Evaluating Challenges and Opportunities to Boost Forest Productivity in the Kashmir Himalayas.

Although stakeholders' participation in forest management helps overcome problems and conflicts that prevent sustainable solutions, different approaches and nomenclature for similar contents in the literature hinder theoretical progress on the topic. This study organises existing information through a bibliometric analysis of scientific papers from the last 30 years (1991–2021) on sustainable forest management, focusing on the stakeholders' participation. Results demonstrate that stakeholders' participation in sustainable forest management gained relevance from 2017 onwards. Case studies are predominant (66%) and six major trends were identified. The first emphasises a systemic approach to participation. The second updates the community management discussion. The third studies historical problems related to the use of resources, rights, and services. The fourth focuses on regional assessments and studies. The fifth concerns assessment, decision-making, and planning, including issues related to certifications and policies. The sixth discusses innovation related to adaptation, climate change, equity, and resilience. The studies included in this last classification are problem-solving-oriented and seek new forest management. Although important, the role of innovation in stakeholders' participation in sustainable forest management is overlooked, which constitutes an avenue for future research.

Forest ecosystems are important to ecological, economic and social wellbeing, particularly for the adjacent communities who depend on it. Understanding the socioeconomic dynamics that make households choice to be involved in forest conservation is crucial for sustainable management of natural resources. This study therefore examined the socioeconomic factors that influenced households’ participation in forest management. Multistage probability sampling technique was used to select 202 respondents from households adjacent to Aberdare forest ecosystem. Data collected was analysed using Chi-square test, Spearman’s rho correlation and multinomial logistic regression. The factors that influenced participatory forest management included forest management approach (χ² = 17.551, p < 0.001), distance to the forest reserve (χ² = 29.071, p < 0.001), distance to the national park (χ² = 27.303, p = 0.008), gender of household head (χ² = 10.719, p = 0.002), land tenure (χ² = 34.313, p < 0.001), sources of income (χ² = 31.353, p < 0.001) and importance of the forest ecosystem (χ² = 29.241, p < 0.001). The factors that significantly influenced the regression model were farm size, household size, annual income, forest management approaches (FMA), land tenure, and importance of the forest ecosystem where R2 was 0.703. The study established that, although the proposition that natural resources need protection from anthropogenic destruction is widely accepted, communities are interested in collaborating with resource managers for long-term resource conservation. This study therefore recommends strategies for harnessing this high interest through broadening the economic benefits base on spur community involvement in conservation, a prerequisite for sustainable forest conservation. These include promotion of agroforestry practices, supporting non-extractive benefits and formation and capacity building of community associations to enhance participation in forest ecosystem management. Key words: Benefit-cost sharing, economic and non-economic benefits, forest ecosystem, forest management approach, forest reserve, national park, livelihoods.

Post forest reversal discussion: Restructuring public subsidy system for private forests under the differences of topographic conditions in Norway

Understanding the perceptions of local communities towards participatory forest management (PFM) is essential for successful improvements of PFM regarding forest conservation and livelihood improvement. However, there is a lack of research evidence on the perception of local communities for PFM intervention. To better understand the local communities’ perception of PFM, 131 households were surveyed. Data were collected through the household survey; key informant interviews (KIIs), focus group discussion (FGD), and analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results show that the households perceived that there is no deforestation due to the intervention of PFM which leads increment of species diversity, increasing of forest coverage, increased productivity of the forest, and increase valuable species. Respondents also perceived that the PFM has opportunities to change a negative attitude to a positive through giving of power to the local community, enables bounded members, bringing the right to exclude non-PFM members, creates a sense of belongingness, and encourage the right to use the forest products. The finding demonstrated forest income was second contributor of household income among income sources. Actions such as better protection of existing forests to avoid overuse, access to alternative livelihood diversification, better access to market, access to better skills and knowledge on the collection and use of forest products and reforestation were suggested to increase the existing benefits and management of PFM. The finding of the study suggests further improvement of local communities’ perception and attitudes as well as providing alternatives to improve forest conditions and livelihood.

Effects of thinning on canopy structure, forest productivity, and productivity stability in mixed conifer-broadleaf forest: Insights from a LiDAR survey.

