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Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-06T23:11:03Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Executive Summary */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Executive Summary==

Las Casas de la Selva is an excellent example of community forestry, because local wood is produced to support the livelihoods of local people on an island where wood is primarily imported. The private landowner, Tropic Ventures, has harvested wood from 300 of their 1,000 acres of freehold land since 2000. This wood supports local woodworkers, furniture makers, craftsmen, etc. The directors at Las Casas de la Selva have influenced the community through a forest products needs assessment, helping with two forest products symposiums, the creation of an online platform, the creation of a council to discuss Puerto Rico's future natural resource uses, and the creation of a small forest enterprise. However, the successes of Las Casas de la Selva have been paused, because Tropic Ventures- and the rest of Puerto Rico- must recover from the impacts of recent hurricanes in 2017.

==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among others, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are to<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>. Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==
[[File:CFPR Power.jpg|thumbnail|right|Stakeholders and power]]
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. In addition, power has not led to corruption here. However this is not always the case in community forestry case studies.

In northern Sweden, conflicts exist among small forest owners (who have statutory rights) and the indigenous Saami people (who have traditional rights). Saami people have historically used the lands for reindeer herding, traveling to the mountains in the summer and to the forests in the winter<ref name="saami">Jeanrenaud, S., 2001. Communities forest management in western Europe. Forests, people, and policies. WG-CIFM/IUCN. 83-88. Web.</ref>. In the winter, their reindeer depend on lichens in older forests as a food source<ref name="saami" />. But grazing areas in forests are poor when logging practices have impacted the land<ref name="saami" />, so the conflict is presented. The statutory rights of small forest owners to log the forests threatens the traditional rights of the Saami reindeer herders-who have been using the land for much longer<ref name="saami" />. The conflict has led to many court cases and also international awareness for the indigenous Saami dilemma<ref name="saami" />. This example in northern Sweden shows how statutory and traditional land claims can complicate community forestry. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva because the private landowner has the full bundle of rights and the indigenous Tainos people are no longer present. If the Tainos thrived on the island today, perhaps there would be similar claim issues.

In Senegal, conflicts exist among rural community leaders and Forest Service officials. This example shows how corruption can be present in community forestry. In 1996 and 1998, Senegalese legislation was passed which gave rural community leaders power over their local forest resources<ref name="weex" />. Historically, Forest Service officials allocated permits to exploit the local forests for charcoal production. But the decentralization gave rural leaders "effective property rights over forests in their jurisdiction: they can exclude others, exploit the resource and allocate access. But in practice they cannot begin to exercise these rights"<ref name="weex">Ribot, J.C., 2009. Authority over forests: empowerment and subordination in Senegal's democratic decentralization. Development and Change. Vol. 40:1. 105-129. Web.</ref>. The Forest Service officials now need rural leader signatures to proceed with resource exploitation. However those who resisted were often threatened and paid off, therefore failing to exercise there power justly. In a way, the rural leaders were "elected as the representatives of the people, but they 'have no tongues'"<ref name="weex" />. This example in Senegal shows that despite power given to local people by law, they can still be corrupted through threats and pressure by government officials. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva. All stakeholders, government and non-government alike, have similar goals and there is no corruption.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continued funding of programs will support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
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Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-06T23:09:45Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Executive Summary */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Executive Summary==

Las Casas de la Selva is an excellent example of community forestry, because local wood is produced to support the livelihoods of local people on an island where wood is primarily imported. The private landowner, Tropic Ventures, has harvested wood from 300 of their 1,000 acres of freehold land since 2000. This wood supports local woodworkers, furniture makers, craftsmen, etc. The directors at Las Casas de la Selva has influenced the community through a forest products needs assessment, helping with two forest products symposiums, the creation of an online platform, the creation of a council to discuss Puerto Rico's future natural resource uses, and the creation of a small forest enterprise. However, the successes of Las Casas de la Selva have been paused, because Tropic Ventures- and the rest of Puerto Rico- must recover from the impacts of recent hurricanes in 2017.

==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among others, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are to<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>. Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==
[[File:CFPR Power.jpg|thumbnail|right|Stakeholders and power]]
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. In addition, power has not led to corruption here. However this is not always the case in community forestry case studies.

In northern Sweden, conflicts exist among small forest owners (who have statutory rights) and the indigenous Saami people (who have traditional rights). Saami people have historically used the lands for reindeer herding, traveling to the mountains in the summer and to the forests in the winter<ref name="saami">Jeanrenaud, S., 2001. Communities forest management in western Europe. Forests, people, and policies. WG-CIFM/IUCN. 83-88. Web.</ref>. In the winter, their reindeer depend on lichens in older forests as a food source<ref name="saami" />. But grazing areas in forests are poor when logging practices have impacted the land<ref name="saami" />, so the conflict is presented. The statutory rights of small forest owners to log the forests threatens the traditional rights of the Saami reindeer herders-who have been using the land for much longer<ref name="saami" />. The conflict has led to many court cases and also international awareness for the indigenous Saami dilemma<ref name="saami" />. This example in northern Sweden shows how statutory and traditional land claims can complicate community forestry. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva because the private landowner has the full bundle of rights and the indigenous Tainos people are no longer present. If the Tainos thrived on the island today, perhaps there would be similar claim issues.

In Senegal, conflicts exist among rural community leaders and Forest Service officials. This example shows how corruption can be present in community forestry. In 1996 and 1998, Senegalese legislation was passed which gave rural community leaders power over their local forest resources<ref name="weex" />. Historically, Forest Service officials allocated permits to exploit the local forests for charcoal production. But the decentralization gave rural leaders "effective property rights over forests in their jurisdiction: they can exclude others, exploit the resource and allocate access. But in practice they cannot begin to exercise these rights"<ref name="weex">Ribot, J.C., 2009. Authority over forests: empowerment and subordination in Senegal's democratic decentralization. Development and Change. Vol. 40:1. 105-129. Web.</ref>. The Forest Service officials now need rural leader signatures to proceed with resource exploitation. However those who resisted were often threatened and paid off, therefore failing to exercise there power justly. In a way, the rural leaders were "elected as the representatives of the people, but they 'have no tongues'"<ref name="weex" />. This example in Senegal shows that despite power given to local people by law, they can still be corrupted through threats and pressure by government officials. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva. All stakeholders, government and non-government alike, have similar goals and there is no corruption.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continued funding of programs will support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

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Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-06T23:05:45Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Executive Summary */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Executive Summary==

Las Casas de la Selva is an excellent example of community forestry, because local wood is produced to support the livelihoods of local people on an island where wood is primarily imported. The private landowner, Tropic Ventures, has harvested wood from 300 of their 1,000 acres of freehold land since 2000. This wood supports local woodworkers, furniture makers, craftsmen, etc. The directors at Las Casas de la Selva has influenced the community through a forest products needs assessment, helping with two forest products symposiums, the creation of an online platform, the creation of a council to discuss Puerto Rico's future natural resource uses, and the creation of a small forest enterprise. However, the successes of Las Casas de la Selva have been put on hold as Tropic Ventures- and the rest of Puerto Rico- must recover from the impacts of recent hurricanes in 2017.

==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among others, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are to<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>. Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==
[[File:CFPR Power.jpg|thumbnail|right|Stakeholders and power]]
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. In addition, power has not led to corruption here. However this is not always the case in community forestry case studies.

In northern Sweden, conflicts exist among small forest owners (who have statutory rights) and the indigenous Saami people (who have traditional rights). Saami people have historically used the lands for reindeer herding, traveling to the mountains in the summer and to the forests in the winter<ref name="saami">Jeanrenaud, S., 2001. Communities forest management in western Europe. Forests, people, and policies. WG-CIFM/IUCN. 83-88. Web.</ref>. In the winter, their reindeer depend on lichens in older forests as a food source<ref name="saami" />. But grazing areas in forests are poor when logging practices have impacted the land<ref name="saami" />, so the conflict is presented. The statutory rights of small forest owners to log the forests threatens the traditional rights of the Saami reindeer herders-who have been using the land for much longer<ref name="saami" />. The conflict has led to many court cases and also international awareness for the indigenous Saami dilemma<ref name="saami" />. This example in northern Sweden shows how statutory and traditional land claims can complicate community forestry. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva because the private landowner has the full bundle of rights and the indigenous Tainos people are no longer present. If the Tainos thrived on the island today, perhaps there would be similar claim issues.

In Senegal, conflicts exist among rural community leaders and Forest Service officials. This example shows how corruption can be present in community forestry. In 1996 and 1998, Senegalese legislation was passed which gave rural community leaders power over their local forest resources<ref name="weex" />. Historically, Forest Service officials allocated permits to exploit the local forests for charcoal production. But the decentralization gave rural leaders "effective property rights over forests in their jurisdiction: they can exclude others, exploit the resource and allocate access. But in practice they cannot begin to exercise these rights"<ref name="weex">Ribot, J.C., 2009. Authority over forests: empowerment and subordination in Senegal's democratic decentralization. Development and Change. Vol. 40:1. 105-129. Web.</ref>. The Forest Service officials now need rural leader signatures to proceed with resource exploitation. However those who resisted were often threatened and paid off, therefore failing to exercise there power justly. In a way, the rural leaders were "elected as the representatives of the people, but they 'have no tongues'"<ref name="weex" />. This example in Senegal shows that despite power given to local people by law, they can still be corrupted through threats and pressure by government officials. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva. All stakeholders, government and non-government alike, have similar goals and there is no corruption.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continued funding of programs will support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= yes
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Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-06T23:04:12Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Executive Summary */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Executive Summary==

Las Casas de la Selva is an excellent example of community forestry, because local wood is produced to support the livelihoods of local people on an island where wood is primarily imported. The private landowner, Tropic Ventures, has harvested wood from 300 of their 1000 acres of freehold land since 2000. This wood supports local woodworkers, furniture makers, craftsmen, etc. The directors at Las Casas de la Selva has influenced the community through a forest products needs assessment, helping with two forest products symposiums, the creation of an online platform, the creation of a council to discuss Puerto Rico's future natural resource uses, and the creation of a small forest enterprise. However, the successes of Las Casas de la Selva have been put on hold as Tropic Ventures- and the rest of Puerto Rico- must recover from the impacts of recent hurricanes in 2017.

