Forest Management Programs Research Articles

Performance of Mechanical Forest Vegetation Clearing Technique and Litter Decomposition

A mechanical technique for forest vegetation treatment is presented and analysed. A brush-cutting machine was used with Mediterranean-type vegetation in a forest vegetation management program to enhance wildlife habitat by promoting vegetation resprouting and grass reestablishment in mature shrublands. The performance of working time components was evaluated. Equipment components are described as well as benefits and applications of the technique. Two sites were compared in terms of vegetation composition and biomass, mechanical working performance, and litter decomposition rates. Litter decomposition was followed over a 2-year period. Changes in litter mass and nutrient content through time are evaluated and discussed. A working productivity between 3 and 4 h.ha-1 was obtained for different site and vegetation conditions. A major reduction of litter dry mass happens in the first 6 month after vegetation cutting. Litter decomposition rates range from -0.32 to -0.14 year-1 and the time for total decomposition ranges between 4 to 6 years. Litter nutrient composition presents the following order N>Ca>K>Mg>P. The relative mobility of these nutrients follows the order N>K>Ca>Mg>P. The estimated annual nutrient net release is about 91.8 kg N.ha-1, 4.5 kg P.ha-1, 52.8 kg K.ha-1, 39.5 kg Ca.ha-1 and 13.7 kg Mg.ha-1. Different litter decomposition rates and nutrient release on both sites and are discussed.

Criteria and indicators for assessment of functioning of forest protection committees in the dry deciduous forests of West Bengal, India

Abstract This paper describes a framework of criteria and indicators to evaluate the status of performance of the forest protection committees of India in managing community forests under the Joint Forest Management programme. The framework consists of 3 principles, 6 criteria, 12 indicators and 18 verifiers and was applied for assessment of forest protection committees operating in south-west West Bengal, India. The study area is dominated by dry deciduous forests, mostly in degraded state. An analysis guide along with a set of questionnaire was prepared to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the forest protection committees. An ecological study was also carried out simultaneously in the forest areas protected by the corresponding forest protection committees to measure the condition of forests. Results from the study suggest that the developed criteria and indicators form an effective framework for assessing the extent of implementation of sustainable forest management principles in the context of community forestry. The methodology used in this study is designed to be simple, easily comprehendible and quantifiable so as to implement it in the grass-root level by field persons without any major difficulty. Regarding performance of the committees, the study reveals that there exists a highly positive relationship between the level of functioning of the committees and the status of health of the forests and vice versa. It is also found that the functional status of a forest protection committee depends mostly on the extent of group cohesiveness present among the members of the committee.

A meta-analysis of contingent valuation forest studies

Abstract Forest ecosystems provide a variety of valuable goods and services. This paper presents a meta-analysis of forest studies using the Contingent Valuation (CV) method to value the provision of forest values around the world. In this meta-analysis, we estimate the marginal value of different management programs that provide a variety of forest goods and services. Our results show that willingness to pay (WTP) estimates for forest management programs are sensitive to the program's objectives, particularly when linked to the provision of recreational services. Other variables such as the type of forest, location, survey mode, or the type of respondent were also found to significantly affect the WTP estimates.

Social Capital and Joint Forest Management: A Case Study of a Village Forest Committee in Karnataka

Introduction: The main focus of the dissertation is locating social capital or lack of it in Community based development projects. Joint Forest Planning and Management (JFPM) Programme in Karnataka, that requires beneficiary communities to work in collaboration with the implementing agency (Karnataka Forest Department) was taken as a case. The concept of social capital was applied to observe the structure and pattern of participation in the JFPM programme in the context of multiple-stakeholders and their association with each other. Key question(s): (a) What are the factors that drive communities to work as a collective group for a common cause (JFPM)? (b) Whether social capital formation in the present case resembles other models or is different and why? (c) Is it due to the local practices or due to the influence of external agencies (NGOs or the state)? Methodology: The research work is an analytical and descriptive study based on both primary and secondary sources and data collection. Participatory observation method was followed and data collected from a Village Forest Committee. Main Findings: The findings suggest that (a) It is not merely monetary or economic benefits that drive communities to work for a particular cause as a collective, but also concern for the issue in question, motivation and to an extent, socio-cultural historical background of the community. Factors driving collective action vary from place to place and from time to time (b) The success of a development process and its sustenance especially in programmes like JFPM depends on the accumulation of social capital in the association. But sustaining social capital in an association in the long run is more important and this is the function of participation. Accumulation of social capital in any association necessarily depends on how the process of participation takes place in it, who participates, why, at what level and how. Formation, accumulation and sustenance of social capital is unique to each community (c) Traditional leadership compared to popular leadership tends to produce better outcome. Traditional leadership coming form within the community has a strong influence on the accumulation and sustenance of social capital and conservation and development activities, rather than the external influence. Policy Implications: (A) The concept of social capital is key to the successful outcomes in developmental projects involving community participation and hence, the funding, implementing and facilitating agencies need to concentrate on this aspect. Facilitating agencies need to be trained thoroughly regarding the significance of the concept of social capital and the potential it holds.(B) Funding, implementing and facilitating agencies should realise that there is no single factor or combination of factors that drive community based development projects. Hence the implementation manual needs to have the flexibility of adapting to changing conditions from place to place and from time to time. (C) Intensive and continuous (not nominal) leadership training is required in the pre-project period and during the course of the project.