Despite the socio-economic and environmental benefits of forests globally, these ecosystems have been degraded due to poor governance. Effective governance in the forest sector calls for the identification of concrete elements within the administrative sector by systematically analysing the current situation and direct efforts towards improving the systems. A functional governing system would promote positive changes and progress by identifying challenges and gaps and come up with guidelines geared towards strengthening global co-operation. Our study explored the various factors influencing effective governance in forest management and protection in Kenya, using the case of Mt. Elgon Forest Reserve. Purposive sampling design was used to collect data through structured questionnaires and interactive interviews among forest managers, forest adjacent communities and other relevant stakeholders. The study shows that majority of the local communities living adjacent to the forest have been sensitized about forest conservation, however, the capacity building did not entail technical forestry operations. This has hampered effective involvement of the communities in forest management. Majority of the forest management staff are well trained in forest management and therefore could implement sustainable management strategies, however, due to insufficient fund, these strategies could not be fully implemented. Most of the members of the local communities are not economically empowered and mainly derive their livelihood from the forest leading to overexploitation. This strains sustainable utilization of the forest resources. Cultural practices such as livestock grazing and living within the forest are hampering sustainable management of the forest. The study suggests that successful management of the forest is limited by inadequate involvement of local communities. This has led to apathy and degradation of the forest by members who feel that their views are not sort in the management of the forest. The study recommends multi-sectoral planning and representation of sectors involved in forest management and conservation Keywords: participatory forest management, forest adjacent communities, forest products, sustainable forest management DOI: 10.7176/JESD/11-12-06 Publication date: June 30th 2020

Participatory forest management: Analysis of local forest governance and implications for REDD+ implementation in the Adaba-Dodola Forest in Ethiopia

The study investigated gender participation in sustainable forest management in Cross River State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 135 respondents. Data was collected with the aid of structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test at 5% level of significance. Socio-economic characteristics showed that 59.3% of forest users were males and 64.5% had primary education and below. Users were aware of sustainable forest management practices like: participation in forest management committee meetings (100%), prohibition of deforestation (98.5%), and membership into forest management committees (95.6%). Concerning participation in community forest management activities, 3.6% women participated in forest patrol activities against 27.5% men, 14.6% women belonged to community forest management groups compared to 40% men. Major factors that constrained women’s participation were: traditional gender roles/responsibilities (MS= 4.37) and high level of poverty (MS=4.32). For men they were: stringent laws on accessing/harvesting forest resources (MS= 4.25) and age of forest user (MS= 4.17). The t-test results showed that when equal variances were assumed, there was no significant difference in the level of participation in community forest management activities between the males and females [t (133) = -.723, p=.472, 95% CI (-.140, .065)]. The study recommended that technical support to community members should focus on strategies that motivate them to get actively involved in sustainable management of their forest.

The success of sustainable forest management is inseparable from community participation as the leading actor in the Social Forestry Program. Various factors, including internal factors from the community and external factors, affect the participation of the community. Factors impacting community participation in sustainable forest management were analyzed in this study. The study was conducted at BKPH Mojorayung, KPH Madiun, East Java Regional Division Perum Perhutani, from April to June 2022, using a survey method with 242 randomly selected respondents. Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis was conducted with the SmartPLS software. Based on the results, it was found that three factors impact the community's participation in forest management: the empowerment process accuracy, the role of community empowerment workers, and the support of group leaders. The characteristics of the communities around the forest did not affect community participation in forest management. Community participation also affects the sustainability of forests.

This study examines the factors influencing household participation in participatory forest management (PFM) in the Bench-Sheko Zone of Southwest Ethiopia. The study was conducted in two woredas (Gurafarda and Sheko) where PFM has been implemented. Two kebeles where PFM has been implemented were selected from each woreda. For the interview, household heads in the sampled kebeles were stratified based on the membership status into members and nonmembers of PFM. Then, a sample of 408 household heads were interviewed from the selected kebeles. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and logistic regression. Access to forest-related extension services, marital status, benefits derived from the forest, understanding PFM goals clearly, access to market information on forest products, and the size of livestock held by household heads had a positive and significant effect on the participation of the household heads in PFM. To achieve the promise of PFM, it is critical to provide forest-related extension services on forest resource management and use that specifically promote PFM, for example, by creating awareness of the economic value and benefits of forests among household heads.