==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among others, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are to<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>. Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==
[[File:CFPR Power.jpg|thumbnail|right|Stakeholders and power]]
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. In addition, power has not led to corruption here. However this is not always the case in community forestry case studies.

In northern Sweden, conflicts exist among small forest owners (who have statutory rights) and the indigenous Saami people (who have traditional rights). Saami people have historically used the lands for reindeer herding, traveling to the mountains in the summer and to the forests in the winter<ref name="saami">Jeanrenaud, S., 2001. Communities forest management in western Europe. Forests, people, and policies. WG-CIFM/IUCN. 83-88. Web.</ref>. In the winter, their reindeer depend on lichens in older forests as a food source<ref name="saami" />. But grazing areas in forests are poor when logging practices have impacted the land<ref name="saami" />, so the conflict is presented. The statutory rights of small forest owners to log the forests threatens the traditional rights of the Saami reindeer herders-who have been using the land for much longer<ref name="saami" />. The conflict has led to many court cases and also international awareness for the indigenous Saami dilemma<ref name="saami" />. This example in northern Sweden shows how statutory and traditional land claims can complicate community forestry. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva because the private landowner has the full bundle of rights and the indigenous Tainos people are no longer present. If the Tainos thrived on the island today, perhaps there would be similar claim issues.

In Senegal, conflicts exist among rural community leaders and Forest Service officials. This example shows how corruption can be present in community forestry. In 1996 and 1998, Senegalese legislation was passed which gave rural community leaders power over their local forest resources<ref name="weex" />. Historically, Forest Service officials allocated permits to exploit the local forests for charcoal production. But the decentralization gave rural leaders "effective property rights over forests in their jurisdiction: they can exclude others, exploit the resource and allocate access. But in practice they cannot begin to exercise these rights"<ref name="weex">Ribot, J.C., 2009. Authority over forests: empowerment and subordination in Senegal's democratic decentralization. Development and Change. Vol. 40:1. 105-129. Web.</ref>. The Forest Service officials now need rural leader signatures to proceed with resource exploitation. However those who resisted were often threatened and paid off, therefore failing to exercise there power justly. In a way, the rural leaders were "elected as the representatives of the people, but they 'have no tongues'"<ref name="weex" />. This example in Senegal shows that despite power given to local people by law, they can still be corrupted through threats and pressure by government officials. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva. All stakeholders, government and non-government alike, have similar goals and there is no corruption.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continued funding of programs will support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

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Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-06T23:02:56Z

MATTHEWTODD:

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Executive Summary==

Las Casas de la Selva is an excellent example of community forestry, because local wood is produced to support the livelihoods of local people on an island where wood is primarily imported. The private landowner, Tropic Ventures, has harvested wood from 300 of their 1000 acres of freehold land since 2000. This wood supports local woodworkers, furniture makers, craftsmen, etc. Tropic Ventures work at Las Casas de la Selva has influenced the community through a forest products needs assessment, helping with two forest products symposiums, the creation of an online platform, the creation of a council to discuss Puerto Rico's future natural resource uses, and the creation of a small forest enterprise. However, the successes of Las Casas de la Selva have been put on hold as Tropic Ventures- and the rest of Puerto Rico- must recover from the impacts of recent hurricanes in 2017.

==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among others, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are to<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>. Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==
[[File:CFPR Power.jpg|thumbnail|right|Stakeholders and power]]
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. In addition, power has not led to corruption here. However this is not always the case in community forestry case studies.

In northern Sweden, conflicts exist among small forest owners (who have statutory rights) and the indigenous Saami people (who have traditional rights). Saami people have historically used the lands for reindeer herding, traveling to the mountains in the summer and to the forests in the winter<ref name="saami">Jeanrenaud, S., 2001. Communities forest management in western Europe. Forests, people, and policies. WG-CIFM/IUCN. 83-88. Web.</ref>. In the winter, their reindeer depend on lichens in older forests as a food source<ref name="saami" />. But grazing areas in forests are poor when logging practices have impacted the land<ref name="saami" />, so the conflict is presented. The statutory rights of small forest owners to log the forests threatens the traditional rights of the Saami reindeer herders-who have been using the land for much longer<ref name="saami" />. The conflict has led to many court cases and also international awareness for the indigenous Saami dilemma<ref name="saami" />. This example in northern Sweden shows how statutory and traditional land claims can complicate community forestry. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva because the private landowner has the full bundle of rights and the indigenous Tainos people are no longer present. If the Tainos thrived on the island today, perhaps there would be similar claim issues.

In Senegal, conflicts exist among rural community leaders and Forest Service officials. This example shows how corruption can be present in community forestry. In 1996 and 1998, Senegalese legislation was passed which gave rural community leaders power over their local forest resources<ref name="weex" />. Historically, Forest Service officials allocated permits to exploit the local forests for charcoal production. But the decentralization gave rural leaders "effective property rights over forests in their jurisdiction: they can exclude others, exploit the resource and allocate access. But in practice they cannot begin to exercise these rights"<ref name="weex">Ribot, J.C., 2009. Authority over forests: empowerment and subordination in Senegal's democratic decentralization. Development and Change. Vol. 40:1. 105-129. Web.</ref>. The Forest Service officials now need rural leader signatures to proceed with resource exploitation. However those who resisted were often threatened and paid off, therefore failing to exercise there power justly. In a way, the rural leaders were "elected as the representatives of the people, but they 'have no tongues'"<ref name="weex" />. This example in Senegal shows that despite power given to local people by law, they can still be corrupted through threats and pressure by government officials. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva. All stakeholders, government and non-government alike, have similar goals and there is no corruption.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continued funding of programs will support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= yes
|<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-04T00:05:22Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among others, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are to<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>. Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==
[[File:CFPR Power.jpg|thumbnail|right|Stakeholders and power]]
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. In addition, power has not led to corruption here. However this is not always the case in community forestry case studies.

In northern Sweden, conflicts exist among small forest owners (who have statutory rights) and the indigenous Saami people (who have traditional rights). Saami people have historically used the lands for reindeer herding, traveling to the mountains in the summer and to the forests in the winter<ref name="saami">Jeanrenaud, S., 2001. Communities forest management in western Europe. Forests, people, and policies. WG-CIFM/IUCN. 83-88. Web.</ref>. In the winter, their reindeer depend on lichens in older forests as a food source<ref name="saami" />. But grazing areas in forests are poor when logging practices have impacted the land<ref name="saami" />, so the conflict is presented. The statutory rights of small forest owners to log the forests threatens the traditional rights of the Saami reindeer herders-who have been using the land for much longer<ref name="saami" />. The conflict has led to many court cases and also international awareness for the indigenous Saami dilemma<ref name="saami" />. This example in northern Sweden shows how statutory and traditional land claims can complicate community forestry. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva because the private landowner has the full bundle of rights and the indigenous Tainos people are no longer present. If the Tainos thrived on the island today, perhaps there would be similar claim issues.

In Senegal, conflicts exist among rural community leaders and Forest Service officials. This example shows how corruption can be present in community forestry. In 1996 and 1998, Senegalese legislation was passed which gave rural community leaders power over their local forest resources<ref name="weex" />. Historically, Forest Service officials allocated permits to exploit the local forests for charcoal production. But the decentralization gave rural leaders "effective property rights over forests in their jurisdiction: they can exclude others, exploit the resource and allocate access. But in practice they cannot begin to exercise these rights"<ref name="weex">Ribot, J.C., 2009. Authority over forests: empowerment and subordination in Senegal's democratic decentralization. Development and Change. Vol. 40:1. 105-129. Web.</ref>. The Forest Service officials now need rural leader signatures to proceed with resource exploitation. However those who resisted were often threatened and paid off, therefore failing to exercise there power justly. In a way, the rural leaders were "elected as the representatives of the people, but they 'have no tongues'"<ref name="weex" />. This example in Senegal shows that despite power given to local people by law, they can still be corrupted through threats and pressure by government officials. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva. All stakeholders, government and non-government alike, have similar goals and there is no corruption.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continued funding of programs will support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
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|share= yes
|<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-04T00:01:32Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Assessment */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among others, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are to<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>. Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==
[[File:CFPR Power.jpg|thumbnail|right|Stakeholders and power]]
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. In addition, power has not led to corruption here. However this is not always the case in community forestry case studies.

In northern Sweden, conflicts exist among small forest owners (who have statutory rights) and the indigenous Saami people (who have traditional rights). Saami people have historically used the lands for reindeer herding, traveling to the mountains in the summer and to the forests in the winter<ref name="saami">Jeanrenaud, S., 2001. Communities forest management in western Europe. Forests, people, and policies. WG-CIFM/IUCN. 83-88. Web.</ref>. In the winter, their reindeer depend on lichens in older forests as a food source<ref name="saami" />. But grazing areas in forests are poor when logging practices have impacted the land<ref name="saami" />, so the conflict is presented. The statutory rights of small forest owners to log the forests threatens the traditional rights of the Saami reindeer herders-who have been using the land for much longer<ref name="saami" />. The conflict has led to many court cases and also international awareness for the indigenous Saami dilemma<ref name="saami" />. This example in northern Sweden shows how statutory and traditional land claims can complicate community forestry. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva because the private landowner has the full bundle of rights and the indigenous Tainos people are no longer present. If the Tainos thrived on the island today, perhaps there would be similar claim issues.

