxide enrichment facilities such as those at (A) Duke University in North Carolina (FACTSI) and (B) The threat to sustainability posed by climate change is not just to Viterbo, Italy (Poplar Free Air CO2 Enrichment, POPFACE) can be the trees themselves, but to the associated biota which can be both used to investigate the effects of elevated CO2 on forest stands. beneficial and harmful. For example, the severity of outbreaks of diseases such as red band needle blight (Dothistroma septosporum and D. pini) or insect pests such as green spruce aphid (Elatobium abietinum) may increase as a consequence of the elevated temperatures. There ments that concern forest sustainability and are critical in determinmay also be links to changing rainfall and humidity patterns. At the ing the way forward are listed below: same time the flora and fauna that comprise natural woodland com UN Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution munities will be affected by the changing climate, quite possibly to a (1979) greater extent than the trees comprising the overstory. - eight protocols and critical loads maps The distribution of broadleaves and conifers will also adapt to dif Brundtland Report 1987, World Commission on ferent climatic regimes and predictions of changes in species climate Environment and Development, UN space have been provided for the United Kingdom and France. EU regulations on monitoring of forest condition: Predictions also suggest increased windthrow from more severe - (EEC) No. 3528/86 storms, and the potential for increased damage from late spring frost. - (EEC) No. 2158/92 It is, of course, important to separate the effect of temperature - Forest Focus (CEC) 2152/2003 increase per se from that of increased CO2 concentrations in the Ministerial Conferences on the Protection of Forests in Europe: atmosphere. Conventional experiments in controlled environment - Strasbourg 1990 facilities have provided a comprehensive analysis of the likely impacts - Helsinki 1993 of elevated CO2 on young trees. However, less is known about the - Lisbon 1998 likely response of mature forest canopies, which can only be studied - Vienna 2003 using FACE (free-air carbon dioxide enrichment) techniques and for UN Conference on Environment and Development: Rio which there are only a limited number of experimental sites in the 1992; Johannesburg 2002 world (see Figure 2). It is also important to separate soil moisture - Statement of Forestry Principles and Forest Forum deficits from temperature increases. - Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Returning to the theme of this article, it is crucial that research proand its Kyoto Protocol vides input to the policy agenda by being able to predict the impact - Convention on Biological Diversity of the change of CO2 concentrations. Such research has shown Again it is crucial that our scientists provide input to the formulathrough the FACE experiments that there can be an increase in net tion of such conventions and instruments. It is also important that primary of productivity and the biomass increment of fast-growing from international conventions national programmes are developed species such as poplar can be as much as 3040% (Karnosky et al. that consider the community level where livelihoods can be sus2007). However, the issue of young trees vs. mature stands remains tained. However, the policy challenge is to ensure that such an an important and outstanding area of research. approach is used worldwide based on tools such as those given below: National Forest Programmes (NFP) National and International Policy Framework - cross sector, participatory frameworks It is crucial that national and international frameworks are devel Criteria and Indicators Processes oped for current and future policies. The conventions and instru- nine processes, 140 countries

Impacts and Adaptation

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 Community-Based Forest Management - ensure sustainable livelihoods - effective in preventing forest fires and illegal logging

coming through the UNFF as post-Kyoto protocols; there are a range of proposals which cover intergovernmental, private sector and civil society, voluntary, binding, market-based, and non-market activities.

The Way Forward

The management of research, as it links to policy on climate change, can only suggest a better way forward if the research outputs themselves lead to progress in adapting to or mitigating climate change. In this respect the United Nations Forum on Forests has a major part to play in developing processes for the future: UNFF provides a qualitative, normative process for addressing forest issues. December 2006: begin negotiation of non-legally binding instrument on all types of forests. Negotiations were scheduled to be completed at UNFF-7 1627 April 2007. UNFF-7 will also agree on a multi-year program of work for 200815. During 2007, the UNFF negotiations of a non-legally binding instrument (NBI) have progressed well and this instrument is likely to be adopted by the UN General Assembly in the Autumn of 2007. Work is also in progress to plan a financial mechanism to accompany the NBI. In addition, a new UNFF mechanism for contributing to the science/policy interface was accepted at UNFF-6 and was launched at UNFF-7 in April 2007. The objective of the Joint Initiative on Science and Technology is to support the UNFF process by assessing available scientific information and producing reports on forest-related issues. Critically the loss of forest cover must be reversed and in order to do this an evidence-base is required to dispel the political doubters (and public at large) that it is happening. There is also a particular need to focus on improving the livelihoods of forest dependent people. The global objectives on forests adopted at UNFF-6 in 2006 are summarised below: Reverse Loss: Reverse the loss of forest cover worldwide through sustainable forest management, including protection, restoration, afforestation and reforestation, and increase efforts to prevent forest degradation. Economic & Social: Enhance forest-based economic, social, and environmental benefits, including by improving the livelihoods of forest dependent people. Protection: Increase significantly the area of protected forests worldwide and other areas of sustainably managed forests, as well as the proportion of forest products from sustainably managed forests. Financial: Reverse the decline in official development assistance for sustainable forest management and mobilize significantly increased new and additional financial resources from all sources for the implementation of sustainable management. There is also a worldwide need to protect sustainable forest management. In order to achieve this the decline in official development assistance must be reversed. There are new international initiatives which are