Is Joint Forest Planning and Management Truly Joint? Understanding the Governance Question

This paper questions the true nature of the concept of ‘Joint’ in the Joint Forest Management programmes. Are Joint Forest Management programmes truly joint? A case study in a village in Shimoga district of Karnataka state suggests that ‘joint’ nature of the Joint Forest Planning and Management is only on papers and it is the experts or the concerned forest officials who call the shots, whether it is in planning or management (governance) of forests. The nature of joint which is supposed to be horizontal in nature is not truly so, it is more of a vertical relationship between the Forest Department at the top and the forest dependent communities at the bottom. At all the stages of implementation of the programme, it is the forest officials who have the upper hand, due to their ‘technical/scientific’ expertise, contrary to the idea that the traditional knowledge of the forest dependent communities needs to be utilized for the maximum benefit of the programme. The existing pattern has created a situation wherein the forest dependent communities are reduced to being mere beneficiaries instead of equal stakeholders/governors of the forest resources. The paper traces how such conditions can lead to disinterest among the forest dependent communities in managing forests and how it affects the governance and finally, conservation of forests.

Impact of a moral hazard problem in the Joint Forest Management Programme: a study from forest‐dependent households in West Bengal

This study seeks to explore the impact of a moral hazard problem in the Joint Forest Management (JFM) programme between the government and forest fringe communities of a province in West Bengal, India. It suggests that if there is no incentive plan for the poor, it is hard for the government to monitor their actions. The poor tend to take welfare subsidies and yet harvest optimally. A good incentive fee dependent on their work (output) is required for livelihood sustenance of poor people and sustainability of forest resources.

The Framework of Household Model under Joint Forest Management Programme

The Framework of Household Model under Joint Forest Management Programme

Participatory modelling to improve partnership schemes for future Community-Based Forest Management in Sumbawa District, Indonesia

As part of its Community-Based Forest Management (CBFM) Programme, the local government of Sumbawa District in West Nusa Tenggara Province of Eastern Indonesia initiated a partnership programme between the Forestry District Agency and tree grower cooperatives in 2002. The partnership scheme aims to reduce illegal logging and forest encroachment on abandoned state plantations initially developed in 1986. However, the cooperatives have no secure full rights to harvest the mature teak trees ( Tectona grandis) inside the plantations, as important incentives to maintain their commitment. This paper aims to explore the potential benefits of different scenarios, as the basis for convincing the Ministry of Forestry (MoF) to give full secure rights to the local communities. In this study, we used a participatory modelling approach, to identify problems and to define future scenarios of partnership arrangements with the local key stakeholders. This research used the concept of system dynamics modelling, which included the two concepts of systems thinking and resilience. As a management tool, the visualisation of the management alternatives and their associated impacts had stimulated the community's awareness of the importance of protecting the teak plantations from illegal logging and forest encroachment. The simulation results have also shown how granting local communities a full secure access to manage the state forest does not necessarily reduce the revenue for the government at all levels.

Sustainable Rural Livelihoods under Joint Forest Management (JFM) Programme: Some Evidence from West Bengal, India

The objectives of this article are to assess linkages and impact of participatory JFM Programme on Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (SRL) across socio-economic group of forest fringe communities. The study is based four sample FPCs – one female FPC and three joint FPCs - under Midnapore and Bankura districts in West Bengal. The results from this study suggest that the JFM Programme under the sample FPCs/Villages in West Bengal is participatory. With regard to the SRL framework, strong sustainability criteria meet for very poor and poor households, which live below poverty line and are dependent on forest resource for their livelihood security. The study suggests that force or law cannot effectively control illegal collection of TFPs for the households living below poverty line, until a considerable increase in the collection of legal forest products – NTFPs, fuelwood etc. – and wage income from forest provide for their minimum livelihood security.

