Taking local knowledge about trees seriously

There has been a sea change in forestry research and development over the last quarterof a century. This has transformed forestry from an ecological discipline, largely abouttrees and their associated biota, to one which embraces consideration of the peoplewho use forests or want them to be conserved (Westoby, 1987). This change has beenforced by practical imperatives. In many developing countries, attempting to keep peopleout of forests was expensive and largely unsuccessful, so that it became apparent thatdeveloping sustainable forest management, either for productive or conservationpurposes, required inclusion rather than exclusion of the people in the vicinity of theforest (Oldfield, 1988). As a result, local people who use forests are increasingly seenas legitimate stakeholders in planning forest utilisation and conservation strategies byboth public and private forestry initiatives (Bird, 1997). Participatory forest developmentis in vogue.There has also been a slow realisation that trees outside forests and modified forestswhere people farm, may be important for the well-being of forest ecosystems. Trees onfarms have critical importance, both because they can renewably supply tree productsthat might otherwise be unsustainably removed from forests and because tree cover onregional and landscape scales may affect the conservation value of remaining forestfragments. The importance of trees outside forests, the use of natural forest vegetationin agricultural contexts and the deliberate creation of agricultural systems with a forest-like structure are outlined below.

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