Non-Governmental Organizations, Rural Communities and Forests: A Comparative Analysis of Community-NGO Interactions

Scholars, policy-makers and advocates have, in the last decade, recommended greater involvement by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in community forest management in developing countries. Behind these recommendations lies a notion that NGOs are a sound complement to formal governments and that NGOs can improve communities’ abilities to manage their own forests. There is limited empirical work, however, testing how NGO activity affects local forest governance and deforestation. This paper reports the results of quantitative statistical tests on the effects of local NGO importance—as measured by local forest users’ reports of NGO importance—on deforestation in a sample of 200 rural Bolivian communities. In addition, it examines the effect of NGO importance on community forestry institutions—specifically, the presence of institutions for rule-making, forest monitoring, sanctioning, and enforcement of rules. Contrary to earlier research, these results suggest that NGOs have no discernible effect on community forestry institutions, though other external actors—most notably, municipal governments—seem to have a positive effect. The paper also reports a negative correlation of NGO importance on deforestation. Although these quantitative results are in part supported by qualitative field observations in selected Bolivian communities, care is needed in drawing generalized causal inferences from this evidence.     

Factors of political power — The example of forest owners associations in Slovakia

The aim of this paper is to analyse the potential of forest owners associations (FOAs) to influence forest policymaking using power theory. Firstly, the paper examines the concept of power and the political power of interest groups. Interest groups seek to be able to use their power through influencing policy outcomes and framing the underlying dimensions that define policy issues. In the next step the paper defines factors of dispositional political power: formal, informal, internal, and external. Formal factors are primarily based constitutionally or legislatively and are ensured through the right to associate and form associations to advocate common interests. Informal factors represent the abilities of interest groups to operate in the political process. Internal factors represent the ability of interest groups to work within the group and external factors represent the behaviour towards other associations, government, non-governmental organisations, etc. Semi-structured questionnaires to former and present FOAs officials were used containing questions about the basic role of FOAs as they can be found in the scientific literature. The crucial internal factor limiting the dispositional power of FOAs is the lack of financial resources for providing services or necessary apparatus, which might strongly hinder the fulfilment and achievement of set goals in policymaking. The disinterest of the state bureaucracy towards non-state forests also limits FOAs' dispositional power. The most important external factor from the officials' perspective is the disinterest of the state bureaucracy towards non-state forests at the sectoral and cross-sectoral level. There is a common agreement between FOA officials that current strategies and tactics in the form of dialogue are inefficient. FOAs are considered as a partner in policy formulation, but their actual political power is low, due to the disunity among FOA leaders and ineffective strategies and tactics.     

Implementing nature conservation through integrated forest management: A street-level bureaucracy perspective on the German public forest sector

Integrated forest management–pursuing multiple management objectives on the same area–is one important approach to reconciling conflicting demands towards forests. While a few studies have examined its implementation at a local level, the literature is thus far lacking detailed analyses of how forestry professionals perceive and implement the integration of multiple demands towards public forests, as well as what factors are influencing local level decision-making. This study attempts to fill this gap. Focusing on nature conservation aspects and their integration into public forest management, where a primary objective is timber production, we examine the implementation of integrated forest management in five German Länder (German federal states) as perceived by state forest enterprise rangers (Revierleiter). Our findings indicate a great willingness and commitment among forest rangers to implement integrative nature conservation approaches through integrated forest management. However, there are also a number of factors that hinder their implementation. In particular there is a mismatch between the demands placed on rangers and the support provided to them regarding time, more flexible timber targets, and financial as well as personnel resources. We argue that the practical implementation of integrative nature conservation requires more favorable conditions which can actually facilitate the balancing of multiple demands through integrated forest management.     

Socio-economic significance of reed forests in a rural community: A case study from the greater Sylhet Region of Bangladesh

The reed forests that are the subject of this study are scattered over five thanas of the Sunamganj and Sylhet Districts of the Sylhet Division of Bangladesh. Their total area is 23,590 ha and they have great ecological, economic, commercial and socio-economic importance due to the diversified resources they supply. However, the forests are commonly encroached on by local people who are perceived to be seriously depleting the resource. This paper deals with the socio-economic status of the people residing near these reed forests, and examines their dependency on the resources provided by the reed forests. A socio-economic survey, participatory rural appraisal and interviews were used to obtain baseline data of the reed forest resource and the local communities. The study reveals that the communities in the study region have higher income than other areas of Bangladesh. Most survey respondents have other occupations in addition to farming. The literacy rate is 28.8%. Among the illiterate, 68% engage in collecting reeds. Although the Forest Department has a management plan for sustainable use of the reed forests, encroachers receive backing from political leaders and local elites, so their eviction is difficult. In order to achieve long-term productivity and sustainability from the reed forests, this study recommends a strategy of developing an integrated joint management plan between the Forest Department and the local people.     

