The Socioeconomic Benefits of Fragmented Forests to Local Communities: A Case Study in the Central Highlands of Ethiopia

Abstract

This study examines the roles of forest fragments in providing provisioning services to local communities in two study sites in Ethiopia. Nine Peasant Associations (PAs) from Jibat district and six PAs from Dendi district were purposively selected for Chillimo. A total of 490 household heads in and around the forest boundaries of Jiabt and Chillimo were interviewed to determine the amounts of services they are obtaining from the forests. It was found that firewood, construction material, charcoal and bamboo were the dominant forest provisioning services that the local community obtained from the forests. About 78.9% of the total income from forest provisioning services was derived from firewood followed by charcoal (14.4%); whereas the least is obtained from bamboo. The local communities consume much of the forest products; and sell only limited amounts to the market. The overall income generated from forest provisioning services on an annual basis was found to be 7569.04 birr (US$ 398/yr/HH) from these forest products. Juniperus procera and Prunus africana are woody plant species ranked first in relation to their frequently of uses by community around Chillimo and Jibat. This finding illuminated the need to take into account the significant roles played by forests in sustaining the livelihoods of local communities which was usually neglected in national accounting system and rural development planning.