Forest Devolution Research Articles

“I’ll be back”: the emergence of recentralized forest devolution in the southern provinces of China

“I’ll be back”: the emergence of recentralized forest devolution in the southern provinces of China

The struggle for forest tenure in Myanmar: voices from the 2019 forest rules consultation

ABSTRACT This study furthers the literature on forest devolution in authoritarian states where colonial legacies of forest management favour government and commercial extraction over community-based forest tenure rights. The research analyses the 2019 nationwide consultation process for the implementation regulations (or Rules) of the Myanmar Forest Law. It examines the consultation process and how a crucial aspect of the feedback process stymied even a limited devolution of forest access rights to local communities. The study concludes that consultation processes in authoritarian states can result in forest devolution, but careful and strategic attention must be given to how such a process is both structured in wider policy engagement and how documented feedback is incorporated back into the regulatory framework.

Community capacity for social enterprise development: Empirical evidence from community forest enterprises (CFEs) in Cameroon

With increasing forest devolution globally, community forest enterprises (CFEs) are emerging as potential options for local development based on forest resources. CFEs trade to meet their economic, social, and environmental goals; however, empirical studies have highlighted capacity deficiencies as key drawbacks to their development. Knowledge of what these capacity gaps are is low. This paper uses a systematic framework to explore capacity and deficiencies in capacity and the relation between the two within CFEs in Cameroon. Using the contextualised organisational capacity theory in combination with asset-based mobilisation theory, data was gathered from 31 CFEs based on focus group discussions. Principal component analysis and descriptive statistics were used to evaluate community capacity at individual, organisational (CFE), and network levels. Pearson correlation tests were used to explore the relationships between different domains of community capacity. The results indicate that community members and development practitioners agree that communities are weak in creating partnerships, networking, and resource mobilisation. The participatory community evaluation highlights major capacity gaps in infrastructure, members' skills and knowledge, and sense of community. This confirms that capacity gaps were larger at the individual and social network level, while organisational capacity scored higher except for a sense of community and resource mobilization. Although the community capacities at the individual level are generally low, these capacities correlate strongly with organisational capacity. The potential of the CFEs to meet objectives depends a lot on the capacities of individual members and networking capacity, indicating that these should be prioritised in development efforts, which should involve multiple stakeholders, with policy support and participation by the entire community.

Allocative efficiency or misallocation of resources? The emergence of forestland rental markets and the forest devolution reform in China

AbstractThis paper evaluates whether the devolution reform of forestland to household management improves allocative efficiency and household welfare through participation in forestland rental markets. Using a household panel dataset from three Chinese provinces, we find positive effects of the emerging forestland rental markets: with the reform, forestland was transferred to forestland-constrained and labour-rich households and households with higher levels of productivity in forestry. Participation in forestland rental markets increases household per-capita income and decreases the likelihood of income falling below the poverty line. We do not find any support for forestland captured by land-richer, wealthier, larger or powerful households.

Does Classification-Based Forest Management Promote Forest Restoration? Evidence from China’s Ecological Welfare Forestland Certification Program

Classification-based forest management (CFM) is generally regarded as an important political means of achieving sustainable forest development. However, in the upsurge of publicly managed forest devolution, the impact of CFM policies on forestland restoration remains uncertain and needs to be explored. This study contributes to the scant literature on this topic in China, where CFM has long been implemented based on the ecological welfare forestland (EWF) certification program. We use provincial data from China to examine the relationship between EWF-certified areas and forest restoration. Based on inter-provincial panel data from the third to the ninth consecutive forest resource inventories in China (1984–2018), we use a dynamic spatial autoregressive model to analyze the impact of forest classification management on forest restoration. The results show that, contrary to appearances, increasing EWF-certified areas promotes forest restoration. However, after controlling for other possible influencing factors, increasing EWF-certified areas plays a minimal role in promoting forest restoration and regrowth by inhibiting investment in forest management and even has a negative impact on forest restoration in the southern collective forest area.

Institutional choices between private management and user group management during forest devolution: A case study of forest allocation in China

China has endeavored to devolve collective forests to individual households or user groups in the past decades. However, few studies have explored the community-level institutional selection process in the forest devolution reforms. Based on a longitudinal case study in Fujian province, this study focuses on China's forest devolution reform in the early 2000s and explores in the reform why the community allocated forests to groups of households rather than to individual households, which was the method preferred by the central government. The study also investigates the factors and mechanisms that influenced these institutional choices. The analysis indicates that, when a community is empowered to play a decisive role in institutional choices, the preferences of households may differ from the decisions made by -state-level actors. Three factors are found critical to the selection of user group management in the devolution reform: the difficulty of allocating physical forests equally to individual households, the decreasing dependence of livelihoods on forests, and the development of a forest rights market. We argue that forest devolution policies should recognize the multi-functionality of rural forests, their changing roles in local economic dynamics, the complexities of existing tenure systems, and the local demand for the autonomy of defining forest rights arrangements.

