Melbourne School of Land and Environment Department of Forest and Ecosystem Science

Communities, People and Forests

Research in the area of Communities, People and Forests is closely linked to the teaching, postgraduate supervision and consulting activities of the Social Research Group in the Melbourne School of Land and Environment

Locations

Our research is conducted among rural communities in Australia but also in Asia, Africa and The Pacific - where postgraduates projects are often sited. The range of postgraduate projects in social research encompasses social forestry, sustainable livelihoods analysis, human perceptions of bio-diversity, farming and forestry systems, agroforestry and participatory action research

Research projects

In recent years the main emphases of research within Australia has been on Development and Community Studies . A recent project funded by Meat and Livestock Australia involved a revision of a reference text, Plants of the Kimberley Region of Western Australia . This project arose through community demand for resources to improve the information base on indigenous plants for managers of rangeland properties

Internationally

The group is part of an Australian Research Council funded project, '''Melanesian understandings of socio-economic and environmental sustainability in the context of mining projects'''. This work is collaborative with professionals from Anthropology, Geography and Environmental Studies, and the Centre for the Study of Health and Society. We have also been part of a multi-disciplinary project funded by Shell International on research in Khirthar National Park in Pakistan. This involved description of farming and livelihood systems in the park and recommendations for alternative management approaches

Research linked to teaching

Certain subjects taught in DFES are required learning for some students enrolled in postgraduate programs in social research topics . Examples are Social Research Methods, Forest Values, Landscapes and Society and Community Management of Land and Natural Resources

 

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