Previous - Next
This is the old United Nations University website. Visit the new site at http://unu.edu
Appendix 3. Summer courses at the commonwealth forestry institute, Oxford
A. Course in Research Method
(H.L. Wright, course director; P.D. Hardcastle, course organizer)
Purpose: A course designed to familiarize scientific officers holding or destined for research appointments in forestry with the principles and practice of forest research.
Date: Held in alternate, odd years (1981, 1983, etc.)
Duration: 14-15 weeks, commencing about 1 July.
Places available: A maximum of 15.
Fees payable: In addition to living expenses, there is a fee payable for the course. This is considerably reduced for countries that contribute to the Commonwealth Forestry Institute funds.
Entry qualifications: Generally a degree in forestry or closely related discipline, with a few years' field experience. Candidates should not have less than average mathematical ability. Preference is given to candidates from developing Commonwealth countries, but places are available for other candidates.
Course content: The course will cover the following:
- Motive, policy and planning, and administration of forest
research.
- Principles of biological statistics.
-Special problems of design, layout, assessment, and recording
which arise in forest research.
- Demonstration and practice in all stages of assessment,
computing and statistical analysis, and deduction of forest
experiments.
- Critical study of actual experiments.
The emphasis is on the growing side rather than on utilization, on studies in the field rather than in the laboratory, and on tropical rather than temperate conditions.
B. Course in Planning and Management in Forestry
(P.J. Wood, course director; P.D. Hardcastle, course organizer)
Purpose: A course designed for forest officers in positions of managerial responsibility, to familiarize them with modern management practices.
Date: Held in alternate, even years (1982, 1984, etc.)
Duration: 14-15 weeks, commencing about 1 July.
Places available: A maximum of 18.
Fees payable: In addition to living expenses, there is a fee payable for the course. This is considerably reduced for countries contributing to the Commonwealth Forestry Institute funds.
Entry qualifications: Generally a degree or degrees in forestry and at least five years' field experience. Candidates should be in, or expect shortly to be appointed to, positions of executive responsibility. Preference is given to candidates from developing Commonwealth countries, but places are available for other candidates.
Course content: The course will cover the following:
- Economics and mathematics for managers.
- Organization and decision theory.
- Factors affecting forest policy.
-System optimization.
- Planning, policies, and principles in forestry management
- Financial and cost-benefit analysis.
- Technical aspects of forestry affecting management.
- Project planning and appraisal.
The emphasis is on a seminar approach, with class participation in exercises where appropriate. Tours to illustrate practice in Britain and other EEC countries are usually arranged, but the emphasis of the course is primarily on developing tropical countries.
C. Course in Social and Community Forestry
(P J. Wood and J. Burley, course directors; P.D. Hardcastle, course organizer)
Purpose: A course designed to develop an understanding of the social and economic framework of rural life and the role of trees in general land use concepts and to provide the necessary basic skills for the formulation and operation of forestry projects for the benefit of rural communities.
Date: Held annually in April/May or September/October.
Duration: 6 - 8 weeks.
Places available: A maximum of 20.
Fees payable: £1,150, excluding accommodation.
Entry qualifications: Generally a degree or diploma in forestry with several years' experience An interest in and knowledge of social forestry is desirable. Preference will be given to applicants from developing Commonwealth countries, but places are available for other applicants.
Course content: The course will cover the following:
- The role of forestry in agriculture and the rural economy.
- The rural economy.
- Sociology of rural communities.
- Development of extension strategies and methodology.
- Roles of trees and forests in integrated land use plans.
- Trees and the community.
- Multiple use species; silviculture, techniques, products, yields, and agro-forestry.
- Interaction of trees with agriculture.
- Soil reclamation and conservation.
- Watersheds and hydrological aspects of afforestation.
- Preparation of social forestry projects.
- Management and control of social forestry projects.
Teaching is by means of seminars, group exercises, and case studies. Participants are expected to contribute actively in discussions and in exercises.
D. Course in Forest Protection
(M H. Ivory and M.R. Speight, course directors; P.D. Hardcastle, course organizer)
Purpose: To provide forest management or research officers with the skills necessary for them to be effective forest protection officers.
Date: Held in 1982 then at 4- to 5 year intervals thereafter.
Duration: 10-12 weeks, commencing late June.
Places available: A maximum of 15.
Fees payable: £1,850, excluding accomodation and excursion.
Entry qualifications: Either a degree or a diploma in forestry and several years' field experience. Preference is given to candidates from developing Commonwealth countries, but places are available for other candidates.
Course content: The course will cover the following:
- Fungi, bacteria, and abiotic influences; diagnosis, assessment, and control.
- Insects, mites, and other animals; recognition, assessment, management, and control.
- Virology, nematology, parasitic plants, and symbiotic associations.
- Deterioration of forest products.
- Experimental design and analysis.
-Population sampling.
- Crop loss assessment.
- Plant quarantine.
The course includes laboratory and field practicals, and the emphasis is on seminar-style teaching rather than formal lectures.
E. Course in Forest Resource Utilization
(R.A. Plumptre, course director; P.D. Hardcastle, course organizer)
Purpose: The course is designed to acquaint participants with the importance of forest industries in the economy of a country, and to equip them to carry out simple feasibility and marketing studies.
Date: To be held in 1983, and thereafter probably every three years.
Duration: 6 weeks.
Places available: A maximum of 20.
Fees payable: £1,150, excluding accommodation.
Entry qualifications: Entrants are expected to be forestry degree or diploma holders, preferably with at least three years' experience in the field or in forest industry management.
Course content: The course will cover the following:
Forest resources: extent, variability, and rates of depletion.
Utilization of resources: using more species and producing less waste.
Utilization and forest products research: research requirements, priorities, and planning.
Forest industries: characteristics, raw material require. meets, interaction of different industries, and skills and labour requirements.
Functions of government: quasi-government corporations and private industry.
Management and control functions: concession licences, regulation of fees, methods of control, and encouragement of improved utilization and quality control.
Trade and marketing: principles of local and export marketing, species grouping, market research, promotion of new products, contracts, agents, and transport.
Feasibility studies: methods of carrying out studies and presenting them, rates of interest, cash flow, assessment of productivity and sales, and staff requirements and their selection and training.
Finance and industry: sources of funds and methods of securing them.
Industry management: requirements of good manage meet, objectives, staff management, financial control, and production control.
Analysis of success and failure: case studies analysing successful and failed projects and discussion of reasons for success or failure.
The emphasis is on tropical rather than temperate forest resources.
Course on Tropical Moist Forest: Resources Management, and Conservation
(T.C. Whitmore and B.T. Styles, course directors; P.D. Hardcastle, course organizer}
Purpose: Participants will be well briefed to select, create, and manage conservation areas and to incorporate conservation objectives in land-use planning and forest management.
Date: To be first held in 1983, and thereafter whenever sufficient demand warrants it.
Duration: 6 weeks, commencing October.
Places available: A maximum of 20.
Fees payable: £1,150, excluding accommodation.
Entry qualifications: Entrants to the course are expected to be holders of a degree or diploma in forestry or another biological science, preferably with several years' experience of planning or management in a conservation context. Non-scientists who are closely involved with the administration of conservation will also be considered.
Course content: The course will cover the following:
- Tropical moist forest resources.
- Important families.
-Classification systems.
- Phytogeography and recent evolutionary development.
- Management of the resource: objectives, planning, and silviculture.
- Deforestation and its consequences.
- Animals of the forest.
- Biological requirements of conservation areas.
- Modes and means of conservation.
- Current state of the art.
-Case studies.