Small-scale Forestry and Rural Development

The intersection of ecosystems, economics and society

IUFRO 3.08 Small-scale Forestry International Symposium

Galway, Ireland

June 18-23, 2006

In the past decades, there has been a marked shift in the nature of small-scale forestry. This symposium explores the evolving nature of small-scale forestry and the challenges and opportunities this evolution presents to sustainable rural development.

Small-scale forests by their nature, often represent considerable “viability” challenges to their owners and/or to the agencies responsible for developing policies and programmes to support and regulate them. Over the centuries, as society has changed, so too have the demands placed on forests and their subsequent management. In recent years, the emphasis in management objectives appears to have shifted from intensive, exclusive and singular (timber productivity) to a broader, more inclusive multipurpose approach. Concurrent with changes in the motivations for small-scale forest ownership/management, are the challenges of: ensuring continuity of supply from a disparate source; creating new markets for new forest products; and devising methods for internalising the welfare benefits of healthy and diverse forests for the owners of these forests.

The evolving nature of small-scale forestry presents a multitude of questions and challenges for the owners themselves, the practitioners working in the forests, the extension and rural development services that deal with forest owners and the public bodies who represent and regulate them.

For enquiries please contact Sarah Wall

SMALL-SCALE FOREST ECONOMICS, MANAGEMENT AND POLICY