The Purpose of this Web Page is to facilitate research and information exchange between the Uganda Forestry Resources and Institutions Center (UFRIC) at Makerere University in Uganda, and Indiana University's Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis. This page is also intended to reach both African and American researchers beyond the mentioned institutions. The page focuses more narrowly on indigenous knowledge and the role of indigenous knowledge in environmental conservation in Africa; this includes forestry. The importance of indigenous knowledge in environmental conservation in Africa is rapidly gaining currency as the number of development interventions built along western models fail to achieve their objectives. Researchers and development planners are increasingly looking to indigenous societies for solutions to environmental challenges because these societies have devised survival mechanisms over space and time that are specific and appropriate to their circumstance. It is the intention of this web page to provide information on the role of indigenous knowledge in environmental conservation, the challenges posed by "western" education models to indigenous knowledge systems, and to highlight attempts that have been made to incorporate such indigenous knowledge systems in formal environmental decision making. This page is part of a wider effort aimed at increasing the flow of information related to indigenous knowledge between African and American institutions. A parallel component involves the development of a web site that documents Africa's rich oral heritage such as is present in poetry and music.
To ensure sustainability of forestry resources in Uganda through systematic data collection and analysis for use in forest policy formulation.
This web site places the following features on line:
UFRIC
Uganda Forestry Resources and Institutions Center
Makerere University
Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry
Department of Forestry
P.O. Box 7062
Kampala, Uganda
Tel: 256-41-543204/543238
FAX: 256-41-533574
Internet email: ufric@starcom.co.ug
WORKSHOP IN POLITICAL THEORY & POLICY ANALYSIS
Indiana University, 513 North Park
Bloomington, IN 47408-3895
Phone: 812-855-0441 / FAX: 812-855-3150
E-mail: workshop@indiana.edu
AFRICAN STUDIES PROGRAM
Indiana University
Woodburn Hall 221
Bloomington, IN 47405
Tel: 812-855-6825
Fax: 812-855-6734
UFRIC activities in Uganda started in September 1993 with
the initial team undergoing training in multidisciplinary research methodologies
at the Forestry Department of Makerere University. The training team
comprised of Prof. Elinor Ostrom and Dr. Dusty Becker from Indiana University;
Mr. David Green working with Associates in Rural Development (ARD, Inc.);
Ms. Cheryl Danley of Michigan University and Dr. Gombya-Ssembajjwe of Makerere
University, Department of Forestry. The initial training participants in
Uganda included Dr. Abwoli Banana, Joseph Bahati, Nabanoga Gorettie, Ann
Nakaweesi, Monica Kapiriri, George Mwambu and the late Pius Kizito. During
the first year, four sites comprising five forests were covered in the
different ecological zones of
Uganda. Currently 20 sites have been covered, and all
the data has been entered in the IFRI database both in Uganda and at Indiana
University. The main goals of UFRIC are similar to the overall goals and
objectives of IFRI. The information obtained is intended to provide insight
for the people who use forest resources so that they can continue to use
the trees and the forest resources around them in perpetuity. In Uganda,
most local communities have little or no participation in the management
of forests and tree resources surrounding them. To a large extent, this
has been due to policy, legislation, and resource management systems that
are highly centralized. Therefore, it is the objective of UFRIC that the
information being collected will enable both the policy makers and the
local people participate in
the sustainable use of the forest resources surrounding
them. It is the long term plan of UFRIC to conduct routine follow-up studies
so that institutional and vegetation
change over time can be evaluated. This will further
assist in making appropriate decisions with regard to forest resources.
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Since IFRI is a research organization that aims at collecting
data for the benefit of policy makers, local people and the environment,
multiple collaborative centers have been seen as a necessity, so that the
linkage between varying community practices and natural resources is known.
After four years of operation in Uganda, a collaborative center in Kenya
has been established, housed at the Kenya Forestry Research Institute (KEFRI).
Between 1997-1998, ten KEFRI staff were trained in IFRI methodology. In
1998, another collaborative center, coordinated from Sokoine University,
was established in Tanzania.Two Tanzanian colleagues also received training
in IFRI methodology at Indiana University. This IFRI effort in East Africa
is currently supported by the Ford Foundation, and co-facilitated by Indiana
University (Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis and the Center
for the Study of Institutions, Population, and Environmental Change (CIPEC).
When the CRCs in the East African region are fully established and sites
revisited, emphasis will then be placed on increasing the collaborative
area to cover a wider African region.
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