In Senegal, conflicts exist among rural community leaders and Forest Service officials. This example shows how corruption can be present in community forestry. In 1996 and 1998, Senegalese legislation was passed which gave rural community leaders power over their local forest resources<ref name="weex" />. Historically, Forest Service officials allocated permits to exploit the local forests for charcoal production. But the decentralization gave rural leaders "effective property rights over forests in their jurisdiction: they can exclude others, exploit the resource and allocate access. But in practice they cannot begin to exercise these rights"<ref name="weex">Ribot, J.C., 2009. Authority over forests: empowerment and subordination in Senegal's democratic decentralization. Development and Change. Vol. 40:1. 105-129. Web.</ref>. The Forest Service officials now need rural leader signatures to proceed with resource exploitation. However those who resisted were often threatened and paid off, therefore failing to exercise there power justly. In a way, the rural leaders were "elected as the representatives of the people, but they 'have no tongues'"<ref name="weex" />. This example in Senegal shows that despite power given to local people by law, they can still be corrupted through threats and pressure by government officials. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva. All stakeholders, government and non-government alike, have similar goals and there is no corruption.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

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Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-04T00:00:26Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Assessment */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among others, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are to<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>. Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==
[[File:CFPR Power.jpg|thumbnail|right|Stakeholders and power]]
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. In addition, power has not corrupted any stakeholders in the community forestry case study. However this is not always the case in community forestry case studies.

In northern Sweden, conflicts exist among small forest owners (who have statutory rights) and the indigenous Saami people (who have traditional rights). Saami people have historically used the lands for reindeer herding, traveling to the mountains in the summer and to the forests in the winter<ref name="saami">Jeanrenaud, S., 2001. Communities forest management in western Europe. Forests, people, and policies. WG-CIFM/IUCN. 83-88. Web.</ref>. In the winter, their reindeer depend on lichens in older forests as a food source<ref name="saami" />. But grazing areas in forests are poor when logging practices have impacted the land<ref name="saami" />, so the conflict is presented. The statutory rights of small forest owners to log the forests threatens the traditional rights of the Saami reindeer herders-who have been using the land for much longer<ref name="saami" />. The conflict has led to many court cases and also international awareness for the indigenous Saami dilemma<ref name="saami" />. This example in northern Sweden shows how statutory and traditional land claims can complicate community forestry. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva because the private landowner has the full bundle of rights and the indigenous Tainos people are no longer present. If the Tainos thrived on the island today, perhaps there would be similar claim issues.

In Senegal, conflicts exist among rural community leaders and Forest Service officials. This example shows how corruption can be present in community forestry. In 1996 and 1998, Senegalese legislation was passed which gave rural community leaders power over their local forest resources<ref name="weex" />. Historically, Forest Service officials allocated permits to exploit the local forests for charcoal production. But the decentralization gave rural leaders "effective property rights over forests in their jurisdiction: they can exclude others, exploit the resource and allocate access. But in practice they cannot begin to exercise these rights"<ref name="weex">Ribot, J.C., 2009. Authority over forests: empowerment and subordination in Senegal's democratic decentralization. Development and Change. Vol. 40:1. 105-129. Web.</ref>. The Forest Service officials now need rural leader signatures to proceed with resource exploitation. However those who resisted were often threatened and paid off, therefore failing to exercise there power justly. In a way, the rural leaders were "elected as the representatives of the people, but they 'have no tongues'"<ref name="weex" />. This example in Senegal shows that despite power given to local people by law, they can still be corrupted through threats and pressure by government officials. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva. All stakeholders, government and non-government alike, have similar goals and there is no corruption.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
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Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T23:58:25Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Discussion */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among others, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are to<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>. Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==
[[File:CFPR Power.jpg|thumbnail|right|Stakeholders and power]]
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. In addition, power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study. However this is not usually the case in community forestry case studies.

In northern Sweden, conflicts exist among small forest owners (who have statutory rights) and the indigenous Saami people (who have traditional rights). Saami people have historically used the lands for reindeer herding, traveling to the mountains in the summer and to the forests in the winter<ref name="saami">Jeanrenaud, S., 2001. Communities forest management in western Europe. Forests, people, and policies. WG-CIFM/IUCN. 83-88. Web.</ref>. In the winter, their reindeer depend on lichens in older forests as a food source<ref name="saami" />. But grazing areas in forests are poor when logging practices have impacted the land<ref name="saami" />, so the conflict is presented. The statutory rights of small forest owners to log the forests threatens the traditional rights of the Saami reindeer herders-who have been using the land for much longer<ref name="saami" />. The conflict has led to many court cases and also international awareness for the indigenous Saami dilemma<ref name="saami" />. This example in northern Sweden shows how statutory and traditional land claims can complicate community forestry. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva because the private landowner has the full bundle of rights and the indigenous Tainos people are no longer present. If the Tainos thrived on the island today, perhaps there would be similar claim issues.

In Senegal, conflicts exist among rural community leaders and Forest Service officials. This example shows how corruption can be present in community forestry. In 1996 and 1998, Senegalese legislation was passed which gave rural community leaders power over their local forest resources<ref name="weex" />. Historically, Forest Service officials allocated permits to exploit the local forests for charcoal production. But the decentralization gave rural leaders "effective property rights over forests in their jurisdiction: they can exclude others, exploit the resource and allocate access. But in practice they cannot begin to exercise these rights"<ref name="weex">Ribot, J.C., 2009. Authority over forests: empowerment and subordination in Senegal's democratic decentralization. Development and Change. Vol. 40:1. 105-129. Web.</ref>. The Forest Service officials now need rural leader signatures to proceed with resource exploitation. However those who resisted were often threatened and paid off, therefore failing to exercise there power justly. In a way, the rural leaders were "elected as the representatives of the people, but they 'have no tongues'"<ref name="weex" />. This example in Senegal shows that despite power given to local people by law, they can still be corrupted through threats and pressure by government officials. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva. All stakeholders, government and non-government alike, have similar goals and there is no corruption.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
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|share= yes
|<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.
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Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T23:56:06Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Discussion */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among others, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are to<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==
[[File:CFPR Power.jpg|thumbnail|right|Stakeholders and power]]
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. In addition, power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study. However this is not usually the case in community forestry case studies.

In northern Sweden, conflicts exist among small forest owners (who have statutory rights) and the indigenous Saami people (who have traditional rights). Saami people have historically used the lands for reindeer herding, traveling to the mountains in the summer and to the forests in the winter<ref name="saami">Jeanrenaud, S., 2001. Communities forest management in western Europe. Forests, people, and policies. WG-CIFM/IUCN. 83-88. Web.</ref>. In the winter, their reindeer depend on lichens in older forests as a food source<ref name="saami" />. But grazing areas in forests are poor when logging practices have impacted the land<ref name="saami" />, so the conflict is presented. The statutory rights of small forest owners to log the forests threatens the traditional rights of the Saami reindeer herders-who have been using the land for much longer<ref name="saami" />. The conflict has led to many court cases and also international awareness for the indigenous Saami dilemma<ref name="saami" />. This example in northern Sweden shows how statutory and traditional land claims can complicate community forestry. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva because the private landowner has the full bundle of rights and the indigenous Tainos people are no longer present. If the Tainos thrived on the island today, perhaps there would be similar claim issues.

In Senegal, conflicts exist among rural community leaders and Forest Service officials. This example shows how corruption can be present in community forestry. In 1996 and 1998, Senegalese legislation was passed which gave rural community leaders power over their local forest resources<ref name="weex" />. Historically, Forest Service officials allocated permits to exploit the local forests for charcoal production. But the decentralization gave rural leaders "effective property rights over forests in their jurisdiction: they can exclude others, exploit the resource and allocate access. But in practice they cannot begin to exercise these rights"<ref name="weex">Ribot, J.C., 2009. Authority over forests: empowerment and subordination in Senegal's democratic decentralization. Development and Change. Vol. 40:1. 105-129. Web.</ref>. The Forest Service officials now need rural leader signatures to proceed with resource exploitation. However those who resisted were often threatened and paid off, therefore failing to exercise there power justly. In a way, the rural leaders were "elected as the representatives of the people, but they 'have no tongues'"<ref name="weex" />. This example in Senegal shows that despite power given to local people by law, they can still be corrupted through threats and pressure by government officials. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva. All stakeholders, government and non-government alike, have similar goals and there is no corruption.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
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}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T23:50:29Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Las Casa de la Selva Case Study */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among others, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==
[[File:CFPR Power.jpg|thumbnail|right|Stakeholders and power]]
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. In addition, power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study. However this is not usually the case in community forestry case studies.

In northern Sweden, conflicts exist among small forest owners (who have statutory rights) and the indigenous Saami people (who have traditional rights). Saami people have historically used the lands for reindeer herding, traveling to the mountains in the summer and to the forests in the winter<ref name="saami">Jeanrenaud, S., 2001. Communities forest management in western Europe. Forests, people, and policies. WG-CIFM/IUCN. 83-88. Web.</ref>. In the winter, their reindeer depend on lichens in older forests as a food source<ref name="saami" />. But grazing areas in forests are poor when logging practices have impacted the land<ref name="saami" />, so the conflict is presented. The statutory rights of small forest owners to log the forests threatens the traditional rights of the Saami reindeer herders-who have been using the land for much longer<ref name="saami" />. The conflict has led to many court cases and also international awareness for the indigenous Saami dilemma<ref name="saami" />. This example in northern Sweden shows how statutory and traditional land claims can complicate community forestry. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva because the private landowner has the full bundle of rights and the indigenous Tainos people are no longer present. If the Tainos thrived on the island today, perhaps there would be similar claim issues.

