Partnerships for Empowerment: Participatory Research for Community-based Natural Resource Management

Participatory research has emerged as an approach to producing knowledge that is sufficiently grounded in local needs and realities to support community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), and it is often touted as crucial to the sustainable management of forests and other natural resources.

This book analyses the current state of the art of participatory research in CBNRM. Its chapters and case studies examine recent experiences in collaborative forest management, harvesting impacts on forest shrubs, watershed restoration in Native American communities, civic environmentalism in an urban neighborhood and other topics. Although the main geographic focus of the book is the United States, the issues raised are synthesized and discussed in the context of recent critiques of participatory research and CBNRM worldwide. The book's purpose is to provide insights and lessons for academics and practitioners involved in CBNRM in many contexts. The issues it covers will be relevant to participatory research and CBNRM practitioners and students the world over.

Carl Wilmsen is director of the Community Forestry and Environmental Research Partnerships at University of California, Berkeley. William F. Elmendorf is assistant professor at Pennsylvania State University's School of Forest Resources. Larry Fisher is a senior program manager at the US Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution. Jacquelyn Ross is director of the University of California's Community Futures Initiative. Brinda Sarathy is assistant professor in environmental and intercultural studies at Pitzer College, Claremont, California. Gail Wells is a communications consultant, Corvallis, Oregon.