Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 6: From tree-only to participation
139 Plays1 month ago
In this episode, we talk about the work of IUFRO’s Division 6: Social Aspects of Forests and Forestry. Hosted by Jose Bolaños, IUFRO HQ, and Ngozi Edum, IFSA, this episode features Purabi Bose, Co-Coordinator of Division 6.
For too long, the social dimension of forests and forestry was seen as a "soft skill", with people's participation often overlooked. This episode addresses that challenge, emphasizing that people's participation is crucial. You'll uncover how Division 6 serves as a key platform, fostering cooperation and interdisciplinary communication within the scientific community.
More at iufro.org
Recommended
Transcript
Traditional Forestry vs Social Dimension
00:00:02
Speaker
One of the challenges is that we have foresters who have always thought forest as a trees and social dimension was always seen as something very soft skill. People were not involved initially, so this has been one of the biggest challenge of trying to express that people's participation is important.
Introduction to 'Branching Out' Podcast
00:00:29
Speaker
Hello everyone, I'm your host Jose Volanius from the International Union of Forest Research Organizations, IUFRO, the Global Network for Forest Science Collaboration, and you're listening to season two of Branching Out, the forest podcast. It's great to have you with us as we explore more forest science.
00:00:46
Speaker
Episode 6 means that we have covered EU Forest Division 1, silviculture, 2, genetics, 3, forest operations, engineering, management, 4, modeling and assessment, and Division 5, which is forest products.
00:00:59
Speaker
And if you haven't listened to those episodes, I'll invite you to do so after
Meet Ngoze Edum and Purabi Bose
00:01:03
Speaker
this. Today we will speak about the Division 6, which is social aspects of forest and forestry. And here is my co-host, Gnosi Edum from the International Forestry Students Association, IFSA, Please introduce yourself. Hi, Yose. Nice to be here.
00:01:18
Speaker
um My name is Ngoze Edum. I'm a member of IPSA, the International Forestry Student Association, and ironically, I'm also part of the Division 6. I belong to the Research Group 6.10.
00:01:29
Speaker
I have my background in forestry and environmental management and just finished my master's in European forestry. I'm happy to be here. Thank you for having me. Welcome to Ranching Out. And we have Purabi Bose as well, who is the coordinator of Division 6. We'd love to hear a little bit about your journey, Purabi. So please go ahead and also introduce yourself. Hello and welcome to all at this postcard. And I'm privileged to speak on behalf of Division 6 as co-coordinator.
00:01:56
Speaker
My name is Pura Vibos. Currently I am based in Goa, in the Western India. And I have been part of IUFRO for almost 12 years now. So I'm very happy to be part of this and talk to you more about what this division says, that is social aspects of forest and forestry we are doing and how you can engage with
00:02:21
Speaker
Thank you. Porebi. We want to know the idea behind the Division 6. It's on social aspect of forest and forestry. Do you mind telling us what's the i idea behind Division
Division 6's Social Focus in Forestry
00:02:31
Speaker
6?
00:02:31
Speaker
Thank you so much, Negosi. Social aspects have evolved over the period of time. What do we mean by social dimension? Let's start from there. Social dimension refers to various ways in which society and its structure impact individuals like us and their relationships, like our relationships. But if we are talking about forests, we are also talking about relationship of individual and community towards forests.
00:02:57
Speaker
It basically encompasses aspects like social interactions, cultural norms, community involvement, and the influence of social structures on experience, including health, well-being, and learning.
00:03:10
Speaker
So it basically talks about how people connect, relate, and are affected by the social context we live in. So Division 6 is about social aspects of forest and forestry and here we are talking about community-based forest management and conservation in today's context but it has evolved from earlier it used to be specifically government-run program, social forestry to plant trees on the roadside but now we have moved into emphasize involving local communities, particularly indigenous people, in the sustainable use and protection of forest resources, shifting from top-down approach to one where local participation is key. And working with people is normally not easy.
00:03:55
Speaker
So what are the challenges that you face when you research such a topic, these dimensions between the communities and forests? Absolutely. i mean, ah this is where the Division 6 social aspects of forest and forestry comes into a very ah key role that we have, and that is trying to build this ah community and trying to hold a cooperation. Cooperation is the key word and communication is the key word that Division 6 serves as a platform for the uthro of the scientific community working with the social aspects.
00:04:30
Speaker
The purpose and the goal of the division is to improve the interdisciplinary communication and to support the provisions of respective benefits of be it rural or urban population.
00:04:41
Speaker
ah So one of the challenges is that we have foresters who have always thought forest as a trees and ah social dimension was always seen as something very soft skill.
00:04:54
Speaker
People were not involved initially, so this has been one of the biggest challenge of trying to express that people's participation is important. So our division has been working on various elements such as forest recreation and nature-based tourism.
00:05:10
Speaker
We have nature conservation and protected areas. Forest conflict is another research unit that we are trying to work on. Basically, we ah explore various concepts and perspectives, what this ah conflict means, how it has evolved, and to create a better understanding of you know bridging that gap ah from conflict to becoming more cooperative. And then we also work on urban forestry.
