Forest Management Institutions Research Articles

What drives forest degradation in the central Himalayas? Understanding the feedback dynamics between participatory forest management institutions and the species composition of forests

Human populations and their socio-economic conditions, such as road networks and poverty, are thought to be the main drivers of deforestation. However, a high deforestation rate can also alter the species composition of forests, providing further feedback to the socio-economic drivers of deforestation as well as weakening the community forest management institutions. In this paper, we model the feedback linkages associated with the degradation of forests and the weakening of the local institutions to understand how they impact the long-term sustainability of these linked socio-economic-ecological systems. In particular, we explore the impact of excessive harvesting of forests for fuelwood and fodder on a shift in the species composition from oak to pine trees in the central Himalayan region of India. This shift provides adverse feedback to the communities' livelihoods and erodes the quality of their participatory management institutions. A change in the species composition also increases forest fire risks, which further exacerbates the ecological as well as socio-economic feedback effects. We develop and apply a dynamic optimization model of community forest management where, through optimally controlling harvesting efforts over time, a weighted sum of community and environmental objectives is maximized. Findings indicate that factors such as population size, the extent of dependence of the community on fuelwood, the strength of community institutions, and the degree of feedback effects, affect the long-term sustainability of forests. When faced with forest fire risks, there is a discounting effect present which increases deforestation and institutional entropy.

A problem of social fit? Assessing the role of bridging organizations in the recoupling of socio-ecological systems

The decoupling of human-ecosystem relationships in underutilized forested or agricultural regions poses a threat to cultural and biological diversities. Some scholars have proposed transformative strategies involving local-led efforts to reconnect social and ecological systems with the support of bridging organizations (BOs). However, empirically-based understandings about how and under what conditions BOs can address context-specific social conditions to enable transformation work remain limited. Using the concept of social fit – how institutional arrangements address contextual social conditions to enhance governance effectiveness – this study examines the work of the Kyoto Model Forest Association (KMFA), a BO, in improving the relationship between forests and people in Kyoto, Japan. We employed a mixed method approach involving a questionnaire survey, document review, semi-structured interviews, and direct observations. Our findings showed that to improve human-ecosystem interdependence, the KMFA prioritized the provision of public education; invested in places and systems to reduce participation costs; built trust and reduced value mismatches; provided incentives and built management capacity; provided leadership to diverse local forestry groups; facilitated institutional integration of forest and non-forest organizations; and drew resources from diverse organizations. These roles broadened the participation of different actors with novel connections to local ecosystems, enhanced self-organizing capacities, and streamlined the roles of forest management institutions. To sustain these efforts, the KMFA needs to continuously adapt to meet the needs and perceptions of diverse and dynamic actors and to broaden participation. Our analysis provides evidence of the efficacy of BOs to recouple human-ecosystem relationships and improve governance outcomes in underutilized social-ecological systems.

Incentives and challenges for local institutions in coffee forest management: The case of Bilo-Nopha Woreda, Ethiopia

Abstract. Dibaba B, Berhanu A. Incentives and challenges for local institutions in coffee forest management: the case of Bilo-Nopha Woreda, Ethiopia. Asian J For 2: 31-46. Because woodland biodiversity is threatened by various anthropogenic factors, the role of institutions in administrating natural provenances in general and woodland provenances in specific increases over time. Therefore, this is the right time to find out the role of institutions in administrating natural provenances. An assessment of the role of local institutions in the management of coffee forests, by taking the case of Bilo-Nopha Woreda, Illu Abba Bora zone as its object, became the main objective of this study. This study attempts to describe the utilization of regulation attributes, community attributes, and attributes of woodland provenances influencing the management of coffee forests in this study region, using the institutional analysis and development framework (IAD) adopted from Ostrom (2006). This study uses qualitative and quantitative research methods in the form of triangulation. From 16 Kebeles in the study region, the researchers purposively selected 3 Kebeles that were adjacent to the plantation woodland region. Using a systematic random sampling technique, 125 households were selected from three Kebeles for quantitative interviews. In addition to conducting in-depth interviews, key informant interviews and FGDs were conducted to support and strengthen data obtained through household surveys. The results reveal that both official and informal institutions take part in the management of coffee forests at the local level. Rules established by the government to secure coffee woodland areas decrease woodland utilization by local communities and make their ownership rights unsafe. This, in turn, will negatively affect their participation in coffee woodland management activities. Community contributions and forest provenances also influence management activities both positively and negatively. Some of them operate as incentives that increase management activities including compactness, homogeneity and topography, and goods and services derived from forests while others operate as disincentives for management activities including group size, distance, and inadequacy of clear boundaries. In addition to the challenges of administrating coffee forests, lack of ownership, illegal encroachment and inadequacy of coordination between various stakeholders are the main difficulties that must be resolved to preserve coffee forests in the study region.

