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David Brown specialises in work on tropical forest policy, particularly the institutional dimensions of community-based forest management and biodiversity conservation, and issues in environmental governance. His recent work has included research and advisory work on the integration of environmental sustainability and poverty reduction. He has a particular interest in wildlife management and the bushmeat trade, and was co-author of the UK Government’s submission to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora [CITES] on the theme of ‘Bushmeat as a Trade and Wildlife Management Issue’.
A Social and Natural Scientist with over thirty years experience in the developing world, particularly in Africa, and trained as a Social Anthropologist, his PhD was on the political economy of Eastern Liberia, where he retains an on-going research interest. Prior to joining ODI, he was a University Lecturer in Social Development and Development Management (University of Reading, 1987-96), and before that, Regional Representative for Coastal West Africa for the NGO, OXFAM-UK (1983-7).
He undertakes advisory missions for DFID frequently on Governance and Social Development issues, and also conducts programme reviews and evaluations for other European development assistance agencies. Recently, he has worked with DFID as a Consultant Governance and Social Development Adviser for its Cameroon forestry programme.
BA Hons (Bacteriology), MA (Econ), PhD (Social Anthropology). David is fluent in French and has a basic knowledge of Portuguese.
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Jump to: | Opinion Papers | Briefing Papers | Background Notes | Books | Others | Current Projects | Completed Projects
| Opinion Papers | ||
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Illegal logging: who gains from tighter controls? ODI Opinion 26 |
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| There is increasing recognition that the conservation and sustainable management of forests depend on a consensus in society over the rules and regulations under which forest goods are processed. However, despite the widespread promotion of forest management plans, timber harvest controls and traditional law enforcement, illegality within the sector remains widespread. | ||
| Adrian Wells and David Brown | July 2004 | |
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Decentralising environmental management - beyond the crisis narrative ODI Opinion 13 |
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| 'Environmental issues figure prominently in the District Assemblies in Ghana’s Brong-Ahafo Region. However, the debate is preoccupied with narratives of an impending environmental crisis which arguably have more to do with promoting elitist models of change than representing local concerns' | ||
| David Brown and Kojo Amanor | February 2004 | |
| Briefing Papers and Natural Resource Perspectives | ||
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Convergence between Certification and Verification in the drive to Legality Assurance: assessing the pros and cons VERIFOR Briefing Paper 6 |
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| This paper examines how new technologies are being introduced as a means to strengthen national forest governance systems, taking the example of Brazil where their uptake is advancing rapidly. Some key elements to consider when contemplating the introduction of new technologies are described. | ||
| David Brown and Neil Bird | February 2007 | |
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Can payments for avoided deforestation to tackle climate change also benefit the poor? ODI Forestry Briefing 12 |
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| Avoided deforestation is a hot topic in climate change circles. Using financial incentives to reduce rates of deforestation and forest degradation in tropical countries has much to commend it, as deforestation is a major contributor to climate change. It might also offer additional benefits, including protecting the livelihoods of forest dependent populations | ||
| Leo Peskett, David Brown and Cecilia Luttrell | November 2006 | |
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Making voluntary carbon markets work better for the poor: the case of forestry offsets ODI Forestry Briefing 11 |
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| The volume of private finance flowing through the voluntary carbon market has increased significantly over recent years, with an eight-fold rise from around five million to 43 million dollars between 2004 and 2005 alone (Capoor and Ambrosi 2006). A significant proportion of these funds is destined for the developing world. What is likely to happen to all this money? Will it be used to the benefit of the developing world, providing new opportunities for growth and poverty reduction, or will it be used to satisfy commercial and industrial interests in the north, to the detriment of southern interests? | ||
| Leo Peskett, Cecilia Luttrell and David Brown | November 2006 | |
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Public Goods and Private Rights: the Illegal Logging Debate and the Rights of the Poor
ODI Forestry Briefing 9 |
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| This briefing paper applies a rights perspective to understanding legal and institutional reform of the tropical forest sector. The sector is characterised by strongly competing interests, and massive differences in the power of stakeholders to influence the application of the law. The regulatory regime governing the sector often discriminates against the poor. This is of particular concern in the context of donor- and industry-led initiatives to combat illegal logging. Upholding legal frameworks which already fail to accommodate local rights could compound injustices. A rights perspective focuses attention on the channels by which the poor can contest and uphold their claims in the face of national and international interests in the forest sector. | ||
| David Brown, Adrian Wells, Cecilia Luttrell and Neil Bird | February 2006 | |
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Designing Verification Systems for the Timber Trade: learning from International Processes ODI Forestry Briefing 8 |
