In a message dated 96-06-03 03:49:05 EDT, George Pope wrote: >. the best thing is to get on down >there and study farm lay outs vis a vis villages and towns. then compute how >to slide communal fuel plantations into the matrix. i'm pretty sure >individuals can't do this by themselves. we are talking about subsistance >farming In my experience, the history of communal woodlots in Africa has been quite dismal. I feel that one should always first attempt to go with private woodlots at the level of the family of individual. Then it is clear that he who invests and cares for the trees reaps the benefits later. This is rarely clear with communal woodlots. If large woodlots are established on "common" village lands, then the next best things is for the large woodlots to be divided into small sections belonging to individual families, each under the "owenership", care and responsibility of that family. It quickly gets more complicated when major investments in fencing, guarding from livestock damage or fire protection is needed. Then some type of community or group investment and organization may be needed. There have been hundreds of village-level tree planting projects, just in West Africa, certainly dozens in Ghana and probably a few right in the area where you work. Start checking around and learn from past experiences. Roy Hagen Cloquet, Minnesota USA
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