Summary
In this article three points are presented that link science and policy in our parent government department and to which our research activity has made a significant contribution. First, our government recognises that forests are one-third of the terrestrial land surface and we need to understand the interaction of vegetation and climate. Second, there are close links between sustainable forest management, climate change mitigation, and adaptation to environmental change. Third, there are significant differences between the northern hemisphere and countries in transition, both in forest cover and attitudes to responding to climate change. Views on the need for an International Convention on Forestry have been polarized. To break the stalemate, the current emphasis is on the development of a voluntary (non-legally binding) instrument. In Britain, where we were pioneers of the industrial revolution in the 19th century, we feel, even though we are small in forestry terms, that we can contribute knowledge and understanding on a global scale to mitigate the effects of climate change. This is highlighted by the UKs then Prime Minister instigating the Stern Report on the Economics of Climate Change to address this global challenge. In forestry terms, this can be achieved by reducing deforestation, increasing afforestation and reforestation, managing forests sustainably, and by direct and indirect fossil fuel substitutionall on the basis of a sound evidence-base derived from research activity. Finally, we should be optimistic about the future, in the belief that research activity can make a significant contribution to human-kind successfully addressing the most serious environmental problem that this planet has faced.

Literature Cited
FREER-SMITH, P.H., M.S.J. BROADMEADOW, AND J.M. LYNCH (eds.). 2007. Forests and Climate Change, CABI, Wallingford, UK. KARNOSKY, D.F., M. TALLIS, J. DARBAH, AND G. TAYLOR. 2007. Direct effects of elevated carbon dioxide on forest tree productivity. In Forests and Climate Change, Freer-Smith, P.H., M.S.J. Broadmeadow, and J.M. Lynch (eds.). CABI, Wallingford, UK. KING, D.A. 2004. Environment: Climate change science: Adapt, mitigate or ignore? Science 303(5655): 176177. REICHSTEIN, M. 2007. Impacts of climate change on forest soil carbon: Principles, factors, models, uncertainties. In Forests and Climate Change, Freer-Smith, P.H., M.S.J. Broadmeadow, and J.M. Lynch (eds.). CABI, Wallingford, UK. ROYAL SOCIETY. 2001 The Role of Land Carbon Sinks in Mitigating Global Climate Change. Available at www.royalsociety.co.uk (Policy Statements and Reports). STERN, N.H. 2006. The Stern Review: The Economics of Climate Change, UK Government Cabinet Office and HM Treasury. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

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IUFRO 6.06.00 Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization

The Social and Environmental Importance of Forest Plantations

J.L. Whitmore
Associate Director, International Society of Tropical Foresters As long as the demand for wood products is not reduced, these will more and more have to be produced in forest plantations. There are groups which oppose the idea of tree planting. Sooner or later these groups, which feel they want to protect nature and natural forests, will need to support the idea of forest tree plantation in order to attain their goals. It is not necessary to destroy a healthy and diverse natural forest in order to put in its place a forest plantation. There are many sites in most countries where plantations can be established without removing forest to do so. In the next century, without silvicultural plantations, a great shortage of wood shall likely result. Currently the worldwide harvest of wood is from three main sources: (1) primary forest, (2) secondary forest, and (3) plantations. Each of these sources produces about a third of the global harvest now, but the plantations portion is increasing. In Latin America there has been a strong tendency to use exotic species in forest plantations, largely with great success. Recently there has been progress in research to analyze the favorable and unfavorable conditions for successful introduction of an exotic species. Our ability to predict beforehand the probability of problems has improved greatly with models which distinguish whether a species offers low, medium, or high risk of invading a site if we introduce it as an exotic. Without a doubt, a massive program of intensively cultivated plantations, utilizing unforested, marginal lands, can supply a major part of the wood society needs, and other benefits as well, including a diminished pressure on native forests. The portion of our wood product needs provided by plantations will likely increase greatly in coming years. A combination of intensively cultivated plantations, native forests under extensive management, and protected areas set aside for biodiversity and similar non-wood benefits is the model most likely to succeed during the next century. Keywords: forest plantations, intensive silviculture, wood harvest, fiber production, Latin American forestry.