Capacity for Timber Management in Small and Medium Forest Enterprises: A Case Study from the Peruvian Amazon

With the implementation of a new legal framework for more responsible forest management in Peru, private small-medium forest enterprises (SMFEs) have become the most important social actors engaged in commercial forestry in the Peruvian Amazon. Despite the role of SMFEs in contributing to employment and local economic growth, there is little information with respect to their economic performance and capacities. This is a hindrance to efforts aimed at better characterizing this important sector and its influence on the development and conservation of tropical forests. For this study, 29 private SMFEs were surveyed to inventory their capital assets in order to evaluate their capacities to carry out timber management. Results indicate that SMFEs vary greatly in terms of their produced and natural capital assets, and consequently in their forest management capabilities as well. While most SMFEs lack adequate capacity for sustainable forest management, those that had more valuable timber resources and physical infrastructure attained forest certification. SMFE capacities depend greatly on external mechanisms to ensure consistent technical and financial assistance.     

Development and evaluation of local communities incentive programs for improving the traditional forest management: A case study of Northern Zagros forests,Iran

We examined the local community incentive programs to improve traditional forest management in three forested villages in Baneh city, Kurdistan province in the northern Zagros forests of western Iran. Zagros forests cover 6.07 million ha and support rich plant and animal diversity. Changes in local community social and economic sys-tems and the inefficiency of traditional forest management led to a criti-cal situation in the stability of forest regeneration in recent decades. Due to a shortage of productive and arable lands and resulting unemployment and poverty, people overexploited the Zagros forests. Outside interven-tion in traditional forest management creates conflicts between local peoples and forest management organizations. To achieve sustainable forest management, including forest resources conservation and im-provement of natural resource based livelihoods of communities, it is desirable to implement Forestry Incentive Programs （FIP） based on the important functions of forests. Detailed information on the so-cio-economics of communities, the effect of forests on local livelihoods, and lists of products extracted from the forest were obtained from a sur-vey of local communities though questionnaire, interview and observa-tion. We studied 276 households in three villages and completed 76 ques-tionnaires by householders in the quantitative analysis. Sampling was performed by simple random sampling （SRS）. The needs of rural com-munities, such as livestock husbandry, mainly arise from the characteris-tics and environmental features of villages. We identified the driving forces, pressures, status, impacts and responses （DPSIR） to design incen-tive programs, by DPSIR analysis and interaction analysis. Evaluation of local community benefits from forests showed that in order to improve forest management, 319 dollars per year would be needed by each family as an incentive in 2010 to prevent lopping and firewood collecting, the main causes of forest degradation.     

Evolution of Portuguese community forests and their governance based on new institutional economics

Forest governance is under reorganisation in many European countries, because of the changes in property and forest tenure rights. Portuguese community-based forestry is an interesting research subject from a New Institutional Economics perspective. Community forests (an important part of community lands known as baldios) cover half a million hectares in the north and the centre of the country and are owned by local communities. Their average size of over 400 hectares and diversity of resources underscore their value, and their management contributes to rural development. Recent laws intend for the complete transfer of their tenure rights to communities and local authorities. In this study, we analysed the transformational processes of Portuguese community-based forestry. To structure this analysis and shed light on forest management-related problems, we followed the 'four-level institutional analysis' developed by Williamson. Particular attention was paid to the first three levels. The first concerned social practice and informal rules. We are describing the history of baldios, their use by rural populations, and the subsequent occupation by the State for afforestation. The second level addressed the institutional environment and formal rules. Here, we focused on the recognition of baldio community properties and their legal framework development. The third level addressed management and the interaction of actors in transaction cost savings. Here, we examined the current community-based management models and future trends. In our analysis, we identified the causes underlying baldio management problems at different levels, which highlight the importance of new governance models and economic activities. The analysis showed that overall, the Portuguese community forest governance is a flexible structure capable of adapting to political and demographic changes and offering valuable support for the development of rural areas in the north and centre of the country. Additional empirical research is needed to improve knowledge on the impact of institutions on the management of community forests, both nationally and internationally.

