After obtaining the Msc in forest ecology, the author participated in forest managementcooperation in Guatemala as a 2-year volunteer in the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV).
The present administration of JOCV in cooperation with Japanese ODA activity suffersfrom a number of problems, including sectional divisions among administrative organizations, lack of monitoring by specialists, a weak presence of Japanese civilian control, and absenceof Japanese political leadership. In this environment, JOCV environmental projects areunable to function effectively from the points of view of scientific accuracy, economic andfmancial efficiency, or political and cultural relations.
The theme of the present analysis is to address these problems.