Community Forestry Activities Research Articles

Evidence of User Participation in Community Forest Management in the Mid-hills of Nepal: A Case of Rule Making and Implementation

User participation in Community Forestry (CF) regarding forest-related activities from user group formation to implementation of an operational plan is crucial for evaluating the social and biophysical outcomes of a CF program. This study assesses factors responsible for the participation of member households in the planning and implementation process of a CF program in Nepal. Data were collected through a survey of 116 households from six community forest user groups, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions. Simple random sampling was used to collect both qualitative and quantitative information from 10 % of households participating in CF, utilizing a semi-structured questionnaire. Binary logistic regression was used to analyze the factors associated with participation in planning and implementations of CF activities. Six socio-demographic and biophysical explanatory variables were included in the analysis, of which Caste, Sex, Age, and Forest Condition were found statistically significant. The results indicate that if the condition of the community forest is perceived as satisfactory, User Committees receive higher user participation in regards to forest development activities and fund mobilization. The results also suggest activities involving physical work attract younger participants. The existing equal access to forest products does not promote equity. However, promoting women and disadvantaged user participation in CF activities may help achieve higher equitability of CF user groups.

Determinants of participation in Community Forestry in Nepal

SUMMARY Determinants of people's participation in community forestry activities in Tanahun district, Nepal were investigated through a survey of 304 households across ten community forest user groups, key informant interviews, and informal group discussions. Data were analysed through an ordered probit model as well as through the marginal effects of socio-economic factors on the probability of households' participation. Of the 12 variables considered in this study, only gender, caste, household size, livestock holding, network, and amount of firewood extraction proved statistically significant. In all household wealth categories, a moderate level of participation was by far the most common. Further, the results indicate that users participating more in community forestry activities have extracted higher amounts of firewood, fodder and timber although this relation was not statistically significant. Female headed and low caste households, however, participated significantly less than other household categ...

Empowering Women and Ethnic Minority Groups to Collectively Market non Timber Forest Products from Community Forests in Cameroon

Community forestry (CF) was introduced in Cameroon in 1994 as a way to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable forest management. CF activities have primarily focused on timber exploitation rather than non-timber forest product (NTFP) collection, processing or marketing. The study reports on a two year participatory action research project that aimed to test ways of increasing access to income from NTFPs for women and people of the Baka ethnic group in nine CFs around Lomie, East Cameroon. After a participatory diagnosis of problems and stakeholders harvesting NTFPs, approaches to enhance processing, packaging, marketing, monitoring and data collection were evaluated. This led to the development of a market information system that aimed to balance supply and demandby providing information lines on market prices between buyers and sellers. Training support was provided for sustainable harvesting, and to aid harvesters to negotiate prices. This led to 100% price increase in group sales; an increase in selling prices by 39% and an increased sales volume of six NTFPs: Irvingia gabonensis, Ricinodendron heudelotii, Pentacletra macrophylla, Baillonela toxisperma, Tetrapleura tetraptera, Pleurotus tuber-regiumresulting in a sales revenue increaseof 210% (to €72,500) between 2010 and 2012. In a context where logging is restricted to men, supporting access to NTFP markets has led to increased income for women and Baka. These results suggest that support to sustainably harvest and market NTFPs can aid development and access to markets for women and minority ethnic groups. The implications for the revision of the law on small scale commercialization, and the ability of the CFs to continue this system without support from development NGOs are discussed.

Community forestry engagement with market forces: A comparative perspective from Bhutan and Montana

This paper asks: (1) how has community forestry been informed by the ascendancy of particular forms of neoliberal restructuring and rise in market-based interests in environmental governance and (2) how has its engagement with these market forces affected its effectiveness in meeting the objective to reconcile livelihood and environmental protection? Towards answering these questions the paper examines two places known for their forest landscapes and livelihoods and with community forestry activities: the Himalayan country of Bhutan and the U.S. western state of Montana. Bhutan's top-down, national community forestry program and Montana's bottoms-up, collaborative effort known as the Montana Legacy Program are shown to be highly different not only in their institutional arrangement but also in their engagements with particular forms of neoliberalism including type of markets, regulatory processes, market opportunities, and the role of the private sector. Their differences reveal important ways that market forces and market-oriented interests shape threats as well as solutions to meeting forest protection and livelihood objectives in the two contexts, but produce unpredictable partnerships and awkward contradictions in the process.