     

Assessing the sustainability in community based forestry: A case from Nepal

Community based forestry is seen as a promising instrument for sustainable forest management (SFM) through the purposeful involvement of local communities. Globally, forest area managed by local communities is on the rise. However, transferring management responsibilities to forest users alone cannot guarantee the sustainability of forest management. A monitoring tool, that allows the local communities to track the progress of forest management towards the goal of sustainability, is essential. A case study, including six forest user groups (FUGs), two from each three community based forestry models—community forestry (CF), buffer zone community forestry (BZCF), and collaborative forest management (CFM) representing three different physiographic regions, was conducted in Nepal. The study explores which community based forest management model (CF, BZCF or CFM) is doing well in terms of sustainable forest management. The study assesses the overall performance of the three models towards SFM using locally developed criteria (four), indicators (26) and verifiers (60). This paper attempts to quantify the sustainability of the models using sustainability index for individual criteria (SIIC), and overall sustainability index (OSI). In addition, rating to the criteria and scoring of the verifiers by the FUGs were done. Among the four criteria, the FUGs ascribed the highest weightage to institutional framework and governance criterion; followed by economic and social benefits, forest management practices, and extent of forest resources. Similarly, the SIIC was found to be the highest for the institutional framework and governance criterion. The average values of OSI for CFM, CF, and BZCF were 0.48, 0.51 and 0.60 respectively; suggesting that buffer zone community forestry is the more sustainable model among the three. The study also suggested that the SIIC and OSI help local communities to quantify the overall progress of their forestry practices towards sustainability. The indices provided a clear picture of forest management practices to indicate the direction where they are heading in terms of sustainability; and informed the users on issues to pay attention to enhance sustainability of their forests.     

Indonesia's Forest Management Units: Effective intermediaries in REDD + implementation?

Previous literature encouraged a hybrid institutional approach for REDD + implementation, where clear government policies help reconcile the rules, regulations and interests of external institutions with those of the communities involved. However, it is unclear how such an approach can be designed in the scale necessary to match local, national and international interests in protecting forests. For this reason, the functions of intermediaries deserve explicit recognition by key actors in shaping REDD + policy nationally and internationally. Indonesia is promoting the more localized Forest Management Unit (Kesatuan Pengelolaan Hutan or KPH) as a key element of forest governance reform for embracing REDD + and related initiatives. Using a case study from eastern Indonesia, we analyzed local factors driving deforestation and forest degradation. We then reviewed the work of the local KPH to examine the necessary roles of a potential REDD + intermediary. We argue that progress made by the local KPH in improving forest governance, including partnerships with local communities, is made possible by the KPH fulfilling the role of policy intermediary while taking on transformative roles reshaping internal and external relations. However, for the KPHs to fulfill their mandate as effective REDD + intermediaries, more concerted efforts from the central and provincial governments, as well as from international donors, are still needed. These include greater consistency in government policies and regulations, improved policy communications, and the commitment to strengthening the capacity of individual KPHs.     

How does perception at multiple levels influence collective action in the commons? The case of Mikania micrantha in Chitwan,Nepal

Collective action has played a vital role in managing common pool resources in numerous global contexts. This article explores the factors affecting collective action related to the removal of the mile-a-minute weed (Mikania micrantha, referred to as Mikania), an invasive plant, in community forests in the buffer zone region around Chitwan National Park in Chitwan, Nepal. Few studies have combined larger sample size quantitative data with greater generalizability and nuanced, qualitative data to explore what factors influence collective action or focused on how perception of the issue at multiple levels affects outcomes. This research employs household and community forest management survey data from 21 community forests in and near the buffer zone of Chitwan National Park in Nepal. Our multilevel econometric analyses, including an analysis examining geographic space using eigenvectors, investigate what influences local people's participation in Mikania removal and we contextualize the findings with case-study interview data. Our results indicate that reliance on community forest resources, perception of the issue, and neighborhood sizes influence are influential factors in their participation in Mikania removal. The implications of these findings are discussed in the context of increasing the effectiveness of Mikania removal efforts and influencing collective action in relation to other global human-environment issues.     

How Can Participatory Forest Management Cooperatives be Successful in Forest Resources Conservation? An Evidence From Ethiopia

ABSTRACT

In many parts of the world, community-based approaches to forest management have been evolving after recognizing that the top-down approach impedes conserving forests effectively. In Ethiopia also, local communities have been involved in participatory forest management (PFM) arrangements for better conservation of forest resources. However, the achievements in improving forest conservation outcomes have been mixed, while some PFMs are successful, others are not. Using data collected from 42 PFM cooperatives from Metema and Quara districts in Amhara dry forest region of Ethiopia, this study seeks to examine the variables that explain the variations in the performances of PFM cooperatives in forest conservation. The study has found that the performance of the PFM cooperatives depends on the key attributes of users, physical resources, and institutions and these attributes explain best for the success of PFMs. Therefore, the study suggests that these attributes along with the external factors like government policy must be given due importance while designing PFM arrangement. Moreover, just to highlight the impact of the external factors, the government policy like the resettlement program must be reconsidered; while the expansion of trade and infrastructure must be encouraged in order to strengthen the performance of PFMs and achieve forest conservation.     