Influence of property rights on performance of community-based forest devolution policies in Honduras

Devolution refers to shifting responsibility of forest management to community organizations, in contrast to public decentralization to local state institutions. Research on community forestry policies can aid in determining how property rights affect local governance structures. The objective of this paper is to analyze the influence of property rights on the application of devolution policies related to community-based forestry. The study included four sites in non-indigenous Honduras where forestry cooperatives were operating. Common property theory was used to interpret data gathered via value chain and sustainable livelihoods approaches. Results show that historical policy changes regarding land tenure recognition have affected community-based forestry initiatives. Recent policies have focused on the promotion of community-based forestry, which has resulted in an expansion in the area of devolved land. Nonetheless, de facto land tenure arrangements continue despite formal assignment of land. It was also found that these initiatives have been developed in areas where agricultural activities are less important. Strategies for inclusion of communities in forest management should not be based solely on the recognition of formal property rights. De facto ownership should also be considered when it is respected among local residents, as part of a local governance approach to forest management.

Forestry Policy and Legitimacy: The Case of Forest Devolution in Vietnam

Although forest devolution has become a key strategy of forestry reforms to mobilise local resources for sustainable forest management, there is growing concern about the legitimacy of this strategy. There have been escalating disputes between forestry agencies and local people as to who receives the rights to forests. Examining the policy of forest land allocation in Vietnam helps us to understand this legitimacy issue. Research findings from three case studies show trade-offs between the two policies’ goals, environmental protection and livelihood improvement, due to locals’ low awareness of the intrinsic values of forests and their lack of knowledge regarding the policy.

Collective Action Dilemma after China’s Forest Tenure Reform: Operationalizing Forest Devolution in a Rapidly Changing Society

Devolution is a promising tool to enhance forest management. The literature has discussed many factors that affect the outcomes of forest devolution policies; however, insufficient attention has been paid to the role of exogenous socio-economic changes. Using the longitudinal case study method, we focus on how socio-economic changes affect the effectiveness of forest devolution policies using a case from Southeast China. We find that in this case, although forest devolution succeeded in granting farmers sufficient forest rights, it failed to incentivize farmers to contribute to managing forests because of the dramatic changes in socio-economic contexts. Economic development and outmigration reduced farmers’ dependence on forest income, elevated the costs of silvicultural operations, and posed market risks, thereby reducing farmers’ enthusiasm about managing forests; outmigration also weakened community leadership and impeded the collective action of making forest investments. Eventually, socio-economic changes compromised the positive stimulus caused by forest devolution and contributed to the collective action dilemma of managing forests after the reform. We argue that operationalizing forest devolution in developing countries needs to consider the exogenous socio-economic changes that may enhance or counteract the effects of devolution policies, and that more autonomy should be granted to communities to make policies adaptative to their local socio-economic dynamics.

Land ownership transformation before and after forest fires in Indonesian palm oil plantation areas

ABSTRACTForest fires in Indonesia continue to pose as an alarming governmental, environmental, and societal concern. This study examines the context of land ownership transformation mainly before and after forest fires in palm oil plantation activities. The data were gathered through in-depth interviews, observation, and Geographical Information System (GIS) mapping. The majority of land transformations occurred from community property ownership to ownership by local elites, while the transformation from company to community and local elites was also found. Due to the injustice of land distribution, local communities occupy open access lands of companies’ concessions. The deliberate use of fire is a common method among smallholder to clear land for oil palm and for sold for profit as planted land. Local elites benefit from these land transformations; however, smallholders are at an economic disadvantage. We argue that forest devolution and a clear definition of community land boundaries are critical in dealing with this issue.