Social Heterogeneity and Community Forestry Processes: Reflections from Forest Users of Dhading District, Nepal

Community forestry has been characterized as a successful model of community-based forest governance in Nepal that shifts forest management and use rights to local users, often socially heterogeneous in caste, gender and wealth status. This heterogeneity forms the basis of social groups, which differ in their needs, priorities and perceptions regarding community forestry implementation processes. This paper explores the dynamics of three community forestry processes—users’ participation, institutional development, and decision-making and benefit-sharing—among forest user groups as perceived by three social groups of forest users—elite, women and disadvantaged—from eight community forests of Dhading district, Nepal, using qualitative and quantitative techniques. It is found that social groups have differing levels of perception about community forestry processes occurring in their user groups. In particular, social elites differ from women and disadvantaged members of the group in users’ participation in community forestry activities and institutional development of forest user groups. An important policy implication of the findings is that social inclusiveness is central to the effective implementation of community forestry processes, not only to safeguard its past successes but also to internalize the economic opportunities it poses through reducing deforestation and forest degradation in the future.

The influence of NGO involvement on local people's perception of forest management: a case study of community forestry in Nepal

Despite high expectations of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) as project partners in bilateral-aid community forestry (CF) projects in Nepal, it remains unclear whether the NGO involvement favored by donors is efficient. This study examined the influence of NGOs on local people's perceptions of CF management by using a quantitative analysis based on a questionnaire survey. Three different forest user groups (FUGs) supported by the Nepal Swiss Community Forestry Project were selected from the Dolakha and Ramecchap districts: an FUG supported by another FUG acting as an NGO, an FUG supported by an NGO specializing in CF, and an FUG without NGO support. A structured survey examined the perception of CF management based on satisfaction, involvement, and self-reliance in 244 selected households belonging to the three FUGs. Knowledge of CF and personal information was also surveyed and analyzed. The results showed that NGO involvement influences factors such as self-reliance and knowledge of CF. FUG members who were supported by an NGO or an FUG had a significantly higher perception with respect to self-reliance and knowledge than did members without such support. This indicates that experienced FUGs can serve as adequate service providers for the CF formation procedure, in a manner similar to that of NGOs. On the other hand, the limited support from NGOs or FUGs during the formation process seemed insufficient to fulfill the expectations of aid agencies with respect to the enhancement of satisfaction and active participation on the part of FUG members. If aid agencies expect NGOs and FUGs to enhance the satisfaction and participation of members, these intermediary organizations should be assigned to support more CF activities than just the formation procedure. Aid agencies should take responsibility for strengthening the capabilities of NGOs and FUGs, as needed.

INFORMATION USE AND ABUSE IN THE LOCAL GOVERNANCE OF COMMON-POOL FOREST RESOURCES

ABSTRACT Information can be used to control and to deceive but also to stimulate creativity and the ability to respond to new opportunities. The role of information is especially crucial in the local governance of common-pool forest resources because activities in this field involve a wide variety of actors in different roles, with different interests, and with varying levels of knowledge and skills. In situations of open communication this diversity of actors can be a strength in finding solutions to complex problems. However, the diverse actors often face difficulties communicating with each other and thus fail to capitalize on their diversity. Unless actors are able to develop effective communication, local governance of forest resources is not likely to be successful. Different strategies of finding, processing, and incorporating important information into community forestry decision making are presented and discussed in this article. Traditional, top-down project decision making often induces information-for-control rather than information-for-learning. Institutional analysis helps to identify sources of motivation (or lack thereof) for different actors to engage in community forestry learning activities. The right information, flowing to all major actors and being used for decision making, can make a difference in the success of community forestry activities.

GIS Assessment of Land Use/Land Cover Changes Associated With Community Forestry Implementation in the Middle Hills of Nepal

This study analyzed the spatial and temporal changes in land use between 1978 and 1992 in a typical watershed covering 543 km2 in the Middle Hills of Nepal and used GIS to compare land use changes between village development committees (VDCs) with and without formally handed-over community forests during this period. The forest handover procedure followed the specifications of the national community forestry policy of Nepal. In the watershed, the total area of forested land (defined as high forest plus shrubland) declined by about 8% during the period. However, high forest increased over the study period, whereas shrubland cover declined. Between VDCs with community forests and those without, there were large differences in the rate of total forested area loss, with community forest VDCs losing less total forested area over the 14-year period. Moreover, in the group of VDCs with community forests, high forest area increased by 77%, in comparison with 13% for VDCs without community forests. Higher shrub loss in community forest VDCs was attributable to conversion into high forest via plantation establishment and natural succession. The results of this study indicate the positive impacts of Nepal's community forestry activities on the extent of forest cover.