Learning from self-initiated community forest management in Orissa,India

There is growing recognition in tropical countries that safeguarding forests requires the active involvement of local communities, but knowledge of how best to do this is limited. Orissa's extensive experience of community forest management (CFM) provides some valuable lessons and insights regarding: (a) how and why communities manage their forests; and (b) the sustainability of CFM initiatives. The paper discusses the following aspects of CFM in Orissa: (a) the conditions that give rise to the initiation of CFM; (b) the size and nature of the benefits and how they are distributed among the various sub-groups of a community; (c) the factors affecting its sustainability, including conflicts and their management; and (d) communities’ support needs. The principal research activity was a survey, primarily socio–economic, of 43 forest-dependent communities. CFM was examined in the context of people's livelihood systems as a whole, since these can affect the size and nature of any benefits they derive from forest protection and also their main reasons for deciding to protect. The authors conclude that CFM has made an important contribution to the regeneration and sustainable management of Orissa's forests and argue that the formal balance of control of forests be shifted further towards communities. They highlight the plurality of institutional and management arrangements that communities have developed and caution against forest departments imposing a standardised, blueprint approach, as has tended to happen in government Joint Forest Management (JFM) programmes. Several weaknesses are identified in India's JFM programmes and reforms are recommended.     

Can we really manage tropical forests without knowing the species within? Getting back to the basics of forest management through taxonomy

Considering the pressures on tropical forests from deforestation and the recent expansion of harvesting through forest concessions in the Brazilian Amazon, it is imperative that forest management systems are scrutinized to ensure sustainability. One of the basic problems in forest management is the correct identification of species within the forest stand. While this is a well known issue, little consideration is given to how to mitigate this problem or its affects on management practices and conservation. This paper examines the current practice of forest inventories in the Brazilian Amazon, as part of the mandatory system of reduced impact logging (RIL), using extensive forest inventory verification. The results show that the RIL management plan implemented in the project area was based on a highly inaccurate forest inventory. At least 132 species or 43.5% of all species identified after botanical checking did not appear in the forest inventory and the common practice of matching vernacular names to scientific ones proved to be severely deficient. In contrast, a high percentage of field identifications based on local people's expertise were correct. We suggest changes to current practices, including the training and use of parataxonomists, the collection of samples for verification, and stricter government control over current practices, which will achieve greater accuracy in data collection and forest management planning. Ultimately, we argue that in the current climate of extensive deforestation and forest use, it is essential that all aspects of RIL systems are reevaluated in order to achieve economic and ecological sustainability.     

Climate risks and forest practices: forest owners' acceptance of advice concerning climate change

Based on qualitative interviews with Swedish forest owners this study focuses on climate change, risk management and forest governance from the perspective of the forest owners. The Swedish forest governance system has undergone extensive deregulation, with the result that social norms and knowledge dissemination are seen by the state as important means of influencing forest owners' understandings and practices. Drawing on Foucault's concept of governmentality this study contributes knowledge on how forest owners understand and manage climate-related risk and their acceptance of advice. From the interview study, three main conclusions can be drawn: (1) forest owners' considerations largely concern ordinary forestry activities; (2) knowledge about forest management and climate adaptation combines experiences and ideas from various sources; and (3) risk awareness and knowledge of “best practices” are not enough to ensure change in forestry practices. The results of this study show that the forest owners have to be selective and negotiate about what knowledge to consider relevant and meaningful for their own forest practice. Accordingly, local forest management can be understood as situated in a web of multifarious interests, claims, concerns and knowledges, where climate change adaptation is but one of several aspects that forest owners have to consider.     

