Pound, B., S. Snapp, C. McDougall and A. Braun (Eds). 2003. Managing Natural Resources for Sustainable Livelihoods: Uniting Science and Participation. Earthscan/IDRC.Management of local resources has a greater chance of a sustainable outcome when there is partnership between local people and external agencies, and agendas relevant to their aspirations and circumstances. Managing Natural Resources for Sustainable Livelihoods analyses and extends this premise to show unequivocally that the process of research for improving natural resource management must incorporate participatory and user-focused approaches, leading to development based on the needs and knowledge of local resource users.Drawing on extensive and highly relevant case studies, this book presents innovative approaches for establishing and sustaining participation and collective decision-making, good practice for research, and challenges for future developments. It covers a wide range of natural resources – including forests and soils, and water and management units such as watersheds and common property areas and provides practical lessons from analysis and meta-analysis of cases from Asia, Africa and Latin America. It offers insights on how to make research participatory while maintaining rigour and high-quality biological science, different forms of participation, and ways to scale up and extend participatory approaches and successful initiatives.This book will be invaluable for those professionally involved in natural resource management for sustainable development, and an essential resource for teachers and students of both the biophysical and social science aspects of natural resource management.

Ashby, J.A. 2002. Integrating Research on Food and the Environment: an Exit Strategy from the Rational Fool Syndrome in Agricultural Science. Special Feature on Integrated Natural Resource Management (INRM). Conservation Ecology. Vol 5(2).  Access other articles in the special issue of Conservation Ecologyon INRM

Groenfeldt. D. 2004. Water Development and Spiritual Values in Western and Indigenous Societies. Indigenous Water Initiative.The spiritual connection to water that indigenous societies maintain as an integral aspect of their culture is a basis for countless water conflicts with outside, predominantly Western forces of development. While Western cultural values do give some attention to a spiritual dimension of water, it is very much a minority view. The dominant value system determining how water is utilized in Western culture is basically an economic one. In indigenous societies the situation is reversed. The dominant cultural perspective places great importance on spiritual aspects of water and water bodies. Internal debates revolving around development options nonetheless often reflect economic considerations promoted by the outside dominant society. More explicit understanding of indigenous value systems by the Western world would help relieve cultural pressure on indigenous societies, and, to the extent the West might emulate indigenous notions of humanity's role vis a vis nature, could benefit the cause of sustainable development worldwide.

Aarnink, W., S. Bunning, L. Collette, P.Mulvany. 1998. Sustaining Agricultural Biodiversity and Agro-ecosystem functions: Opportunities, incentives and approaches for the conservation and sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity in agro-ecosystems and production systems . Report of International Technical Workshop organized by FAO and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, with the support of the Government of the Netherlands. 2 - 4 December 1998, FAO, Rome, Italy.

deGrassi, A. 2003. Constructing Subsidiarity, Consolidating Hegemony Political Economy and Agro-Ecological Processes in Ghanaian Forestry, Environmental Accountability in Africa. Working Paper No. 13, Washington, DC World Resources Institute.Despite proliferating claims that Ghanaian forestry is collaborative and community-based, most powers over forestry remain concentrated in an unrepresentative and unaccountable centralized forestry administration. In ways that presage current negotiations over the principle of subsidiarity, various regimes in Ghana throughout the twentieth century have, when challenged, misconstrued agro-ecological processes in order to justify centralized and violent control that, although conducted in the name of the public good, allowed forest resources to be appropriated by select state agents, traditional authorities, and domestic and international firms. Recommendations are given to help pry the concept of subsidiarity away from abuse by hegemonic elites: participatory empirical studies of forest agroecologies and management, and inclusive processes of formulating and interpreting policies and laws.

Van Mele, P. & N.T.T. Cuc. 2003. Ants as Friends: Improving your Tree Crops with Weaver Ants. CABI Bioscience¸ pp. 67. (English, Bahasa Indonesia, and from 2005 also in Vietnamese)Contains practical tips on how to make best use of the weaver ant to protect your fruit and other tree crops. The authors have combined rich sources of scientific and farmers' knowledge to provide an attractive and colourful manual that will appeal to university students, NGO workers, extension staff and all engaged in communicating agricultural science to farmers. English versions can be ordered from Simon Lea at CABI Bioscience. The Bahasa Indonesia version can be ordered from Subekti Rahayu at ICRAF-Indonesia.