Canada's volunteer NGOs' social forestry projects in the Third World: A preliminary evaluation

Abstract

This paper outlines some flaws of the faddist social forestry movement that is currently sweeping Canada's volunteer NGOs. Typically, these include: Canadian NGOs' ignorance of tropical ecology; their inability to adequately communicate with the Third World clientel because of the socio-cultural barriers; a propensity to undertake numerous development projects and thus seek to bloat their organizations so as to claim federal government grants; and most of all, complaints of alleged racism against NGOs by Canada's ethnic minorities who are kept out of the development field. Impacts on the Third World development of each of these flaws are briefly noted. The paper concludes by offering some recommendations for improving Canadian volunteer NGOs' performance in social forestry in the Third World.