Iowa Communities Benefit from an Externally Funded Tree-Planting Program

In 1990, investor-owned utilities in Iowa began distributing funding dedicated to tree planting to communities through the nonprofit, volunteer-coordinating organization Trees Forever. To assess the impact of this tree-planting program, a questionnaire was mailed to 268 Trees Forever volunteers in communities throughout Iowa in 1996. The objectives of this study were to measure increases in community forestry activities in towns that received tree-planting funds through the organization Trees Forever and to gather opinions about project administration through funding agencies external to the community. The response rate for the survey was 63%. Four-fifths of the communities responding to questions about community forestry activities showed an increase in some forestry- related activities (e.g., volunteer tree-planting group, tree board, fund-raising activities, tree inventory) after they received external tree-planting funds through Trees Forever; two-fifths of them added as many as four new activities. Also, four-fifths of the survey respondents agreed that their community tree-planting program would not have started without external funding, in this case from utility companies. Our results suggest that the benefits of tree-planting programs are enhanced by assistance provided to communities by a funding agency or a volunteer- coordinating organization.

Land-Use Changes in Two Middle Hills Districts of Nepal

Between 1993 and 1996 the Nepal Australia Community Forestry Project carried out four comparative land-use stud- ies in Sindhu Palchok and Kabhre Palanchok districts of Nepal to evaluate the impacts of Australian development assistance over a continuous 19-year period fostering community forestry. The four studies made use of sets of air photographs taken in 1978 and 1992 to assess land-use changes. The samples covered almost 15 percent of the 400,000 ha land area of the two districts; they ranged between 600 and 4,000 m in altitude. Land-use change based on photo interpretation and ground truthing was supple- mented by Rapid Rural Appraisal and by information obtained from local villagers. Community forestry activities within certain areas at the lower altitudes are having a beneficial effect on the balance of land use as part of a broader process of agrarian change. Shrublands and grasslands are being converted to more productive categories of forest land, reflecting the care of communities in managing and conserving their own forest resources. The same cannot be said for the upper slopes where there is evidence that the forest cover is being denuded rapidly and that the shrubland and grassland areas are expanding at the expense of forest cover. Many current land-use practices need to be abandoned or modified. Use of land for agricultural purposes appears to be stable. Recent evidence suggests that reliance on subsistence farming is de- clining as opportunities increase for off-farm income, but whether this has allowed population pressure on land resources to be contained is debatable. While it appears that community forestry has reduced the pressure on land at the lower altitudes of Sindhu Palchok and Kabhre Palanchok, sustained population pressures, combined with a lack of coherent and coordinated land manage- ment policies and practices, have resulted in a rapid decline in forest resources on the upper slopes together with loss of catch- ment stability.

Social discrimination in community forestry: Socio-economic and gender perspectives

A study was carried out to analyze the existing social discrimination among Community Forest User Group (CFUG) members. Two CFUGs representing heterogeneous ethnic groups in Syangja district were selected to examine the participation of CFUG members in Community Forestry (CF) activities, benefit sharing and fund mobilization system. PRA/RRA tools like questionnaire survey, wealth ranking, key informant survey, triangulation, and informal discussion were employed to generate primary data. Statistical parameters such as percentage, mean, ANOVA, and contingency coefficient were used to interpret this data. The perception of local people was measured on the five point Likert scale, and Chi-square test was applied to interpret this result. The participation of the poor, disadvantaged group and women were minimal in CF activities but their presence was more at the time of forest product distribution. Timber had been distributed less to the poor and disadvantaged group (DAG) households than to others. More than 65% CFUG members were unaware about CFUG fund. Their overall perceptions of CF management were not positive. The result clearly demonstrated discrimination between the rich and the poor, male and female, and DAG and non-DAG within the CFUG. Key words: Community forest user group; discrimination; participation; disadvantaged group; poor DOI: 10.3126/banko.v20i2.4799 Banko Janakari Vol.20(2) 2010 pp.26-33