Forest devolution in Vietnam: From rhetoric to performance

This paper discusses the performance of forest devolution, the major reform in forestry in developing countries over the last two decades. Although this change in forest governance has been studied by many scholars, the impacts of forest devolution and the various ways to measure them are still under discussion. This paper contributes to this discussion by evaluating the performance of a specific forest devolution policy, namely, forest land allocation (FLA) in Vietnam. The study is based on the policy arrangement approach to operationalize the concept of ‘governance performance,’ and particularly focuses on the local people’s involvement in the policy. Overall, our findings from three regions of Vietnam reveal a medium governance performance for FLA. The main explanation for this performance is the tradeoffs between the two key policy goals: forest rehabilitation and to increase local income. These tradeoffs are shaped by various factors, namely, the strategic use of forest rights by target groups, social learning by state and nonstate actors, and unanticipated effects on the ground.

Striving for PAR excellence in land use planning: Multi-stakeholder collaboration on customary forest recognition in Bulukumba, South Sulawesi

Decentralization has enlivened new, bottom-up approaches for forestry governance in Southeast Asia. In Indonesia, social forestry and adat (indigenous) rights have come to the fore. The landmark 2013 Constitutional Court decision MK35/2012 allows adat communities greater control over their traditional forest areas. MK35 is the subject of much attention in national debates on forest devolution, but many questions remain about implementation. This paper examines a unique case of MK35 implementation through a local regulation involving the Kajang adat community of Bulukumba, South Sulawesi. We highlight participatory action research (PAR) processes and methods, such as participatory mapping and survey “ground truthing,” which built consensus around vital, contentious policy questions such as the extent of the adat forest. Findings suggest that PAR, albeit time-consuming, is a robust approach for fostering complementarity between stakeholder groups and decision makers in bottom-up land use planning and management.

The Institutional Capacity for Forest Devolution: The Case of Forest Land Allocation in Vietnam

AbstractThe article assesses the institutional capacity of a devolution policy, namely forest land allocation (FLA) in Vietnam. We applied the governance capacity framework, which is based on the policy arrangement approach, to examine the extent to which the policy enables actors to work together in order to solve collective problems. The findings reveal that, overall, the institutional capacity of FLA in Vietnam is rather low, although it varies from region to region. This result is determined by the restricted and ambiguous codification of property rights, the limited resource availability, the symbolic venues for deliberation and the lack of openness of actors towards others’ views in the policy process. External factors, particularly agricultural development, also had a major impact on institutional capacity.

China's forest tenure reform and institutional change at a crossroads

China's latest rural forest reforms have made headway by further devolving the use rights of collectively owned forestland and relaxing government control over private forestry operations. However, there have been policy inconsistencies, conflicts, and even maladaptions such as harvest restrictions, taking of devolved forestland without fair compensation, lack of flexibility in local execution, and a rush to forming co-ops. Building on recent research advances, this paper attempts to further elucidate practical solutions to these challenges. The authors argue that the stake is high to address these challenges in a timely manner, and that effective and coherent resolutions to them are urgently needed. To that end, it is essential to better understand the institutional economics in regard to property rights, collective action, transaction costs, and governance, and to better understand the primary features of forest ecosystems and forestry as well as the rural society of China. It is hoped that this effort will contribute to the continued discussion and more effective implementation of the forest devolution and institutional transition in China and elsewhere.

Forests and people: property, governance, and human rights

1. Introduction: The Rights-Based Agenda in International Forestry Part 1: Global Perspectives 2. The Global Forest Tenure Transition: Background, Substance, and Prospects 3. Indigenous Peoples' Rights and the Jurisprudence of the Inter-American Human Rights System 4. Human Rights-Based Approaches to Conservation Promise, Progress... and Pitfalls? Part 2: What Claims Find Support? 5. Affirmative Policy on an Uneven Playing Field: Implications for REDD 6. Advancing Human Rights Through Community Forestry in Nepal 7. Forest Devolution and Social Differentiation in Vietnam Part 3: Whose Claims Are Considered to Constitute Rights? 8. The Challenges of Developing a Rights-based Approach to Conservation in Indonesia 9. Rights Evolution and Contemporary Forest Activism in the New Forest, England 10. Advocating for Traditional Native American Gathering Rights on US Forest Service Lands Part 4: What Authorities Recognize Forest People's Rights? 11. Who Represents the Collective? Authority and the Recognition of Forest Rights 12. Tenure Rights, Environmental Interests, and the Politics of Local Government in Romania Part 5: What Political Strategies Serve Rights Recognition by the State? 13. Women's Action and Democratic Spaces Across Scales in India 14. Building Coalitions Across Sectors and Scales in Cambodia 15. Forest Based Social Movements in Latin America 16. A Way forward: Forest Rights in Times of REDD+. Index

