| Sustainable forest management has become a catchword in many developing and developed countries around the world due to rapid depletion of forest resources and resulting socio-economic concerns and environmental degradation. This study is about two sustainable forestry programs undertaken by two non-governmental organizations in Bangladesh and Canada. In Bangladesh, the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) operates a Social Forestry program that emphasizes mostly the participation of poor rural women as they are the most disadvantaged section of the population in that country. In Canada, the Long Beach Model Forest Society (LBMFS) carries out a Sustainable Forestry program in Ucluelet, British Columbia which was initiated by the federal government of Canada. This program focuses, among other forest stakeholders, on the First Nations communities and seeks the latter's participation to create a model for sustainable forest management. This study develops a comparative analysis of these two forestry programs along three major dimensions: goals and objectives, nature of public participation, and land tenure arrangements. In the process, two separate but related analyses are done. First, a descriptive comparison of theory and practice of each of these three dimensions for BRAC and LBMFS is undertaken in order to show the discrepancies between what they say and what they really do at the ground level. Then, an organizational analysis is carried out, based on contingency, resource dependency and collaboration theories, to show the reasons for these existing gaps, for both organizations. While there are enormous existing socio-economic and geo-political differences between Bangladesh and Canada, it is argued that there are similarities and differences between BRAC's Social Forestry and LBMFS's Sustainable Forestry programs along those three aspects mentioned above. In conclusion, some policy suggestions are proposed to facilitate more effective sustainable forestry programs and practices in these and other similar contexts. |
