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Forestry for Sustainable Rural Development
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directly under the division of production, became parallel to it
and had its responsibilities broadened to include all reforestation
and land rehabilitation activities.
Third, social
forestry concepts and more socially sensitive approaches to working
with forest villagers were integrated into the training given to
all SFC personnel. The forestry personnel who interact most with
villagers—labor foremen, forest police, forest guards, and
forest rangers—were required to take 30 hours of social
forestry in their six months of training. Exposure to social
forestry through training also was given to managers, field people,
and others in the forest development division. Paralleling these
institutional changes, the SFC directorship set forth a series of
regulations and management guidelines related to social forestry.
These regulations and guidelines were especially important in the
SFC, whose officials pride themselves on "going by the book."
Forest
department staff training—often conducted by NGOs and
academic institutions—is an important focus for efforts to
institutionalize change. In most countries, a handful of talented
and committed individuals has driven the initial work in community
forestry. Yet a dependence on individual talents also means the
change process is subject to individual frailties and to the risk
that programs will not outlast the departure of a specific
individual. Staff-training programs have sought to broaden the base
of understanding and support for community forestry approaches,
both among officials who have decision-making authority and among
the field personnel who work most closely with villagers.