In Senegal, conflicts exist among rural community leaders and Forest Service officials. This example shows how corruption can be present in community forestry. In 1996 and 1998, Senegalese legislation was passed which gave rural community leaders power over their local forest resources<ref name="weex" />. Historically, Forest Service officials allocated permits to exploit the local forests for charcoal production. But the decentralization gave rural leaders "effective property rights over forests in their jurisdiction: they can exclude others, exploit the resource and allocate access. But in practice they cannot begin to exercise these rights"<ref name="weex">Ribot, J.C., 2009. Authority over forests: empowerment and subordination in Senegal's democratic decentralization. Development and Change. Vol. 40:1. 105-129. Web.</ref>. The Forest Service officials now need rural leader signatures to proceed with resource exploitation. However those who resisted were often threatened and paid off, therefore failing to exercise there power justly. In a way, the rural leaders were "elected as the representatives of the people, but they 'have no tongues'"<ref name="weex" />. This example in Senegal shows that despite power given to local people by law, they can still be corrupted through threats and pressure by government officials. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva. All stakeholders, government and non-government alike, have similar goals and there is no corruption.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
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|share= yes
|<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.
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Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T23:34:31Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Assessment */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==
[[File:CFPR Power.jpg|thumbnail|right|Stakeholders and power]]
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. In addition, power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study. However this is not usually the case in community forestry case studies.

In northern Sweden, conflicts exist among small forest owners (who have statutory rights) and the indigenous Saami people (who have traditional rights). Saami people have historically used the lands for reindeer herding, traveling to the mountains in the summer and to the forests in the winter<ref name="saami">Jeanrenaud, S., 2001. Communities forest management in western Europe. Forests, people, and policies. WG-CIFM/IUCN. 83-88. Web.</ref>. In the winter, their reindeer depend on lichens in older forests as a food source<ref name="saami" />. But grazing areas in forests are poor when logging practices have impacted the land<ref name="saami" />, so the conflict is presented. The statutory rights of small forest owners to log the forests threatens the traditional rights of the Saami reindeer herders-who have been using the land for much longer<ref name="saami" />. The conflict has led to many court cases and also international awareness for the indigenous Saami dilemma<ref name="saami" />. This example in northern Sweden shows how statutory and traditional land claims can complicate community forestry. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva because the private landowner has the full bundle of rights and the indigenous Tainos people are no longer present. If the Tainos thrived on the island today, perhaps there would be similar claim issues.

In Senegal, conflicts exist among rural community leaders and Forest Service officials. This example shows how corruption can be present in community forestry. In 1996 and 1998, Senegalese legislation was passed which gave rural community leaders power over their local forest resources<ref name="weex" />. Historically, Forest Service officials allocated permits to exploit the local forests for charcoal production. But the decentralization gave rural leaders "effective property rights over forests in their jurisdiction: they can exclude others, exploit the resource and allocate access. But in practice they cannot begin to exercise these rights"<ref name="weex">Ribot, J.C., 2009. Authority over forests: empowerment and subordination in Senegal's democratic decentralization. Development and Change. Vol. 40:1. 105-129. Web.</ref>. The Forest Service officials now need rural leader signatures to proceed with resource exploitation. However those who resisted were often threatened and paid off, therefore failing to exercise there power justly. In a way, the rural leaders were "elected as the representatives of the people, but they 'have no tongues'"<ref name="weex" />. This example in Senegal shows that despite power given to local people by law, they can still be corrupted through threats and pressure by government officials. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva. All stakeholders, government and non-government alike, have similar goals and there is no corruption.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= yes
|<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T23:33:45Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Assessment */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==
[[File:CFPR Power.jpg|thumbnail|right|Stakeholders and power]]
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. In addition, power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study. However this is not usually the case in community forestry case studies.

In northern Sweden, conflicts exist among small forest owners (who have statutory rights) and the indigenous Saami people (who have traditional rights). Saami people have historically used the lands for reindeer herding, traveling to the mountains in the summer and to the forests in the winter<ref name="saami">Jeanrenaud, S., 2001. Communities forest management in western Europe. Forests, people, and policies. WG-CIFM/IUCN. 83-88. Web.</ref>. In the winter, their reindeer depend on lichens in older forests as a food source<ref name="saami" />. But grazing areas in forests are poor when logging practices have impacted the land<ref name="saami" />, so the conflict is presented. The statutory rights of small forest owners to log the forests threatens the traditional rights of the Saami reindeer herders-who have been using the land for much longer<ref name="saami" />. The conflict has led to many court cases and also international awareness for the indigenous Saami dilemma<ref name="saami" />. This example in northern Sweden shows how statutory and traditional land claims can complicate community forestry. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva because the private landowner has the full bundle of rights and the indigenous Tainos people are no longer present. If the Tainos thrived on the island today, perhaps there would be similar claim issues.

In Senegal, conflicts exist among rural community leaders and Forest Service officials. This example shows how corruption can be present in community forestry. In 1996 and 1998, Senegalese legislation was passed which gave rural community leaders power over their local forest resources<ref name="weex" />. Historically, Forest Service officials allocated permits to exploit the local forests for charcoal production. But the decentralization gave rural leaders "effective property rights over forests in their jurisdiction: they can exclude others, exploit the resource and allocate access. But in practice they cannot begin to exercise these rights"<ref name="weex">Ribot, J.C., 2009. Authority over forests: empowerment and subordination in Senegal's democratic decentralization. Development and Change. Vol. 40:1. 105-129. Web.</ref>. The Forest Service officials now need rural leader signatures to proceed with resource exploitation. However those who resisted were often threatened and paid off, therefore failing to exercise there power justly. In a way, the rural leaders were "elected as the representatives of the people, but they 'have no tongues'"<ref name="weex" />. This example in Senegal shows that despite power given to local people by law, they can still be corrupted through threats and pressure by government officials. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva. All stakeholders, government and non-government alike, have similar goals and there are no power abuses.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
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Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T23:14:12Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Assessment */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==
[[File:CFPR Power.jpg|thumbnail|right|Stakeholders and power]]
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. However this is not usually the case in community forestry case studies.

In northern Sweden, conflicts exist among small forest owners (who have statutory rights) and the indigenous Saami people (who have traditional rights). This example shows how complicated community forestry can be when there are multiple claims to the land. Saami people have historically used the lands for reindeer herding, traveling to the mountains in the summer and to the forests in the winter<ref name="saami">Jeanrenaud, S., 2001. Communities forest management in western Europe. Forests, people, and policies. WG-CIFM/IUCN. 83-88. Web.</ref>. In the winter, reindeer depend on lichens in older forests as a food source<ref name="saami" />. But grazing areas in forests are poor when logging practices have impacted the land<ref name="saami" />, so the conflict is presented. The statutory rights of small forest owners to log the forests threatens the traditional rights of the Saami reindeer herders-who have been using the land for much longer<ref name="saami" />. The conflict has led to many court cases and also international awareness for the indigenous Saami dilemma<ref name="saami" />. This example in northern Sweden shows how statutory and traditional land claims can complicate community forestry. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva as the private landowner owns the land outright and the indigenous Tainos people are no longer present. If the Tainos thrived on the island today, perhaps there would be similar claim issues.

In Senegal, conflicts exist among rural community leaders and Forest Service officials. This example shows how corruption can be present in community forestry. In 1996 and 1998, legislation was passed which gave rural community leaders power over their local forests. Historically, Forest Service officials allocated permits to exploit the local forests for charcoal production. But the decentralization gave the rural leaders "effective property rights over forests in their jurisdiction: they can exclude others, exploit the resource and allocate access. But in practice they cannot begin to exercise these rights"<ref name="weex">Ribot, J.C., 2009. Authority over forests: empowerment and subordination in Senegal's democratic decentralization. Development and Change. Vol. 40:1. 105-129. Web.</ref>. The Forest Service officials now need rural leader signatures to proceed with resource exploitation. However those who resisted were often threatened and paid off, therefore failing to exercise there power justly. In a way, the rural leaders were "elected as the representatives of the people, but they 'have no tongues'"<ref name="weex" />. This example in Senegal shows that despite power given to local people by law, they can still be corrupted through threats and pressure by government officials. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva. All stakeholders, government and non-government alike, have similar goals and there are no power abuses.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= yes
|<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T22:55:21Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Assessment */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==
[[File:CFPR Power.jpg|thumbnail|right|Stakeholders and power]]
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. However this is not usually the case in community forestry case studies.

In northern Sweden, conflicts exist among

In Senegal, conflicts exist among rural community leaders and Forest Service officials. This example shows how corruption can be present in community forestry. In 1996 and 1998, legislation was passed which gave rural community leaders power over their local forests. Historically, Forest Service officials allocated permits to exploit the local forests for charcoal production. But the decentralization gave the rural leaders "effective property rights over forests in their jurisdiction: they can exclude others, exploit the resource and allocate access. But in practice they cannot begin to exercise these rights"<ref name="weex">Ribot, J.C., 2009. Authority over forests: empowerment and subordination in Senegal's democratic decentralization. Development and Change. Vol. 40:1. 105-129. Web.</ref>. The Forest Service officials now need rural leader signatures to proceed with resource exploitation. However those who resisted were often threatened and paid off, therefore failing to exercise there power justly. In a way, the rural leaders were "elected as the representatives of the people, but they 'have no tongues'"<ref name="weex" />. This example in Senegal shows that despite power given to local people by law, they can still be corrupted through threats and pressure by government officials. Such is not the case with Las Casas de la Selva. All stakeholders, government and non-government alike, have similar goals and there are no power abuses.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= yes
|<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T21:29:45Z

MATTHEWTODD:

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==
[[File:CFPR Power.jpg|thumbnail|right|Stakeholders and power]]
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. However this is not usually the case in community forestry case studies.

