Community Forest Management

LAS 6290
Section 1111, Class 24482

Days: Fridays
Times: 9:35 am - 12:35 pm
Location: 219 Newins-Ziegler Hall

Course description

Natural resource management by communities has gained currency as a potentially viable strategy for conserving forest ecosystems, while supporting local livelihoods and cultural values. This 3-credit graduate course considers how governments, researchers, and practitioners (especially graduate students) collaborate with communities in these efforts. It analyzes the conceptual underpinnings, efficacy, and practice of this growing global trend of community-based natural resource management (aka co-management). The course is designed for students from diverse disciplines (forestry, anthropology, regional studies, fisheries, wildlife, biology, interdisciplinary studies, sociology, geography, plus….) and different levels of expertise to think critically, jointly, about the multi-scale, contextual factors that influence conservation and well-being outcomes. It is especially designed for graduate students who seek concepts, tools, and strategies to integrate local participation into their work. A variety of teaching methods will be employed with an emphasis on experiential and cross-student learning. This course fulfills the conceptual core requirement of UF’s TCD certificate.

Karen Kainer SmallProfessor
Dr. Karen Kainer
Center for Latin American Studies
School of Forest Resources & Conservation
210 Newins-Ziegler Hall
E-mail: kkainer@ufl.edu
Tel: 352-846-0833

Research Interests
Tropical forest ecology, community forestry management, tropical conservation and development

Geographic Expertise
Western Amazon, Brazil, Mexico