I
Presented at the IUFRO unit 6.06.00 conference on Forest Research Management in an Era of Globalization, April 1821, 2007, Arlington, Virginia. Address correspondence to J.L. Whitmore, Associate Director, International Society of Tropical Foresters, 5400 Grosvenor Lane, Bethesda, MD 20814. E-mail: tropifor@verizon.net. 2008 Society of American Foresters and International Union of Forest Research Organizations

n Latin America and elsewhere there are various subjects of great importance in the field of forestry. These include the subject of plantations, which is no more, nor less, important than the others. Forest plantations constitute an integral part of ecosystem management. In this article I will emphasize plantations (as opposed to native forests), mainly in Latin America. Included will be the environmental and social aspects, with the economic considered as part of the latter. Until the demand for wood products is reduced, these will have to be produced more and more in forest plantations. This is true for two reasons: (1) with an increasing worldwide population, there is an increasing demand while at the same time the quantity and quality of the forests is decreasing; and (2) there is an increasing tendency worldwide to utilize the forest for its non-wood benefits, resulting in an enormous pressure to not harvest trees in native forests.
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This pressure is not new and to a certain point it is easy to understand. There are important reasons for protecting a portion of the native forests in each country and using the other portion for the production of wood-related benefits, at least in countries blessed by an adequate amount of forest resources. But the controversy begins in reaching agreement on the definition of adequate and in determining how large the portions should be. Those who reject the harvesting of trees in native forests claim that, without this harvesting, the forests will be saved. Unfortunately, in the majority of countries the harvesting of trees is not the main reason for the destruction of forests. There are other major problems that influence the destruction of forests in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and other continents that have nothing to do with tree harvesting. These include poverty, which leads to the well-known and traditional felling and burning, and the conversion of forests for cattle ranches or for other reasons. These two factors constitute the main reason for deforestation in countries of the third world, although tree harvest is the main cause in a few countries. Sooner or later, the persons who oppose plantations with the idea of preserving nature and natural forests will have to support forest tree plantations. Protecting natural areas and their germplasm is an excellent goal, but achieving this will depend on the productivity of plantations in order to satisfy human needs such as wood, paper, and renewable construction materials. It is simply impossible to conserve all the forests or even half of them. But it is possible to manage them in a controlled and sustainable manner by utilizing intensive silviculture techniques for plantations where there are no longer healthy forests; extensive silviculture techniques in areas declared as forests for sustainable production based on natural regeneration; and techniques for the protection of natural areas where there are species in danger of extinction or to preserve examples of ecosystems and their germplasm. These days we know how to manage our forests. However, many forests are being exploited without the benefit of silvicultural methods designed to maintain the productivity and sustainability of the site (Whitmore 1992). It is also important to emphasize that it is not necessary to destroy a healthy and diverse natural forest in order to put in its place a forest plantation. There are many sites in most countries where plantations can be established without removing the original forest. Every year we see more sites like this due to deforestation (Bowyer 1998, Sedjo and Botkin 1997). The successful case of Jari in the Brazilian Amazon is an exception that does not have to be repeated (McNabb et al. 1994). In the case of a native forest that exists on soils truly appropriate for agriculture in a country with a shortage of food, it is assumed that there will be a justification for converting it to agricultural use, but these days it is rare to find soils of this quality under a forest. Of course, in a country such as Guyana or a region such as the State of Amazonas in Brazil, where there are many forests and few people, there is little need to establish forest plantations (Franco 1997). The only hope for forests is good management (Gmez-Pompa and Bainbridge 1995). The conservation of forests implies rational long-term use and requires sustainable forest management, normally for various purposes, one of which will be predominant. For example, a forest near a city is a critical area for the production of water and this would be the primary use. But perhaps the site is also used as a home for wildlife and for the limited harvesting of wood and nonwood products. It will possibly be used for limited recreation as well. But there are political forces that prefer preservation to conservation, insisting that there is little place in sustainable management for the harvesting of wood products. This controversy is not new; it is
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more than 100 years old. The well-known United States forester Aldo Leopold (1949) wrote the following ideas (paraphrased) on this subject: We foresters consist of two groups. Group A considers land as soil with the principal function of production. Group B considers the land as a biota with a broader function. The question is how broad is that function, and that is where the doubt and confusion begin. Group A is content to produce trees as if they were agricultural produce, with cellulose as the basic product. Its ideology is agronomic. On the other hand, group B considers the practice of forestry as different than agronomy since it manages species and natural environments instead of artificial ones. This group prefers natural regeneration. They are concerned, for biotic and economic reasons, with the losses of species such as the American chestnut. They are also concerned about a range of functions of secondary forests, e.g., wildlife, recreation, drainage basins, and wild areas. All of this implies the beginnings of ecological awareness. At the same time as Leopold, an ecologist at the Panamerican Union warned us about the agronomic ideology, with several examples in Latin America (Vogt 1948). More than 80 years before Leopold and Vogt, George Perkins Marsh wrote about the subject (Marsh 1864). And, at the same time as Marsh, President Toms Cipriano de Mosquera of Colombia approved a forest law to protect Colombian forests (Castrilln Arboleda 1994). What does all of this have to do with forest plantations? It seems to me that Leopolds group A is right provided some of the forests are managed as natural sites without changing them. And it seems to me that group B is right in the sense that without any control all the forests in the world are in danger, which harms all of us. It also seems to me that the two groups have to cooperate to resolve the matter and that plantations could be, and will have to be, the common ground between them. It is quite certain that in the next century there will be a scarcity of food without agronomists. Also, without the silviculturists plantations it is very probable that there will be a great scarcity of wood, and many more forests ruined by over-exploitation. Although techniques exist for managing native forests sustainably, many continue to be exploited without using these techniques, and plantations can alleviate this problem.

