Livelihood mushroomed: Examining household level impacts of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) under new management regime in China's state forests

Abstract

Finding alternative livelihood possibility for state worker households is crucial for the successful implementation of Natural Forest Protection Program (NFPP) in China's key state forest regions. One local innovation to implement NFPP while allowing worker households alternative use of forestland is the “Contract Management Responsibility System (CMRS)”. Under CMRS, participating households have exclusive rights to harvest and grow non-timber forest products (NTFP) while fulfilling forest protection responsibility. Using two rounds of survey data, we evaluate the impact of CMRS on forest worker households' livelihood and the sustainability of NTFPs. We also test and correct for the bias from attrition and self-selection simultaneously. We find that CMRS leads to a significant increase in household income from NTFPs' production. We also find that increased NTFP species collected is associated with longer CMRS participation, which indicates improved sustainability.