The international profile of development and community studies' postgraduate students helps to keep the academic staff in touch with rural development issues from around the world. Many of the program's projects are undertaken in association with masters or PhD research projects. The projects include; cardomon production and people's livelihoods in forest areas of Vietnam, an evaluation of European Union ecoforestry projects in Papua New Guinea, herbalists' use of the Kakamega forest in Kenya, and the environmental management attitudes of lifestyle landowners in Victoria, Australia. Several student research projects are investigating forest management and applications for community use of technologies like geographic information systems (GIS) in Australia and central and south-eastern Asia. Fieldwork amongst rural communities is an integral part of these projects. For a listing of recent and past students research see: http://ariel.unimelb.edu.au/%7Ejohneth/Postgraduate%20students.htm

Currently in Australia Dr John Petheram and Peter Stephen have a mediation and linking role in the first collaborative forestry management initiative in Australia, based in the Wombat State Forest 100 kilometres north-west of Melbourne. For further information on Dr John Petheram's involvement in development and community see: http://ariel.unimelb.edu.au/%7Ejohneth/. Other development and community capacity building projects include Peter Stephen's national coordination of the Australian Master TreeGrower Program. This eight session educational program has been specifically designed for landholders and others who believe that revegetation and better forest management is integral to achieving environmental and economic sustainability for their region. The program has had a significant impact on developing local nodes of knowledge that now influence catchment scale NRM planning outcomes. The linkages between 'family forestry' and integrated catchment outcomes is now being investigated. For further information on the Australian Master TreeGrower visit the web site. Peter Stephen is also actively involved in the landcare movement and integrated catchment planning through the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority.

A recent project funded by the Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) involved the revision of a major reference text, Plants of the Kimberley Region of Western Australia. This publication and project arose because of the priority place by communities in the Kimberley region and the MLA on improving the information base on indigenous plants for managers or rangeland properties

Internationally, the group is part of an Australian Research Council funded project, Melanesian understandings of socio-economic and environmental sustainability in the context of mining projects. This work involves collaboration with professionals from the Social Anthropology, Geography and Environmental Studies, and the Centre for the Study of Health and Society. The group has also been involved in a multidisciplinary project funded by Shell International on research in the Khirthar National Park in Pakistan. This involved the description of farming and livelihood systems in the national park and recommendations for alternative management approaches.

Between the ILFR social research programs there are common methodologies and project overlaps that enable members to undertake joint research and postgraduate supervision. Collaboration also takes place through the teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate subjects.

Dr John Petheram: Email: johneth@unimelb.edu.au, Phone: +61 3 5321 4101

Peter Stephen: Email: pstephen@unimelb.edu.au, Phone: +61 3 8344 7170