Revisiting Participatory Forest Management and Community Livelihoods in the Kilum-Ijim Montane Forest Landscape of Cameroon

The natural resource –livelihood sustenance link has received significant scientific attention. Specifically, the question of how forests should be managed in relation to the livelihoods of adjacent communities has been one of the burning issues in the field of conservation and rural development. Thus, participation in forest management is not a recent issue in human history. The concept has evolved significantly since the 1970s due to the alarming rate of deforestation and forest degradation which was registered in most forest regions of the world. Given the significant interest, several approaches to forest management have been applied. For instance, the leviathan approach compelled adjacent communities to adhere to conservation considerations with limited consideration for community livelihoods. Participatory Forest Management (PFM) as a concept has been applied in different contexts with diverse outcomes. Although it is considered relevant in conservation and poverty alleviation, in the context of humid montane forest ecosystems such as the Kilum-Ijim, a scientific analysis of its potential contribution to rural livelihoods is required against the backdrop of increasing demographic pressure and the need to secure livelihoods. In this study, we undertake a systematic sample involving 250 household representatives around the Kilum-Ijim forest Landscape. This was complemented by field observations, interviews of local conservation groups and the consultation of secondary data sources. The data were analysed using the Z-test. The results showed that at 0.05 level of significance, a significant relationship does not exist between aspects of participatory forest management such as tree planting and nursery establishment, and the generation of income in the Kilum-Ijim montane forest landscape. Equally at 0.05 level of significance, a link was established between the creation of forest management institutions and employment generation. Finally, at 0.05 level of significance, there is significant relationship between the exploitation of forest resources and standards of living of communities adjacent to Kilum-Ijim montane forest landscape. The conclusion drawn is that considering the inextricable link between the forest and livelihoods, local coordination efforts should be stepped up to restrict further encroachment into the forest. In addition, trees that are economically and environmentally attractive should be considered during re-afforestation as they can support livelihoods.

North American Forest Futures 2018–2090: Scenarios for Building a More Resilient Forest Sector

North American forests and forest management institutions are experiencing a wide range of significant ecological disturbances and socioeconomic changes, which point to the need for enhanced resilience. A critical capacity for resilience in institutions is strategic foresight. This article reports on a project of the North American Forest Commission to use Futures Research to enhance the resilience of forest management institutions in North America. The Aspirational Futures Method was used to develop four alternative scenarios for the future of North American forests and forestry agencies: (1) an extrapolation of current trends into the expectable future titled Stressed Forests, (2) a scenario of growing desperation titled Megadisturbances Call for Military Intervention, (3) a high aspiration future titled High Tech Transformation and Cooperation, and (4) an alternative pathway to a highly preferable future titled Cultural Transformation Embraces Indigenous Values. These scenarios will be used in discussions and futures exercises with forestry leaders to develop foresight and assure that plans are responsive to the challenges and opportunities ahead.

