The Center collaborates with the Ford Foundation on encouraging community forestry research.  This type of research is especially important, because wherever people and forests coexist, their relationship is one of interdependence. The ecological integrity of forests depends on the commitment and involvement of the adjacent human communities. These human communities rely upon forests for clean air and water, open space, recreation, spiritual renewal, provision of natural resources, employment, and income. Many factors influence the distribution of resulting benefits, including patterns of resource ownership, access to resources, and opportunities to participate in management decisions. It is unfortunate that many communities rich in natural wealth suffer from high rates of unemployment, low income, inadequate support for public education, and other correlates of poverty.

COMMUNITY FORESTRY is concerned with fostering mutually beneficial relationships between human communities and the natural ecosystems with which they coexist and coevolve. The goal of the Ford Foundation U.S. Community Forestry Research Fellowship Program is to advance community forestry in the United States by supporting graduate PARTICIPATORY RESEARCH within rural and urban communities, conducting interactive workshops and developing related publications among the selected researches, practitioners, community members, and academics. A basic principle of participatory research is that community members are involved with the researcher(s) to ensure that community issues and concerns are addressed by the research.

Ford Foundation Community Forestry Research Fellowships