The Purposes of Forest Plantations

Evans (1992) states there is no scarcity of wood in the world and thus asks why there is so much emphasis on planting forest trees? Obviously, there is a scarcity in some regions and an excess in others. However, Evanss analysis indicates various possible purposes for forest plantations. His ideas on purposes, and those of others, are summarized below. 11. To correct a lack of resource caused by deforestation. Previously certain countries had many forests but are now left with very little. They are trying to supplement their needs with tree plantations. 12. The need for pulp and paper products. Utilizing sophisticated techniques, the annual per hectare yield in plantations is frequently very high (Bowyer 1998). In addition, the option of installing plantations costs more than natural regeneration (see, for example, Table 1, A and B), which requires high yields for these products. 13. An increase in the demand for high-quality products. Plantations of teak, mahogany, Spanish cedar, and other fine species have the purpose of satisfying part of this demand (Sedjo and Botkin 1997).

Table 1A. Requirements for establishing forest plantations at the industrial level (Ladrach, in Wadsworth 1997).

1992, Parrotta et al. 1997b, Lugo 1997, Lugo and Liegel 1987), and at the same time protect watersheds (Burley et al. 1992, 1994). 11. Advantages of forest plantations: Public relations Fertilization Plantations can produce wood 10 or even up to 20 times more Land aquisition and tenancy Mapping rapidly than the native forest under optimal conditions (Bowyer Protection of existing natural forests Maintaining 1998), although some estimates are lower than this (Sedjo and Planning roads and firebreaks Selecting species Botkin 1997). Determining rotation Estimating yields Normally they consist of a single species [although there are Seed source Establishing nursery many examples of success with mixed plantation (Smith et al. Site preparation Spacing and thinning 1997, Wormald 1992)] that provides a source of uniform wood Planting methods Fire control that is easy to process and sell. Pest control Good record keeping A plantation uses the site to the maximum from the commerTraining the crew Training the contractors cial point of view, compared to a natural forest, which utilizes it to the maximum from the viewpoint of biodiversity. The former maximizes the profit, with more risk, and the second minimizes Table 1B. Principal risks in forest planning (Ladrach, in Wadsworth the risk, usually with less profit. 1997). The cost of harvesting per cubic meter of wood is minimized Wildlife Pests with plantations. Mistake in choosing site-suitable species Quantity and quality of seed Spacing, thinning, and rotation factors can be easily manipuProblems in nursery and planting Unsatisfactory wood quality lated in plantations. Poorly trained crew Genetic improvements can be applied in plantations in order to select against insects, diseases, or defects, or in favor of shape, speed of growth, density of the wood, or other factors. Plantations in tropical zones have the advantage of growing 14. The need to export. Some countries have the opportunity to continually for 12 months a year where water is not a limiting develop a forest-products export industry and sometimes this factor. industry is based principally on forest plantations. Chile and 12. Non-traditional purposes: New Zealand are two of the best examples. The traditional purpose of planting forest trees is to produce 15. Domestic uses. In some countries almost all of the wood that is wood for local use and/or export. However, plantations can serve harvested is used for firewood, posts, and home fences. Some other purposes as well, together with or apart from the goal of populations suffer from an acute scarcity of wood and it is here wood production. that the forest plantation can have a very positive and beneficial As Lugo (1997) has indicated, various purposes can be effect for the community and for the country. assigned to plantations: to maximize the production of benefits 16. Degraded sites. Forest plantations, sometimes jointly with agrisuch as wood, or for restoration objectives, protection against cultural crops, can restore a site that has been ruined by a previerosion, etc. ous inappropriate use (Haufe 1981, Parrotta 1992). Rural development is another purpose. A plantation project 17. The danger of gene extinction. The forest species most used for may generate jobs, create resources where there were none plantations are very valuable. Stands of superior trees should be before, improve the quality and quantity of the water produced protected for the seeds they provide. But sometimes these stands in a watershed, utilize low-value land, help create infrastructure are in danger, for example from the invasion of agriculture. In in underdeveloped zones, and supplement agricultural efforts such a case, it is appropriate to conserve its genes ex situ, in planthrough agricultural, silvicultural, and grazing methods (agrotations far removed from danger (Gallegos et al. 1981). forestry). 