Estimating forest productivity with Thematic Mapper and biogeographical data

That numerous rural laborers migrate to urban areas to find off‐farm jobs has become an outstanding economic phenomenon in China. To examine the impact of rural labor off‐farm employment on household forest management, we built binary logistic models and Tobit models by applying a sample survey data of 500 households in rural Jiangxi in 2018. Households’ participation and investment in forest management were measured by their labor and cash input. The results indicated that more off‐farm laborers in household would hold back their participation in cash input. In contrast, a higher rate of female off‐farm employment encouraged household monetary input. And households with more female agricultural laborers were more likely to participate in labor input. Neither off‐farm employment nor female off‐farm employment significantly influences households’ labor input. Off‐farm employment of the householder negatively influenced labor and cash input. Policy factors, such as obtaining forestry subsidies and forestry loans, joining forestry co‐operative organizations, and better attitude to the logging quota system, also promoted households’ participation and investment in forest management. Household head's age and education, forestry land status also affected participation in forest management. Our analysis could provide basis for managers to formulate policies to support sustainable forest management.Recommendations for Resource Managers: The econometric models applied in this research could reflect the influence of rural labor off‐farm employment on household forest management behavior and provide a quantitative basis for formulating forest management policies. There were great differences between rural households’ forest management cash input behavior and labor input behavior and households were more active in labor input compared with cash input. The gender structure of rural labor off‐farm employment could impact households’ forest management participation and investment. To achieve sustainable forest management, managers should pay attention to enhancing female forestry technique training and encouraging forest land transfer and consolidation in the collective forest regions of China.

This paper is founded on a study that examined the consumption of forest products from village forest reserves which are under Participatory Forest Management (PFM) paradigm in households. Mgori forest reserve was taken as the case study. Emphasis was made on how much households save from direct consumption of forest products. PFM is a newly introduced approach in Tanzania, as well as in other countries in Southern Africa, with the main objective of conserving forest resources and improving livelihoods of local communities. Many studies have been done on a tradeoff between PFM and livelihoods in Tanzania, but little information is available on the direct consumption of forest products extracted from the reserves and their respective costs accruing to households. This study tries to provide such information. The study used a cross-sectional research design by administering a questionnaire to 240 households that were selected randomly. Findings of the study show that the consumption of forest products was significantly substituting costs that the households were supposed to incur in consuming the products. The most important forest products were firewood and food related items. The study concludes that forest products from village reserves contribute to improved welfare of households, which in turn act as incentives to communities to conserve forest reserves.

Participatory forest management was started more than one decade ago in Ethiopia as one of the ways applied to reverse deforestation and depletion of natural resources. However, there are no adequate site specific empirical and quantitative studies on the effectiveness of PFM approaches in conservation of woody species diversity and forest conservation. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the impacts of PFM on woody species diversity in selected forest user groups in Gimbo Woreda, South West Ethiopia. Vegetation data were collected from different PFM user groups and adjacent Non-PFM forest blocks. A total of 63 plots measuring 20 m × 20 m were employed to collect species composition and structural data. Data for all the sapling and seedlings were also collected within subplots of 5 m X 5 m and 2 m X 2 m respectively. Accordingly a total of 73 different woody plant species (72 at PFM and 54 at Non-PFM blocks), representing 64 genera and 35 families were recorded, with 53 species shared. Woody species diversity and evenness were higher in the forest with PFM (H´ = 3.04, E = 0.76) compared to the forest without PFM (H´ = 2.8, E =0 .70). The overall average values of sapling and seedling density were also significantly (p &lt; .05) higher in PFM than Non-PFM forests. However, no significant variations were observed in basal area and dominance of the species between the two forest blocks. Thus it can be concluded that participatory forest management is showing signs of delivering impact in terms of woody species diversity conservation in the study area. However, there is a gap in some of forest user groups in terms of forest protection from an illegal activities. Therefore it is important to conduct further assessments in the remaining forest user group’s to have baseline data for further study and performance evaluation over all forests under PFM approaches. Keywords : Forest User Group, Regeneration, Species diversity, Human induced disturbance. DOI : 10.7176/JEES/9-6-01 Publication date :June 30 th 2019

Proper harvesting of forest products is necessary for sustainable forest management, playing a pivotal role in minimizing damage and waste while ensuring the sustainability of forest resources. Sustainable community forest management greatly depends on the harvesting and fair distribution of various forest products (FP). The study's goals were to ascertain the methods, instruments, and strategies utilized in the harvesting process, forest products distribution pattern, and the common issues surrounding the distribution and harvesting of FP in Imo and Ashoje Community Forest (CF) located in Khotang District, Nepal. Operational Plan (OP), focus groups, key informant interviews, household surveys, and minute books were used for data collection. 25% of all households were chosen at random from each of the two CF. The study revealed that traditional methods and tools such as sickles, bill hooks, axes, and saws, were commonly used in the past; however, there has been a shift towards modern tools in recent years. Deviations were observed in forest products harvesting and distribution from that of OP in practice. Fuel wood were equally distributed, timbers were allocated based on priority and circular basis ensuring user satisfaction. The slope was the major constraint for harvesting, as most of the marked trees were not cut because of difficulty in extraction. To improve sustainable forest management, it is recommended that advanced tools and training be provided to users, with regular monitoring by forest officials to ensure adherence to best practices. These measures will help enhance user responsibility and ensure sustainable harvesting operations.