Presents

Dr. Edward (Ted) Webb

Associate Professor

Natural Resources Management

School of Environment, Resources & Development

The Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand
Monday, May 23^th 2005

Deans Conference Room, 2436, Bren Hall

“Harnessing Local Capacity: community-based forest management and forest conservation in S and SE Asia”

Forests in S and SE Asia have in general been in steady decline over the past century. Efforts over the past several decades to slow the rate of forest conversion in S and SE Asia have suggested that the participation of local communities in the management and protection of the resource base is a viable alternative to traditional views of state control or privatization of forests. Today in S and SE Asia, varying models of community-based forest management are seen as methods for sustainable management and conservation of forest resources, while contributing to rural livelihoods. The seminar will present the efforts of Nepal and Vietnam to incorporate local communities into the national forest conservation and management objectives. It will also discuss the general theoretical facilitating requirements for long-term sustainable management of forests by communities under a formalized community forestry program and the implications for program implementation.

Edward Webb received a B.A. in Biology from Occidental College, and a Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Miami. He is presently an Associate Professor in the Natural Resources Management field of study at the Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, Thailand. Over the past ten years his research interests have been centered on conservation and sustainable management of tropical and subtropical forests in Asia and the Pacific, with principal research sites in Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam and American Samoa.

http://www.asdu.ait.ac.th/faculty/FacultyByID.cfm?FacultyID=315