Community Forestry for livelihood Improvement: evidence from the intermediate zone, Sri lanka

Abstract

ABSTRACT The community forestry (CF) program in Sri Lanka came forth in the early 1980 s following a global trend to conserve forest resources and provide benefits to the local community. However, very little is known about the role of CF on livelihoods in Sri Lanka. Therefore, this study evaluated the effect of the newly implemented CF program on community livelihoods in the intermediate zone of Sri Lanka by using a before-after control impact (BACI) design. Data were collected from 450 households and analyzed using the difference-indifference (DID) method. The results show that the CF program has improved livelihoods, with a significant (p < .001) positive effect on household conditions, income from livestock and non-timber forest products, savings, loans, state landholdings, informal education, trust, and collective aid actions. However, the increase in the number of CF members and the increase of demand for state land may threaten the future sustainability of the CF program. Despite, the CF program demonstrating very promising results in terms of livelihood improvement, more efforts are still needed to encourage alternative income sources to enable future generations to be less dependent on the forest.