18. Lack of access. Even in countries that have forests in large quanPlantations can provide firewood, forage, shade, and home tity, problems can occur if the forest is not accessible. In cases construction materials. like this, it may be that the plantations established on those marIn order to support agriculture, plantations are used as windginal sites with no higher use can solve two problems: the lack of breaks and protection of water sources for irrigation. accessible products and the lack of use of previously unproducThere are uses for improvement of urban sites as well. The tive sites. majority of the citizens of many countries live in urban areas. 19. Lack of success in natural regeneration. In forests that are manPlanting of trees can improve the quality of life. Urban shade is aged on the basis of natural regeneration, this regeneration a very important forest product (Schubert 1979). sometimes fails to become established. In some cases, especially Plantations may improve the biodiversity of a site previously where the cost of manpower is not very high, an enrichment ruined by agriculture, animal grazing or cutting of the forest. plantation can be established to renew the forest. In the Kyoto Agreement (1997), the industrialized countries 10. Little population per unit of land area. In some countries there is that contribute to most of the worlds pollution proposed to much underutilized, unforested land, such as the llanos of finance action plans in tropical countries in order to capture the Venezuela, for example. Planting forest trees in such areas can be carbon produced by industry. Called carbon offset, it is a very of great use for future production and can protect the land from controversial idea. However, at present thousands of hectares of erosion. Even in overpopulated countries, such as China for examplantations are being established in tropical areas, for example in ple, plantations can by established on very degraded sites, can Costa Rica, under similar programs for the purpose of capturing improve such sites for future uses that are more intensive (Parrotta in one country the carbon produced in another.
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Harvest Type (percentage of total) 1. Primary forests 30* 2. Secondary forest, minimum management 14 3. Secondary forest, managed 22 Woody Agriculture or Sustainable Forest? 4. Industrial plantations, native 24 At present, the world wood harvest comes from three principal 5. Industrial plantations, exotic 10 sources: (1) the primary forest (e.g., Canada, Russia, the Amazon, 100 Indonesia, and Malaysia), (2) the secondary forest (e.g., the United Total States, Canada, Russia, and Europe), and (3) plantations (e.g., 1. Includes forests in Canada, Russia, the Amazon, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Scandinavia, the southeastern United States, Japan, China, and India 2. Includes forests in parts of the United States, Canada, and Russia. with regard to indigenous species, and Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, 3. Includes forests in North America, Europe, and Russia. 4. Includes plantations in the Nordic regions, much of Europe, the southern Uruguay, Argentina, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, United States, Japan, and parts of China and India. Indonesia, Thailand, and the Iberian Peninsula with regard to exotic 5. Includes plantations in Brazil, Chile, Venezuela, Uruguay, Argentina, New species). Each of these three sources produces approximately oneZealand, Australia, South Africa, Indonesia, Thailand, and the Iberian countries. third of the overall harvest (Table 2). The proportion produced in * The percentages are estimated. plantations is increasing (Sedjo and Botkin 1997). In the debate over exotic versus indigenous species, it is argued that exotics are always better than indigenous species, or that exotics should never be used, or that the truth falls between these two issue and recommended to his colleagues that they take a balanced extremes. In Latin America there has existed a very strong tendency attitude, i.e., to not automatically reject a project only because it to use exotic species in plantations, for the most part with great suc- involves use of monoculture. Others have also studied the question of cess. There have been problems with plantations of indigenous forest monocultures (Popovich 1980, for example). The principal species, for example with mahogany and Spanish cedar (Whitmore points they make include the following: Whether for grapes, bananas, pine, teak, eucalyptus, or other prod1976a, 1976b). But for the last 20 years research on the use of indigenous species in forest plantations has been rather successful, especial- ucts, much land has been devoted to commercial crops for socioecoly in tropical areas. There are now good options that compete with nomic purposes through the use of monocultures and frequently exotic species (Espinoza and Butterfield 1989, Russo and Sandi 1995, exotic species. This can be justified, even if many times these activities utilize the best land. Prebble and Leigh 1997). There are large differences between forest monocultures and agriThere has been a lack of silvicultural information on native species. For the high Andean zone there is now good data on 40 native species cultural monocultures. For example, forest species monocultures usuthat have been abused for centuries (Lojn Idrobo 1992). But more ally use several genotypes instead of just one (Popovich 1980), and study is needed on how to manage them in plantations. These species these often are wild, rather than domesticated genotypes. Genetic are adapted to high altitudes where very few exotic species can grow. diversity has not been bred out. Considering the hundreds of thousands of square kilometers that The zone is an agricultural area with human populations that depend greatly on the wood resource, up to the point of having destroyed it are planted in monocultures every year, it is surprising there are not in many cases. Planting of some of these species could substantially more problems with diseases and insects (Ewel 1991). Obviously a alleviate the pressure on the little resource that is left, and enhance the plantation using intimate mixtures or small mixed blocks will have more protection against these problems. In the case of a forest species quality of life for many people. But perhaps we need to analyze what we mean by indigenous with its complete and original genetic complement (which is the case species. For example, lets say that Swietenia macrophylla, or with the majority of them), this species may resist any attack comHonduras mahogany, existed for thousands of years on a certain hill pared to an agricultural species or a highly modified forest species, in Costa Rica until the year 1966 (a hypothetical case). In 1966, a such as certain eucalyptus clones for example. In cases where a native forest has been felled in order to establish rancher felled the entire forest on this hill in order to pasture his cattle there. For 7 years it was highly overused by the cattle, with a load these activities, a diverse forest has been changed into a very simplidouble what it could support. The rancher went bankrupt and the fied ecosystem, which involves advantages and disadvantages. hill was very degraded. The new owner of the hill tried to plant Generally, this practice should be avoided. Imitating the structure and function of natural communities in our mahogany on the site, recalling that there was a mahogany forest agricultural (and silvicultural) systems may be desirable ecologically, there before. But the plantation failed! The question is: should or should not the mahogany be considered but involves serious management problems (Ewel 1991). Without employing monocultures and exotic species, we would indigenous to this site under these conditions? Possibly what was indigenous before may not be so any more. Possibly, in order to have to use many more hundreds of thousands of square kilometers restore a site that has been degraded in this way more drastic meas- of native forest to satisfy human needs. For this reason it may be that ures are required. For example, it may be necessary to plant a species monocultures are justified even if the price we paythe biodiversity that never before existed on this site but that has earned a reputation of some sitesis high (Ewel 1991). The purpose of using exotic species varies in each case, but it norfor facilitating recovery of degraded sites (Parrotta 1992, Parrotta et mally includes many of the advantages mentioned earlier (Table 3). al. 1997a, 1997b, Lugo 1997, Brown and Lugo 1994). Concerning monocultures, Ewel (1991), an ecologist, analyzed the The main danger in using an exotic species is the possibility that it
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A large degree of the variation in the purposes of forest plantations is due to the various goals among owners of forest land and among political groups interested in the forest resource. Other variation may be due to the many species and ecosystems involved. Despite so much variation, the future of plantations points to a large increase in the rate they are established during the next several years.

