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This study investigates the possible socioeconomic impact of the phasing out of nearly 22 500 ha of plantations within the Southern and Western Cape regions of South Africa as a result of a decision made by government in 2000. Data was collected in 2007 from three plantations (one near Grabouw in the Western Cape, and two near George in the Southern Cape) managed by Mountain to Ocean Forestry (Pty) Ltd (currently Cape Pine Investment Holdings Ltd), among three different plantation stakeholder groups. These groups are (1) forest-dependent communities, (2) stakeholders among the forestry value chain and (3) indirect stakeholders. This study indicates that there are significant differences between the potential impacts of the phasing-out process within the Southern and Western Cape regions. Communities and secondary processing companies in the Southern Cape are much more dependent on forestry than those in the Western Cape region. The study highlights three aspects related to the phasing-out process that nee...

Rural communities in South Africa are similar to communities in other parts of the developing world in terms of their use and management of natural forest resources as a means of sustaining their livelihoods. Participatory surveys were conducted with communities living near a communal woodland and a State Forest in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa, to determine the use and extent of management of woody resources under different tenure regimes. The results showed that all the respondents considered fuelwood as the most important wood product, followed by fencing material. More respondents living next to the State Forest felt that they could still easily find the products they needed from the forest compared to those living next to communal woodland, but respondents in both study areas believed they would not be able to easily find these products in future. Neither group was aware of current or future management strategies for the woody resources nor any well-defined natural resource management authorities at either village committee or government level. There were differing opinions as to who should be in charge of woodland and forest management in future, depending on the villagers' experience of government practices in the past. This study concluded that rural communities in the area will continue to use the forest and woodland resources in future, mainly for fuelwood, fencing, medicine and traditional ceremonies. Participatory resource management strategies for the two areas would encourage sustainable ways of using and managing the forest and woodland resources, including local cultivation of the most preferred indigenous tree and shrub species for the production of medicinal products, poles and other wooden commodities. Keywords: community participation; forest products; natural resource management; participatory research; rural communities; South Africa; sustainable use Southern Forests 2008, 70(3): 247–254

Water projects, like sustainable development projects in general, often tend to become unsustainable because they are guided by top-down strategies which exclude the input, influence and ownership of projects by their beneficiaries. For attaining sustainable development, the social capital of communities must be harnessed—beneficiaries of development need to be conscientised through a process of establishing self-awareness that their indigenous knowledge can lead to empowering participation and sustainable development. The international call for the participation of project beneficiaries places participation, as a people-centred strategy, within the capacity-building debate—beneficiaries should not only have a stake in projects, they ideally should own it. This ‘new’, even controversial, emphasis on participation calls for a re-assessment of participation as a capacity-building and empowerment strategy. The article evaluates the effect of participation in a water supply project in Eritrea, designating som...

Community surveys were conducted through the use of participatory community meetings and a questionnaire in the Butterworth area of the Eastern Cape. The objectives of these surveys were to determine the needs and perceptions of communities regarding woodlots and wood utilisation. From the surveys it is clear that woodlots do play an important role in the livelihoods of communities in the Butterworth area, but that the role varies according to geographic location of the woodlot and urbanisation levels of the community. Sociological / anthropological socio-economic differences must be considered in community forestry extension work and future strategic and policy considerations. Southern African Forestry Journal No.191 2001: 65-74

SYNOPSIS The term community forestry, as in the case of “community development”, can easily be misinterpreted as forestry and a development approach that must be implemented and managed by a community as a whole. The diverse groupings within a community, as the debate on what a “community” entails indicates, would complicate the implementation of this assumption. It is therefore necessary to identify, with the consent of the participating community, (a) specific interest group(s) that can plan, implement and manage a community forestry programme and project in a sustainable way. In this regard the complex nature of the dynamics of rural community structures must be understood and development intervention should be based on a multi-disciplinary and holistic approach.

For any development facilitator or change agent, a potential paradox can arise when, assisting with self‐reliant participatory development. This paradox occurs when the change agent tries to help and encourage people to develop themselves and, in so doing, undermines their self‐reliance and sustainability, the very aim of development. The theoretical basis for the meaning of development is often at the root of such a paradox: it is argued that theory and the concept of development are in actual fact incompatible within the realm of social reality. It is further argued that Participatory Learning and Action (PLA), which rejects theory as the foundation for development and embraces human consciousness, can offer an appropriate strategy that can avoid such a paradox. This article is inspired by the tenacious efforts of resource‐poor people. It is largely based on PLA initiatives undertaken in the Little Karoo, South Africa and Odibo, Namibia, as well as in various communities in Zambia, and on numerous RDP c...