Participatory Methods for Planning the Future in Forest Communities

Forest devolution and government decentralization have increased community control over forests. Remoteness, low literacy, and lack of formal planning experience often leave forest communities unprepared for their new responsibilities. Forest communities need to develop skills that allow them to establish goals and make decisions transparently and democratically and to negotiate effectively with other local actors if they are to become more proactive participants in local governance processes. In Bolivia and Vietnam we tested four adaptations of scenario-based methods to assist forest communities to develop these skills. This article reflects on the strengths, limitations, and new applications of these methods. The methods encourage participation by members who have little experience with structured planning, including the most marginalized: women, elderly, and illiterate participants. The methods are useful as planning tools, for generating records of decision-making processes, and for preparing for negotiations between communities and local governments.

Future scenarios as a tool for collaboration in forest communities

Forest devolution is meant to provide communities with greater decision-making power over the use and future of tropical forests. However, devolution policies have not always had the intended e ect; in some cases they have caused or furthered the disenfranchisement of the poor, the creation of open access con- ditions, resource conflict and forest degradation. These problems are likely to arise when forest communities are at a disadvantage when interacting with other local players and are unprepared for their new opportunities and responsibilities due to their physical remoteness, cultural isolation, low literacy rates or lack of experience in formal planning and negotiation. This paper discusses how a participatory method to facilitate thinking about the future - called future scenarios - can help change the way forest communities and local governments interact. The paper reviews a growing body of literature on future scenarios and shares first-hand experiences with future scenarios in forest communities in the northern Bolivian Amazon and the central provinces of Vietnam. It finds that under the right conditions, the use of future scenarios allows forest communities to collaborate more e ectively with local government, better assume responsibilities when given control over forests under devolution schemes and self-organize to benefit from the opportunities that communal control over forests o ers. Future scenarios help communities think about dependency, vulnerabilities and ways to prepare for the future; the methods develop organizational capacity and encourage internal democratic pro- cesses and planning. Community leaders become more vocal and assertive in meetings with local government, and marginalized groups within communities, such as women or the poorest segments, make their voices heard. However, the methods are less e ective when facilitation skills are not available or where government or other interests are threatened by local constituents. Future scenarios are not without their pitfalls and do not work in all situations, but given the appropriate context they can create break-through moments that improve collaboration between communities and local o cials.

Community Forestry and Development

Forests and forestry were first seriously considered as a vehicle to reach development objectives in the 1970s, leading to the recognition of community forestry as a focal point for international development cooperation. The exact opportunities for cooperation, and how to realize them, have changed as international development thinking has evolved. In recent decades, traditional academic analyses of communal forestry and development practices have been complemented by trends that focus on specific aspects of forests and local people, including non-timber forest products, forest devolution, decentralization, and collaborative management. The perceived role of community forestry in development cooperation, as well as the type of assistance that is needed and provided, continues to evolve with changing international development agendas, priorities, and objectives.

Why May Forest Devolution Not Benefit the Rural Poor? Forest Entitlements in Vietnam’s Central Highlands

Summary This paper examines the effects of forest devolution on the livelihoods of the rural poor. The paper analyzes changes in forest endowments and entitlements among households brought about by “forestland allocation” in two villages of Vietnam’s Central Highlands. Its results indicate that not only the nature of devolved rights but also broader political and economic processes influence the extent and distribution of benefits. Even where devolution generates benefits to local people in poor areas, local power relations and the institutions regulating access to productive resources may constrain the ability of the “poorest of the poor” to take advantage of devolution.

Fuzzy Property Relations in the Vietnamese Uplands: Ethnography of Forest Access and Control

The Vietnamese government implemented the forest devolution policy in the 1990s, aiming to provide local households with individual rights to forest land and forest resources. This paper studies effects of the policy on local dynamic use of forest land and forest resources in northern Vietnam. It explores particularly the fuzzy property relations on forest land after the implementation of the policy. The findings show that, despite the emphasis on abstract rules in forest devolution policy, actual property relationships are highly fuzzy and very much contested among local people and between them and various local state agencies. On the ground, different actors maintain different claims to the same resources, and their claims are all equally legitimate. The outcomes of forest devolution policy are shaped not merely by the policy itself, but also by other factors such as villagers’ notions of rural landscapes and local power relations. Fuzziness actually creates opportunities for a local elite who have access to political power to channel most of the benefit derived from forest land and forest resources to themselves. Unless all actors agree to sit down and discuss balancing their interests and also their power over the forest, contestation among them will never be resolved.