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| This paper explores lessons for verification in the timber trade in the light of the increasing pressure on timber producer states to guarantee the legality of their production on international markets. The need to attest to the legality of traded goods demands a system to verify the authenticity of the claim, and it is with this aspect of timber policy development that the present article is concerned. The requirements for timber verification are placed in the context of diverse experiences of verification in relation to international treaties and conventions. Drawing on the evidence of such international processes, the topic of verification turns out to be rather more complex than might initially be assumed. Issues that, at one level, appear narrowly technical and specific to the forest sector raise broader questions about political structures and relationships, and forms of public accountability. The paper discusses the implications of this, and identifies a number of principles of verification systems design. | ||
| David Brown | November 2005 | |
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How Important is Bushmeat Consumption in South America: Now and in the Future? ODI Wildlife Policy Briefing 11 |
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| Between 5 to 8 million people in South America rely regularly on bushmeat as a source of protein in their diets. This represents only 1.4 to 2.2% of the total continental population, but these people are likely to be some of the poorest in the region. In terms of its contributions to the overall supply of meat in the region, bushmeat would appear to have very little importance. The future importance of bushmeat will depend on two factors: the economic growth of the South American economies and the ability of the livestock and fishery sectors to supply affordable protein. If both of these factors are positive over the next time period, it is suggested that bushmeat will further reduce in importance both in terms of the number of people who consume such meat and the total quantity of meat consumed. Improvement in people’s livelihoods in the Amazon region might well reduce bushmeat consumption and hence hunting pressures. However, the limitations in the data available on consumption patterns and changing preferences over time suggest a need for caution on the likely future scenarios. | ||
| Jonathan Rushton, Rommy Viscarra, Cecilia Viscarra, Frederick Basset, Rene Baptista, David Brown | February 2005 | |
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Captive Breeding of wild species--a sceptical view of the prospects ODI Wildlife Policy Briefing 9 |
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| There is interest in wildlife farming in South America, but the underlying objectives are unclear. The market for bushmeat in South America is limited and unlikely to grow rapidly. The justification in terms of satisfying a growing demand is therefore lacking. There also seems to be confusion between the aims of domestication for meat production and animal conservation. This paper will present two issues of importance: the costs of producing meat in wildlife farms, and a framework for policy makers on how to react to initiatives promoting wildlife farming for meat production. The first of these issues is largely South America-specific; the second should be directly applicable in other regions of the world. | ||
| Jonathan Rushton, Rommy Viscarra, Cecilia Viscarra, Frederick Basset, Rene Baptista, Corsino Huallata and David Brown | 2004 | |
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Forest Law Enforcement & Governance: The role of independent monitors in the control of forest crime ODI Forestry Briefing 5 |
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| Illegal logging is an issue of major national and international concern. Combating illegal logging depends on effective enforcement operations to ensure compliance and identify forest crime. Independent monitors have an important role in ‘monitoring the monitors’ and verifying legality. This briefing paper examines the part that external agencies can play in this work. Drawing on a number of recent experiences, consideration is given to the way in which independent monitoring might be structured, and some of the issues which need to be borne in mind when decisions are made as to what forms of monitoring to deploy. | ||
| David Brown, Cecilia Luttrell with Anne Casson, Rex Cruz and Tim Formeté | June 2004 | |
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Bushmeat and Poverty Alleviation: Implications for Development Policy ODI Wildlife Policy Briefing 2 |
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| The paper discusses agruments for the inclusion of bushmeat in considerations of poverty alleviation, economic growth and good governance policies. | ||
| David Brown | November 2003 | |
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Making Environmental Management more responsive to local needs: Decentralisation and evidence-based policy in Ghana ODI Forestry Briefing 3 |
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| This paper reports on research in Ghana’s Brong-Ahafo Region concerning the effects of democratic decentralisation on management of the natural environment, particularly forest resources. It argues that, despite nominal decentralisation, environmental policy remains largely unresponsive to rural interests. The paper considers the types of interventions which could enhance the flow of information between rural dwellers and policy makers so as to strengthen local-level influence. | ||
| David Brown and Kojo Amanor | April 2003 | |
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Forestry as an Entry Point for Governance Reform ODI Forestry Briefing 1 |
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| Tropical forestry provides a useful entry point for governance programmes. The very factors which make it a challenging sector for development assistance commend it also as a crucible for governance reform: its inclusive focus, linking the global to the national and local; the high levels of income and other benefits which it generates; its local fiscal base; the centrality of issues of tenure and collective rights; and its importance in rural livelihoods, all reinforce the linkages between good governance, public accountability and poverty alleviation. Ensuring that the forest sector fulfils this brief is a major challenge not just to host country governments but also to the donor community. | ||
| David Brown, Gill Shepherd, Kate Schreckenberg and Adrian Wells | April 2002 | |