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE OF SWIDDEN FARMERS AND CHALLENGES FOR SUSTAINABLE LAND USE: LESSONS FROM A WATERSHED MANAGEMENT PROJECT IN NORTHERN LAOS

In Laos, located in mainland Southeast Asia, shifting cultivation has been one of the important means of livelihood, in terms of food security as well as religious and cultural anchorage, for local communities in a number of areas, especially in upland areas in the country. In Pakbeng District, Oudomxay Province, northern Laos, due to the implementation of various land and forest management policies and a village relocation and consolidation program, local communities were restricted from access to the forests and faced a shortage of agricultural lands. After facing difficulties in securing sufficient lands, the local farmers used the forests in a destructive manner. The author of this article was engaged with the Community-based Watershed Management Project, as a program director of an environmental NGO and tackled challenges to achieve a land and forest management system suitable for land use by local communities. The NGO attempted to apply an alternative approach to incorporate swidden farmers’ land use system into official land and forest management institutions.

Endogenous Forest Development Paradigm: Challenging Current Forest Conservation Practices in Ghana

The centre of Ghana development is land that plays a vital role. This article focused mainly on the rapid land degradation and deforestation due to bush fires, poorly managed grazing, farming and agricultural conversion, current forest/woodland governance systems and major policy gaps that were identified. A combination of methods used included: Extensive study of secondary literature/reports/programmes/write-ups (from 1999-2004), key informant interview: a one-on-one interview with Government Officials, 7 responsible for forest management, Forestry, Commission and Traditional Institutions (men-10, women-5), elders-6, and functionaries-4 living in the community, phased assertion. The study recommend Forest Management System needs to be evolved that includes the management and development of sacred groves, shrines, sacred bodies and natures, and totems; associated with indigenous agricultural practices and seeds, indigenous agro-ecological management practices, indigenous tree and vegetation management practices, indigenous livelihood developments and human activity systems which are both enhancing and militating against biodiversity conservation and development encourage and systematically develop traditionally protect areas/plants/animals (TPAs). Attention should be paid to conservation of: 1) sacred groves; 2) burial grounds and spiritual lands; 3) sacred water bodies and fauna; 4) totemic animals; 5) traditional cultural practices; 6) farming systems; 7) traditional crop varieties; 8) home gardens; 9) graze-lands and rest lands; 10) wild fruits supply systems.

Cultural group selection and the design of REDD+: insights from Pemba

Evolutionary analyses of the ways humans manage natural resources have until recently focused on the costs and benefits of prudent resource use to the individual. In contrast, the fields of environmental resource management and sustainability focus on institutions whereby successful practices can be established and maintained, and the extent to which these fit specific environmental conditions. Furthermore, recent theoretical work explores how resource conservation practices and institutions can emerge through co-evolutionary processes if there are substantial group-level benefits. Here we examine the design of a prominent yet controversial institutional intervention for reducing deforestation and land degradation in the developing world (REDD+), and its ongoing implementation on Pemba Island (Zanzibar, Tanzania) to determine the extent to which the features of REDD+ might allow for the endogenous adoption of sustainable forest management institutions. Additionally, we consider factors that might impede such outcomes, such as leakage, elite capture, and marginal community participation. By focusing on prospective features of REDD+ design that could facilitate the spread of environmentally sustainable behavior within and between communities, we identify distinct dynamics whereby institutional practices might coevolve with resource conservation practices. These insights should contribute to the design of more effective forest management institution in the future.

Forest protection in Central India: do differences in monitoring by state and local institutions result in diverse social and ecological impacts?

Protection of forests and wildlife outside protected areas (PAs) is necessary for the conservation of wildlife. Extension of conservation efforts outside the existing PA may result in restrictions on local forest resource use. Such situations arise due to differences in understanding of forest as a resource for communities and as a conservation space for endangered species. A clearer focus is needed on the functionality and socio-ecological outcomes of different forest management institutions to address such issues. We conducted a study in a forest landscape connecting Pench and Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserves (TRs) in Central India. The two main forest management institutions were the Forest Department (FD) and local communities managing forest resources. We conducted vegetation surveys and focus group discussions in 15 villages selected based on presence or absence of active protection and monitoring of forest resources by either FD or local people. We found that forests with monitoring had significantly higher tree density and vegetation species richness compared to forests without monitoring. Tree density was observed to be higher in sites monitored by villagers rather than those monitored by FD. Self-regulation and resource sharing in locally monitored forests were more acceptable to local communities. In forests monitored by the FD, local communities indicated a feeling of alienation from the forest that weakened their motivation to protect the forest and wildlife. Recognition of local community rights is essential to achieve conservation goals and reduce social conflicts outside PAs, requiring collaboration between state and local institutions.

