FOR-202

Tropical Forestry and Natural Resource Management

Photos from Field Trip to Pauka'a Low-Elevation Koa Management and River Monitoring Site

Michelle Clark at Pauka'a River

Sara and Michelle water testing

Dr. Senock and Class discuss the hydrological cycle

Course Description:

Tropical forests, both native and planted, are coming under steadily increasing pressure as the human population demands an ever increasing utilization of the natural resources. Understanding the underlying processes that mediate the forest ecosystem is crucial to future sustainable use. Over the past decade the discipline of forestry in the broadest context has undergone substantial change on a national, regional and global scale. A vastly increased understanding of how ecological systems function has transformed the science from one focused on simplifying systems, producing wood, and managing at the stand-level to one concerned with understanding and managing complexity, providing a wide range of ecological goods and services, and managing across broad landscapes. The next critical step is to move the concept of forest ecosystem management into an operational context.

Today Hawaii has an opportunity to develop a model forest industry that is both environmentally and economically sustainable. But the development of an Hawaiian forest ecosystem management program also presents some unique challenges as does management of the whole Hawaiian Ecosystem that will have to address all animal, plant and human socio-economic cultural influences. In this sense the emerging role of science, scientists, government policy makers and the public in fostering ecosystem management will become crucial to future generations. People within the field of tropical forestry, and perhaps most importantly - the public - will need to not only understand the dynamics of the forest systems but the importance of dealing with the human dimension of natural resource management policies.

The class objective will be to gain an understanding of the current state of forestry and its relation to the emergent field of ecosystem management. This information will be then used as a basis for examining temporal changes in ecosystem structure and dynamics and the role that forest management and human influences can play in the changes and the application of such ecological information to the management of both native and plantation forest ecosystems. The economic, organizational, and political issues that are critical to implementing successful ecosystem management and developing institutions to transform knowledge into action will be explored and emphasis will be upon thinking creatively beyond the bounds of traditional forest resource management.

Text: "Creating a Forestry For The 21st Century: The Science Of Ecosystem Management" (Kohm and Franklin, 1996 Island Press).

Lab Sessions will be organized to expose students to actual field activities such as:

• The National Science Foundation funded Second Rotation Project;
• The UHH-CAFNRM Panaewa Tropical Hardwood Plantation;
• The Forest Production Biology Project in Pepeekeo;
• The Paukaa low-elevation Koa Management Area  and River Monitoring Site;
• The Kohala Cloud Forest - Hamakua Ditch;
• NOAA Mauna Loa Observatory;
• Hawaiian EcoWoods;
• Umikoa Ranch.

(click here to see more pictures from other field lab activities)

Instructor: R.S. Senock, Ph.D.

Course Speakers:

• Dr. D. Perry - Ecosystem Management
• Dr. D. Nelson - Forest Health Management
• Mr. Mike Robinson - HFCI coordinator
• Dr. D. Binkley - Soil Fertility

and others.....