Joint Forest Management Programme in India

Joint Forest Management Programme in India

Project Benefits, Land, and Land Tenure of Upland Community based Forest Management Program Implementers in Sicopong Watershed, Philippines

Project Benefits, Land, and Land Tenure of Upland Community based Forest Management Program Implementers in Sicopong Watershed, Philippines

Combining Contingent Valuation and Choice Experiments. A Forestry Application in Spain

When many good variants are to be valued, like in several forest management programs which differ in the attribute levels, the Contingent Valuation Method may not be a practical option, given the cost and time involved to value each variant separately. There are at least three alternative procedures in such situations. One (i) is to apply an attribute based valuation method like a Choice Experiment (CE); another (ii) is to conduct a CVM and a CE exercise and estimate a joint model; a third one (iii) is to use the CVM estimates to value a base scenario, and then use the CE results to adjust the CVM estimates for any new different scenario. A numerical simulation and an empirical application to an afforestation program in Spain show that the latter is the procedure that yields closer values to the CVM estimations, followed by (ii).

The fodder situation in rural India: future outlook

SUMMARY An account is given of the fodder situation in rural India with a view to developing a strategy for optimising fodder production and its efficient utilisation by the poor, especially those living in or around forest regions. The emerging trend in livestock growth suggests an overall rising trend with an increase in small ruminants in coming years. This is likely to put greater pressure on natural fodder resources like forests and other grazing areas. To enhance farm income, incorporating fodder into joint forest management programmes is a welcome step but requires greater impetus. Optimisation of fodder production from arable lands and efficient utilisation of crop residues are expected to relieve at least some of the pressure on natural fodder resources. There is also an urgent need to adopt appropriate technologies backed by policy and institutional mechanisms to enhance rural incomes from livestock enterprises.

Management Regimes, Property Rights, and Forest Biodiversity in Nepal and India

This article compares a range of initiatives aimed at involving people in the management of forest resources in Nepal and India. In Nepal, we focus on three categories of state-initiated programs: community forestry, the parks' buffer zone program, and leasehold forestry. In the southern Indian state of Karnataka, we study the state-initiated Joint Forest Planning and Management program along with older institutions of leaf manure forests (Soppina betta) and historical sacred forests (Kans). We conclude that state-initiated approaches to involving communities have been limited, at best, promote standardized and relatively inflexible management practices, and lead to partial improvement in biodiversity and people's livelihoods. When management is initiated and owned by the community, as in the case of sacred groves in India, and when other conditions are appropriate, communities can have the opportunity to demonstrate their capacity for putting effective and adaptive conservation practices in place.

Economic aspects of community‐based forest management program as a strategy for forest landscape restoration in the Philippines

The study looked into the economic aspects, particularly costs and benefits, of the strategies used in the restoration of degraded uplands in Quirino Province, Philippines under the Community‐Based Forest Management Program. Their strategies are agroforestry and reforestation. Data from five sites in the Quirino province was derived through surveys and interviews with CBFM respondents supported by secondary data. Three techniques, namely financial analysis, opportunity cost analysis and contingent valuation method were used to estimate the costs and benefits of the restoration strategies to the CBFM participants. Results of the analyses indicated that aside from contributing to the vegetative improvement of the forest landscape in the area, the program has also provided economic benefits to the local people in the form of increased employment, additional income, financial support, provision of production inputs, availability of land for cultivation and funds for the people's organization.

