Developing forest management plans with high-tech tools and traditional knowledge in Zambia

Abstract

Simply transferring to other settings developed countries' sophisticated tools of modern forest management can be inappropriate. In a pilot program in Zambia, traditional knowledge of forest products is combined with satellite images, GPS, and GIS to adapt inventories and maps for forest management planning. The example used is the Cooperative League of the United States of America's Natural Resource Management Program. Development projects that place more emphasis on existing technology and input from local forest users and extension agents-and less on technical training and equipment-have the potential for more success in slowing the conversion and exploitation of tropical forest.