Table 2. Total industrial wood harvest, by forest type (Sedjo and Borkin 1997).

Table 3. Why exotic species tend to have better yields than native species (Wright 1976, in Wadsworth 1997). Natural selection favors survival more than economic factors. Environmental changes proceed faster than the evolutionary response. Human-induced changes do not produce an evolutionary response. Evolutionarly possibilities are limited by the native flora. Native species may be destroyed by introduced pests. Native species may be sensitive to the shock of planting. The natural distribution of a species may be limited by factors unrelated to its yield.

will adapt to the site with such success that it turns into a weed. An exotic species can begin reproducing uncontrollably and do great damage to the indigenous flora under certain conditions. There are a number of examples, including Melaleuca quinquenervia in Florida, Leucaena leucocephala in the Virgin Islands, Ailanthus altissima in the eastern United States, and various species introduced into the Hawaiian Islands. How to define these conditions has always been a challenge and remains so. We have sometimes depended on luck and the result, in addition to the damage to the ecosystem, has been political pressure against the introduction of exotics. Recently there has been progress in the analysis of suitable and unsuitable conditions for the successful introduction of an exotic species. Our capability of predicting in advance the probability of problems has been considerably improved with the use of models prepared at the University of Washington which help determine if a species offers a low, medium or high risk of invading the site when introduced as an exotic (Reichard and Hamilton 1997). There are various levels of intensity in forest planting. One very low intensity level is the practice of enrichment. When regeneration has failed in a secondary forest, it is sometimes possible to improve the composition of the forest by planting seedlings of desirable species among the secondary vegetation. This requires much manpower in order to cut strips or lines in the forest perhaps 23 meters wide with 5, 10, or 15 meters between lines. It also requires quite a bit of cleaning during the early years to avoid having weeds dominate the plantation (Smith et al. 1997). There are various examples of success, such as mahogany in the Caribbean National Forest in Puerto Rico, a mixture of five species (including mahogany) in the Tapajos National Forest south of Santarem, Brazil, and in Surinam with Spanish cedar and other species. Agrosilviculture in its various forms represents another intensity level. The use of trees planted among crops or on grazing land has a variety of purposes and methods and is described in dozens of publications, including Denevan et al. 1987, Valdivia and Cueto 1979, Vega Condori 1987, Wadsworth 1997, Hartshorn and Whitmore 1998, and Smith et al. 1997. The planting of forest trees sometimes requires many years to achieve a harvestable product. During this time, the landowner will want to receive some profit from the land before the tree rotation is completed (Smith et al. 1997). Agrosilviculture is a method for achieving this and is an attractive method, not only for the farmer. Large industries sometimes use agrosilviculture to receive income from the land during the first few years after trees are planted. An example in Chile has been the El Tollo farm near Quirihue (Whitmore and Burwell 1986).

At the higher level of intensity, plantations can have the characteristics of woody agriculture rather than silviculture. Some use agricultural land, pesticides, fertilizers, and perhaps irrigation. The rotation lasts longer than 1 year and the plant that is harvested normally (but not always) measures 10 meters or more in height, which distinguishes this practice from agricultural crops. In the future, we will see much more use of woody agriculture to satisfy the worlds need for fiber. This should result in a more sustainable native forest because it should reduce the need to harvest such forest intensively. But how sustainable will intensive plantations be? The answer depends perhaps on each persons point of view. Those who compare it with a native forest will remain dissatisfied. Those who recognize the need to produce fiber on land that has little biodiversity, and is unproductive, in order to protect the native forests may justify intensive planting. Those that compare it with activities that are truly agricultural and intensive, such as sugar cane and rice, will have to declare that it is a more sustainable and less damaging system than many alternatives. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) recognizes that plantations can serve an important, and sustainable, role, under conditions which are described in their Principle 10 (FSC 1996). Using already existing silvicultural techniques (fallow land, crop rotation, fertilizers, etc.) based on ecological science, we can produce intensive forest plantations on any given site, probably forever. And plantations that use longer rotations of some 1030 years, for example, can promote or improve the biodiversity of a degraded site (Lamb 1997).