JFM india

Saami

Senegal (Weex)

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
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Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T02:10:06Z

MATTHEWTODD:

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Group !! Interests !! Source of power !! Scale of influence !! Means to achieve interests
|-
| Tropic Ventures || Economic use of forest without destruction of ecology || Forest ownership || Local, international || Voluntary management agreement
|-
| Local architects, woodworkers, furniture makers|| Use of forest resources, employment || Local voting power || Local || Symposium participation
|-
| Puerto Rico Hardwoods Inc. || Limit waste of forest resources || Limited a small business enterprise || Local || Online platform, waste reduction strategies
|-
| Institute of Ecotechnics || Success of Tropic Ventures || Owns Tropic Ventures || International || Active in Tropic Ventures' activities
|-
| USFS || Agency goals and objectives || United States government || Local, national, international || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| IITF || Agency goals and objectives || United States government || Local, regional, international || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| DNER || Agency goals and objectives || Puerto Rico government || Local, regional || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| Earthwatch Institute || Collaboration with Tropic Ventures || Human capital (volunteers) || International || Network of volunteers for 15 years
|-
| CADA || Brainstorms sessions to better manage island's natural resources || Limited || Local || Meeting among several stakeholders
|-
| Local universities || Research || Limited through universities || Local || Collaborate with Tropic Ventures for research
|}
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. However this is not usually the case in community forestry case studies.

JFM india

Saami

Senegal (Weex)

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= yes
|<a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="https://i.creativecommons.org/l/by/4.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />This work is licensed under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License</a>.
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T02:03:09Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508) */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Group !! Interests !! Source of power !! Scale of influence !! Means to achieve interests
|-
| Tropic Ventures || Economic use of forest without destruction of ecology || Forest ownership || Local, international || Voluntary management agreement
|-
| Local architects, woodworkers, furniture makers|| Use of forest resources, employment || Local voting power || Local || Symposium participation
|-
| Puerto Rico Hardwoods Inc. || Limit waste of forest resources || Limited a small business enterprise || Local || Online platform, waste reduction strategies
|-
| Institute of Ecotechnics || Success of Tropic Ventures || Owns Tropic Ventures || International || Active in Tropic Ventures' activities
|-
| USFS || Agency goals and objectives || United States government || Local, national, international || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| IITF || Agency goals and objectives || United States government || Local, regional, international || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| DNER || Agency goals and objectives || Puerto Rico government || Local, regional || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| Earthwatch Institute || Collaboration with Tropic Ventures || Human capital (volunteers) || International || Network of volunteers for 15 years
|-
| CADA || Brainstorms sessions to better manage island's natural resources || Limited || Local || Meeting among several stakeholders
|-
| Local universities || Research || Limited through universities || Local || Collaborate with Tropic Ventures for research
|}
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. However this is not usually the case in community forestry case studies.

JFM india

Saami

Senegal (Weex)

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T02:01:47Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508) */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “''The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system''”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Group !! Interests !! Source of power !! Scale of influence !! Means to achieve interests
|-
| Tropic Ventures || Economic use of forest without destruction of ecology || Forest ownership || Local, international || Voluntary management agreement
|-
| Local architects, woodworkers, furniture makers|| Use of forest resources, employment || Local voting power || Local || Symposium participation
|-
| Puerto Rico Hardwoods Inc. || Limit waste of forest resources || Limited a small business enterprise || Local || Online platform, waste reduction strategies
|-
| Institute of Ecotechnics || Success of Tropic Ventures || Owns Tropic Ventures || International || Active in Tropic Ventures' activities
|-
| USFS || Agency goals and objectives || United States government || Local, national, international || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| IITF || Agency goals and objectives || United States government || Local, regional, international || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| DNER || Agency goals and objectives || Puerto Rico government || Local, regional || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| Earthwatch Institute || Collaboration with Tropic Ventures || Human capital (volunteers) || International || Network of volunteers for 15 years
|-
| CADA || Brainstorms sessions to better manage island's natural resources || Limited || Local || Meeting among several stakeholders
|-
| Local universities || Research || Limited through universities || Local || Collaborate with Tropic Ventures for research
|}
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. However this is not usually the case in community forestry case studies.

JFM india

Saami

Senegal (Weex)

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522

2017-12-03T01:57:16Z

MATTHEWTODD:

This is the Wiki Project Page for FRST522. The [http://cases.open.ubc.ca Open Case Studies project] at UBC brings together faculty and students from different disciplines to write, edit, and learn with case studies that are free and open--they are publicly available free of cost, and they are licensed to allow others to revise and reuse them. As part of FRST522, you have the opportunity to create valuable educational resources that can be used world-wide.

[[File:Costa rica santa elena skywalk.jpg|thumb|300px||FRST522 Open Case Studies]]
==Template Case Study==
*[[Documentation:Open_Case_Studies/Forestry/Template|Forestry Open Case Study Template]]

===Formatting Sample===
Here is also a generic sample wiki page that you can use as a guide for formatting:
*[[Documentation:Open_Case_Studies/FRST522/Sample|Sample]]

==2017 Project Pages ==
===First Project===
Click to Create and Edit:

*[[Documentation:Open_Case_Studies/FRST522/Illegal_logging_in_the_Republic_of_Congo|Illegal logging in the Republic of Congo]]
*[[Documentation:Open_Case_Studies/FRST522/Illegal_logging_in_California|Illegal logging in California]]
*[[Documentation:Open_Case_Studies/FRST522/Illegal_logging_in_Bolivia|Illegal logging in Bolivia]]
*[[Documentation:Open_Case_Studies/FRST522/Illegal Logging in The Philippines|Illegal Logging in The Philippines]]
*[[Documentation:Open_Case_Studies/FRST522/Illegal_logging_in_Thailand|Illegal logging in Thailand]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Illegal Logging in Brown Mountain|Illegal logging case study in Brown Mountain, Victoria, Australia - The case of VicForests Company, 2009]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Illegal Logging in Lao Peoples Democratic Republic|Illegal Logging in Lao Peoples Democratic Republic]]
*[[Documentation:Open_Case_Studies/FRST522/Right_to_Harvest|Right to Harvest: Issues and Impacts in R. vs Sappier, R. vs Gray, Canada]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Illegal Logging in Tanzania|Illegal Logging in Tanzania]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Illegal Logging in Papua New Guinea|Illegal Logging in Papua New Guinea]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Illegal logging in Sumatra Indonesia|Illegal logging in Sumatra, Indonesia]]
*[[Documentation:Open_Case_Studies/FRST522/Illegal_logging_and_FLEGT_in_Indonesia|Illegal logging and FLEGT in Indonesia]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Legally illegal in BC-Granted tenures on Customary lands without consent|Legally illegal in BC: Granted tenures on Customary lands without consent]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Illegal logging in Ondo State|Illegal logging in Ondo State of Nigeria]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Illegal Logging in Vietnam|Illegal Logging in Vietnam]]
*[[Documentation:Open_Case_Studies/FRST522/Illegal_Logging_in_the_Case_of_Behn_v_Moulton_Canada|Illegal Logging in the Case of Behn v Moulton, Canada]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/The Lacey Act Amendments of 2008|The Lacey Act Amendments of 2008: drivers and consequences for illegally sourced timber and timber product imports into the USA]]
*[[Documentation:Open_Case_Studies/FRST522/Illegal_logging_in_the_Russian_Far_East|Illegal logging in the Russian Far East]]
*[[Documentation:Open_Case_Studies/FRST522/Illegal_logging_in_Honduras|Illegal logging in Honduras]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Illegal Logging in Madagascar|The Rosewood Conundrum: Illegal Logging in Madagascar]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Illegal logging in Myanmar|Illegal logging in Myanmar]]

===Second Project===
====I. Length====
There is no word limit. Your Wiki Paper should be between 2,000 and 5,000 words in length (exclusive of references, maps, photographs, links to other open source content).

====II. Purpose====
Demonstrate (a) your ability to extract and summarize relevant information and (b) your capacity to rationalize and present logical arguments for further evolution or progress on some aspect of your case study.

====III. Content====
Content: each Wiki page should contain the following elements:
*III.1 A Title – include the name of the community/communities and the country.
*III.2 Summary in one paragraph
*III.3 Text of paper
*III.4 References cited
*III.5 Notes (if any)
*III.6 Figures, Maps and Tables (if any).

====IV. Text of Paper====
Headers for main sections will be provided on your Wiki page. You can add new sections.
*IV.1 Description of the community forestry case study – Where located; history; national or regional context (if appropriate)
*IV.2 Tenure arrangements. Describe the nature of the tenure: freehold or forest management agreement/arrangements, duration, etc.
*IV.3 Administrative arrangements. Describe the management authority and the reporting system.
*IV.4 Social actors (stakeholders, user groups) who are affected stakeholders, their main relevant objectives, and their relative power
*IV.5 Social actors (stakeholders, user groups) who are interested stakeholders, outside the community, their main relevant objectives, and their relative power
*IV.6 A discussion of the aims and intentions of the community forestry project and your assessment of relative successes or failures. You should also include a discussion of critical issues or conflicts in this community and how they are being managed
*IV.7 Your assessment of the relative power of each group of social actors, and how that power is being used
*IV.8 Your recommendations about this community forestry project

'''Note:''' ''Italic text'' if you are unable to find any information on one or more of these categories in your literature search, then say so. You can then write about this gap in section IV.8

====V. References====
*V.1 Please provide a full reference for every work cited anywhere in the paper in the ‘References Cited’ section at the end of the Wiki page.
*V.2 Provide a citation for ''every'' sentence, statement, thought, or bit of data not your own, giving the author, year, AND page.

