Chapter 13 - Rural Household Participation in Illegal Timber Felling in a Protected Area of West Sumatra, Indonesia

Abstract

Illegal logging is a threat to protected areas, yet the factors motivating it need to be better understood. Here, rural household participation in timber felling in the Barisan I Nature Reserve is described, the household contextual factors relating to this participation analyzed, and the importance of these activities to household income assessed. Nearly 19% of the sampled households cut or hauled timber in the nature reserve, and the demand for cash encouraged participation. Alternative livelihoods such as livestock raising and agroforestry intensification outside the nature reserve could reduce the need for timber felling. Knowledge about legal status of the nature reserve did not affect the odds of a household engaging in timber harvesting, but greater awareness of the nature reserve resulted in lower levels of income from timber. Development policy that seeks to provide livelihood alternatives to timber-felling households could reduce dependence on timber and contribute to forest conservation in the nature reserve.