Culture and resource management: factors affecting forests

Abstract

Efforts to manage Pacific Island forest resources are more likely to succeed if they are based on an understanding of the cultural framework of land use activities. This paper explores the relationship between agricultural systems, population density, culture, and use of forest resources on the islands of Yap. Agricultural intensification is related to population increases in the past. It appears that resources were, to some extent, managed via a highly organized stratified social system. Today, changes have resulted in a loss of insularity, and controls over resource exploitation are fading. Agricultural technology has become more extensive and forest resources are being expended rapidly. Participatory research is suggested as a means of focusing local attention on systems of food production which incorporate more sustainable use of forest resources.

Parent Publication

• Proceedings of the session on tropical forestry for people of the Pacific, XVII Pacific Science Congress; May 27-28, 1991

Citation

Falanruw, Marjorie C. 1992. Culture and resource management: factors affecting forests. In: Conrad, Engene C.; Newell, Leonard A., tech. cords. Proceedings on the session on tropical forestry for people of the Pacific, XVII Pacific Science Congress; May 27-28. Gen. Tech. Rep. PSW-129. Berkeley, CA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Forest and Range Experiment Station: 31-36