===Chosen Topics===
Click on the link to your topic to begin editing:

*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/A case study on Bimbia Bonadikombo Community Forest (BBCF), South West Region of Cameroon - Emergence Impacts and Improvements|A case study on Bimbia Bonadikombo Community Forest (BBCF), South West Region of Cameroon: Emergence, Impacts, and Improvements]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/The global decline of insect pollinators implications on food security and the importance of creating food sovereign communities through sustainable agricultural landscapes|The global decline of insect pollinators, implications on food security, and the importance of creating food sovereign communities through sustainable agricultural landscapes]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/A case study on Bimbia Bonadikombo Community Forest (BBCF), South West Region of Cameroon: Emergence, Impacts, and Improvements|A case study on Bimbia Bonadikombo Community Forest (BBCF), South West Region of Cameroon: Emergence, Impacts, and Improvements]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Payment for Ecosystem Services in the Chinantec Communities of the Mexican Cloud Forest|Payment for Ecosystem Services in the Chinantec Communities of the Mexican Cloud Forest]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Evaluation of the impacts of urban forest in Beijing China|Evaluation of the impacts of urban forest in Beijing, China]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Initiatives to combat deforestation in the Amazon region Brazil|Initiatives to combat deforestation in the Amazon region, Brazil]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Quilombola communities in Vale do Ribeira São Paulo|Quilombola communities in Vale do Ribeira, São Paulo]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Lao PDR Hydro dam development plan Who benefits who loses|Lao PDR Hydro dam development plan: Who benefits, who loses?]]
*[[Documentation:Open_Case_Studies/FRST522/The_evolution_of_the_Mgori_Forest_in_Singida_District_Tanzania|The evolution of the Mgori Forest in Singida District, Tanzania]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Incorporated Land Groups in Papua New Guinea|Incorporated Land Groups in Papua New Guinea]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Aboriginal forestry in British Columbia|Aboriginal forestry in British Columbia]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Ekuri Forest community of Cross Rivers State, Nigeria and the Price for Development|Ekuri Forest community of Cross Rivers State, Nigeria and the Price for Development]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/The Flathead Valley - a Forest of the Ktunaxa Peoples of Canada and the Kootenai Peoples of the United States|The Flathead Valley: a Forest of the Ktunaxa Peoples of Canada and the Kootenai Peoples of the United States]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Ekuri Forest community of Cross Rivers State, Nigeria and the price of development|Ekuri Forest community of Cross Rivers State, Nigeria and the price of development]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/The fight against poverty by indigenous forest-dependent people in China|The fight against poverty by indigenous forest-dependent people in China]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico| Community Forestry in Puerto Rico]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Communities and plantations in China's northwestern region|Communities and plantations in China's northwestern region]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Planted forests in Northwestern China|Planted forests in Northwestern China]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Forest Ecosystem Co-management with Local Communities in Kyrgyz Forests|Forest Ecosystem Co-management with Local Communities in Kyrgyz Forests]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Do Reduction in Deforestation and other Safeguards really help the impoverished in Madagascar|Do Reduction in Deforestation and other Safeguards really help the impoverished in Madagascar?]]
*[[Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Myanmar Community Forestry the status, challenges, and recommendations|Myanmar Community Forestry: the status, challenges, and recommendations]]

==2016 Projects==

*[[Open Case Studies/FRST522/Mozambique|Mozambique]]
*[[Open Case Studies/FRST522/India|India]]
*[[Open Case Studies/FRST522/Amazon-Brazil|Amazon-Brazil]]
*[[Open Case Studies/FRST522/Indonesia|Indonesia]]
*[[Open Case Studies/FRST522/Ghana|Ghana]]
*[[Open Case Studies/FRST522/Cameroon|Cameroon]]
*[[Open Case Studies/FRST522/Cambodia|Cambodia]]
*[[Open Case Studies/FRST522/Malaysia|Malaysia]]

==Library Research Help==

===[http://guides.library.ubc.ca/ Library Research Guides]===
*[http://guides.library.ubc.ca/frst522/articles FRST522 Research Guide]
*[http://guides.library.ubc.ca/forestry/start Forestry Research Guide]
*[http://guides.library.ubc.ca/aboriginalstudies First Nations and Indigenous Studies]
*[http://guides.library.ubc.ca/newspapers Newspapers and News Sources]

===Databases===
*[http://resources.library.ubc.ca/page.php?details=alternative-press-index&id=970 Alternative Press Index]
*[http://resources.library.ubc.ca/page.php?details=agricultural--environmental-science-database&id=2344 Agricultural & Environmental Science database (AESD)]
*[http://resources.library.ubc.ca/page.php?details=cab-direct&id=107 CAB Direct (CAB Abstracts & Global Health)]
*[http://resources.library.ubc.ca/page.php?details=web-of-science-core-collection&id=138 Web of Science Core Collection]

===Open Resources===
''Remember: Just because something is online, doesn’t mean you can use it! You have to find items that have open licenses before you can upload them to the wiki.''

====Finding Open Images====
*[http://bit.ly/2dmAdho UBC Copyright Guide to Open Images]

====Finding Open Education Resources====
*[http://guides.library.ubc.ca/open_education Open Education Research Guide]
*[https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page Wikimedia Commons]

===Getting Help with Your Research===
To get help with your research, contact the library by [http://www.library.ubc.ca/help/ask-colorbox.html phone, email, in-person, or through our virtual chat service AskAway].

==Wiki Help Links==
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[[Category:FRST522]]
[[Category: Open Case Studies]]
[[Category:FRST]]

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T01:55:44Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Assessment */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Group !! Interests !! Source of power !! Scale of influence !! Means to achieve interests
|-
| Tropic Ventures || Economic use of forest without destruction of ecology || Forest ownership || Local, international || Voluntary management agreement
|-
| Local architects, woodworkers, furniture makers|| Use of forest resources, employment || Local voting power || Local || Symposium participation
|-
| Puerto Rico Hardwoods Inc. || Limit waste of forest resources || Limited a small business enterprise || Local || Online platform, waste reduction strategies
|-
| Institute of Ecotechnics || Success of Tropic Ventures || Owns Tropic Ventures || International || Active in Tropic Ventures' activities
|-
| USFS || Agency goals and objectives || United States government || Local, national, international || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| IITF || Agency goals and objectives || United States government || Local, regional, international || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| DNER || Agency goals and objectives || Puerto Rico government || Local, regional || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| Earthwatch Institute || Collaboration with Tropic Ventures || Human capital (volunteers) || International || Network of volunteers for 15 years
|-
| CADA || Brainstorms sessions to better manage island's natural resources || Limited || Local || Meeting among several stakeholders
|-
| Local universities || Research || Limited through universities || Local || Collaborate with Tropic Ventures for research
|}
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

The community forestry case study of Las Casas de la Selva is an exceptional example of community forestry. Because Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, they have a full bundle of rights and legal tenure. However this is not usually the case in community forestry case studies.

JFM india

Saami

Senegal (Weex)

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T01:40:57Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Assessment */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Group !! Interests !! Source of power !! Scale of influence !! Means to achieve interests
|-
| Tropic Ventures || Economic use of forest without destruction of ecology || Forest ownership || Local, international || Voluntary management agreement
|-
| Local architects, woodworkers, furniture makers|| Use of forest resources, employment || Local voting power || Local || Symposium participation
|-
| Puerto Rico Hardwoods Inc. || Limit waste of forest resources || Limited a small business enterprise || Local || Online platform, waste reduction strategies
|-
| Institute of Ecotechnics || Success of Tropic Ventures || Owns Tropic Ventures || International || Active in Tropic Ventures' activities
|-
| USFS || Agency goals and objectives || United States government || Local, national, international || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| IITF || Agency goals and objectives || United States government || Local, regional, international || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| DNER || Agency goals and objectives || Puerto Rico government || Local, regional || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| Earthwatch Institute || Collaboration with Tropic Ventures || Human capital (volunteers) || International || Network of volunteers for 15 years
|-
| CADA || Brainstorms sessions to better manage island's natural resources || Limited || Local || Meeting among several stakeholders
|-
| Local universities || Research || Limited through universities || Local || Collaborate with Tropic Ventures for research
|}
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T01:39:40Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Assessment */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Group !! Interests !! Source of power !! Scale of influence !! Means to achieve interests
|-
| Tropic Ventures || Economic use of forest without destruction of ecology || Forest ownership || Local, international || Voluntary management agreement
|-
| Local architects, woodworkers, furniture makers|| Use of forest resources, employment || Local voting power || Local || Symposium participation
|-
| Puerto Rico Hardwoods Inc. || Limit waste of forest resources || Limited a small business enterprise || Local || Online platform, waste reduction strategies
|-
| Institute of Ecotechnics || Success of Tropic Ventures || Owns Tropic Ventures || Local, international || Active in Tropic Ventures' activities
|-
| USFS || Agency goals and objectives || United States government || Local, national, international || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| IITF || Agency goals and objectives || United States government || Local, regional, international || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| DNER || Agency goals and objectives || Puerto Rico government || Local, regional || Ex. Private landowner management plan agreement
|-
| Earthwatch Institute || Collaboration with Tropic Ventures || Human capital (volunteers) || Local, international || Network of volunteers for 15 years
|-
| CADA || Brainstorms sessions to better manage island's natural resources || Limited || Local || Meeting among several stakeholders
|-
| Local universities || Research || Limited through universities || Local || Collaborate with Tropic Ventures for research
|}
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T01:25:19Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Assessment */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Group !! Interests !! Source of power !! Scale of influence !! Means to achieve interests
|-
| Tropic Ventures || Economic use of forest without destruction of ecology || Freehold || Local, international || Voluntary management agreement
|-
| Local architects, woodworkers, furniture makers|| Use of forest resources, employment || Local voting power || Local || Symposium participation
|-
| Example || Example || Example || Example || Example
|-
| Example || Example || Example || Example || Example
|-
| Example || Example || Example || Example || Example
|-
| Example || Example || Example || Example || Example
|}
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T01:22:49Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Assessment */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Group !! Interests !! Source of power !! Scale of influence !! Means to achieve interests
|-
| Tropic Ventures || Economic use of forest without destruction of ecology || Freehold || Local, international || Voluntary management agreement|-
| Local architects, woodworkers, furniture makers|| Example || Example || Example || Example
|-
| Example || Example || Example || Example || Example
|-
| Example || Example || Example || Example || Example
|-
| Example || Example || Example || Example || Example
|-
| Example || Example || Example || Example || Example
|}
The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T01:08:54Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Administrative arrangements */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1,000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T01:08:22Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Las Casa de la Selva Case Study */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1,000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T01:07:24Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Interested Outside Stakeholders */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The USFS, IITF, and DNER are all government agencies who are interested stakeholders. They have power due to the fact that they are government agencies and are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T01:04:00Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Affected Stakeholders */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org] is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T01:01:40Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Tenure arrangements */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USFS, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry [IITF], and the DNER through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:59:38Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* U.S. Era (1898-Current) */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER]) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:57:58Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* U.S. Era (1898-Current) */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service in Puerto Rico<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:51:13Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* U.S. Era (1898-Current) */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico was a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:48:51Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Description of Puerto Rico */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, and has a population of about 3.9 million people<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico as a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:43:42Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Tenure arrangements */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, has a population of about 3.9 million people, and is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico as a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a [http://www.eyeontherainforest.org/Sustainable%20Forestry%20Stewardship%20Management%20Plan%202011.pdf forest management agreement] with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:41:52Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Las Casa de la Selva Case Study */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, has a population of about 3.9 million people, and is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico as a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|200px|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a forest management agreement with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:40:59Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Las Casa de la Selva Case Study */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, has a population of about 3.9 million people, and is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico as a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|500px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a forest management agreement with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:40:00Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Short-term Recommendations */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, has a population of about 3.9 million people, and is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico as a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|300px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a forest management agreement with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===
<div class="thumb tright">

<div class="thumbinner">

{{#widget:YouTube|id=sSmM5793Yzg|height=400|width=505}}<br/>

<div class="thumbcaption">Footage of Las Casas de la Selva after Hurricane Maria (2017)<br/>

</div></div></div>

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:34:45Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Las Casa de la Selva Case Study */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, has a population of about 3.9 million people, and is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico as a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.
[[File:Las Casas de la Selva - Eye On the Rainforest.jpg|300px|thumbnail|right|Las Casas de la Selva]]
In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a forest management agreement with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:32:48Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Las Casa de la Selva Case Study */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, has a population of about 3.9 million people, and is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico as a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|thumbnail|right|Patillas, Puerto Rico]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.

In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a forest management agreement with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:31:56Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Las Casa de la Selva Case Study */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, has a population of about 3.9 million people, and is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico as a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|300px|framed|right|Location of region containing case study]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.

In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a forest management agreement with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:30:25Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Las Casa de la Selva Case Study */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, has a population of about 3.9 million people, and is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico as a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==
[[File:Map of Puerto Rico highlighting Patillas.svg|framed|right|Region of Puerto Rico containing case study]]
Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.

In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a forest management agreement with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:26:41Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Las Casa de la Selva Case Study */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, has a population of about 3.9 million people, and is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico as a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==

Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.

In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of [http://nuestramadera.org nuestramadera.org]- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a forest management agreement with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:22:55Z

MATTHEWTODD:

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|700px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, has a population of about 3.9 million people, and is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico as a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==

Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.

In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of nuestramadera.org- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a forest management agreement with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:22:30Z

MATTHEWTODD:

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''
[[File:Rico.png|400px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
==Description of Puerto Rico==

The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, has a population of about 3.9 million people, and is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico as a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==

Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.

In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of nuestramadera.org- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a forest management agreement with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:21:26Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Description of Puerto Rico */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''

This page will be completed by December 4th, 2017

==Description of Puerto Rico==
[[File:Rico.png|400px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, has a population of about 3.9 million people, and is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico as a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==

Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.

In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of nuestramadera.org- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a forest management agreement with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:20:47Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Description of Puerto Rico */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''

This page will be completed by December 4th, 2017

==Description of Puerto Rico==
[[File:Rico.png|500px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]
The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, has a population of about 3.9 million people, and is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico as a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==

Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.

In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of nuestramadera.org- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a forest management agreement with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:20:20Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Description of Puerto Rico */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''

This page will be completed by December 4th, 2017

==Description of Puerto Rico==
The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, has a population of about 3.9 million people, and is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

[[File:Rico.png|500px|framed|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico as a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==

Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.

In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of nuestramadera.org- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a forest management agreement with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-03T00:19:08Z

MATTHEWTODD:

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''

This page will be completed by December 4th, 2017

==Description of Puerto Rico==
The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, has a population of about 3.9 million people, and is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

[[File:Rico.png|thumbnail|right|Location of Puerto Rico]]

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico as a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==

Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.

In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of nuestramadera.org- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a forest management agreement with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

{{Projectbox FRST522
|names=[[User:MATTHEWTODD|Matthew Todd]]
|share= no
}}

Documentation:Open Case Studies/FRST522/Community Forestry in Puerto Rico

2017-12-02T23:55:33Z

MATTHEWTODD: /* Long-term Recommendations */

'''Community Forestry in Puerto Rico'''

This page will be completed by December 4th, 2017

==Description of Puerto Rico==
The Commonwealth of Puerto Rico is an island territory of the United States of America, has a population of about 3.9 million people, and is located between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean<ref name="USFS 2017">United States Forest Service [USFS], 2017. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2017 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The main island is approximately 160 km long and 60 km wide (9,000 square km)<ref name="USFS 2017" />. The geographic makeup of the island features 53% mountains, 25% plains, 20% hills, 1% plateaus, and 1% rivers, lakes, and reservoirs<ref name="USFS 2017" />.

==History of Puerto Rico: Occupation, Economy, and Forests==

===Pre-Columbian Era (Until 1508)===

Human presence on the island of Puerto Rico has been dated back to 5000 BC<ref name="USFS 2014">USFS, 2014. Passing the baton from the tainos to tomorrow: forest conservation in Puerto Rico. United States Department of Agriculture. Eds. Kathryn Robinson, Jerry Bauer, and Ariel Lugo. 1-200. </ref>. But the first documented people on the island, the Tainos, were believed to have occupied the island since 1100<ref name="USFS 2014" />. “The Tainos built thatched huts, slept in hammocks, spoke a common language, and participated in a common social and political system”<ref name="USFS 2014" />. Besides some small areas used by the Tainos for agriculture, nearly all of the island was covered by forests<ref name="Grizelle">Gonzalez, G., 2015. “’Puerto Rico: Gateway to landscape’ from an ecological perspective.” Puerto Rico Puerta Al Paisaje. Ed. Rafael M. de Labra. Museo de Arte Contemporaneo de Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 287-291. </ref>. They lived off the island and the ocean to survive, but their livelihoods swiftly declined under Spanish colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===Spanish Era (1508-1898)===

Christopher Columbus found himself in Puerto Rico in 1493, and the Spanish Era officially began in 1508<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This era began with the exploitation of gold from the island and then land uses changed primarily to agriculture. The Spanish Era led to influxes of slaves from Africa, and exports of gold and crops in name of the Crown. The Tainos were all but gone after more than three centuries of colonialism<ref name="USFS 2014" />. From 1700-1800, the population of Puerto Rico grew from 6,000 to 130,000<ref name="USFS 2014" />.

===U.S. Era (1898-Current)===

The end of the Spanish-American War in 1898 resulted in Puerto Rico being transferred to the United States, so the island’s forests became managed by what became the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The agricultural colony was then perhaps 18% forested<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The Luquillo National Forest (today called El Yunque National Forest) was established in 1902 and the Puerto Rico Forest Service (today called the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources) was established in 1917<ref name="USFS 2014" />. This entity reserved lands on the island as local forests in the 1920s, but nearly all of it was bought by the USDA Forest Service in the 1930s due to The Great Depression and two major hurricanes<ref name="USFS 2014" />. By the 1940s, the forested area of Puerto Rico as a mere 6%<ref name="Birdsey">Birdsey, R.A. and Weaver, P.L., 1982. The forest resources of Puerto Rico. Resource Bulletin SO-85. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experimental Station. New Orleans, LA: 1-59. </ref>.

After World War II, the government launched “Operation Bootstrap [and] under this program the island was to become industrialized by providing labor locally, inviting investment of external capital, importing raw materials, and exporting the finished products to the U.S. market. To entice participation, tax exemptions and differential rates for industrial buildings were offered”<ref name="Rivera">Rivera, M., 2017. Economy. Welcome to Puerto Rico! Web: http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml. </ref>. The island did become industrialized, as the primary sector of the economy today is manufacturing (50.1%; pharmaceuticals, electronics, processed foods, clothing, textiles) followed by the service industry (49.1%; finance, insurance, real estate, tourism) and agriculture (0.8%)<ref name="Rivera" />.

The shift to manufacturing made the island almost completely dependent on wood imports<ref name="Wisdom">Wisdom, H.W., et al., 1983. Wood shipments to Puerto Rico. Research Paper SO-201. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Forest Experiment Station. New Orleans, LA. 1-11. </ref>, and timber production today is not a main goal for the USDA Forest Service<ref name="USFS 2014" />. The demise of the island’s agriculture industry and subsequent absence of management and commercial timber production led to the growth of secondary forests<ref name="Franco">Franco, P.A. et al., 1997. Forest resources of Puerto Rico, 1990. Resource Bulletin SRS-22. U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service: Southern Research Station. Ashville, NC. 1-45. </ref>. A 2008 estimate claimed Puerto Rico was 53% forested<ref name="Gould">Gould, W.A. et al., 2008. The Puerto Rico gap analysis project. US Department of Agriculture Forest Service. Vol. 1. General Technical Report IITF-GTR-39. 1-165. </ref>, but this figure is likely higher today.