00:05:36
Speaker
Our division is ah very forefront with gender and forest science. ah So we we try to, ah because gender is again, one of the ah topic that is less focused, though it has now been understood in a larger arena, but ah traditionally it has not been discussed at all. So Division six is kind of trying to explore that element. We also work on forest education, rural governance and forestry in the tropics.
00:06:05
Speaker
So this covers a wide dimension of the social aspects and some of the challenges are related to these topics that I've just mentioned. Thank
Funding, Diversity, and Inclusion in Forestry
00:06:14
Speaker
you. You mentioned about the social forestry has evolved over the years. Can you mention any recent scientific developments in this area?
00:06:24
Speaker
One of the biggest developments has been with regard to social aspects is that initially ah people were not involved in the governance and in management of the forest or in decision making, be it policy making.
00:06:41
Speaker
And this has changed. What we have seen is that many philanthropy organizations have decided to design their programs and projects in a way that the funding directly goes to the local communities.
00:06:55
Speaker
So it's one of the major aspects that the social dimension of forest has played, we in ensuring that the fund is being entrusted on the local communities. The other element is we talk about climate change and then the funding is often located in certain parts of the global ah world.
00:07:14
Speaker
And this has again changed where the funding has been started to disburse or decentralize to the areas where ah where it's really required. The third element that I would mention is the diversity, equity, inclusion, and particularly involvement of the indigenous people. And this is where a lot of resistance still continues. But the good point, as an optimist, I would say that we see a good positive move towards ah discussing and towards ensuring that
00:07:45
Speaker
diversity, equity and inclusion is part and parcel of our work in forest and forestry. And IEFRO stands out, I would say that. And I'm proud to be one of the office holders of IEFRO for that reason. That's very good to hear. Now that you mentioned the office holder position, I have to do a disclaimer here because as I have mentioned in the previous episodes, there are two core coordinators per division, but in this case the second co-coordinator has decided to step out. So in the meantime, Pudavi is taking the role alone. And saying that, I remember that I need to ask you what the future holds. What's the division six planning for the future now that you mentioned so many elements on how the funding for research has moved to more
Future Conferences and Initiatives
00:08:31
Speaker
localized? I wonder whether there is something already in the lookout.
00:08:35
Speaker
Division 6 has been a very evolving group because so far we had a nice team from a diverse discipline and diverse country. So each of the research units are working on diverse activities.
00:08:48
Speaker
It might be very difficult for me to pinpoint all of them at this podcast. So I would request all the listeners to visit our website and to check on these activities. But the major element to kind of ah to engage the audience is to expressed that Division 6 as such has an office holders. They come from diverse disciplines, from diverse backgrounds, geographical backgrounds, and represent diverse institutions across the globe, from practitioners to academicians to various other international think tanks.
00:09:21
Speaker
And that makes it very dynamic to engage in activities which includes, for example, organizing conference, international conference. We just had one in Luxembourg on forest and health, organized by one of the research unit.
00:09:35
Speaker
And ah we are planning for a few more conferences in the coming year, which is underway right now because urban forestry is planning something on special issues that is expected to be published next year.
00:09:51
Speaker
Then, um Gender and Forest Science are working with IEFRO's task force to work on diverse agendas that they have. And then the rural governance and forest tenure in the tropics are working to publish a policy brief ah which would be an interesting aspect again.
00:10:10
Speaker
And we also have ah forest recreation and nature based tourism organizing various webinars every month which is open to everyone. It's announced in the IFRO website so I highly recommend those areas to be explored further by wider audience.
00:10:28
Speaker
So it's an exciting division and we have exciting future ideas and plans to be coming out and basically engaging more people in our division.
Optimism in Indigenous Involvement
00:10:38
Speaker
Ghazi, know that you are part of the division, but could you help me come up with some takeaway messages from the division? So what do you take home? When I joined Ayufro, I was at the Ayufro conference last year.
00:10:51
Speaker
So when I heard about the social as aspect, I was really happy because um I work with local communities and I'm happy that, like Burari said, attention has now been focused on indigenous communities. Although we're not there, but like Paraby, I'm also optimistic when we allow indigenous communities to have the rights to decide on what they want to do with the forest and the resource in the forest. Also, we've seen some governance, like some policy coming up with like a safe guide, social safe guide now.
00:11:22
Speaker
And yeah, this route to ensure that there are integration of the local communities and the people there. It's really an exciting thing i'm and I'm so happy to be part of this. i'm also happy to be part of our youth group.
00:11:34
Speaker
I would like to request all our audience, they are listening to us to join IUPRO and also engage themselves or someone whom they know might be interested in the social aspects because we need more people ah to highlight the social aspects of forest and forestry. And we are open to new ideas and we would like to have contrasting ideas as well because that's how we like to grow.
00:11:59
Speaker
So everyone is welcome.
Engagement and Participation Encouragement
00:12:01
Speaker
I'm happy you brought that up because the whole idea of this podcast as well is also to showcase what the division is doing so more people get interested and join in because as you said, the the more ideas that the division has, the better research and the better advancements we can get. So thanks a lot to Josie and to Puglavi and thanks to our listeners and look out for our next Branching Out episode where we will explore Division 7. And if you want to know more about a youth row, follow us on social media or click on the show notes.
00:12:32
Speaker
Till next time. Goodbye. Thank you.