Effect of forestland tenure security on rural household forest management and protection in southern China

Abstract

Initiated in 2003, China’s recent round of collective forest tenure reform (CFTR) aims to improve tenure security and motivate households to engage in forestry production. For the forested land allocated to households after the reforms, forest management and protection have become key in forestry production. However, few studies have analyzed the effect of different dimensions of forestland tenure security on rural household forest management and protection. Based on survey data from 766 households in southern China, the present study examines this effect using the Negative Binomial and Tobit models. The empirical results indicate that the actual tenure security derived from the possession of forestland certificates has insignificantly increased forest management frequency and management intensity. With regard to perceived tenure security, we found that if forestland is perceived to be adjusted in the future, this can have a significant positive impact on both management frequency and management intensity. In contrast, a perception that certificates may protect forestland rights would have insignificant effect on management frequency and management intensity of forestland. Specifically, for households with certificates for all forestland, perception about future adjustments on tenure security would positively affect management frequency and intensity. For households with certificates for part of forestland, the perception about certificates has a positive impact on management frequency.