The Embeddedness of Collective Action in Nepalese Community Forestry

Collective action by local communities has been recognised as crucial for effective management of natural resources, particularly the management of forests in rural settings in developing countries. However, the processes and outcomes of collective action in forest management are often analysed through a narrow rational choice model, ignoring the impacts of wider social, political and economic processes in conditioning peoples’ decisions to act (or not to act) collectively. Optimistic assumptions are made for collective action being instrumental to enhance both social and ecological outcomes, but there is a paucity of empirical evidence on how and why the condition of forests has improved (or deteriorated) under collective action, and what impacts the change in forest condition has on various groups within local communities. This study critically examines the emergence, evolution and outcomes of collective action in a case of community forestry in Nepal. A mix of qualitative and quantitative methods has been used to collect primary data from the forest, households, key informants and focus groups. The emergence and outcomes of collective action is found to be embedded in social, economic and political relationships, where powerful actors control the use of forests in order to ensure conservation, thereby resulting in the underutilisation of forest products. Poor users, who depend heavily on forests, are found to be worse off economically under community forestry, but still engage in collective action for a variety of socio-political reasons. This contradicts the conventional wisdom which assumes that people only cooperate when they benefit from cooperation. It is concluded that a deeper understanding of the embeddedness of community forestry is needed in order to achieve the potential of collective action.

Facing the Challenge of Social Forestry in Japan: The Case of Reviving Harmonious Coexistence Between Forest and People in Okayama Prefecture

Social forestry as a development strategy has evolved since the 1970s, especially in the tropics, to address forest degradation and promote local community development amidst the burgeoning population in these areas. As a practice, however, social forestry has been in place since ancient times in many parts of the world, including Japanese forest communities. Forest-people relationships in Japan drastically changed through massive afforestation programs after the energy source change and with the industrialization of the forest sector in 1950s. The majority of the planted forests are underutilized today and forest communities are marginalized due to the decline of forestry operations, depopulation, and changes in people’s values. Some communities address this concern by inviting potential urban migrants who may be interested in settling in rural areas. Using the case of the Nishiawakura Village in Okayama Prefecture, this paper explores the recent challenges confronting social forestry in Japan. It is found that underutilization of forest resources can be a cause of serious environmental degradation and marginalization of forest communities, and that Nishiawakura’s journey to renew forest management in partnership with migrants is a process of revisiting and creating the forest-people relationship. This study advances two related arguments, namely (1) the interaction of the local people and the migrants brings new perspectives to forest management, and (2) in a community facing depopulation and underutilization of forest resources, social forestry can be an effective approach to rediscover traditional forest management in a new form and revitalize forests and local communities.     

按照“激励相容”原理启动热带次生林和退化林地的可持续经营

中国热带天然次生林和退化林地约有1000万hm2,约占热带国土总面积的1/3。在这里,涉及森林资源可持续经营和经济社会可持续发展的基本课题尚未解决。文中建议利用“激励相容”的原理,针对中国的3种次生林和退化林地大类型,选择典型地区,按照尽可能接近当地社区及居民的原则,建立一个由分散化、微型化和多样化示范的小区组成的示范体系,高效率地推进热带次生林和退化林地的可持续经营,增强热带经济社会发展的弱可持续性并进一步向强可持续性转化。     

Incentives and Community Participation in the Governance of Community Forests in Nepal

Increased participation of local users in decision-making about forests and gaining benefits from these forests are major goals of the community forestry program in Nepal. However, there is a lack of real participation in community forest governance amongst users, particularly by poor and marginalised members. By employing a mixed-method approach, this research explores the issue of participation in the governance of community forests, and in particular the role of incentives in increasing participation. A partial least square approach is undertaken to link the participation indicators to the various incentives. Access to benefits, enforcement of legal property rights and social cohesion through building of local institutions are identified as the key influential incentives that determine the effective participation of users in community forest governance. Other incentive—including income supplements, community infrastructure development or payment for environment services—are insufficient to counter the opportunity cost of participation, and hence have a weak but still significant influence on users’ decisions to participate. Power inequality due to socio-cultural norms, together with poor economic capabilities and weak bargaining power, could undermine the meaningful participation of poor and disadvantaged groups in the governance of community forests, unless the community forestry institutions are strengthened in order to be able to deal with the issues of inequitable access and restricted opportunities at the local level.     

佛坪保护区社区共管的现状、问题与对策研究

摘要佛坪保护区社区社会经济状况落后。佛坪保护区对区内及周边社区没有行政管理职能。划定保护区边界、制定管理措施,并未改变社区对野生资源的依赖性。目前佛坪保护区的社区共管工作,仍局限于政策宣传,而且社区开拓意识差。解决上述问题,只有提高社区村民的文化素质,倡导科技兴农,变“输血型”经济为“造血型”经济。本研究试图找到切实可行的社区共管对策。本文提出了保护区与社区“利益共同体”,阐述了佛坪保护区社区共管现状和展望,对保护目标相近及社区经济状况相近的自然保护区具有参考借鉴作用。