Rural communities in South Africa are similar to communities in other parts of the developing world in terms of their use and management of natural forest resources as a means of sustaining their livelihoods. Participatory surveys were conducted with communities living near a communal woodland and a State Forest in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa, to determine the use and extent of management of woody resources under different tenure regimes. The results showed that all the respondents considered fuelwood as the most important wood product, followed by fencing material. More respondents living next to the State Forest felt that they could still easily find the products they needed from the forest compared to those living next to communal woodland, but respondents in both study areas believed they would not be able to easily find these products in future. Neither group was aware of current or future management strategies for the woody resources nor any well-defined natural resource management authorities at either village committee or government level. There were differing opinions as to who should be in charge of woodland and forest management in future, depending on the villagers' experience of government practices in the past. This study concluded that rural communities in the area will continue to use the forest and woodland resources in future, mainly for fuelwood, fencing, medicine and traditional ceremonies. Participatory resource management strategies for the two areas would encourage sustainable ways of using and managing the forest and woodland resources, including local cultivation of the most preferred indigenous tree and shrub species for the production of medicinal products, poles and other wooden commodities. Keywords: community participation; forest products; natural resource management; participatory research; rural communities; South Africa; sustainable useSouthern Forests 2008, 70(3): 247–254

The Amish on the Iowa Prairie, 1840-1910. By Steven D. Reschly. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000. Pp. x, 268. Appendix, illustrations, maps. $42.50.) Steven Reschly's work is an in-depth examination of the development of Amish communities within two adjacent townships in Johnson County, Iowa, where Amish settlers migrated from Ohio and Pennsylvania beginning in the 1840s. The Amish on the Iowa Prairie is not a full narrative history, but rather a series of essays on themes dealing with forces for and against change within the community. Reschly is particularly concerned with changing the stereotype of the Amish as highly resistant to any change, inalterably rooted to their particular geographical location, and clinging to very static social and religious customs. He points out that the frequently studied Amish communities of the twentieth century reflect more conservatism in dress and lifestyle than was apparent in the nineteenth century. The author's most notable contribution is his demonstration that Amish communities are migrating communities, continually in motion over their four centuries of development, beginning with their efforts to flee oppression in Europe and continuing with movements in America to better their situations. The Iowa communities were outgrowths of previous settlements in Ohio and Pennsylvania and in turn would spawn offshoots in regions further west. Because of the continuing migration process, the Amish were conditioned to mobility and accustomed to change when encountering new environments. They migrated and changed voluntarily, even aggressively. Various conditions might give rise to new migrations and new settlements: limits to the availability of land, the necessity to provide for offspring, and the attraction of cheaper land combined with the profit to be made from old land holdings. Outward mobility also might arise from division within the older community over lifestyles, theological beliefs, and demands for community harmony. Scholars of ethnicity accustomed to the phenomenon of chain migration will not be surprised by Reschly's concept of "portable" Amish communities (21-25). Willingness to migrate, communal planning and organization, continuing communication with older communities, and return migration are typical of other ethnic groups as well. The Amish retained family connections as they moved out to establish new settlements, and they sometimes returned to their roots in the old ones. Newspapers like the Weekly Budget (printed in Ohio) helped members maintain contacts. Conflict was an important stimulus to change in the context of these networks of communities. When divisions arose that threatened the unity that the Amish treasured, the result was often the migration of one element to another newer location. In the Iowa townships studied by Reschly, some divisions arose from religious disagreements, most often from the rise of individualistic religious practices that threatened the consensual order thought necessary among the more conservative Old Order Amish. The rise of these individualistic tendencies reflected a response to the evangelism spreading through the American social environment. Most dramatic was the "sleeping preacher" phenomenon, in which individuals in a sort of trance began to issue prophetic statements, often calling for reform in the community (132-57). One of the more notable cases was Noah Troyer, a native of Ohio who settled in Sharon township in 1874. …