Reframing community forest governance for food security in Nepal

SUMMARYThe growing challenge of food insecurity in the Global South has called for new research on the contribution of forests to food security. However, even progressive forest management institutions such as Nepal's community forestry programme have failed to address this issue. We analyse Nepal's community forestry programme and find that forest policies and local institutional practices have historically evolved to regulate forests either as sources of timber or as a means of biodiversity conservation, disregarding food security outcomes for local people. Disciplinary divisions between forestry and the agriculture sector have limited the prospect of strengthening forest–food security linkages. We conclude that the policy and legislative framework and formal bureaucratic practices are influenced by ‘modern forestry science’, which led to community forestry rules and practices not considering the contribution of forests to food security. Furthermore, forestry science has a particularly narrow focus on timber production and conservation. We argue for the need to recognise the importance of local knowledge and community practices of using forests for food. We propose adaptive and transformational approaches to knowledge generation and the application of such knowledge in order to support institutional change and policy reform and to enable landscape-specific innovations in forest–food linkages.

Traditional Institution for Forest Conservation within a Changing Community: Insight from the Case of Upland South Sumatra

Referring to the studies on the success of community forestry, the proponents suggest reducing the influence of the state to the people who maintain traditional institutions in forest management. However, knowledge about the interaction of formal and informal institutions in the context of changing smallholder farmers is still not fully understood. Through a phenomenological approach assessing the differences of forest conserving institutions’ performance across villages in Semende, South Sumatra, we analyze the process of how traditional institutions can survive or collapse. The main finding shows that traditional institutions gained support and legitimacy from government’s formal institutions, to enforce the rules, are able to survive until now. The key factor determining the success or failure of traditional institutions is the structure of community’s authority; whether it is based on to inherited knowledge or not. We propose a new hypothesis for the concept of local institutions that successfully manage natural resources.

Exploring the Relationship between Remotely-Sensed Spectral Variables and Attributes of Tropical Forest Vegetation under the Influence of Local Forest Institutions

Conservation of forests outside protected areas is essential for maintaining forest connectivity, which largely depends on the effectiveness of local institutions. In this study, we use Landsat data to explore the relationship between vegetation structure and forest management institutions, in order to assess the efficacy of local institutions in management of forests outside protected areas. These forests form part of an important tiger corridor in Eastern Maharashtra, India. We assessed forest condition using 450 randomly placed 10 m radius circular plots in forest patches of villages with and without local institutions, to understand the impact of these institutions on forest vegetation. Tree density and species richness were significantly different between villages with and without local forest institutions, but there was no difference in tree biomass. We also found a significant difference in the relationship between tree density and NDVI between villages with and without local forest institutions. However, the relationship between species richness and NDVI did not differ significantly. The methods proposed by this study evaluate the status of forest management in a forest corridor using remotely sensed data and could be effectively used to identify the extent of vegetation health and management status.

Linking Attitudes, Policy, and Forest Cover Change in Buffer Zone Communities of Chitwan National Park, Nepal.

Deforestation in Nepal threatens the functioning of complex social-ecological systems, including rural populations that depend on forests for subsistence, as well as Nepal's biodiversity and other ecosystem services. Nepal's forests are particularly important to the nation's poorest inhabitants, as many depend upon them for daily survival. Two-thirds of Nepal's population relies on forests for sustenance, and these pressures are likely to increase in the future. This, coupled with high population densities and growth rates, highlights the importance of studying the relationship between human communities, forest cover trends through time, and forest management institutions. Here, we used surveys to explore how household attitudes associated with conservation-related behaviors in two rural communities-one that has experienced significant forest loss, and the other forest gain-compare with forest cover trends as indicated by satellite-derived forest-loss and -regeneration estimates between 2005 and 2013. Results found a significant difference in attitudes in the two areas, perhaps contributing to and reacting from current forest conditions. In both study sites, participation in community forestry strengthened support for conservation, forest conservation-related attitudes aligned with forest cover trends, and a negative relationship was found between economic status and having supportive forest conservation-related attitudes. In addition, on average, respondents were not satisfied with their district forest officers and did not feel that the current political climate in Nepal supported sustainable forestry. These findings are important as Nepal's Master Plan for the Forestry Sector has expired and the country is in the process of structuring a new Forestry Sector Strategy.

Equity, Inclusion and Conflict in Community Based Forest Management: A Case of Salghari Community Forest in Nepal

The equity and inclusion issues are widely observed in Community Based Forest Management (CBFM) and Community Forestry (CF) is not an exception. Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs) are portrayed as robust grassroots institutions for forest management and group governance. However, many contemporary researches have shown that CFUGs are still governed by some influential local elites who hardly practice equity and inclusion. In this context, objectives of this paper are: to explore how equity and inclusion issues lead CFUGs fall into internal conflicts; and to demonstrate how CFUGs are able to address such issues locally. The study was carried out in Salghari CFUG of Ratnechaur, Myagdi. Semi-structured interview and focused group discussion were key tools used for data collection. Livelihoods and Social Inclusion Framework and Equity Framework are used for data analysis. The findings of the research revealed that dalits and non-dalits of Salghari fall into internal conflict regarding the use of forest products. The conflict was then managed through amendments in CF provisions and change in CF leadership. This paper concludes that execution of equity and inclusion provisions in CF, secures access to assets for disadvantaged people from CBFM. However, this demands empowerment of these people and facilitating role of external agency.

Assessing the potential for forest management practitioner participation in climate change adaptation

The sensitivity of forests to local climate and the long time periods involved in forest management combine to result in conditions where forests and forest management are vulnerable to climate change. Minimizing the risks and impacts of climate change on forest management outcomes and reducing the vulnerability of forest management systems requires adaptation. Forest management system adaptation is a multi-scale incremental process that involves diverse actors collaborating to define issues, develop options, and implement solutions. Enabling adaptation may require revising assumptions (e.g., assumptions about stationary climate), upgrading formal and informal institutions (including mandates), re-engineering governance, addressing knowledge gaps and information management issues, and changing practices. Given the heightened uncertainty associated with climate change, adaptation also includes enhancing capacities, reducing risks through diversification, increasing flexibility, and enhancing resiliency by creating decision environments conducive to learning, foresight, knowledge integration, and adaptive management. Forest management practitioners have a fundamental role in identifying, evaluating, and implementing climate change adaptation measures. This study develops and applies a framework (derived from recent scholarship on adaptation) for assessing the perceptions of forest management practitioners about issues, challenges, and factors that they consider important relative to their potential to contribute to climate change adaptation. The framework draws from, and ties together various aspects of adaptation process including psychological factors, knowledge management, forest management capacity, institutions and governance, and the state of information methods that support forest management (i.e., planning, monitoring, and assessment). The framework is applied utilizing the results of surveys of forest practitioners in British Columbia, Canada. The application provides an opportunity to test concepts and to identify key barriers from a practitioner perspective. Proof of concept is tested by evaluating the extent to which respondents were able and willing to provide answers to survey questions. In general, responses were robust suggesting some understanding and recognition of the importance and validity of the underlying adaptation concepts by forest professionals. The results suggest that forest professionals have diverse viewpoints about climate change. The majority is concerned and support adaptation. However, a significant minority do not support modification of current forest management. Discourse, education, and engagement are called for. Other key factors that from the perspective of professionals may reduce participation potential include knowledge deficits, lack of mandate to adapt, limited resources for adaptation, institutional barriers, inadequate assessment, and persistence of planning and monitoring approaches that do not account for climate change.

Historical abiotic damage to forests in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids (Czech Republic)

Abstract Historical sources provide evidence of the condition and damage to forests over time. Lesprojekt (The Forest Management Institute, which is a governmental institution under the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic) evaluated data from records deposited in the national archives in three cycles of historical research (1966–67, 1976, 1982–83) conducted in the state forests (forest enterprise of the state forests). The processed data was critically evaluated and formed the foundation of a long term series (1875–2012) of windfalls and snow damage. The aim of this paper was to summarise the data pertaining to such enormous abiotic damage in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids (Outer Western Carpathians, Czech Republic), its temporality, frequency and intensity. A spatial analysis of snow calamities was conducted during the last disturbance episodes in the winters of 2005/2006 and in October 2009. The historical records showed that the most extensive disturbances occurred in 1916, when 600,000 m3 of wood was damaged in the monitored area. Some findings were discussed in relation to silvicultural interventions in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids. In the conclusion, some problems and limitations concerning the reliability of data obtained this way are indicated.

In Search of Optimum Institutions for Forest Management

There is a variety of forest management institutions ranging from state management to community and private management. This article attempts to identify the conditions under which one institution outperforms the others in the efficiency of forest management based on a review of the literature, empirical evidence on the dominant forest management institutions, and theoretical arguments. In conclusion, we argue that the community management system performs best for nontimber forests, whereas a mixed management system, in which forest protection is carried out communally and tree management is carried out individually, is likely to work best for timber forests.

Legitimacy of informal institutions in contemporary local forest management: insights from Ghana

Many studies have recommended more conscious consideration of informal local norms in the pursuit of officially-recognized local forest management. The justification is that management systems grounded in local norms are well suited to local realities and correspond better with the interests and capacities of local forest users than expert-knowledge systems, which generally require a lot of external support to function. In Ghana, as in many other postcolonial countries, informal local norms were effective in regulating forest resource use before they were pushed into the background following the centralization and formalization of forest management by the colonial administrations. It is however unclear if and to what extent the local norms have retained their legitimacy in the face of massive institutional changes and breath-taking land use dynamics. Based on empirical study of five Ghanaian local forest contexts, this paper explores the role of informal local norms in contemporary local forest management, building theoretically on the concept of institutional legitimacy. Two forms of informal local forestry norms were identified: taboo norms and non-taboo norms. While the non-taboo norms had legitimacy in the present day local communities, some of the taboo norms no longer had legitimacy. The findings indicate that due to modernization, including adoption of Christianity, formal education and commercialization, sacred myths alone do not provide legitimacy for the taboo norms any longer. It is inferable from the findings that to have legitimacy and be useful in contemporary local forest management, both the taboo and non-taboo norms require legitimacy from process and output justifications such as their presumed fairness or instrumental relevance for achieving what local people want to do with their forests.

Community-based forest management institutions in the Galician communal forests: A new institutional approach

The interest in forests managed by communities has been increasing in recent decades, and it implied a relevant research agenda on community-based forest management institutions. This paper analyzes the process of institutional change, the property rights system and the governance mechanism in the management of communal forests in Galicia from the approach of the New Institutional Economics (NIE). Traditionally, the Spanish legal framework did not establish the existence of communal forests, and therefore there was a process of state and individual-proprietorship of communal land. The 1957 Forestry Act legally assumed the figure of communal forests, and the 1968 Communal Forestry Act implied a new phase in the process of collective-choice institutional change. The process conduced to an institutional framework that has supported communal property rights and has implied an institutional status-quo for Galician communal forest policy since 1989.

Annals of Forest Research: 80 years from first publishing

Authors. Sorin Popescu Texas AM Iovu-Adrian Biris (iovu.biris@gmail. com), Dana Mohor Forest Research and Management Institute, Eroilor Avenue 128, 077190 Voluntari, Ilfov, Romania; Marius Teodosiu, Olivier Bouriaud, Nicolai Olenici Forest Research and Management Institute, Station Câmpulung Moldovenesc, 725100 Câmpulung Moldovenesc, Suceava, Romania. Manuscript received May 19, 2014; revised May 23, 2014; accepted May 27, 2014; online fi rst June 05, 2014.