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From supervising 'subjects' to supporting 'citizens': recent developments in community forestry in Asia and Africa ODI Natural Resource Perspectives 75 |
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| Major investments have been made in recent decades in the development of community forestry. Drawing on two contrasting cases - Nepal (multiple purpose, relatively low value upland forests) and Cameroon (humid lowland forests of high commercial value) - this paper argues that policy development has involved many unknowns, necessitating a learning process orientation and considerable flexibility. This involves substantial cost, but the benefits may be significant, as regards both rural livelihoods and the proper husbandry of hitherto under-managed resources. | ||
| David Brown, Kate Schreckenberg, Yam Malla and Oliver Springate-Baginski | 2002 | |
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ODI Natural Resource Perspectives 44 |
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| Wildlife consumption is an integral part of the livelihood and trade patterns of many peoples in the developing world, and highly valued by them. Yet to date the dominant models of wildlife management in areas of high and allegedly unsustainable consumptive use have favoured the exclusion of the users from the resource and the denial of its local values. This gives little incentive to rural dwellers to manage wildlife sustainably. Innovative strategies are required to enhance the rights of the resource users and to increase their entitlements to appropriate the benefits of wildlife for themselves. There has been little success in devising these outside areas with high tourist potential, but experience in other natural resource sectors may provide useful pointers. | ||
| David Brown, Stephen Cobb, Amar Inamda | 1999 | |
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Participatory biodiversity conservation: rethinking the strategy in the low tourist potential areas of tropical Africa ODI Natural Resource Perspectives 33 |
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| Converting international interest in biodiversity conservation into a positive development strategy represents a major challenge for governments and the donor community. While defensive strategies in line with the ‘fines and fences’ approach are now widely rejected, attempts to provide positive incentives through alternative income generating strategies have not proven very effective. The way forward is increasingly seen to lie in the consolidation of existing livelihoods through the integration of biological and socio-economic information supported by efforts to increase local management capacity. | ||
| David Brown | 1998 | |
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Shifting Cultivators as agents of deforestation: assessing the evidence ODI Natural Resource Perspectives 29 |
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| Increasing concern on two fronts - the international environmental movement and growing interest in biodiversity conservation - has brought shifting cultivation back into the foreground of rural development forestry. Opinions remain divided as to the part that shifting cultivation plays in accounting for the high levels of deforestation in the tropics. While it is viewed in some quarters as a major cause of tropical deforestation, recent research suggests that the reality is often more complex, and that explanations for deforestation must be sought in a variety of factors, many of which should be placed at the door of governments and international capital rather than of shifting cultivators. | ||
| David Brown and Kate Schreckenberg | 1998 | |
| Background Notes | ||
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Human Rights and Poverty Reduction. Public goods and private rights: The illegal logging debate and the rights of the poor Rights in Action Background Paper |
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| Public goods and private rights: The illegal logging debate and the rights of the poor | ||
| David Brown, Adrian Wells, Cecilia Luttrell and Neil Bird | March 2005 | |
| Books | ||
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| Participation in Practice: Case Studies from The Gambia | ||
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An independent investigation into the use of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods. PRA has been hailed as a methodological revolution in people-centred research. Yet, surprisingly, its virtues have more often been asserted than demonstrated. This book presents an independent investigation of the use of the methods, and analyses the extent to which PRA’s ambitious claims are borne out in testing field conditions. The analysis is based on four detailed case studies: the community development programme of ActionAid The Gambia; the community forestry programme undertaken in the joint GoTG/German Government-sponsored the Gambian-German Forestry Project; the ‘Support for Decentralised Rural Development’ programme of the GoTG and the European Commission; and the Sesame Growers’ Associations sponsored by CRS/The Gambia and the National Association of Women Farmers of The Gambia. Its findings are particularly pertinent at a time when growing international concern with issues of public governance is increasing interest in participatory processes both at the national (in relation to poverty reduction strategies) and local (in relation to decentralised government) levels. Aimed at development practitioners in international and bilateral agencies, and in NGOs, as well as at students of development studies, the study emphasises the need for caution in the application of innovative research ideas to the complex realities of the developing world. Published by the Overseas Development Institute |
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| David Brown, Karim Hussein, Mick Howes, Kate Longley, Ken Swindell | 2002 | |
| European Tropical Forestry Sourcebook | ||
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| 1998 | ||
| Others | ||
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Report |
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This paper seeks to map out a course for the development of community involvement in forest management in Liberia which is consistent with the Policy’s underlying preoccupations and with the 2006 National Forestry Reform Law. It draws on recent experience in Africa and elsewhere, particularly in areas where timber values are high and there is a powerful forest industry, and applies this to the context of Liberia, where upland rice production under shifting cultivation and high dependence on wild animal protein form the bedrock of the rural economy. |
