Natural Resource Management Projects
Natural resource studies foster scientifically sound practices for managing water, forests, rangeland, soil, minerals, fisheries, and wildlife resources. TRU’s Faculty of Science offers an innovative Bachelor of Natural Resource Science Degree as well as a two-year transfer program in Forestry studies, and maintains a number of modern teaching and research centres in the field, including the new TRU Water Education & Research Centre.
The university has extensive experience in institutional development, consulting, and training in natural resource management, including recent projects in Bangladesh, Thailand, and Indonesia.
Sample Project:
Kaltim Social Forestry Project
Location: Samarinda, East Kalimantan, Indonesia
Major Funding Source: Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA)
Client and Partner Organizations: Mulawarman University (UNMUL), Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Regional Community Forestry Training Centre (RECOFTC), Ford Foundation, World Wildlife Fund (WWF), GTZ
Social forestry aims to enable community participation and harmonize the contending forest resource management interests of indigenous communities, transmigrants, extractive industries, and government. During this long-term project in East Kalimantan, TRU faculty and staff focused on project management; training trainers in holistic resource development (in areas such as gender relations, participatory assessment and planning, conflict resolution, policy analysis); creating a social forestry curriculum for undergraduate students, and assessing opportunities to provide research and training services through a sustainable consulting unit.