==Las Casa de la Selva Case Study==

Situated in the southern mountains of Patillas, Puerto Rico and situated next to Carite State Forest is a 1000-acre property known as Las Casas de la Selva- the site of Tropic Ventures Sustainable Forestry & Rainforest Enrichment Project<ref name="website">Rua, A. and Vakil, T., 2017. Eye of the rainforest: Las Casas de la Selva, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Web: http://eyeontherainforest.org. </ref>. Since 1983 and with the help of the Institute of Ecotechnics, this project has planted over 40,000 trees on 300 acres of the property via line-planting<ref name="website" />. “Since 2000, plantation areas are being experimentally thinned, timber sold, and scientific research is underway all over the land”<ref name="website" />. The mission of Tropic Ventures is, “to research and demonstrate the economic use of rainforest land using methods that do not destroy the rainforest ecology”<ref name="website" />. The Director is Thrity Jal Vakil and the Technical Director is Andrés Rúa Gonzalez<ref name="website" />.

In pursuit of their mission, Tropic Ventures influenced the development of other initiatives to support the community forest operation. In 1998, the non-profit Tropic Ventures Research & Education Foundation (TVREF) was established to support the project<ref name="website" />. In 2011, the DNER granted TVREF $21,000 to inquire about the island’s forest and non-forest products, which resulted in the creation of nuestramadera.org- a website that documents the Technical Director’s findings based on the forest products assessment<ref name="website" />. In 2012 and 2014, forest products symposiums were held on the island<ref name="website" />. In 2013, the Council for the Development of Agro-forestry (CADA) was founded to bring Tropic Ventures together with, among other, university representatives and government agency members to discuss the future of Puerto Rico’s natural resource uses<ref name="website" />. In 2014, the forest enterprise Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. (PRH) was founded based on CADA discussions. PRH takes tree trunks and branches, which would otherwise be dumped into landfills, and processes them into forest products<ref name="website" />.

===Tenure arrangements===

The tenure arrangement is freehold, as the official owner of the land is Tropic Ventures so they are the private landowner<ref name="Jimenez">Jimenez, M.S. and Irizarry, E.S., 2011. Sustainable forestry stewardship management plan for the tropic ventures private forest Bo. Munoz Rivera and Mulas, Patillas, Puerto Rico. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. Web. 1-74. </ref>.They have a complete and secure bundle of rights. In 2011 Tropic Ventures voluntarily entered into a forest management agreement with the USDA Forest Service, the International Institute of Tropical Forestry, and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER) through the Forest Stewardship Program<ref name="Jimenez" />. The agreement was solidified with a certificate signed by Tropic Ventures and the DNER and the publication of a 10-year management plan document, which allows for adaptability<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Administrative arrangements===

Tropic Ventures is “a joint venture between Global Ecotechnics Corporation and Decisions Team Inc.”<ref name="Jimenez" />. The Tropic Ventures Director and Technical Director must manage the 1000 acres using the approved management plan as a guideline. The management plan document explicitly states that the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources has designed monitoring strategies to make sure forest practices are quantified and qualified<ref name="Jimenez" />.

===Affected Stakeholders===

Tropic Ventures is the private landowner, therefore any activities on their land is of concern to them. The fulfillment of their mission is of importance and they have the total power to do so. Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. is forest business enterprise that is an affected stakeholder. The business is based off of products that come directly from the forest<ref name="website" />. Without forest products, the business will not survive. PRH has some power.

Other affected stakeholders are those that benefit from the actions of Tropic Ventures. This includes local architects, woodworkers, artisan workshop workers, furniture makers, and those who salvage or harvest, transport, mill, dry, market, and sell wood products in Puerto Rico. These people’s livelihoods depend on income that is provided directly or indirectly from the forests of Puerto Rico. The major objective is to make a living and gain income. Their relative power is not high, but their participation in workshops and symposiums has given them a platform to use their voices as power. The website is a useful source for affected stakeholders as it acts as a platform to post and sell forest products.

===Interested Outside Stakeholders===

The Institute of Ecotechnics is a larger, international entity and has established several projects, such as Las Casas de la Selva. Their objective is to support the project and they do have great power, because they basically own the private landowner Tropic Ventures.

The Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), USDA Forest Service, and International Institute of Tropical Forestry (IITF) and all interested stakeholders from the government. They have power due to the fact that they are the entities that entered into a formal forest management agreement with Tropic Ventures. They are the managers of public land in Puerto Rico. But at the end of the day, they are paid no matter what, so they are interested stakeholders.

The Earthwatch Institute is an interested stakeholder, because they do not depend on the forest for livelihood. This organization has collaborated with Tropic Ventures as a volunteer network for over 15 years<ref name="vakil">Vakil, T., 2015. Puerto Rico’s rainforest: 2014 field report background information. Earthwatch Institute. Web. 1-13. </ref>. The institute has little power, but organizes volunteer trips where people come to Las Casas de la Selva to inventory the forests. This aids the research and education objectives of Tropic Ventures.

The Agroforestry Development Advisory Council (CADA) is an interested stakeholder with little power. It is a council that is concerned about the future of Puerto Rico, but the council itself does not depend directly on the forests. Also, local universities are interested stakeholders with little power. Their main objective is research.

===Discussion===

The overall objectives of Las Casas de la Selva are<ref name="website" />:
#“Create a sustainable forestry project that demonstrates humans’ ability to co-exist and co-evolve in the rainforest biome”
#“Create and maintain an ecotechnic site, on which a project suitable to developing potentiality is operating”
#"Create an environment conducive to participation and contemplation to understand the true history of humanity, and our home, the biosphere”
#“Create a site that attracts authentic encounters (in study, science, business, arts, travel), and contact with Historical, Contemporary, and Future life”
#“Create a site where reciprocal maintenance with all existence is practiced”

This community forest project has been successful for over three decades. 700 of the 1,000 acres are being left as a reserve. This is extremely important for the ecosystem services that are provided. The 300 acres of managed forest featured enrichment planting of over 40,000 trees and harvesting has occurred since 2000. Felled trees from Las Casas de la Selva have been milled and sold to local woodworkers who depend on such forest products for their livelihoods<ref name="website" />. Earthwatch has collaborated and expanded research and education in Las Casas de la Selva. The fact that the forest has managed and unmanaged areas makes the site great for comparative studies. The relationship with the government agencies is positive too- as the private landowner goals align with the goals of the agencies.

With the support from IITF, USFWS, and CITES, Puerto Rico Hardwoods, Inc. felled and removed twenty-three Puerto Rican mahogany trees from the Arroyo Cemetery that the municipality was going to remove anyways for cultural and historical preservation. PRH saved the valuable trees from being dumped into a landfill, then employed two locals to help mill and dry over 16,000 board feet. This wood will support local artisans and furniture makers.
Puerto Rico is an island that imports wood to meet demands. Las Casas de la Selva is a beacon of hope for supporting the production of local wood and the creation of Puerto Rican wood products. It has been successful thus far.

There are a number of issues that are of concern for Las Casas de la Selva and forests in Puerto Rico: wildfires, hurricanes, climate change, invasive species, pests and diseases, and habitat fragmentation from developments<ref name="DNER">Department of Natural and Environmental Resources [DNER], 2010. Puerto Rico statewide assessment and strategies for forest resources. DNER Government of Puerto Rico. 1-109. Web. </ref>.

Specifically, Puerto Rico was hit hard recently by hurricanes Irma and Maria, the latter of which crossed directly over the island. Much of the island is without power and they are in dire need of help<ref name="hurricane">Resnik, B. and Barclay, E., 2017. What every American needs to know about Puerto Rico’s hurricane disaster. Vox: Science and Health. Web: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2017/9/26/16365994/hurricane-maria-2017-puerto-rico-san-juan-humanitarian-disaster-electricty-fuel-flights-facts. </ref>.

==Assessment==

The social actors with power are all using it appropriately. The government agencies- who have the most power- have positively influenced Las Casas de la Selva and produced a private landowner plan for Tropic Ventures- who helped with that process and has been properly managing the land. The Earthwatch Institute has consistently been sending volunteer groups to Las Casas de la Selva to aid in the inventory of the forests. CADA used its small collaborative power to influence the creation of a forest enterprise (PRH) whose aim is to reduce waste from harvesting. Finally, local affected stakeholders have been participating in workshops and symposiums, maximizing the little power that they have and using it to the fullest. Power has not corrupted any stakeholders in Las Casas de la Selva community forestry case study.

==Recommendations==

===Short-term Recommendations===

The main priority for all stakeholders right now should be to recover from the hurricane damage. This will take efforts from as many people and entities as possible. Financial resources are definitely needed. A blog post from Tropic Ventures featured a video showing damage to Las Casas de la Selva and the forest got destroyed. The rebuilding phase must start now. This will include a complete inventory of Las Casas de la Selva and a compilation of required activities such as salvaging and replanting.

===Long-term Recommendations===

====Tropic Ventures====

In the long-run, the regular activities in Las Casas de la Selva should continue. The volunteer work will continue to aid and guide management in addition to supporting research. Trees that are harvested and processed should still be sold to local people to support their livelihoods. Perhaps more attention could be paid to the online platform. Local woodworkers could expand their markets using the online platform.

====Puerto Rico Agencies: USFS, IITF, DNER====

Continue funding programs that support agency goals. More private landowner management plans should be created. Projects like the Mayaguez Community Forest Project should be undertaken across the island. This project features the Mayaguez municipality collaborating with a local NGO, a local university, and the government to create a community forest management plan for a 68-acre forest the government is helping them purchase<ref name="IITF">IITF, 2015. Accomplishments report (2014-2015). USDA Forest Service. Ed. Grizelle Gonzalez. 63-85. </ref><ref name="USFS 2016">USFS, 2016. State and private forestry fact sheet: 2016 Puerto Rico. San Juan, Puerto Rico. 1-4. Web. </ref>. The agencies can use Las Casas de la Selva as an example of a successful forest management plan.

==References==
<references/>

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