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| David Brown | June 2008 | |
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Review of Independent Forest Monitoring Report |
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| This study reports on a review of independent and external forest monitoring undertaken by the Forests, Environment and Climate Change Programme at the ODI, on behalf of DFID’s Policy Division | ||
| Cecilia Luttrell and David Brown | January 2005 | |
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Bushmeat - Pilot Study Report |
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| Report commissioned by DEFRA to identify research interventions which can help achieve a sustainable bushmeat trade in West and Central Africa | ||
| David Brown, Evan Bowen-Jones, Elizabeth Robinson | August 2002 | |
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Forestry as an Entry-point to Governance Reform: The Case of Cameroon Report |
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| This case study examines some of the problems of governance of the forest sector, and the ways in which rural development forestry can be used as an entry point to improved governance | ||
| David Brown | 2002 | |
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Principles and Practice of Forest Co-Management: Evidence from West-Central Africa
Report |
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| This paper focuses on attempts to promote community involvement in tropical moist forest areas of sub-Saharan Africa | ||
| David Brown | 1999 | |
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Principles and Practice of Forest Co-Management: Evidence from West-Central Africa - English version (French version) European Tropical Forestry Paper |
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| This paper focuses on attempts to promote community involvement in tropical moist forest areas of sub-Saharan Africa | ||
| David Brown | 1999 | |
| Current projects | ||
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| VERIFOR: Institutional Options for Verifying Legality in the Forest Sector | ||
| VERIFOR is concerned with the policy, institutional and legal challenges around the issue of illegal logging. It seeks to help tropical producer countries verify that their timber has been legally harvested... | ||
| David Brown, Cecilia Luttrell, Adrian Wells, Neil Bird, Kate Schreckenberg | February 2005 - January 2009 | |
| Carbon Offsets: Researching Opportunities for poor rural communities | ||
| Over the last two years, there has been a growing interest in carbon offsetting through the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and voluntary credit schemes. The number of CDM projects increased exponentially between 2002 and 2006 and, as of October 2007, there were 803 registered projects, and approximately 2,000 more are at the validation stage <more> | ||
| David Brown and Leo Peskett | June 2008 - April 2009 | |
| Linking Land Tenure Regularization and Forest Management in Honduras | ||
| The overall objective of this initiative is to support the GoH's efforts to regularise forest land tenure in the country by examining different arrangements of forest ownership and access/control rightsand their implications for responsible use and equity. | ||
| Adrian Wells, Filippo Del Gatto and David Brown | January 2006 - ongoing | |
| Completed projects | ||
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| Forest Sector Studies, Papua New Guinea | ||
| ODI prepared three papers, to be presented at the "Seminar on Trees and Tree Products for the Future of Papua New Guinea" in December 2006: History of the Forest Sector; Audit of the Forest Sector; and Potential of the Forest Sector. The studies form part of a programme aiming to ‘provide a forum for a participatory approach to drawing up a plan for the future of the forestry industry in Papua New Guinea'. | ||
| Neil Bird, Adrian Wells , Flip van Helden and David Brown | December 2006 | |
| Addressing Environmental Objectives in the Context of Budget Support | ||
| The question that lies at the heart of this study is which aid instruments are best suited to promote environmental management that contributes to poverty reduction and development, and under which circumstances? General Budget Support (GBS) was a response to the dissatisfaction over the effectiveness of earlier aid delivery mechanisms, particularly concern over limited national ownership and resource allocation under project and programme support. Its origins are closely associated with the introduction of Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) as a focus for collaboration between donors and partner countries. | ||
| Neil Bird, Lidia Cabral, Andrew Lawson and David Brown | May - December 2006 | |
| Assessment of Recent Bushmeat Research and Recommendations to Her Majesty's Government | ||
| The study aims to provide non-partisan advice to the IDMGb on the relative importance of the bushmeat trade... | ||
| David Brown, John Fa and Leonie Gordon | January 2007 | |
| Review of Independent Forest Monitoring | ||
| Drawing on a number of recent experiences, consideration is given to the way in which independent monitoring might be structured, and some of the issues which need to be borne in mind when decisions are made as to what forms of monitoring to deploy | ||
| David Brown, Cecilia Luttrell and Research Associates in Cambodia, Cameroon, Indonesia and the Philippines | January 2005 | |
| Wild Meat, Livelihoods Security and Conservation in the Tropics | ||
| This project is funded by a grant from the MacArthur Foundation, and will research the human and social dimensions of hunting for consumptive use in tropical forests, including bushmeat and the bushmeat trade | ||
| David Brown | September 2004 | |
| Poverty Dimensions of Public Governance and Forest Management in Ghana | ||
| This was a scoping study to investigate how innovations in governance and forest policy have been mediated by institutions for NR management at the forest margins | ||
| David Brown | March 2003 | |
| A Programme of EU Tropical Forestry Information Consolidation, Networking and Dissemination | ||
| This project was concerned with the tropical forestry activities of the EU Member States | ||
| David Brown, Gill Shepherd, Kathrin Schreckenberg and Michael Richards | 1996-2000 | |