| This research examines the Community Forest Pilot Project (CFPP) implemented in British Columbia in 1998. Under this program, the government has allocated forest land and managerial autonomy to ten communities. For many, the CFPP represents a chance for forest-dependent communities to influence their future in a way that conventional forestry has never enabled. Expectations of the project are high. However, as with much of the academic literature on community forestry, which tends to focus almost exclusively on the necessary internal or community level conditions for achieving 'success', this government initiative has not adequately considered the external pressures within the increasingly globalized forest industry that may limit the success of individual community forestry initiatives. Therefore, the research considers if and how British Columbia's CFPP, as a localized trend, will survive in an increasingly globalized forest sector.; This question is addressed in two stages. First, a conceptual model of the key factors affecting the viability of community forestry is developed. Second, the model is 'tested' and refined based on the observed initial experiences of British Columbia's ten community forestry pilots. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
