Toward a Research Agenda for Social Forestry

Abstract

The paper outlines research issues in social forestry. It has three parts: (A) Technlology, B) Economics, and c) Government. The first technology, poses questions about social forestry cropping systems and site suitibility for them. It discusses research to assess and correlated field experience with different social forestry system, design system "packages" that can be planted with reasonable confidence in different conditions and develop principles of choice in system design. It also discusses survey of site capability for social forestry and development of techniques for site modifications.The second part Economics, considers what must be known to develop viable social forestry projects. The production economics of different combinations of crops and land uses, and of different intensities and scales of investment, benefits and burden-among villagers between cillagers and government and over times- are outline. Third, some suggestions are made for the developments of guidance for managerial decision-making.The third part, Government, addresses research requirements to determine how government resources-legal administrative and economic-can be allocated for optimal promotion of social forestry systems.While various suggestions are scattered throughout the paper concludes with a strong recommendation to establish state and national networks of comparative and experimental projects to be used by forestry departments to determine what does and does no it work in different conditions, why, and with what implications for project selection, design and management. It also concludes with the view that social forestry research will not productive unless social scientists are attracted with forest and agriculture scientists on an ambitious scale.