Genetic structure, diversity, and inbreeding of eastern white pine under different management conditions

Resource sustainability requires a thorough understanding of the influence of forest management programs on the conservation of genetic diversity in tree populations. To observe how differences in forest structure affect the genetic structure of eastern white pine ( Pinus strobus L.), we evaluated six eastern white pine sites across the 234 000 acre (1 acre = 0.4046856 ha) Menominee Indian Reservation in northeastern Wisconsin (45°00′N, 88°45′W). The six sites sampled for nuclear and chloroplast DNA microsatellite markers were of contrasting densities and managed by different management systems: shelterwood, pine release, plantation, and old growth. Three of the sites had natural regeneration, which was also sampled. Mean values of spatial genetic autocorrelation were positive in all mature populations and variable; the strongest spatial structuring of genes occurred in the least disturbed old-growth site (I – E(I) = 0.031). Genetic structuring at the historical old-growth site fit the isolation-by-distance model for a neighborhood size of 130 individuals. Significant inbreeding occurred in five populations, but the seedling or sapling populations as a group (f = 0.088) are significantly less inbred than the local mature populations (f = 0.197). The increase in heterozygosity between generations was attributed to harvesting having reduced the spatial genetic structure of the mature trees.

Perceptions of incentives for participation: insights from joint forest management in India

The participatory approach in management of forests is now well established in forest policies of many developing countries. Incentives for different groups to participate have been argued by many to be desirable characteristics to promote participation. A key challenge for government and donor agencies is to develop better understanding of the incentives for different groups to be able to achieve and sustain their participation. Based on a case study of a joint forest management (JFM) programme in the northern state of Haryana in India, this paper highlights the relevance of understanding people's perception of the incentives. It specifically examines three hypotheses related to perceptions of villagers about incentives offered under the JFM programme and relates them to their participation in joint management. It concludes that a better understanding is likely to help in improving project implementation at the local level and the design of participatory forest management programmes more generally.

Forest fragmentation and regrowth in an institutional mosaic of community, government and private ownership in Nepal

This study analyzes forest change in an area of Nepal that signifies a delicate balance between sustaining the needs and livelihood of a sizable human population dependent on forest products, and an effort to protect important wildlife and other natural resources. The study area, a portion of the Chitwan valley district of Nepal, represents what may be becoming a common institutional mosaic in many countries of the world who have a population reliant on forest products for their livelihood: (1) a national park; (2) a designated park buffer involving participatory forest management programs; (3) scattered patches of designated community forest; and (4) large areas of adjacent landscape made up of mostly private landholdings under agricultural practices. Utilizing Landsat images from 1989 and 2000, we analyze land cover change in each of these management zones using landscape ecology metrics and quantifying proportional distributions of land cover categories. Our results show significant differences in terms of land cover dynamics and landscape spatial pattern between these land ownership classes. These findings indicate that community-based institutions (participatory management programs in the park buffer and the designated community forests) are capable of halting or even reversing trends in deforestation and forest fragmentation.

Increase in carbon emissions from forest fires after intensive reforestation and forest management programs

This paper shows an example of substantial increase in carbon emissions from forest fires after reforestation on a national scale. It is the first estimation of historical carbon emissions from forest fires in Korea during the last 40 years. Investigation was focused on the recent increase in large forest fires and its closely related factors. A simple modeling approach to estimate carbon emission was applied. The direct carbon emission from forest fires in 2000, ranging from 115 to 300 Gg C, corresponds to 1-3% of the annual carbon uptake by forests. The influence of forest fires on the carbon cycle in Korea is not so significant, but Korean forests have a large potential for generating severe local fires due to increasing forest carbon density and a high forest area ratio (forest area/total land area) of 65%. The carbon emission per area burned (Mg C ha(-1)) clearly reflects the trend toward increases in the number of severe fires. Statistical analyses and the trends of annual temperature and precipitation show that the recent large increase in carbon emissions may be the negative consequences of intensive forest regrowth that is the product of successful reforestation and forest management programs rather than the effect of climate change. These results imply a need for further studies in other countries, where large-scale plantation has been conducted, to evaluate the role of plantation and forest fires on the global carbon cycle.

Towards a Sustainable Joint Forest Management Programme: Evidence from Western Midnapore Division in West Bengal

This article demonstrates that the resistance movement of forest communities in western Midnapore division in West Bengal, which acted as a key precursor to the joint forest management (JFM) programmes in India through a June 1990 Ministry of Environment and Forests circular, was based to a large extent on the successful experience of JFM in Arabari Hills under this division. In this particular locality, the resistance movement of forest communities had been mobilized for a long time by poor forest communities fighting for their community rights to forest resources as a matter of immediate survival, opposing top-down approaches to forest management. A detailed study of the existing four Forest Protection Committees (FPCs) of this area confirms that these immediate survival needs, generating mainly sustenance and income from non-timber forest products (NTFPs) for FPC members, are the key element for the long-term sustainability of a JFM system.