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Dr. Robert Fisher, Senior Researcher

photo of Bob Fisher

Bob Fisher is an anthropologist. His PhD research was a study of human ecology, focusing on strategies for adapting to drought in the Thar Desert in Rajasthan. He specialises in social and political ecological aspects of natural resource management, particularly involving community forestry. After working in Nepal with the then Nepal-Australia Forestry Project in the late 1980s, he taught at the University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury, before becoming Deputy Director of the Regional Community Forestry Training Center in Bangkok from 1997 to 2001.

Bob has carried out research or consultancies in a wide variety of countries, including Nepal, India, Mozambique, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, Liberia and Ghana. Recent publications include “Linking Conservation and Poverty Reduction: Landscapes, People and Power” (Fisher et al, 2008. Earthscan) and the edited volume “Adaptive Collaborative Management of Community Forests in Asia: Experiences from Nepal, Indonesia and the Philippines” (Fisher et al 2007, CIFOR). He aims to combine theoretical and applied interests and has a strong interest in action research. Bob is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Geosciences and is Senior Researcher with the Mekong Research Group.


Languages: Hindi, Nepali

Postgraduate students: Paula Brown, Surin Onprom, Zoe Wang

School of Geosciences
Madsen Building (F09), Rm 445
University of Sydney, NSW, 2006
Phone: +61 2 9351 2929
Fax: +61 2 9351 3644
Email:

Selected Publications

  • Fisher, R.J. 2011. "Thailand's forest regulatory framework in relation to the rights and livelihoods of forest dependent people", Chapter 4 in Henry Schevens (ed) Critical review of selected forest-related regulatory initiatives: Applying a rights perspective. Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES): Hayama (Japan). pp 69-81. Full text
  • Fisher, R and Rattnasorn, T. (2010) "Doing it differently in a Thai protected area". Asian Currents. No 63, February 2010.
  • Fisher, R. (2010) Devolution or persistence of state control? Nepal, India, Thailand. In Wittayapak, C. and Vandergeest, P. The politics of decentralization: Natural resource management in Asia, Mekong Press: Chiang Mai.
  • Aiah Lebbie, Robert Fisher, Francis Odoom, Wollor Topor, Joe Flomo and Garvoie Kardoh (2009) Understanding Diversity: A Study of Livelihoods and Forest Landscapes in Liberia, prepared for the Livelihoods and Landscapes Strategy, IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature, Monrovia, September 2009.
  • Ravi Prabhu, Carol Colfer, Chimere Diaw, Cynthia McDougall and Robert Fisher (2009) “Action Research with Local Forest Users and Managers: Lessons from CIFOR’s Research on Adaptive Collaborative Management.” In Ian Scoones and John Thompson (eds) Farmer First Revisited: Innovation for Agricultural Research and Development. Bourton on Dunsmore, Practical Action Publishing, pp 66-70.
  • Fisher, R. and Hirsch, P. (2008) Poverty and Agrarian-Forest Interactions in Thailand. Geographical Research 46(1):74-87
  • Fisher R., Maginnis, S., Jackson, W., Barrow, E., Jeanrenaud, S. (2008) Linking conservation and poverty reduction: landscapes, people and power. Earthscan, London.
  • Fisher, R. (2008) Anthropologists and Social Impact Assessment: Negotiating the Ethical Minefield. The Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology 9(3):231-242
  • Bob Fisher, Cor Veer and Sango Mahanty (eds) (2008)
    Proceedings of International Conference on Poverty Reduction and Forests: Tenure, Market and Policy Reforms, 3-7 September 2007, Bangkok Thailand. Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC), Bangkok. CD-Rom/ booklet.
  • Fisher, R., Prabhu, R., McDougall, C. (2007) Adaptive Collaborative Management of Community Forests in Asia: Experiences from Nepal, Indonesia and the Philippines. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Indonesia.
  • Fisher R.J., Stewart Maginnis, W.J. Jackson, Edmund Barrow and Sally Jeanrenaud (2005) Poverty and Conservation: Landscapes, People and Power. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK: IUCN The World Conservation Union.
  • Fisher, R.J. (2005) ‘Forests and Poverty Reduction: A brief history of the relationship.’ Arborvitae (IUCN/WWF Forest Conservation Newsletter), 29, December 2005.
  • Fisher, R.J. (2005) ‘Poverty and Biodiversity Conservation.’ Mekong Update and Dialogue, Vol 8(3), September 2005, pp 2-3.
  • Fisher, R.J. (2005) ‘Common Property and Development: Forests and Pastures.’ In Jim Fingleton (ed) Privatising Land in the Pacific: A Defence of Customary Tenures. The Australia Institute, Discussion Paper No 80.
  • Fisher, R. Nurse, M. Srimongkoltip, S. 2004 "Linking Mangrove Conservation and Local Livelihoods: The Case of Pred Nai Village, Eastern Thailand", script for video prepared for Global Synthesis Workshop Making the case for poverty-focused conservation, World Conservation Congress, Bangkok, 18-25 November 2004.
  • Fisher, R. Schmidt, K. Steenhof, B. & Akesnshaev, N. 2004 Poverty and Forestry: A case study of Kyrgyzstan with reference to other countries in West and Central Asia. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Livelihood Support Programme. LSP Working Paper No 13.
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