Probably the most important trend in developing countries’ forest policy over the past several decades has been decentralization—the transfer of management authority from the national level to the states, villages, and local communities. More than a quarter of all developing countries’ forests are now managed by local communities, well over twice the share for protected … [Read more...] about Empowering local communities to manage their forests: what are the ecological and socioeconomic effects?
Randy Bluffstone
Randy Bluffstone is Professor of Economics and Director of the Institute for Economics and the Environment at Portland State University. His research and teaching interests focus on environmental and resource economics, including climate change, energy, pollution control and deforestation in low-income countries. Professor Bluffstone is associate editor of the journal Forest Economics, a research associate of the Environment for Development (EfD) Initiative and co-coordinates the EfD Forest Collaborative. In 2017-2018 Bluffstone was a Fulbright Senior Scholar in Nepal. Prior to coming to Portland State, he taught at the University of Redlands and until September 1999 was deputy director of the International Environment Program at the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) at Harvard University. Randy received his Ph.D. in economics from Boston University in 1993 and from 1983 to 1985 was a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal.