Livelihoods Of Forest-dependent Communities Research Articles

Perceived Effects of Climate Change and Extreme Weather Events on Forests and Forest-Based Livelihoods in Malawi

The emerging risks and impacts of climate change and extreme weather events on forest ecosystems present significant threats to forest-based livelihoods. Understanding climate change and its consequences on forests and the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities could support forest-based strategies for responding to climate change. Using perception-based assessment principles, we assessed the effects of climate change and extreme weather events on forests and forest-based livelihood among the forest-dependent communities around the Mchinji and Phirilongwe Forest Reserves in the Mchinji and Mangochi districts in Malawi. Content analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. The impact of erratic rainfall, high temperatures, strong winds, flooding, and droughts was investigated using logistic regression models. The respondents perceived increasing erratic rainfall, high temperatures, strong winds, flooding, and droughts as key extreme climate events in their locality. These results varied significantly between the study sites (p < 0.05). Erratic rainfall was perceived to pose extended effects on access to the forest in both Phirilongwe in Mangochi (43%) and Mchinji (61%). Climate change was found to be associated with reduced availability of firewood, thatch grasses, fruits and food, vegetables, mushrooms, and medicinal plants (p < 0.05). Erratic rainfall and high temperatures were more likely perceived to cause reduced availability of essential forest products, and increased flooding and strong winds were less likely attributed to any effect on forest product availability. The study concludes that climate change and extreme weather events can affect the access and availability of forest products for livelihoods. Locally based approaches such as forest products domestication are recommended to address threats to climate-sensitive forest-based livelihoods.

Rural coping and adaptation strategies for climate change by Himalayan communities in Nepal

Climate change has major impacts on the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. The unpredictable weather conditions in rural Nepal have been attributed to a changing climate. This study explored the climate change adaptation and coping strategies that rural communities adopt for the conservation of natural resources and livelihoods in the mid-hills of Nepal. This paper explored major climatic hazards, assessed different coping and adaptation measures, and barrier faced to climate change adaptation based on perceptions by forest-dependent communities. We conducted focus group discussions, questionnaire surveys, and semi-structured interviews with local communities and stakeholders. The results showed that rural communities had experienced significant impacts of climate change and variability. In response, they are practicing diverse coping and adaptation strategies, including the construction of bioengineering structures and planting different species that grow quickly and establish promptly.

Effects of a changing climate on livelihoods of forest dependent communities

PurposeClimate change and variability present different challenges to the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. This paper aims to determine climate variability/change and its effects on the livelihoods of the Buyangu community, which depends on Kakamega tropical rain forest in Kenya.Design/methodology/approachRainfall and temperature trends were analysed using Mann–Kendall tests and Sen’s slope estimator. The effects of climate variability on the community were determined using household survey questionnaires, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders.FindingsTemperature trend analyses represent statistically significant trends for the period of 1980-2015. Results reveal a warming trend for both mean annual maximum temperatures and mean annual minimum temperatures by 0.04°C/year and 0.02°C/year, respectively. Moreover, analysis of annual precipitation (1923-2015) indicated an increase of 0.068 mm/year; however, the mean monthly rainfall showed a decreasing trend. As a result, crop production and livestock rearing are negatively affected. Although there is a high level of awareness of climate variability and its related effects on livelihoods, a majority of the Buyangu community still do not understand the influence of climate change on forests and the provision of forest products. Lack of knowledge on this subject will consequently limit adaptation responses.Originality/valueThis research fulfills the need to study climate variability and its effects on the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. The study calls for all-round stakeholder participation of local and national players in formulating coherent adaptation strategies that will enhance the resilience of forest-dependent communities to a changing climate.

Carbon emission reductions by substitution of improved cookstoves and cattle mosquito nets in a forest-dependent community

Collection of fuelwood and its inefficient use for cooking and protecting animals from insects contribute to forest degradation and deforestation in developing countries. Assessment of fuelwood dependency can provide a basis for introducing effective measures for reducing emissions and fuelwood collection without compromising the basic needs of local people. Using a community located in Phnom Tbeng forest area in Cambodia, this case study assessed fuelwood dependency quantitatively via random surveys of 105 households and to project potential carbon emission reductions realized by the substitution of three-stone stoves with improved cooking stoves and the use of mosquito nets instead of wood burning to protect animals. Heads of households were targeted because of their main roles in daily family management. Three discounted rates were used to assess carbon prices as financial incentive for the substitution three-stone stove with improved cookstoves. We found that only 4% of the households had access to power from an independent power producer for lighting alone. Approximately 98% of the surveyed households collected firewood from nearby forests and used it as fuelwood for cooking, with the remaining 2% using both charcoal and fuelwood for this purpose. All respondents used the three-stone cooking stove for cooking. On average, fuelwood consumption was 2.0±0.1 Mg household−1 yr−1 for daily cooking or 3.8±0.2 MgCO2 of carbon emissions. Burning wood for protecting cattle from insects consumed 4.3±0.2 Mg household−1 yr−1 or 7.9±0.3 MgCO2 of carbon emissions. Using improved cookstoves and mosquito nets to protect cattle can reduce emission up to 1.1 TgCO2 for the whole study site.Substitution of conventional cookstoves with improved cookstoves and the use of mosquito nets instead of fuelwood burning could result in using less fuelwood for the same amount of energy needed and thereby result in reduction of carbon emissions and deforestation. To realize this substitution, approximately US$ 15–25 MgCO2−1 is needed depending on discount rates and amounts of emission reduction. Substitution of cookstoves will have direct impacts on the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities and on forest protection. Financial incentives under voluntary and mandatory schemes are needed to materialize this substitution.

REDD+ and incentives: An analysis of income generation in forest-dependent communities of the Yasuní Biosphere Reserve, Ecuador

Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) is considered a promising strategy to slow down deforestation rates, promote sustainable forest use, and support rural livelihoods under the umbrella of climate change mitigation. However, so far there is only little field-based knowledge on how REDD+ can go along with subsistence-based production systems and livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. We addressed this research gap by analyzing the income generation of three widespread ethnic groups (Colonists, Shuar, Kichwa) in the buffer zone of the Yasuní National Park in Ecuador to better understand their livelihoods and possible engagement in REDD+. We selected two communities of each ethnic group (close-to and far-from markets) and used household surveys to (a) calculate household incomes, (b) assess the degree of forest-dependency, and (c) discuss how REDD+ schemes can be designed along with traditional subsistence-based production systems. We found that the studied indigenous communities have a higher degree of forest-dependency and higher environmental income compared to Colonists. However, our assumption that close-to-market communities have a lower degree of forest dependency and higher cash income due to better market access and labor opportunities applies only to the Colonists and Shuar, but must be rejected for the Kichwas who gain income from timber sale. Despite these differences, all communities receive high off-farm revenues from unskilled labor provided by oil-companies and external aid. Therefore, dependency on agriculture and forestry is temporarily reduced. Under these circumstances, REDD+ provides only weak financial incentives so that the willingness to participate in REDD+ is low.

Assessment of Current State and Impact of REDD+ on Livelihood of Local People in Rungwe District, Tanzania

A climate change mitigation mechanism, Reducing Emission from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+) is anticipated to affect livelihoods of forest dependent communities. This study was conducted to establish this impact on livelihoods of local people in Rungwe District, Tanzania. Data were collected through questionnaires, group discussions, and interviews from three villages: Syukula, Ilolo and Kibisi. Results showed that households annual income and crop production are higher after REDD+ implementation. The older respondents (>40 years old) considered REDD+ to be important for forest management compared to younger generation (<40 years old) (p < 0.05). Similarly, the older respondents considered wood forest products such as fuelwood, charcoal, timber and poles to be reduced. There was a widespread awareness about REDD+’s objectives among household respondents. Therefore, REDD+ proponents should implement alternative sources of livelihoods to help local people improve their income and reduce dependence on the forest resources and eventually decrease deforestation and forest degradation.

Proposing an indicator framework for FLEGT voluntary partnership agreements impact monitoring

In 2003, the European Union (EU) launched the Action Plan for Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT). The Action Plan aims to combat illegalities in the forest sector, using trade as the leverage to involve producers, traders and consumers in its implementation. A key instrument emerging from the Action Plan is Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs). These are bilateral trade agreements between the EU and wood exporting countries, to ensure that all wood exports were produced and traded in accordance with the laws of the originating country. Six such agreements were negotiated so far and with their implementation nearing, it is important to develop methodology for monitoring key impacts of a VPA. The VPAs and the Action Plan specifically outline the requirement to monitor their impacts on the livelihoods of forest dependent communities. For this an effective VPA impact monitoring system has to be built that fits with the context and capacity of the country. This paper aims to contribute to these developments by proposing an indicator framework for a country-level VPA impact monitoring. The framework comprises of 46 indicators designed to capture changes across ten key impact areas of VPAs. The paper also discusses requirements and possible challenges of VPA impact monitoring as well as its implications to good forest governance in the VPA countries and offers principles for cost-effective VPA impact monitoring.

Potential for co-management approaches to strengthen livelihoods of forest dependent communities: A Kenyan case

