Researchers

Dr Digby Race

Dr Digby Race

BAppSc; GradDipEnvMgt; MAppSc; PhD (ANU)

Senior Research Fellow
Institute for Land, Water and Society

Dr Digby Race's areas of research interest are:

Digby is leading several large research projects exploring the social implications of the changing dynamics in the forestry and agricultural sectors ­ both in Australia and the Asia­Pacific region. Two current research projects include:

  1. Exploring the capacity of local communities to respond to land­use change in the Boorowa district in NSW, with Professor Allan Curtis and Dr Jim Birckhead, and colleagues from NSW Department of Primary Industries [project value $200,000];
  2. Exploring how small scale growers can form beneficial partnerships with forest companies in Indonesia and Australia, with Hugh Stewart (CSU PhD researcher), and colleagues from Indonesia's Forest Research and Development Agency (FORDA), WWF Indonesia and the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), and funding from the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) [project value $400,000].

Planting Partnerships DVD (.flv format)

  1. Introduction
  2. Project Development
  3. Sumbawa
  4. Lombok
  5. Sulawesi
  6. Reflections

Digby often conducts and participates in workshops and training fora that focus on capacity building of rural communities, conflict management, and developing mutually beneficial partnerships between communities and the forest industries. Over recent years he has worked throughout Australia and in Papua New Guinea , Indonesia , South Africa and Thailand . In 1998 to 99, Digby conducted a 10 month review of community forestry programs in Asia, Britain and the United States, and was accepted as a Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Forestry Institute, The University of Oxford (UK) during this time.

Over the past decade, Digby has undertaken research with a diverse range of partners, including the NSW Department of Primary Industries (Agriculture), CRC for Sustainable Production Forestry, the Commonwealth's Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) and Environment Australia (EA), Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Greening Australia Ltd, Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), and the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

Digby is an experienced project leader, having managed a diverse range of projects with a combined value of over $1.5 million. He has published widely on the socio­economic aspects of forestry development and other issues for a range of audiences, with over 60 texts, research reports, and refereed journal articles. Digby is also regularly contracted by various organisations as a senior consultant to evaluate national environmental programs.

From 1998 to 2004, Digby was employed at The Australian National University in the School of Resources, Environment and Society, where he was the principal lecturer for two post­graduate courses ­ Farm Forestry: Policy and Practice and Social Forestry, and supervised the research of several post­graduate students. Previously, Digby was employed as a Research Officer (Farm Forestry) at CSU's Johnstone Centre (1995 to 1997), where his research included an investigation of the socio­economic factors affecting farm forestry adoption, and how farm forestry may best contribute to regional development. In this role he was contracted by Uncle Ben's ­ Australia to investigate the carob agroforestry industry in Portugal and Spain. Prior to this position, Digby was employed by the Department of Agriculture (Victoria) (1991 to 1994) as an Agroforestry Development Officer. In this role, he established the community­based North­East Agroforestry Network and led the successful Farm Forestry Study Tour to New Zealand (1994), for landholders, industry and representatives of government.

Digby was the Convenor of the Australian Forest Growers 2008 National Conference, held in Albury-Wodonga from 19th -22nd October. The Conference attracted over 260 delegates from around Australia, and included 50 presentations and six field trips. Proceedings of the Conference Please note this PDF is 7MB.

Publication List and Projects