Conclusions
The forests have always been heavily used by human beings. They provide us with food, construction materials, and other resources and benefits. They also play a very important role in the health of the biosphere since they affect the atmosphere, erosion, the hydrological cycle, the carbon cycle, and other biochemical cycles (Sedjo and Botkin 1997). Plantations provide us with many of these same benefits, but not all of them. A well-planned plantation can provide us with many more benefits than one planned for a single purpose. Some suggest that almost all of the wood we need could be produced on intensive plantations, requiring very little land, less than 10% of the planets surface (Sedjo and Botkin 1997). Possibly they are right about this estimate. However, if the primary or secondary purpose of this plan is to prevent any harvesting in native forests, it is doubtful that plantations can satisfy that objective. Conservation does not mean dont touch, except in certain protected natural areas. Undoubtedly, a massive program of intensive plantations using marginal unforested areas, could supply a large part of the wood we need, along with other benefits as well, including reducing the pressure on the native forest. But for centuries we have seen in many parts of the world that forests are going to provide tangible benefits or they are going to disappear. The tendency is to convert a forest that is seen as unproductive into a site that is productive in human terms, even if it is a plot of corn that produces no yield after 3 years. A combination of intensive plantations, extensively managed native forests, and special areas protected for their biodiversity is the model most probable to succeed as we manage our landscapes and ecosystems. If we accept the idea of intensive and massive plantation, it would be much easier to accept the idea of more extensive protected areas: perhaps a goal of 30% of the native forest instead of 10% or less. However, the factor of the poverty of a community near the protected forest can often make the protection of the forest difficult or impossible. It is no accident that the tropical world has lost 20% of
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its forests during the years 19601990 (Sedjo and Botkin 1997). There is much social resistence to the idea of intensive plantations. Some are concerned that plantations could first require felling the native forests (Smith et al. 1997). Given that the native forest gives us important benefits that plantations do not offer and given that there is much underutilized land that does not have forests, it should not be necessary to fell a healthy forest in order to find a good site for plantations. It certainly does occur and therefore the concern is a valid one. However, it would be more productive to promote wellplanned plantations rather than oppose all planting of forest trees. What will the role of plantations be for the 21st century? I assume and believe the following. Forest plantations will be the source of 4050% of the fiber harvested during the 21st century, and perhaps more than 50%. They will have a key importance, both environmental and socioeconomic. They will serve to improve degraded sites, to protect natural areas and watersheds, to produce paper pulp and other wood products, as a critical habitat for certain wildlife species, for recreation purposes, and for other uses. They will have to be established and managed using environmentally and economically suitable techniques. They will have to use pesticides and fertilizers in acceptable ways. It is probable that 3060% of them will use carefully selected exotic species. Biotechnology and other advances will bring us very productive plantations, some yielding more than 100 m3/ha/year. Part of the secret of success will be maintaining a broad genetic base, using the advantages of a biodiversity that can help to reduce the risk. Even in the case of clonal plantations, there are techniques that can provide an advantage over agricultural plantations in this sense. Plantations will be established on marginal sites under strict standards. As Sedjo and Botkin (1997) point out, if these guidelines are not followed, there will be a political reaction against plantations that will be detrimental to society and to the environment. We need to establish plantations in the most professional and responsible manner possible. As to Mr. Leopold and his groups A and B, perhaps we now need for the 21st century a group C. This group would consist of a new generation of foresters who are able to better integrate socioeconomic and environmental values in their management of the forest resource. This new professional would be capable of applying the wisdom we foresters have accumulated during the last two centuries and managing the resource at the landscape or ecosystem level to the benefit of the individual and the society, without losing the intrinsic values of each forest. It is a large goal, but if we do not attain it, we are going to lose more forests. Plantations, along with research, will be important factors in the future of all of us. Sometimes research brings us knowledge without bringing us wisdom. If we merely strive for knowledge, we will lose the battle! One of the challenges facing us is to assure that we all understand the difference between the two: knowledge and wisdom.

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