Many natural resource management researchers have focused either on institutional design and evaluation or on livelihood outcomes per se without explicitly acknowledging and rigorously examining linkages between the two. Thus, a major gap in the current literature on co-management institutional arrangements is the extent to which co-management has strengthened the livelihoods of poor forest-dependent communities. This gap is addressed in this paper by developing and testing an argument that well-designed co-management arrangements have strengthened the livelihood outcomes of poor forest-dependent communities in a Kenyan case study. The hybrid analytical framework developed for this analysis situates Ostrom's (1990) design criteria for co-management institutions in the broader context of the Sustainable Livelihood Framework. It then uses this analytical framework to evaluate the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest Reserve (ASFR) co-management initiative in Kenya, based on a three-step process. First, the paper provides an overview of current institutional arrangements for governance of the ASFR co-management regime. Second, it evaluates the extent to which these governance arrangements can be characterized as devolved collaborative governance, informed by Ostrom's (1990) design principles and; third, it evaluates the extent to which the livelihood outcomes of forest dependent communities that are participants in the co-management project have had their livelihoods strengthened as a result of the ASFR co-management governance arrangements. The paper demonstrates that the institutional arrangements for ASFR co-management are relatively nascent and emerging because the governance arrangements for the ASFR co-management project cannot be characterized as fully devolved de jure collaborative governance. Notwithstanding this, the findings reveal that participant forest-dependent communities in the co-management project had improved livelihoods compared to forest-dependent communities outside the co-management scheme. It is suggested that this is due to the de facto co-management arrangements.

A comparative analysis of the effects of institutional property rights on forest livelihoods and forest conditions: Evidence from Ghana and Vietnam

Effective institutional property rights are increasingly becoming an important part in the allocation of scarce forest resources and to combat the “tragedy of the commons” thesis. Our paper outlines conceptual, analytical and theoretical aspects of forest institutional property rights and an empirical synthesis of main findings from institutional property rights effectiveness in a cross-country comparative context. The paper employs property rights based framework coupled with some New Institutional Economics (NIE) debates as a diagnostic framework for understanding forest property rights. The Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF) provides empirically insights into how “forest institutional property rights” impact on forest communities' livelihoods and management. Our analysis provides support for the argument that forest institutional property rights play important role in the livelihoods of forest dependent communities and in forest management, but that can be context specific as showcased in our findings. Finally, the paper makes some recommendations in institutional analysis of forest property rights, such as strong and clearly defined property rights, integration of formal and informal rights and suggests strong linkage between institutional property rights and sustainable livelihoods as a “panacea” for sustainable forest livelihoods and management in developing countries.

Decentralised Forest Governance, Institutions and Livelihoods in Odisha - A Study of Evolution of Policy Process and Politics

The paper aims to provide an analytical glimpse of the evolution of Forest Policies in Odisha since the post independence era by unraveling the major stages of evolution of such policies. The paper also seeks to explore the issues of Livelihoods which have attained priority while formulating Forest Policies under the different political regime in the State and how such issues are gradually evolved as a part of pro-poor policy process in State Forestry Sector of Odisha. Forest Policies of Odisha since the pre-independence period and even after independence have been passed through different stages in which the involvement of State and Non-State actors is seen as a crucial determinant factor. The process also paved the way for the emergence of neo-political order and has opened the era of integration between the State and Non-State actors in the State forest policy process. Policy process as a Political Process has also received enormous attention from different corners. However, the policy process in the State Forestry Sector has not only undermined the Livelihood issues of Forest Dependent Communities but also has become a source of deprivation of Livelihoods of the communities in different period of time. Nonetheless, the issues of Livelihoods have drawn significant attention since the 90s when the Participatory Forest Management regime emerged and further flourished in 2006 when the Forest Rights Act came and implemented in the State. The present paper is a product of the ongoing research work of entitled “Decentralised Forest Governance, Institutions and Livelihoods in Odisha-A Study of Evolution of Policy Process and Politics”. The paper is based on the analysis of Secondary Data, review of Literature and discussion with key informants, which has been focused the major policy specific developments in the State Forestry Sector while specifically looking into the developments under different Governments. Decision making processes of the Formulation and Implementation of Forest Policies have been highlighted in the paper by throwing a light on the key influencing factors in such decisions. The paper concludes with a summary of findings of major forest policies in the State and their implications on Livelihoods of Forest Dependent Communities in Odisha.

Wild plants in everyday use: conservation towards sustainable livelihoods in Nigeria

SUMMARY Despite the declining volumes of biotic resources flowing from natural ecosystems, no sustainable rural-based programmes have been put in place to stabilize habitats and diversify products to meet the needs and livelihoods of forest-dependent communities. Nevertheless, there is increasing evidence that agricultural expansion and rising demands for forest resources are increasingly depleting the forests. Within these extremes, daily used wild plants that sustain rural communities are under threat of over-exploitation. This study identified major daily used wild plants in rural environments, examined their use categories, and suggested suitable ways to conserve these plants in order to improve the biodiversity capital and stabilize rural livelihoods. Results of data analysis showed that: (i) about 96 species of wild plants were in daily use for food, energy, medicine, shelter and cultural festivals; (ii) the management and utilization of daily used wild plants were based on traditional knowledge that had become inefficient as a result of resource scarcity and loss of habitats. In these circumstances, resource utilisation is leading to the loss of species; (iii) the resource users were willing to conserve wild plants on private lands to meet their ways of life. The success of wild plant conservation however, hinges on the provision of infrastructures for smallholder farmers who are willing to plant trees on their lands. There is urgent need for those responsible for conserving the forests and the environment (Federal Ministry of Environment) to design and implement suitable programmes that will accommodate the needs of the rural people in conserving wild plants in daily use in the country.