NIFK14013U Tropical Forests, People, and Policies
MSc Programme in Environment and Development
MSc Programme in Forest and Nature Management
MSc Programme in Forests and Livelihoods
MSc Programme in Nature Management
MSc Programme in Sustainable Forest and Nature
Management
The course provides you with a people-oriented approach to sustainable environmental resource management, combining readings with exercises. Emphasis is on the relationships between people, environmental resource use, and conservation, with particular emphasis on tropical and sub-tropical forests. The course offers a combination of guided readings, in-class discussions and exercises, online discussions and tests, and detailed feedback on two individual essays.
Central themes are: (i) Paradigms – what ideas and views guide tropical forestry development? (ii) Livelihoods – how do poor people depend on environmental resources? (iii) Valuation – how can we put a price on environmental products and make visible their importance to local people? (iv) Forest cover – how much forest is there and how do we know? (v) Deforestation – why do forests disappear and what can be done? (vi) Policies – what characterises national policies? What global policies exist and why? Do policies work? and (vii) Sustainable management – can REDD, certification or other instruments save the tropical and sub-tropical forests? In addition, the course provides guidance and exercises in essay writing.
This course provides an introduction to essential contemporary
issues related to environmental product use in the Global South.
The aim is to give students a thorough understanding of the current
and potential role of environmental products in improving rural
livelihoods. It is stressed that environmental products are an
integral part of society and should not be considered in isolation.
After finishing the course the student is expected to be able to:
Knowledge:
Understand the potential of using environmental products to prevent
and reduce poverty
Understand key contemporary issues in tropical forestry,
including forest-reliance, deforestation, national and global
forest policy and processes, and the potential of using
market-based mechanisms to achieve sustainable forest management
Understand basic environmental product valuation methods
Skills:
Apply principles, theories, and frameworks to case studies
Make a judgment on the quality of scientific publications
Communicate clearly, concisely, and confidently in written format
Competences
Argue cogently and think critically within the parameters of a
particular academic discipline
Reflect on the nature of poverty and the role of environmental
products in poverty alleviation
Demonstrate the values of scholarship: inquiry, reflection,
integrity, open-mindedness, evidence-based thinking, and
collegiality
Tackle problems by collecting, analysing and evaluating appropriate
qualitative and quantitative information and using it
creatively
Course material consists of selected scientific articles, book
chapters, lecture notes, video clips, and slideshows. These are all
accessible through the course homepage.
Academic qualifications equivalent to a BSc degree is recommended.
- Category
- Hours
- Lectures
- 48
- Preparation
- 134
- E-Learning
- 24
- Total
- 206
As
an exchange, guest and credit student - click here!
Continuing Education - click here!
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Type of assessment
- Continuous assessmentStudents are assessed according to (i) their completion of exercises throughout the course, and (ii) through two teacher commented essays. The essays are distributed and submitted electronically. Completion of exercises and essays count 40% and 60% respectively towards the final mark.
The final grade is calculated as a weighted average of the results from the part-examinations, and you pass if the average grade is 02 or above. - Marking scale
- 7-point grading scale
- Censorship form
- No external censorship
One internal censor
- Re-exam
Reexam: written assignment cutting across the materials covered in the course.
4 hours. No inviligation.
Criteria for exam assesment
To obtain the grade 12 the student must fullfil the Learning Outcomes
Course information
- Language
- English
- Course code
- NIFK14013U
- Credit
- 7,5 ECTS
- Level
- Full Degree Master
- Duration
- 1 block
- Placement
- Block 1
- Schedule
- BTeaching is blended learning, combining online exercises and discussions with lectures.
- Course capacity
- 40
- Course is also available as continuing and professional education
- Study board
- Study Board of Natural Resources, Environment and Animal Science
Contracting department
- Department of Food and Resource Economics
Contracting faculty
- Faculty of Science
Course Coordinators
- Carsten Smith-Hall (3-73837f507976827f3e7b853e747b)
Lecturers
Carsten Smith-Hall